Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #civictech, aggregated by home.social.
THIS STARTED AS ONE TEACHER DECIDING THE BATHROOM PROBLEM WAS SOLVABLE.
I teach environmental science at a public school in the Bronx. NYC puts out genuinely good public data — parks inspections, facility records, all of it. The gap was never the data. It was that almost nobody actually uses it for anything a person needs on a Tuesday afternoon.
Open data doesn't help anyone sitting on a server. It has to become something.
This week in NYC's #CivicTech: SpaceXAI answers the NYC Council's AI safety questions tomorrow at 10 am. Next week: Diversifying your Community Board with Data Pride NYC (October 21) and BetaBagels 017 (October 23). Want to present at our November 12 Autumn Civic Tech Showcase? Apply by October 25.
Read it: https://www.beta.nyc/news-2026w42
If you work in #CivicTech or #GovTech, this is your required reading today.
https://sboots.ca/2026/10/14/hoped-the-system-would-have-had-more-capacity-for-institutional-reform/
FEWER LISTED RESTROOMS IN A BRONX ZIP CODE COULD MEAN TWO VERY DIFFERENT THINGS.
It could mean fewer restrooms exist. It could mean the data hasn't caught up to what's actually there. Public datasets can't always tell the difference — and that gap has real consequences for who gets counted.
We flag which, when we can.
"Federal Court Rules DOJ Data Demands on Voters Violate Privacy and Election Authority" — constitutional damage: 25.7/100.
Is this getting the attention it deserves? The Distraction Index says no.
https://distractionindex.org/event/7dd76eb4-f3fe-410a-ae7d-a6364ae09e00
#DistractionIndex #Democracy #ConstitutionalRights #CivicTech
I'm looking for folks to test out a deep investigative tool. If you work in #OSINT, #journalism, #ediscovery, or something adjacent, I'd love to talk to you. Just reach out here privately 🔍
#research #civictech #datajournalism #investigativejournalism
Ask your AI assistant: "Is the 6 train disrupted this Saturday at 68 St-Hunter College?"
mta-mcp is an alpha MCP for MTA subway service alerts and elevator and escalator outages. We built it because we check the train before every event. It isn't on npm, because of MTA's data terms, so install from GitHub. Its station data is a local snapshot you refresh yourself. Unofficial and may not be real time; confirm at mta.info.
Thousands of public datasets about New York City are available online.
Discovering NYC Open Data can help you learn how to find and use them. Free and beginner-friendly.
📅 Friday, October 16 at 12 pm ET
🔗 https://www.beta.nyc/event/e261016
New feature on WhoCanIVoteFor: boundary reviews for English councils.
UK councils undergo regular reviews to ensure that their wards contain approximately equal numbers of electors. These reviews usually result in changes to ward names or boundaries.
Our election lookup now tells users in England if their council is undergoing a review, and will display a map of their new ward once the review is complete: https://democracyclub.org.uk/blog/2026/10/15/english-council-boundary-reviews-on-whocanivotefor/
Week-over-week Distraction Index:
Avg. constitutional damage: UP 4 points (15 → 19)
Events tracked: 20 → 20
High-damage events: 4 → 3
Trend matters. https://distractionindex.org/week/2026-10-11
#DistractionIndex #Democracy #ConstitutionalRights #CivicTech
Ask your AI assistant: "What RFPs are currently open from the Department of City Planning?"
nyc-record-mcp connects AI assistants to The City Record through NYC Open Data: procurement solicitations, contract awards, public hearings and agency notices, back to 2015. No API key needed.
One-line npx install in the README.
Analyzing the last 100 bills in the US #government. #dataviz #civictech
WE'D RATHER TELL YOU A LISTING IS UNVERIFIED THAN PRETEND WE'RE SURE.
Half of building this was resisting the urge to look more confident than the data allows. A map that claims certainty it doesn't have isn't more useful — it's just wrong with better posture.
Honest and incomplete beats polished and fake.
Ask your AI assistant: "Which registered expense contracts over $500,000 did the Department of Transportation hold in FY2025?"
nyc-checkbook-mcp connects AI assistants to Checkbook NYC, the Comptroller's spending data: payments, contracts, budget, payroll and revenue, plus NYCHA and NYCEDC contracts. No API key needed.
One-line npx install in the README.
THE CITY'S OWN RESTROOM LIST HASN'T MOVED SINCE JUNE 2025.
DCAS dataset i7jb-7jku: 1,066 restrooms, last updated 2025-06-27. No successor announced. Council and IBO reports still cite it as current.
We cross-check it against OpenStreetMap, REFUGE, and Parks inspections — because one stale file shouldn't be the whole truth about where 8 million people can pee.
"Trump Attempts to Remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook" — constitutional damage: 63.2/100.
Is this getting the attention it deserves? The Distraction Index says no.
https://distractionindex.org/event/2e18471a-04e7-4c42-a4c8-f540c00bc6c0
#DistractionIndex #Democracy #ConstitutionalRights #CivicTech
Healthsites
Healthsites.io establishes this data and the tools necessary to upload, manage and make the data easily accessible.
Ask your AI assistant: "Which NYC Council hearings are coming up, and which bills are on each agenda?"
nyc-council-mcp connects AI assistants to NYC Council legislation, hearings, votes and members from Legistar. It needs a free Legistar API key for live data, and can also build a local index for fast search and voting history.
One-line npx install in the README.
Week of 2026-10-11 by the numbers:
16 political events tracked
Avg. constitutional damage: 18/100
Avg. distraction score: 28/100
2 high-damage events
5 high-distraction events
Data doesn't lie. https://distractionindex.org/week/2026-10-11
#DistractionIndex #Democracy #ConstitutionalRights #CivicTech
Ask your AI assistant: "Is alternate-side parking suspended today?"
nyc-311-mcp connects AI assistants to the NYC 311 Public API: alternate-side parking, trash and recycling collection and school status by date, emergency and weather alerts like Code Blue, and the status of a 311 service request by its number. Free key from the NYC API portal.
One-line npx install in the README.
Analyzing the last 100 bills in the US #government. #dataviz #civictech
The central result is a “Wheel of Contributions”: Pledge → Contribution → Recognition → Participation. Partners commit, contribute, get recognised for what they bring, and gain a real voice in co-governance, with clearer partner roles and a dedicated participation space (working name: Co.Consul).
What I appreciate most is that the team looked honestly at its own model, and then took it to its partners at ConsulCon instead of keeping it internal. That is how a commons gets built: with the community, in the open.
Thank you to the whole CDF team and Board for the trust and the pleasant collaboration so far. Looking forward to seeing the next steps unfold! @consuldemocracy
#opensource #digitalcommons #participatorydemocracy #governance #civictech
Consul started in 2015 at Madrid City Council and is now used by 140+ cities and organisations. The question we worked on: how do you turn a widely used piece of #civictech into a true #commons, where more of the people who benefit also contribute and help steer?
In three online sessions in July we:
- used the Five Pillar framework for commons sustainability to map where CDF stands today
- compared notes with other open source and commons projects, including PublicSpaces in the Netherlands
- sketched where the Foundation wants to grow
This summer I had the pleasure of accompanying the Consul Democracy Foundation (CDF) team in a reflection on their governance and sustainability model. They’ve now published the story of that journey, and I’m honoured by how thoughtfully they’ve documented it: https://consuldemocracy.org/2026/09/towards-a-digital-commons-improving-our-governance-model/
Ik bouw als hobbyproject een site die de besluiten van mijn gemeenteraad per onderwerp ordent, geïnspireerd op OpenTK. Hij draait nu nog lokaal op mijn laptop.
Per besluit: wat er besloten is, de afweging, hoe partijen stemden en wat ze ervan vonden.
De samenvattingen van wat een partij vond en waarom, maakt een taalmodel; elke zin wordt getoetst aan de officiële stukken. Namen van insprekers en andere inwoners filter ik eruit; raadsleden, wethouders en de burgemeester worden wel genoemd. Alles is gebaseerd op openbare bronnen.
Ik overweeg dit ook online beschikbaar te stellen. Voordat het online gaat: zie jij bezwaren of heb ik blinde vlekken?
Concreet vraag ik me af:
1. Is het oké om samen te vatten wat partijen in het debat zeiden, of voelt dat als framing?
2. AVG of auteursrecht: zie je haken?
3. Wat moet er op zo’n site staan om vertrouwen te wekken?
4. Raadsleden, griffiers: wat zou jij hier ongemakkelijk aan vinden?
Reacties of DM welkom, ook kritisch.
WHERE WE ARE: GOOD ENOUGH TO BE USEFUL, HONEST ENOUGH TO SHOW ITS SEAMS.
This isn't a finished product pretending to be one. It's a working tool that tells you where it's unsure, because the alternative — hiding the uncertainty — is how people end up trusting the wrong dot at the wrong moment.
Useful and unfinished is a fine place to be.
Ask your AI assistant: "Find 2025-session New York bills on AI literacy and show me the votes on each."
nys-openlegislation-mcp 2.4.0 is out. Bill votes now come back (they had been failing), bill search can be limited to one session, and member lookups stay in the chamber you asked for. Free API key from the State Senate.
One-line npx install in the README.
OS City
Blockchain-based identity system for governments
Event spotlight: "Federal Court Rules DOJ Data Demands on Voters Violate Privacy and Election Authority"
Constitutional damage: 25.7/100
Distraction score: 17.5/100
Low media attention on this one. That should concern you.
https://distractionindex.org/event/7dd76eb4-f3fe-410a-ae7d-a6364ae09e00
#DistractionIndex #Democracy #ConstitutionalRights #CivicTech