Editor’s note: Jason Hibbets is NC Open Pass co-chair.

RALEIGH – Organizers and attendees had a great time at Civic Camp this past weekend. The event started last Friday with keynotes about relief efforts for Hurricane Florence, using technology in the classroom, and analyzing data on Gerrymandering. There were two panels, one on open data programs and the other on how Code for America Brigades work with local government.

Friday afternoon saw a variety of topics during the unconference and we capped off the evening with a keynote on AT&T FirstNET and seven lightning talks on a variety of topics for initiatives happening in Chapel Hill, Durham, Garner, and Raleigh,including Durham start-up Green to go.

On Saturday, Civic Campers gathered to work on projects and form teams for the open data competition. Four teams worked on their civic tech projects, many of them forming that day based on interest in the project.

Here are teams that competed in the DataPalooza Kickoff for the 2018 open data competition.

Competitors in Civic Camp

Hurricane relief thru mapping

We are using the Army Corps of Engineer flood map with with county property parcel data and census CDC data to identify properties and people who need assistance.

  • Jim McManus
  • Zhongshuai (Jonathan) Cao
  • Debosmita Das

Open Inventory

This app will allow fire stations to digitally track inventory of their equipment on each fire truck. Currently this inventory tracking is performed with paper and pen. We will utilize open data regarding fire stations by county.

  • Manoj Bharadwaj
  • Frank Jones
  • Jennifer Tawes
  • Leslie Norris

Teamworks

Getting There is a trip planner that allows caregivers to create a multi leg trip with established breaks for rest and food. The page will provide directions and suggest rest areas and restaurants including very details info about accessibility, such as how many stalls and distance from entrance to restroom.

  • Crystal Williams Brown
  • Ferdinando Ramos
  • Jason Streich

NC Clear Path

Sidewalk obstruction map with infrastructure and temporary obstructions with updates for those with accessibility concerns.

  • Melanie Mazanec
  • Leila Alderman
  • Umesh Gupta

And the winner is …

At 3 pm, each team gave a 5-minute pitch to a panel of five judges that included Laura Biediger with Code for Durham, Caroline Harper with Wake County, Eric Marsh with Innovate Durham, Dragana Mendel with Anagard, and Chris Mathews with NC Open Pass Labs. Judges had 3 minutes to ask questions to the teams. Team were judged on the use of open data, impact of the project, the purpose and scalability, and their progress and execution.

Congratulations to NC Clear Path. They were declared the winner by the judges and won the $1,000 cash prize for best effort from the day. The judges recommended that NC Clear Path join forces with team Teamworks as their were similar parts to their projects where both aspects could be useful for the intended customers.

What’s next?

Friday, October 12 at 5 pm is the deadline to submit your team information to pitch at the All Things Open conference for one of DataPalooza three finalists spots. The finalists will then compete for the $5,000 grand prize at the DataPalooza Finale on November 8, 2018. Registration for DataPalooza is open. Receive a $10 discount if you register before October 31, 2018 using the Early Bird ticket type.