Hack for LA

Cross posted from the California Health Data Blog.

Three years running we’ve celebrated Code for America’s National Day of Civic Hacking in Los Angeles with a two day hackathon, “Hack for LA.” This year, like each year before, we had hundreds of participants from across Los Angeles compete for cash prizes by building apps as solutions to solve problems in our local community. This year we engaged in several new partners including the California HealthCare Foundation’s California Health Data Project.

Map by Adam StoneSo, on the #NDoCH, CHCF sponsored the health track challenges with $3,000 in prizes encouraging participants to collectively explore building applications using state health data from the CHHS open data portal. With 23 submissions on Sunday June 7th, our winning teams in the Los Angeles health track included:
Pool Party — using bus data, community events calendars, and bike infrastructure data, this app encourages attendees to walk, bike, carpool, or take public transportation together to these eventsUrban Trail — a gamification of everyday transportation, this app would use social profiles and rewards to encourage users to choose shared and active transportation methodsExBully — allows real-time anonymous reporting of bullying in elementary schoolsBreath LA — proposes using open data to predict what days are best for users with asthma to exercise outside
Photo by AJ ModyHack-a-thons are only one of the many templates and tools available to us to drive change in cities. Here in Los Angeles, in partnership with the Office of Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Mayor’s summer-long #techLA initiative, Civic Innovation Lab has launched Challenge:LA. Now through September 20th, citizens are able to submit projects they think will help move the needle on pressing public issues. Winners will be eligible to participate in Civic Innovation Lab’s Accelerate:LA, a civic accelerator program designed to encourage the sustainability of solutions and create real impact. Accelerator:LA will provide mentorship from industry experts, access to City officials and “ride-along” opportunities with City staff, rigorous prototyping training and workshops, and access to capital through a network of angel investors, VCs, and grant-makers.
It’s an exciting time to be in Los Angeles, with open data being championed by federal, state, county, city, and NGOs, the potential for experimenting in and implementing new ideas in liveability has been brought to our fingertips. Excited to see what the summer holds.