What Happened?
Boston announced the start of its Hubhacks Permitting Challenge that aims to generate new ideas for innovating the city’s online permitting process. Boston is looking to partner with new organizations able to develop a new application programming interface (API) to make public agency operations more efficient and up-to-date.
The Goal
The Hubhacks Permitting hackathon challenge is sponsored by the Boston Department of Innovation and Technology and the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics and is designed to attract tech talent in Boston to contribute ideas for improving the city’s online permitting process. During the event, the city will unveil a new application programming interface (API) and the local tech community will be able to use the platform to create custom applications for city processes, specifically online permitting.
Boston is looking to make it easier for individuals and companies to file for and obtain a license or permit via a citizen-friendly portal. The city processes about 100,000 permit applications annually for more than 40 different types of permits. A more efficient, online application and distribution process will speed things up while reducing costs.
The Hackathon
The event calls upon developers to collaborate on solving a series of challenges seen throughout the city’s permitting process. The final solutions will then be presented on the second day and winners declared. The four challenges include:
- Developing a guide to help applicants identify what permits they need for each project
- Creating a search tool to find addresses in the city’s master database and linking them to each project
- Constructing an online and mobile-friendly application for obtaining basic permits
- Producing a tracking system showing applicants how far along their permits are in the approval process
Winners of the hackathon will be publicly recognized for their innovative ideas and possibly see their solutions turned into reality.
Houston’s Challenge
The city of Houston’s annual hackathon recently awarded $3,250 in prizes to several winning solutions. The Houston hackathon offered developers a more broad challenge for optimizing public agency operations with customized applications and user-friendly mobile platforms. Some of the winning ideas include:
- Houston Comprehensive Plan platform Developers created a collaborative platform to collect stakeholder input for the Houston General Plan to generate ideas more effectively.
- Houston Blighted Properties tool Developers launched a website that provides information on blighted properties throughout Houston and easy access to public records to scope out a neighborhood.
- Houston CultureHunt Developers made a user-friendly, mobile-responsive app that assists residents and visitors in finding cultural activities and opportunities throughout Houston. The map-based app is customizable and scalable for ease of use.
Hackathons are not limited to individual cities or regions. Hack Midwest, for example, is a 24-hour app building competition for both professional developers and college students looking to create solutions to help public sector efficiency. The event provides general guidelines and a few API categories for solutions to target that optimize the latest tech resources while improving community operations.
Everything’s Online
Gov1 has followed several local hackathons, as well as other digital projects that improve public agency efficiency.