Politics chronically suffers from a lack of civilian participation and inefficiency. By harnessing the power of the web, Code for America aims to empower civilians with the tools of politics. This NPO is committed to reimagining government for the 21st century in order to make a direct impact everyday, and establish the relationships and networks for a lasting change.
The Government Challenge is about defining and directing societies in a democratic way by acknowledging citizens’ needs and the actions needed to accommodate them. Irrespective of where you are in the world, a lot of work remains to be done to improve our governments. In spite of this pervasive challenge, there are few visions or proposals for improving the state of affairs because it is such monumental task.
In the US for instance, a staggering 40% of the voting population recurrently fail to submit their vote due to disenchantment and indifference. Whereas, 70% of Americans are active Facebook users and vote on a daily basis with the 'like' button. So why not harness the pervasive power of the web to engage more people in government, and empower them to affect change? With the help of the brains behind the web-giants Google, Facebook, and Twitter, INDEX: Award 2013 Finalist Code for America is doing just that.
Jennifer Pahlka, Code for America’s founder and executive director, said that “Code for America leverages the profile that is having the biggest impact on society now (geeks) to solve one of the biggest problems of our time: a bloated, inefficient, disconnected government.”
Through three visionary programs Code for America helps local governments harness the power of the Internet. Through the Fellowship, Code for America connects developers and designers to local government. Through the Accelerator, Code for America provides seed funding, office space, and mentorship to civic startups. Through the Brigade, Code for America helps local community groups reuse civic software. This socially conscientious “group of web geeks and technology leaders” is working tirelessly to “import the efficiency of the web into government infrastructures.”
Vote yes to Government 2.0!
