Twentieth hacknight – 25 participants.
Mini-presentations from each project lead:
– 0:00: Alex: Open Cabinet
– 5:30 Henrik: Toronto Budget project
– 10:45: Gabe: Toronto planning applications
– 15:55: Matthew: Plain language project
– 21:25: Ian & Marc: Transit clock project
Matthew’s links:
– Link at 17:00: http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/pubs/guide/
– Link at 20:20: http://answers.oaklandnet.com/
Breakout groups:
– Toronto planning applications: Gabe
– Toronto budget project: Henrik
– Refugees Welcome Toronto: Medina
– Plain Language project: Matthew
– Open Cabinet: Alex
– Civic Tech 101: Howard
Workgroup: Toronto Budget Project
Participants: Henrik, Emily
Decisions taken:
1. proceed with creating server platform
2. proceed with research for the Budget Roadmap
3. proceed with research for the Deputation Helper
4. defer research on Budget Explorer until #2 and # 3 are done
5. host project on separate website for now (budgetcommons.ca) as a collaboration between Civic Tech Toronto and Better Budget TO
Volunteer work should be organized in chunks that can be completed in short sprints by individuals or small teams
Toronto planning application scraper project
Gabe and Dave / with help from Ian, Alex and Howard
Dave uses the City of Toronto planning application website for his job — he explained how he uses it, its limitations, and the ways he’s found to cope. (Which include making his own map with MapBox, and co-relating the City’s information with what he finds on UrbanToronto.ca, and by talking to people.)
Ian, Alex and Howard provided context based on their experience working with the planning department, in government, in civic education, and in public consultation.
Based on this, we’ve got enough to sketch out some ideas for some applications of the planning data we’re now scraping…