Evolution of Design and Research in Civic Tech by Ryan Koch

We're joined by Amanda Renteria (https://codeforamerica.org/people/amanda-renteria/) CEO of Code for America (https://codeforamerica.org). We dive into a conversation about what's needed to make 'good' government forms and we let you know about a neat event coming up on 9/30/2025 called FormFest(https://formfest.org/). Register for the event here: https://formfest.org/register/ . Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol

We're joined by Brett Ferrin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-ferrin-8504b8346/) VP of Sales at Traffic Logix. Together we have a conversation about how technology and data can be used to proactively improve traffic safety. If you're into data, urban planning, or transportation, this is an episode for you. Resources and Shoutouts: - Traffic Logix: https://trafficlogix.com/ - Vision Zero: https://www.cdc.gov/transportation-safety/vision-zero/index.html Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol

We're talking about experimentation in government services with two experts from Nava Labs, a philanthropically funded part of Nava PBC: Genevieve Gaudet (Director) and Martelle Esposito (Partnerships and Evaluation Manager). Learn about their approach to experimentation, leveraging data, and how they advocate for adoption. Resources and shoutouts - Keep up with the Nava Labs team (make sure to select the "Nava Labs" checkbox): https://www.navapbc.com/nava-newsletter - Nava PBC website: https://www.navapbc.com - Nava Labs’ work, including the AI tools for Caseworkers project: https://www.navapbc.com/labs - AI appropriateness checklist: https://www.navapbc.com/toolkits/ai-public-sector-challenges - Feel free to reach out to the Nava Labs team any time at labs@navapbc.com

We're joined by Ami Yares (https://www.amiyares.com/) songwriter and Executive Director of Build a Bridge (https://buildabridge.org), a non-profit that focuses on transforming lives through art-making, and by Shannon, a User Experience designer with over 20 years experience including time across 3 Federal agencies. We'll talk about their initiative called We the Songwriters (https://www.wethesongwriters.org), which connects federal employees with songwriters to share their stories. Resources and Shoutouts: - Friends of USAID Playlist (https://open.spotify.com/artist/33NtIX8ae3eovd3AQtMEKO?si=S2IhqKRHSFqAA1xKH3Ts8Q&nd=1&dlsi=54817e06c5dd427b) - Song: USAID (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlFaXtVW4VM) Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol

We're joined by Amanda Renteria (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-renteria/), CEO of Code for America to discuss their upcoming Summit event. We'll cover a bit about the event itself, the state of the civic tech ecosystem, and the impact that event could have on the space. Resources and shoutouts - https://codeforamerica.org - https://summit.codeforamerica.org/ Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol

Our host, Ryan Koch, does a breakdown of infinite scrolling. We talk about what this design technique is, why it gets used, and the potential effects it could have on folks using applications. Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol

We're joined by Mike Gifford (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgifford), Open Standards and Practice Lead at CivicActions (https://civicactions.com/). We'll dig deep into what it takes to build accessible web services and why that effort is so important. Resources and Shoutouts: - Accessibility Chapter of the Web Almanac (https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2024/accessibility) Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol

We reach back into the archives to re-release episode 84. In it we were joined by Marina Nitze (https://twitter.com/MarinaNitze) to talk about their book Hack Your Bureaucracy (https://www.hackyourbureaucracy.com/). We discussed tactics you can use to get things done in all sorts of organizational environments. Resources and Shoutouts: - Hack Your Bureaucracy (https://www.hackyourbureaucracy.com/) - Recoding America (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61796680-recoding-america) - Power to the Public (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55421550-power-to-the-public) Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol

We're joined by Sarah Schacht (https://smartercivic.squarespace.com/), Senior Data Fellow at Data Foundation and author of a new report called Innovation Fellowship Career Outcomes. We'll dive in and talk about this report, their research, and the innovation fellowship space. Resources and Shoutouts: - Innovation Fellowship Career Outcomes (https://contact-us-a9fb0e.zapier.app/) Music Credit: - Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol

We're joined by Aure Schrock (https://aschrock.com/), academic editor and writing coach at their company Indelible Voice and author of the book Politics Recoded. We'll talk about the book and their insights on Code for America, a technology forward non-profit in the civic technology space. Resources and Shoutouts: - Politics Recoded https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262549455/politics-recoded/ - Indelible Voice http://indeliblevoice.com/ - Code for America https://codeforamerica.org/ Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol

We're joined by Christopher Whitaker (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwhitaker/), Executive Director of the Alliance of Civic Technologists (ACT) (https://www.civictechnologists.org/) to talk about the organization and it's upcoming membership drive. ACT seeks to fill the vacuum left by the sunsetting of the old Code for America Brigade Network program. We'll talk about how the volunteer space, how they plan to operate in it, and their vision for the future. ### Resources and Shoutouts: - Alliance of Civic Technologists (https://www.civictechnologists.org/join) - ACT Discord (https://discord.gg/EM6ywtMhkP) ##### Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol

We're joined by Brian Whittaker (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bwhtt/) to talk about their work with Humans of Public Service (https://humansofpublicservice.org/). A non-profit that shares the human stories of public servants. Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol

Our host Ryan Koch (https://linkedin.com/in/kochryan) gives a quick briefing about the Crowdstrike outage. We talk about why you should care about it, what happened, as well as a couple of lessons we can take from the event. ### Resources and Shoutouts: - [Cost Estimate](https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/21/business/crowdstrike-outage-cost/index.html) - [What is Crowdstrike?](https://www.theverge.com/2024/7/19/24201864/crowdstrike-outage-explained-microsoft-windows-bsod) - [Why does Crowdstrike have kernel access?](https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366598838/Why-is-CrowdStrike-allowed-to-run-in-the-Windows-kernel) - [Crowdstrike preliminary incident review](https://www.crowdstrike.com/falcon-content-update-remediation-and-guidance-hub/) - [Fix instructions](https://www.tomshardware.com/software/windows/how-to-fix-crowdstrike-bsods-in-three-minutes-fix-requires-manual-changes-but-they-are-simple ) - [Join us on Discord](https://discord.gg/hECzBJh) ##### Music Credit: [Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol](http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monkey_Warhol/Lonely_Hearts_Challenge/Monkey_Warhol_-_Tumbleweeds)

We're joined by Greg Jordan-Detamore (https://www.gregjd.com/) to talk about digital services in operations, how applying civic tech practices happen where resources are constrained, and overcoming differing language choices. Resources and Shoutouts: - Greg's substack (https://civicinsighter.com/) - Recoding America (book) (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61796680-recoding-america) - The Fifth Risk (book) (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46266188-the-fifth-risk?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_14) - The Mindset Mentor (podcast) (https://robdial.com/podcast/) - Slow Boring (blog) (https://www.slowboring.com/)

In this episode, our host Ryan Koch demystifies Generative AI and large language models, discussing their potential, risks, and ethical implications. We confront misinformation, privacy issues, and explore questions around authorship and economic impacts. This episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking a balanced understanding of these pivotal technologies.

We're joined by[Marina Nitze(https://twitter.com/MarinaNitze) to talk about their book Hack Your Bureaucracy(https://www.hackyourbureaucracy.com/). We'll discuss tactics you can use to get things done in all sorts of organizational environments. ### Resources and Shoutouts: - Recoding America (book)(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61796680-recoding-america) - Power to the Public (book)(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55421550-power-to-the-public)

We're pulling one out of the archives to start off 2023! This time we talk discovery sprints! We're joined by Jenn Noinaj (https://www.linkedin.com/in/actuallyjenn/)} and Kathryn Jurick(https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynjurick/), authors of the United States Digital Service guide to discovery sprints. We'll chat about what these are, how they're run, and how they can help. ### Resources and Shoutouts: - USDS Discovery Sprint Guide(https://sprint.usds.gov/)

We are joined by James O'Brien, CX Lead at Seam Social Labs(https://www.seamsociallabs.com/our-team ) for a conversation about community engagement, including chats about inclusion, co-creation, bias, and the power of language. ### Resources and Shoutouts: - Winning on Purpose (book)(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58090620-winning-on-purpose) - Frankenstein (book)(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35031085-frankenstein)

We are joined by Jeremy Hartman(https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyhartman2022/), VP of Venture Forward and Community Engagement at GoDaddy(https://www.godaddy.com/)to talk about accessibility and sustainability on the web. ### Resources and Shoutouts: - The Accidental President (book)(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35106890-the-accidental-president) - Venture Forward(https://www.godaddy.com/ventureforward/) ##### Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol