Rhode Island programmers, makers to use their skills this weekend for national good

On June 6-7, 2015, designers, entrepreneurs, technologists, government leaders, and other innovators will convene in Providence and Middletown for the first dual-city Rhode Island Hackathon. Linked by a video connection from a concurrent San Francisco, CA Hackathon, the Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer Ed Felten will participate in a coast-to-coast “fireside chat” with hackathon participants at Rhode Island’s new Gigabit Sandbox co-working center.

As part of the National Day of Civic Hacking, the Rhode Island Hackathon will celebrate and foster community collaboration at the intersection of technology and public service. This year’s program will include the development of a “Maker Map” to visualize the Rhode Island network of “makers”—inventors, do-it-yourself tinkerers, and community members who contribute to the innovation ecosystem by designing, building, and sharing their creations.

The event will launch at the Rhode Island State House Rotunda on Saturday June 6th at 10am with invited speakers from government and the private sector, including Chief Digital Officer of the State of Rhode Island, Thom Guertin, members of the Office of the Rhode Island Governor (Deputy Chief of Staff, Kevin Gallagher, and Director of Public Engagement, Gabe Amo), Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Meredith Lee, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Senior Advisor for Making, Stephanie Santoso.

Teams of participants will be invited to curate and create value from publicly-released data, technology, and design processes to improve the community. Over 30 Federal departments and agencies have released new datasets and challenge topics—including everything from a Local Digital Services Census to Real-Time International Travel Data—for hackathon participants to tackle.

Moreover, in support of the upcoming Week of Making hosted by the White House, June 12-18, Rhode Island Hackathon participants will be invited to design and build a digital Maker Map that will be unveiled at the inaugural National Maker Faire in Washington, D.C. Two of the hackathon organizers, Meredith Lee and Brian Jepson, serve on the Board of NationOfMakers.org and the National Maker Faire production team.

Activities in Providence will conclude at 2pm on Saturday June 6th so teams can migrate to the Gigabit Sandbox at NewPORT.WORKS, Tech Plaza 4, 88 Silva Lane, Middletown, where they will leverage gigabit-speed Internet throughout the evening and wrap up their efforts by Sunday 1pm. (See http://RIhackathon.com for the up-to-date schedule).

Policy makers and advisors are invited to attend to observe and help brainstorm ways to grow Rhode Island’s technology-enabled industries. Co-organizer Ryan Kelly of Code Island (http://code-island.org), a Providence-based software interest group affiliated with Code for America, says the hackathon will “showcase the wealth of software talent across the state and make a statement about driving innovation and growing local 21st Century career opportunities in advanced industries.”

The Rhode Island Hackathon aligns local volunteers, entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and business leaders in support of the Governor’s Ocean State WAVE vision of creating jobs where people design and make things by leveraging the Internet. The hackathon will showcase the talents and ideas of local innovators from all levels of experience, generating dialogue and sparking collaboration. By connecting individuals and businesses from Rhode Island with an ever-growing community of civic-minded technologists (over 100 events are slated to occur simultaneously on the National Day of Civic Hacking across America), the hackathon will strengthen Rhode Island’s digital ties to a vibrant network of innovators.

In collaboration with members of the National Maker Faire production team and NationOfMakers.org, the envisioned “final end-product” building upon the Rhode Island Hackathon contributions will be a Nationwide Maker Map that visualizes the maker network (including individuals, businesses, and other institutions) and maps entities in multiple ways, highlighting resources, capabilities, and relationships. Due to Rhode Island’s dense network of connections and manageable size, the state is well-suited to be the first test case for development.

The Maker Map will support and complement the efforts of the state’s makerspaces, hackerspaces, Fab Labs, and other innovation centers such as Tinker|Bristol and AS220 Labs. All are welcome to participate in the hackathon, and expertise in technology is not required. Space is limited and advance registration is desired. Refreshments provided. Additional information is available at www.rihackathon.com and through social media with the hashtags #hackforchange, #RIhacks, #RImakes, and #makermap.

• Register for both events at http://bit.ly/RIHackReg
• Send press requests and other inquiries to info@RIhackathon.com
• Visit the Facebook event page at http://RIHackFB
• Follow the event on Twitter @RIHackathon

Organizers include:

• newPORT.WORKS
• CodeIsland, Rhode Island’s Code for America brigade
• Tinker|Bristol
• Brian Jepson, co-founder of Providence Geeks; co-founder and producer of the Rhode Island Mini Maker Faire; Book Publisher for Make:
• Meredith Lee, AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate; Co-Lead for the White House Innovation for Disaster Response and Recovery Initiative; Founder of the AAAS Big Data Affinity Group
• NationOfMakers.org (co-producers of the National Maker Faire)
• KMRM, LLC
• Rhode Island STEAM Academy

Sponsors include:

• Make:
• TowerStream
• FabNewport
• Tinker|Bristol
• SENEDIA
• Drupal Connect
• Newport County YMCA
• KMRM, LLC
• The Chad Kritzas Team from Keller Williams
• OSHEAN
• AIBPconnect (Aquidneck Island Broadband Project)
• Ocean Technology Center
• RITBA
• Stop & Shop
• Corner Bakery Café
• Newport Storm Brewery