Above: Politify, a 2011 Civic Data Challenge Winner

Knight Foundation is excited to lend its support to the National Conference on Citizenship for its second Civic Data Challenge. The challenge launches today at the 2013 Data Visualization Summit in San Francisco. The goal is to discover ideas that turn the raw data of civic health into applications and visualizations that make the data easy to understand and useful to community leaders and residents. Related Links

“Civic tools for community needs” by Illir Zherka on Knight Blog

Knight Foundation supports open government and civic technology in several different ways. Like Knight’s core challenges directed at news, arts and community information, the Civic Data Challenge has allowed the National Conference on Citizenship to uncovering new talent and creativity, while encouraging innovators to reach out and make connections. 

The first Civic Data Challenge attracted a variety of ideas that merged data analytics with relevant social change issues including open government, health care and community wellness. More than 170 members joined the challenge community and entries came in from over 60 participants. The challenge not only engaged new audiences and skill sets in the field of civic health, but also produced new tools that translate what can otherwise be cumbersome datasets into meaningful and accessible formats.

Politify, for example, a challenge winner last year, has received wide acclaim for its platform that uses data to generate visual financial projections of political scenarios. The tool was used over three million times in 75 days and is gaining momentum in the mainstream as a window into which political candidate best serves an individual’s economic interests.

By supporting important community engagement tools like Politify, the Civic Data Challenge offers a unique opportunity to connect with innovators in the area of civic health. Central to the challenge is a belief that civic engagement and participation are vital to sustaining high-functioning communities. Engagement however is dependent on drawing strong links between civic health and key social outcomes. With reliable and easy-to-understand data the general public, as well as institutions such as grant makers, nonprofits and governments can together create a strong and sustainable civic strategy.

By Jeff Coates, strategic initiatives associate at Knight Foundation