Note: POPVOX is completely nonpartisan. We do not endorse candidates or take positions on issues. Throughout the 2016 election cycle, however we will share our interactions with candidates and information about how their positions match up on pending bills in Congress — so that you can share your voice!
Democratic Presidential Candidate, Martin O'Malley, recently visited San Francisco. POPVOX CEO, Marci Harris, was invited to participate in two "civic tech" events hosted by the campaign. Here are her thoughts:
Wednesday night: Civic Tech Pitch Contest
I was invited to join judge a “Civic Tech” pitch contest hosted by the Martin O’Mally campaign at The Hall in San Francisco. The pitches were great, spanning from nonprofits to for-profit apps, clean energy tools to worker training games, vote-by-mail, and a better FOIA system. Companies were: ROC United, Bayes Impact, WattTime, Lassy project, NextRequest, CivicMakers, Long Distance Voter, and TechCongress.
The winner, John Guydon, CEO and Co-Founder of the Lassy Project, was amazing. Their app is an improved system to find missing persons, well beyond the “Amber Alert” system, with several success stories already under their belt that exemplify the possibilities of “Tech for Good.”
Thursday Morning: Civic Tech Panel
On Thursday, the O’Malley campaign held a civic tech panel, hosted and moderated by Brigade CEO, Matt Mahan. I joined Governor O'Malley and John Guydon (winner of the previous night’s panel), Sid Espinosa, Director of Philanthropy and Civic Engagement for Microsoft; Kimberly Bryant, Founder, Black Girls Code; and Sam Lessin, entrepreneur & former Vice President of Product at Facebook.
Matt started the panel by asking: "How can we leverage technology connect more people to the opportunities of the Innovation economy?" "Education" was the common thread.
Governor O'Malley asked, "How early can you teach kids to code?" Kimberly answered by describing coding programs that target children as young as six to teach them the skills of the new economy. She and Sam Lessin emphasized moving from viewing people as "consumers" of technology to creators, no matter where they are in the country.
I was happy to give a shout-out to the vey successful CO:deCatalyst program in Jackson, Tennessee led by POPVOX team members, William Donnell and Ben Harris, and friend-of-POPVOX, Ben Ferguson; to bring coding courses to local Madison County high schools (check it out and vote for their SxSW panel!)
Sam Lessin also mentioned that procurement policies were a major barrier to improving how government leverages technology and delivers services to citizens.
Governor O'Malley closed by describing the data-focused management process that he envisions and referenced innovation initiatives he undertook in Maryland, including appointing the first statewide Chief Information Officer and Chief Innovation Officer. In response to a question about the uncertain funding prospects for civic tech companies, he noted that Maryland was the first state to enact B Corp legislation.
Takeaway: A Presidential candidate is talking about “civic tech”! POPVOX was one of the first companies to ever describe itself as a “Civic Startup,” back in 2010. Five years later, discussions about how technology can be leveraged for better governing are firmly in the mainstream.. and they are bipartisan. We wonder: could we even hear the word “civic tech” in the Presidential debate?
As the election cycle continues, we at POPVOX will continue to share our interactions and insights into the candidates — always with the nonpartisan intent to help you be better informed. Keep an eye on our Facebook page, where we update on bills related to candidate plans as they are released, including:
- Senator Marco Rubio's Health Plan
- Donald Trump's Immigration Plan
- Update on CBO request by Senator Bernie Sanders regarding the effect on jobs of rolling back the Sequester
