Description:

How can Ruby change cities, states, and countries for the better? Last year, we saw an explosion of interest around government transparency. The Open Government movement, spearheaded by open source developers, seeks to make government more accountable and responsible by turning open government data into citizen-focused, civic-minded applications.

Luigi Montanez, a Ruby developer with the Sunlight Labs, will guide you through the Gov 2.0 landscape. You'll learn about the data sets and APIs available freely available for your use, the tools and skills you'll need to be a successful civic hacker, and you'll get a thorough overview of the current civic apps out there. Civic hacking will enhance your open source portfolio while making a difference in your community and country.