St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) August 04, 2015 -- GlobalHack has announced today the project for their first civic-focused hackathon, scheduled for September 11-13. GlobalHack teams will work together with the Civic Tech for Social Impact Collaborative - including St. Louis County, Rise Community Development, and OpenDataSTL - to create technology solutions to make it easier for people to navigate the criminal justice system and resolve their issues faster.
Robin Carnahan, a member of GlobalHack’s advisory board, former Secretary of State for the State of Missouri, said that this was a step in the right direction in improving citizen interaction with government.
“Creating accessible, convenient and fair ways for citizens to interact with the municipal court system is fundamentally important for our community. People are relying on technology more and more in their everyday lives and government needs to do a better job keeping up. Gathering hundreds of smart technologists together to help improve the way our criminal justice systems works will bring tangible benefits to both citizens and law enforcement,” stated Carnahan.
Many St. Louis citizens are calling for more openness in the local court system and equity in the enforcement of fines for small-scale infractions. Since then, entities like the Ferguson Commission and local judges have begun to explore possible reforms. GlobalHack will show how technology can provide transparency, access, and accountability to the local court system.
“Data and technology are powerful tools that, when applied to civic challenges, can make St. Louis neighborhoods work better for residents as well as inform and complement community development activities. We are excited to work with GlobalHack as they focus their expertise on the challenge of creating a more resident-focused justice system,” said Eleanor Tutt with Rise Community Development.
GlobalHack hopes that the solutions developed during these civic hackathons can be implemented not just locally, but nationally as well. “We intend for these projects to impact communities beyond St. Louis,” said Matt Menietti, Executive Director for GlobalHack. “It’s an opportunity to use St. Louis a model for other cities.”
GlobalHack V is set to take place September 11-13 at the @4240 building in the Cortex Innovation District. For details and to register for upcoming GlobalHack events, visit globalhack.org.
About GlobalHack
GlobalHack is building a better tech ecosystem through hackathons. Our events bring together developers, designers, and entrepreneurs to solve real-world, civic-minded problems. GlobalHack is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
About Civic Tech for Social Impact Collaborative
Rise Community Development, OpenDataSTL, and St. Louis County are collaborating with national partners Living Cities, Code for America, and the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership to implement technology solutions to help people navigate the local criminal justice system. The program is supported through a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
CONTACT:
Matt Menietti, Executive Director, GlobalHack
matt(at)globalhack(dot)org
Matt Menietti, GlobalHack, Inc., http://globalhack.org, +1 (314) 896-4225, [email protected]
SOURCE GlobalHack, Inc.
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