Hurricane Hackathon this Sat 9/23 @ Planet Labs in DC

[Liu, Sophia]

I know this is short notice but...I am organizing a Hurricane Hackathon this Saturday at Planet Labs' new office in DC.

Register to participate in-person or remotely at: http://bit.ly/HurricaneHackathon

Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and now Maria resulted in unprecendented impacts on our Nation, but digital volunteers can also be a powerful force in helping with the response efforts! Come celebrate and participate in the 2017 National Day of Civic Hacking this Saturday, September 23. This national event connects public servants, people with technology skills, graphic designers, journalists, problem solvers, and community organizers to show how government can work in the 21st century when we all build it together. Join this Hack for Change movement to do good during times of crisis.

You don't have to donate money to help save lives. Donate your time and skills to help emergency responders and managers respond to the recent hurricanes. Editing a map, mining social media, and creating data visualizations are also critical resources that can make a difference during disasters. This is an opportunity to learn about existing crowdsourcing efforts after the recent hurricanes as well as contribute and develop new applications to help with the response efforts. The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is interested in learning how crowdsourcing can help with their current and future emergency management efforts. This is an opportunity to show them the power of the crowd.

Representatives from FEMA, U.S. Geological Survey, and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency will kick-off the event and highlight the federal resources publicly available as well as their critical needs. Three projects will be pitched for volunteers to work on at Planet Labs, remotely, as well as after the hackathon.

If you are in the Washington, D.C. area, come to the first ever Hurricane Hackathon at Planet Labs' new office in DC. If you are not in DC or cannot come in person, sign up to volunteer remotely and we will setup a Video Conference and Slack to allow you to participate remotely. All skill levels and backgrounds are welcome, especially technology developers, government employees, graphic designers, journalists, data scientists, non-profit employees, UX designers, and the general public that want to help in response to these recent 2017 hurricanes.

Just bring a laptop! Lunch and snacks will be provided. Happy Hour will follow nearby.

Space is limited so please RSVP if you are confident you will attend to receive more details on accessing the space. If you cannot make it, please unRSVP or register as a Remote Volunteer to stay informed about the projects.

If you have any questions, feel free to email Sophia at soph...@usgs.gov or call/text at 703-261-3057.

Thanks, Sophia

Sophia B. Liu, Ph.D.

Innovation Specialist, Science & Decisions Center, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

Co-Chair of Federal Community of Practice for Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science (CCS)

U.S. Geological Survey National Center

12201 Sunrise Valley Drive

MS 913, ROOM 3A-210

Reston, VA 20192

703-261-3057 (work cell)

sophiabliu (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn)

soph...@usgs.gov