fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Conveying a Message: The Importance of Communication
By: Mina Narayanan
Tags: Coding It Forward, Civic Digital Fellowship, Civic Tech, Communication, Government

2020 Civic Digital Fellow Mina Narayanan

“It’s not what you say, but how you say it.”

We’ve heard this phrase time and time again, perhaps in our early years when being scolded at school or receiving feedback on an essay draft. The proverb certainly holds some truth. How we convey a message — via email, card, text message, PowerPoint, or face-to-face — is a critical component of communication. Exclaiming “This is a crazy idea!” can be interpreted quite differently if the message is stated severely or delivered with a grin and an upbeat tone. I would argue that the content of a message, however, is just as important as the way it is delivered.

I completed my first year as a Public Policy and Management Master’s student at Carnegie Mellon University in the spring of 2020. By the time summer rolled around, my training had prepared me to deliver important information in a straightforward, condensed format. In fact, technically-savvy readers will be delighted to learn that much of policy work is not unlike designing an algorithm. Policy writing, for example, tends to have an unambiguous, clear structure and contains recommendations or steps to achieve an objective. Rigorous practice in structuring my thought through writing, in addition to my software engineering training as an undergraduate at Auburn University, prepared me for what would be a summer of many firsts as a Civic Digital Fellow.

I would be remiss if I did not first acknowledge the unprecedented circumstances of the summer. The COVID-19 pandemic required the Coding it Forward team to move the summer Fellowship entirely online. What would have been in-person work and social gatherings were refactored into Zoom meetings and Slack channels. The virtual format of the Fellowship required all of us to rely more heavily on written communication and be more conscious about crafting readable code.

As a Civic Digital Fellow at the National Institutes of Health, I conducted data analyses for the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). I was tasked to identify the topics of NINR research grant applications and determine how those topics changed over time. My team also wished to compare the topics of grants from NINR to those of other institutes. Topic modeling is a fairly easy concept to explain at a high level to a lay audience — it is a technique that discerns meaningful groups of words from text data. Understanding the design and implementation of a topic modeling algorithm such as Latent Dirichlet Allocation, however, requires knowledge of computer science, statistics, and probability. Therefore, a large portion of my work consisted of weekly PowerPoint presentations and daily rundowns where I explained how visualizations were created in R and interpreted the results of topic modeling algorithms.
Inside the second DataFest Kampala
Tags: Data Science, Data Visualization, Uganda, Civictech, Data

We had to take a year-long hiatus as a result of the pandemic in 2020, so you can understand our excitement in putting together this year’s edition of Data Fest! It was a smashing success, and here’s everything that you need to know about what went down during the 2021 DataFestKampala event that happened on 29 and 30 April 2021.



For the first time ever, we held DataFest Kampala as a hybrid event; in the spirit of adhering to COVID-19 prevention guidelines by keeping physical attendee numbers low and allowing people to participate virtually through Zoom. We also cast a wider net in terms of locations for this year; we were active at a total of 6 locations during the course of the two-day event, with the primary location being MoTIV in Bugolobi, and satellite locations including the SafeBoda Academy in Kyebando, Laboremus offices in Bugolobi, and RAN Africa offices in Kololo.

The turnout was amazing and almost overwhelming! We had more than 120 people show up at MoTIV and other locations, while more than 300 of you participated virtually.



The theme of the event was “Living with Data” and the focus was on examining the role data plays in every aspect of our daily lives. Unmissable interaction with data in our day-to-day means that the importance of learning how to leverage that interaction for a better human experience cannot be overstated. From the private sector to public governmental organizations, from entertainment to healthcare, data holds the answers to how to make our lives better.

We kicked off with a plenary address from Neema Iyer, the Executive Director of Pollicy, the organizers of DataFest, highlighting the work of Pollicy in the areas of data and tech, specifically data feminism, skills development by training and mentoring young people into the data science space. She recommended that such topics take center stage in the conversation.
Join our growing team at Massachusetts Digital Service
By: Bryan Hirsch
Tags: UX Research, Product Management, Civictech, Govtech, UX Design

Join our growing team at Massachusetts Digital Service Bryan Hirsch Follow May 19 · 2 min read

Today, more than 80% of people’s interactions with government take place online. Whether it’s starting a business or filing for unemployment, too many of these experiences are slow, confusing, or frustrating. That’s why the Commonwealth created Massachusetts Digital Service (Mass Digital) in the Executive Office of Technology and Security Services. Mass Digital is at the forefront of the state’s digital transformation. Its mission is to leverage the best technology and information available to make people’s interactions with state government fast, easy, and wicked awesome. There’s a lot of work to do, but we’re making quick progress.

Mass Digital worked with the new Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) to launch the Commonwealth’s first digitally native service: Paid Family and Medical Leave and PaidLeave.mass.gov. We’ve been on the front lines of the pandemic response, supporting the Department of Unemployment Assistance to create capabilities for multilingual unemployment claims (Unemployment.mass.gov) and doing content design to keep up with rapidly evolving pandemic unemployment benefits, and supporting the Department of Public Health and Command Center to launch the state’s vaccine preregistration system (VaccineSignUp.mass.gov).

If you want to work in a fast-paced agile environment, with a good work life balance, solving hard problems, working with cutting-edge technology, and making a difference in people’s lives, you should join Massachusetts Digital Service.

We are currently recruiting designers, researchers, and product managers. Here are links to open job postings:

If you are interested in working with us, please submit your resume here.

Check out more about hiring at the Executive Office of Technology and Security Services and submit your resume in order to be informed on roles as they become available.
Barbells, Fractals & Memelords: Scaling Strategies for Ethical Action
By: Daniel Mcnichol
Tags: Data Science, R, Complexity, Civictech, Social Justice

We can see some of the respective attributes of each of these graph models mentioned above, but let’s quantify them with some summary statistics.

A look at the initial resource distribution, which is identical for all graphs:

as.list(graph_er)$nodes$resources %>% summary() # Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max.

# 1.25 49.45 118.77 540.64 320.69 19337.38 as.list(graph_er)$nodes %>% as_tibble() %>%

ggplot() + geom_histogram(aes(resources), binwidth = 100) +

theme_minimal()

We see the steep lognormal decay with a median value of 119 & sparse outliers up to nearly 20k (hi elon).

Let’s zoom in a bit & plot the smoothed density to get a better view, along with a ‘precarity threshold’ below which nodes will be considered endangered:

We can also see the degree distributions of our graphs (i.e. the number of ‘edges’ or connections between nodes), which vary as described above. We’ll also include counts of total edges as well as ‘cliques’, or groups of mutually-connected nodes. These are all basic indicators of the connectedness of a graph.

Here we see the skewed, fat tailed power law distribution of the BA graph, & the more symmetrical Poisson distributions of the other graphs (but with considerably different spread & kurtosis). Later we’ll see how these differences in the ‘connectedness’ of nodes (& total number of edges) affects transactions throughout the network & overall system dynamics.

And a quick look at the distribution of edge weights, which we’ll use to indicate the ‘strength’ of relationships between nodes.

Although the number of edges & degree distributions vary across graphs, the edge weight distributions are consistent, as we defined them all as normal distributions:

as.list(graph_er)$edges$edge_weight %>% summary()

# Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max.

# 0.0000 0.3637 0.4661 0.4681 0.5697 1.0000 # plot edge weight histogram & density

as.list(graph_er)$edges %>% as_tibble() %>%

ggplot(aes(edge_weight)) + geom_histogram(aes(y=..density..), binwidth = .03) +

geom_density(aes(y=..density..)) +

theme_minimal()

Ok, I’m happy with my little model graphworlds, ready to run some simulations
Introducing the 2021 Civic Innovation Corps members
By: Ariana Ophelia Soto
Tags: Coding It Forward, Internships, Civic Innovation Corps, Civictech, Local Government

Introducing the 2021 Civic Innovation Corps members

This week marks the start of the 2021 Civic Innovation Corps! 55 Corps members kicked off the summer on June 14th and will spend the next 10 weeks using their data and technology skills to make government more effective and efficient for all.

The 2021 Civic Innovation Corps marks our inaugural cohort of data scientists, designers, product managers, and software engineers stepping into city and state governments across the country. Several of our team members got our start in state and city governments and have long understood the importance they play in delivering critical services. We’re thrilled to be providing our first cohort of young technologists with similar opportunities.

Corps members will spend the next ten weeks in three states and six cities across the country working on a variety of projects, including several related to COVID-19 recovery. Their summer of service comes at a time when, now, more than ever, we need their skills and we’re grateful for their willingness to serve.

Introducing the 2021 Cohort

55 Civic Innovation Corps members are joining us this summer. Our Corps members reflect the people they will be serving this summer in their diversity of backgrounds and experiences. Our inaugural cohort:

Reflects the diversity of technologists , with a majority of Corps members being women and people of color.

, with a majority of Corps members being women and people of color. Resides in 16 states across the country , from Maryland to Texas, California to Georgia, and Rhode Island to Ohio.

, from Maryland to Texas, California to Georgia, and Rhode Island to Ohio. Holds educational backgrounds from 39 schools and programs , from boot camps and small liberal arts colleges; to certificate programs and large research institutions.

, from boot camps and small liberal arts colleges; to certificate programs and large research institutions. Displays a variety of hobbies and interests, including silent filmmaking, motorcycling, traveling, game designing, bicycling, synchronized swimming, running, figure skating, and much more.

Host Offices

We are so excited to see what this inaugural cohort of Corps members will create, code, design, and build over the next ten weeks. This program would not be possible without our host offices who have joined us in providing opportunities for young technologists to serve with their skills. We would like to thank our partner host offices for making this inaugural summer possible:

As the summer gets underway, we’ll be sharing what our 2021 Civic Innovation Corps members are looking forward to. Keep an eye out for future blogs and be sure to follow us on Medium and Twitter so you don’t miss these introductions.
Working in the Open: May 27–31, 2019
By: Jason Farra
Tags: How We Work, Weeknotes, Civictech

One of Code for Canada’s principles is to operate in public. These regular blog posts put that value into practice, giving readers a window into what we’re doing — and how we do it.

There was a great turnout at our Global Civic Tech Salon on May 28, held in partnership with Civic Tech Ottawa, Impact Hub and the Open Government Partnership Summit.

Welcome to our #weeknotes! Here’s Code for Canada’s Rose, Bud and Thorn for the week of May 27–31, 2019.

🌹 Rose: The Code for Canada team was in Ottawa for the 6th Open Government Partnership Global Summit this week. While we were there, we hosted a Global Civic Tech Salon, where practitioners from around the world (we hosted lightning talks by folks from Brazil, Taiwan, Germany and Morocco) shared examples of what civic tech looks like on the ground in different jurisdictions. We were thrilled by the turnout; over 100 people showed up to hear from our speakers, meet new people and snack on some poutine ahead of the OGP Summit. We were also struck by the sheer diversity of work on display. Civic tech is a big and wonderful tent, where disparate projects like a board games about women’s rights, an open database of government contracts, or a chatbot that fights fake news can all share the stage and learn from one another!

You can recap all the amazing presentations from our Global Civic Tech Salon!

🌱 Bud: We officially welcomed our third cohort of Code for Canada fellows on Monday! They’ll be in town for four weeks of onboarding — a combination of instruction from experts, panel discussions, facilitated workshops, and hands-on sprints to help them make the most of their fellowship and prepare them for working in government. It will be a busy — but exciting — few weeks, after which they’ll join our government partners across the country and get to work. Onboarding is a particularly ‘bud-y’ exercise for us, as each new cohort is an opportunity to implement learnings from onboardings past, and generate new learnings about how we can best prepare the teams for success.

📌 Thorn: We’ve started using Civic Hall Toronto’s new collaboration space at CSI Spadina for events, as co-working space, and most recently, for our fellowship onboarding sessions. However, with one of Civic Hall Toronto’s member events this week, the space felt a bit cramped even though we only had a moderately sized group of attendees. We struggled to find the best way to fit everyone in while still providing room for people to engage in small group discussions. We need to do a bit more thinking and planning on which room layouts make the most sense for the different types and sizes of events. Although we’ve had the space for nearly two months and have set it up with furniture, fully growing into a new space is a process that takes time (and work!).
Showcase 2019: Delivering digital at a national scale with Daniel Tse
By: Luke Simcoe
Tags: Showcase, Code For Canada, Digital Government, Civictech

The Code for Canada Showcase is a celebration of civic tech in Canada. What does civic tech mean to you?

We’re in an age where it’s no longer a question of “can technology do this?” Today, more and more, what we have is technology in search of problems. Civic tech is an opportunity to find real problems and solve them with technology in an inclusive manner.

How does the theme of civic tech or the values of the civic tech movement relate to your work?

Something I’ve learned at the Canadian Digital Service is that two heads are better than one. One of the things our team embraced while working with Veterans Affairs Canada was to pair up developers and non-developers to build things together. This not only helped build a more inclusive product, but helped the team develop more empathy for each other. At its core, civic tech brings people (both tech and non-tech) together to solve problems.

What’s unique about civic tech and digital government in Canada? Are there unique opportunities? Unique challenges?

Canada is geographically large and comes with a huge diversity of cultures, which can be a challenge or an opportunity when you’re developing products and services intended to be accessible for all Canadians from your first release. Typically, in startups or private industry you’re told to niche down, pick a really small, tiny slice of your target market. In the government your niche automatically starts with two languages and accessibility requirements. So, you can view the Official Languages Act and accessibility as a challenge — but I like to view it as a call to action and an opportunity to be inclusive from the start.

“You can view the Official Languages Act and accessibility as a challenge — but I like to view it as a call to action and an opportunity to be inclusive from the start.”

The Showcase brings together public servants, entrepreneurs, community organizers and residents under the banner of civic tech. From your perspective, why is it important to get people from across sectors in the same room?

If we believe modern day problems require modern day solutions, then inclusive problems require inclusive teams. We cannot continue to solve things in isolation. The risk of focusing on the wrong thing, or repeating the same mistakes increases exponentially when we don’t work as an inclusive team.

What are you most excited about for the Showcase this year?

As a former fellow, I’m looking forward to seeing how the momentum is building. It’s so interesting to see how some of the challenges that we faced as the inaugural fellows are now solved on day one for today’s fellows. I’m also just really excited to see the creative things they’ve built to address new and different public service challenges.
Showcase 2019: Civic tech and civic engagement with Laura Wesley
By: Luke Simcoe
Tags: Civic Engagement, Civictech, Code For Canada, Digital Government, Showcase

The Code for Canada Showcase is a celebration of civic tech in Canada. What does civic tech mean to you?

Civic tech is a new way of being a citizen. A new way of working across sectors. Specifically, it sees us working together to apply our tech capabilities and capacity wherever it resides for public good.

How does the theme of civic tech or the values of the civic tech movement relate to your work?

For me, connecting civic techies with public engagement processes could result in amazing collaborations. The potential to involve citizens in the crafting of processes, content and platforms could advance the way we work together for the public good.

Both efforts have, as one potential outcome, working together across sectors to bring about the kind of society we want to live in. That’s how the theme of civic tech relates to my work.

What’s unique about civic tech and digital government in Canada? Are there unique opportunities? Unique challenges?

Perhaps not unique, however there are specific characteristics that define the Canadian context. We are in transition from an economy that is based on natural resources to an economy rooted in human capabilities. The future of work must optimize the skills, vision, resourcefulness and creativity of the diverse populations who live here.

An opportunity is also emerging as building nation-to-nation relationships with Indigenous peoples catalyzes transformational change within an existing three-tiered Federation.

The Showcase brings together public servants, entrepreneurs, community organizers and residents. From your perspective, why is it important to get people from across sectors in the same room?

Because no one authority can bring about the massive shifts we need to realize in a short timeframe to become more in balance with ourselves, each other, and the Earth.

What are you most excited about for the Showcase this year?

Challenging myself to walk the talk.
“Engage Hudson 2.0” Launches in Ohio
By: Fahoum Fahoum
Tags: Partner Launch, Civictech, Civic Engagement, Government, Govtec

The City of Hudson, Ohio launched the newly redesigned “Engage Hudson 2.0” service, which is powered by SeeClickFix. City officials partnered with SeeClickFix to make it easier for citizens to request non-emergency improvements, and for city staff to take action.

According to Assistant City Manager for Operations, Frank Comeriato, Hudson’s information technology team is always on the lookout for innovative, user-friendly technologies for the city. “SeeClickFix is easy, flexible, and offers both photo and video features that better inform local government staff,” said Comeriato.

Officials say they are especially excited about SeeClickFix’s ability to geocode requests, which will save the city time when crews are out searching for issues that need fixing. After all, potholes don’t have addresses.

“Hudson residents deserve prompt, high-quality service,” said Comeriato. “The new app will ensure that all resident concerns are routed to the appropriate service department and addressed as efficiently as possible.”

SeeClickFix is now integrated with Hudson’s internal work order management system, Dude Solutions Asset Essentials. It will allow SeeClickFix to serve as the public-facing tool, channeling requests directly into the city’s existing workflow.

Hudson and SeeClickFix share a passion for continuous technological improvement. “We can see that SeeClickFix is as forward-looking as we are, so we can rely on the solution to adapt to residents’ needs in the future,” said Comeriato.

Engage Hudson is available for iOS and Android devices, and can also be accessed via the city’s website.
Why We Serve: Amy Quispe
By: U.S. Digital Service
Tags: Interview, Government, Engineering, Civictech

Why We Serve: Amy Quispe

In this series you’ll hear stories from USDSers and learn why they decided to join, why they stay, and how their work is making an impact for all Americans. U.S. Digital Service Follow Feb 23 · 3 min read

Amy Quispe (she/ella), Engineer @ USDS HQ. Previously at Facebook. From Corona, Queens.

What’s your background?

I usually describe my career as “very Silicon Valley” — I’ve been at both large and small tech companies in San Francisco and New York City. I started programming as a kid, thanks to my middle school math teacher. I was lucky enough to go to Stuyvesant High School, which had an extensive computer science curriculum, and then attended college at Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science. Despite being a lifelong nerd, I was not a stereotypical programmer, especially as a Latina from Queens — but being different has always been a strength of mine.

What inspired you to join USDS?

I remember hearing the story of Healthcare.gov back in the day. And when I was working at Google — this must have been 2014 or 2015 — Mikey Dickerson came to speak, and I remember being deeply inspired about this kind of work. There’s a lot of discourse in the tech world about impact at startups vs. large companies, but the kind of work USDS was doing? No competition. I almost joined twice in the last few years, but the stars never quite aligned. Then, the pandemic hit, and I knew it was time.

Now more than ever, it was imperative that government services work, and I had both the drive and the skills to help.

How has your experience been starting fully remote?

I started in May 2020, and it was a really rough start. USDS throws you in the deep end, and when you’re trying to connect to VPN and haven’t met anyone in person, the deep end gets just a bit deeper. That being said, it’s been about nine months and we’ve all had to adjust to working remotely, and many more people have on-boarded remotely after me. Learning how to be effective in this environment has also given me the opportunity to help shape the culture.

What are you working on right now and how does it help people?

One of the best things about working here is having clarity about how you’re helping people is a pre-requisite for any project. Before I joined, I was helping friends and family deal with navigating unemployment. Then I joined USDS and suddenly I was helping fix the very same systems that people I knew were relying on. Currently I’m working on a project related to vaccines, and I’m similarly excited to be fixing the problems in my immediate world. Technology allows you to scale. When I use technology to fix a problem in my life, I can simultaneously solve the same problem for the entire country.
2021 is the year of civic tech!
By: Colorado Digital Service
Tags: Engineering, Digital, Public Interest Tech, Civictech, Digital Service

With strong technology talent within the Colorado Office of Information Technology (OIT) and vendor teams, it has been argued that experiments like the digital service aren’t necessary. This year has proven that it takes a village to deliver great services to Coloradans — from state agency delivery teams with strong product, UX, and engineering talent to collaborating with other states and working with volunteer tech corps like the US Digital Response.

We’ve also seen firsthand the impact of “software is eating government” (a remix of the phrase coined by Marc Andreessen, the founder of Netscape). Software has begun to permeate every aspect of our lives and is fundamentally changing business models. We cannot afford to ignore technology as we deliver government services.

It used to be that an expert in public health or Medicaid or criminal justice could run a program that delivered a service to residents. Now, this program needs a website, which requires a login, Google Analytics, and security that prevents ransomware attacks. That service needs a strategy set by a product owner and must meet the needs of the people it serves. The team is being asked about APIs and data-driven decisions. They are reading articles about machine learning and ethics and wondering how to apply it to their program.

As software continues to eat government, there’s a strong need for technology talent at every level and in every agency.

As anyone in civic tech will tell you, delivering on agency projects is just one piece of the puzzle. We want to help rethink how the government buys digital services and bring top tech talent into civic service. And we want to create momentum in unique ways that complement all of the great work Colorado is doing.

After a little more than a year, the digital service remains a small but mighty, multidisciplinary team that combines procurement, product, user experience, and engineering. But we’ve also managed to build a superpower that helps us scale — an incredibly strong civic tech network of policy wonks, full-stack developers, bureaucracy hackers, UX designers, DevSecOps engineers, and more from New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, Florida, New York, etc. by working closely with the U.S. Digital Service, 18F, and with volunteer teams like the Citizen Software Engineers, Code for America, and the U.S. Digital Response. We’re all working on solving the same problems and the national civic tech network continues to open doors for us and accelerate our thinking.
Meet the Team: Summer 2019
By: U.S. Digital Service
Tags: Team And Culture, Engineering, Civictech, Design, Government

Meet the Team: Summer 2019

Sparkle Williams Capps (she/her), Strategic Operations/Department of Homeland Security,

Previously at BetterUp, from San Francisco, CA

In both my career and personal life, I’ve always been driven by looking for places where the work I do will have a tangible impact and make a difference in the lives of others. I have had the privilege to work in research in engineering and neurology at VA, impacting the lives of our Veterans. Prior to USDS I also led user-focused product work reaching millions at Facebook, and developed infrastructure programs at BetterUp.

Despite those amazing experiences, I leaped at the opportunity to join the U.S. Digital Service at DHS. It is some of the most challenging work I’ve ever done, and I am keenly aware the work we are doing has a significant impact on real people. It’s important we get it right!

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Not following through with commitments.

What is your current state of mind?

Thanks to a quick vacation, I’m both relaxed and focused!

What is your greatest extravagance?

My (almost) daily trips to Target. Sometimes you just don’t know what you need until you get there!
Job: Senior Director of Application Development @ NYC Planning [Filled: 1/13/20]
By: Jonathan Pichot
Tags: NYC, Digital Transformation, Civictech, Jobs, Engineering Management

Job: Senior Director of Application Development @ NYC Planning [Filled: 1/13/20]

In a nutshell

NYC Planning is hiring an Engineering Manager to lead the modernization of digital product development throughout our various application development teams. This new and exciting position at NYC Planning will help our agency build digital services at scale.

As the Senior Director, you will own our portfolio of digital products implemented in a number of technologies. You’ll establish a department-wide strategy and roadmap for building impactful digital products, modernizing legacy systems, and streamlining integrations. You’ll also set the vision of how to continue the transformation of development practices and enable your cross-disciplinary teams of product managers, developers, and designers to deliver high-quality digital products and services.

You’ll report to NYC Planning’s Chief Information Officer and routinely interface with executives at the agency, NYC Cyber Command, DoITT, and other key parties in the City.
Introducing the first Code for Canada fellowship projects for 2020
By: Luke Simcoe
Tags: Civictech, Government, Code For Canada, Fellowship, What We Do

2020 Fellowship Challenges

Our 2020 government partners are excited to embrace new ways of working so they can deliver better products, services and experiences to their users. They’re also looking forward to meeting the fellows and digging in to some pretty cool projects.

Measurement Canada

From self-serve checkouts to zero-emission vehicles, the marketplace of measurement is rapidly changing. Fellows at Measurement Canada will help the agency adapt to this new landscape by designing tools that enable inspectors to better collaborate with clients and consumers, and easily ensure devices like gas pumps and electrical meters are accurate. Their work will help maintain the trust and fairness that so many of our commercial transactions depend on.

Transport Canada — Marine Safety

The seafarers who work on Canada’s marine vessels are part of an industry that moves 90 per cent of all trade goods. Transport Canada is responsible for ensuring crews on those vessels are properly trained, and the department processes some 27,000 seafarer certificates each year. Fellows working with the Marine Safety unit will transform the in-person, pen and paper certification process into a simple and secure digital experience. The marine industry relies on experienced seafarers, and fellows’ efforts will help them ship out more easily, quickly and safely.

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Rural Affairs

Ontario farmers contribute nearly $40 billion to the provincial economy every year and put food on tables across Canada. Fellows at Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs will support growers by making data about pests and other crop threats more integrated, accessible and actionable. Their work will help farmers protect their crops, their businesses, and the environment. This project is funded in part through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.

Transport Canada — Intermodal Surface Security & Emergency Preparedness

Every Canadian who works at a marine port or airport — from baggage handlers to pilots and service providers — must apply for and receive a security clearance. Fellows working with Transport Canada’s Intermodal Surface Security and Emergency Preparedness team will help adapt this process for the digital age. Their work will improve the experience for workers, reduce costly delays, and support the security of our national transportation network.
Nava PBC awarded contract to improve MyMedicare.gov
By: Nava Pbc
Tags: Civictech, Jobs, Government, Govtech, Technology

Using a human-centered approach, Nava PBC is building a modern digital experience for Medicare beneficiaries so they can make better decisions about their care. Illustration by Brian Rea.

Nava Public Benefit Corporation is part of the team that’s been awarded a three-year, $15.8M contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for the Medicare Authenticated Experience (MAX) to support CMS’s ambitious goal to improve the quality of care in our healthcare system.

In partnership with Oddball Inc and CMS’s Web and Emerging Technologies Group, we are redesigning the MyMedicare.gov website to provide a more personalized and seamless experience for more than 45 million Medicare beneficiaries.

With a human-centered approach, we’re building a modern digital experience for Medicare beneficiaries so they can make better informed decisions about their care. As a public benefit corporation, this is the work Nava PBC was founded to take on — designing services that will be lasting, accessible, and truly helpful to the people who need them.

We got our start during the HealthCare.gov rescue and have since partnered with CMS on a variety of projects. Most recently, we helped modernize how Medicare pays doctors by moving systems and services from costly data centers to the cloud. We’ve also worked with government agencies like the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the State of Vermont to address some of our nation’s toughest challenges with human-centered design and research, best-in-class engineering, and product management.

Together with our government partners, we’ve scaled infrastructure for programs that process hundreds of billions of dollars each year and simplified administrative processes to redirect decades of labor towards higher value efforts. As we outlined in our public benefit report, the programs we’ve worked on provide critical government services to over a quarter of the population of the United States. Now, we’re bringing that expertise to make MyMedicare.gov simple, effective, and accessible for 45 million people.

We’re hiring

Nava PBC works holistically across engineering, research, design, and operations to positively transform how people experience government. Browse our open roles:
TOP 10 BASIC RULES OF COLUMN DESIGN — DON’T FORGET BASIC RULES OF COLUMN
By: Elakki Elakki
Tags: Structural Engineering, Civil Engineering, Civictech, Civil, Civil Rights

10 BASIC RULES OF COLUMN DESIGN

COLUMN DESIGN

Hello Friends…..,

welcome to civil Scholar Blog…..,

Today I will discuss the very important topic related with RCC column and the topic is never forget 10 basic rules for design of column.

Guys, if you can design of RCC column for one story for two story for three story or for any story.

So, it’s okay but before starting design of RCC column you should know this standard and basic rules of column.

What are the ten basic rules before starting design of RCC column so you

should know the basic rules so in this Article I will discuss ten basic rules.

Let’s start guys…..,

First one is you know guys, we have square columns specially and rectangular column. so, I will tell you guys choose square column.

Why choose square column so choose square column for AXIAL LOAD, when the compression load comes on the center of the columns which whose square column in this case, you can choose square column.

Nowadays, The second rule is choose a rectangular column in which case for

Eccentric Axial load. when the load comes on the eccentric point.

A eccentric point means without center okay, when the load comes on the any point but not at the center of the column.

The second basic point means this is length should be greater than width

of the column okay.

Where you can select square column and where you can select

rectangular column.

Rectangular column, when load not comes on the center of the column and square column when the load comes on the center okay. so this is

second basic rule.

Now there is the third rule of our RCC column is Spacing of ties this is standard okay, spacing of ties should be between 100 to 200 mm.

Fourth basic rule is diameter of longitudinal bar should be between 12 to 22 mm okay.

Fifth basic rule of design of column is concrete cover from the Center of steel to exterior point should be 25 mm are more.

More mean 25 to 40 mm you can keep this is the standard but specially 25 is okay.

But here this one not from the center it should be not less than 15 mm.

Sixth one use minimum M20 grade concrete in column and ratio is (1:1.5:3)

Here 1 is cement, 1.5 is sand, 3 is aggregate.

Seventh one is longitudinal bar should be bend Duck leg.

Eighth one is use 4 numbers steel bars square are rectangular column okay.

Use minimum four numbers of longitudinal bars and square OR rectangular column okay.

Ninth one is 16 times of the diameter of main.

Tenth basic rules is top and bottom area of column should be

same. its top and bottom should be area okay so the area should

be same.

These are the important basic rules for design of column which can help you during design of RCC columns so therefore guys you should not forget these basic rules…,

Thanks for read my Article…..,

Goodbye…!!
Apply These 5 Secret Techniques To Improve Basics Of Bar Bending Schedule..
By: Elakki Elakki
Tags: Civi, Civic Engagement, Civictech, Civil, Civil Rights

BASICS OF BAR BENDING SCHEDULE

BAR BENDING SCHEDULE

Hai friends….,

Today in this Article i am going to discuss about bar bending schedule basics.

These bar bending schedule basics are very important for every civil engineer

but especially for quantity surveyor which are working on construction site.

so, let’s start……,

The first one is many student they are asking what’s the standard length of steel bar so that’s 12 meter OR 40 feet .

The second one is,

Weight of steel bar 1 meter = (D)2/162

Therefore length 1m and diameter 10mm = (10)2/162x1

Weight of steel bar 1 meter = 0.61kg.

For 12 meter length of steel,10 meter diameter

Weight of steel bar 12 meter = (10)2/162x12

=7.40kg

The Third one is,

Density of steel bar = 7850 kg per meter cube.

The Fourth one is,

BAR BENDING

Hook length, hook length we can find with the formula is = 9D

where D is diameter of steel.

Total length of stirrup = L + 2 (9D).

The Fifth one is,

BAR BENDING SCHEDULE

Bend length for column = 16D

D is diameter of longitudinal bars and column. if diameter is 12 millimeter so it will give us 16 multiply 12 right. So it will give us lengths of bend for RCC column.

So these are some useful tips especially for bar bending schedule basics so if you have any question about this so you must command I will try to replace your answer.

Thanks for read my article..,

Goodbye..!!
Meet the Team🇺🇸🌸🐇 Spring 2020
By: U.S. Digital Service
Tags: Team And Culture, Engineering, Civictech, Design, Government

Zack Abbott (he/ him), Talent Operations, USDS HQ. Previously General Dynamics IT. From Rockville, MD.

The last seven and a half years I was employed by GDIT supporting several government contracts and working my way up the ladder until I landed a spot as a HR Specialist for the last year and a half. I served in many administrative roles prior to that, but found my calling when I stepped into the HR role. I thoroughly enjoy working with people, helping them be successful in their professional roles, and ensuring they are taken care of in their personal lives as well.

I joined USDS to do the same. As a member of the talent team, I’m working to bring on great people to support our mission and also ensure they have everything they need to be successful.

Which talent would you most like to have?

I wish I was a gifted musician. As much as I love sports and anything of the like, I always wish I was musically inclined. I’ve been an athlete my entire life, but I can’t live without music. I have tried my take at the electronic aspect of music, but could still use the basic knowledge of chords, notes, etc. to help guide my musical interests.

What is your motto?

I look at life two ways, “stuff happens,” and “always smile and laugh.” I’ve pretty much built who I am around those two things and have found solace in knowing that I can’t control most things in life, but I can control who I am and how I react. The glass is always half full for this guy, no matter what the situation is; always looking at things from a positive/optimistic perspective and making light out of whatever the situation is.

When and where were you happiest?

It’s not a matter of when and where, because I’m always happy. There may be bad days, but even on those bad days I tend to find something positive out of them. If I were to describe what makes me happiest, it’s spending time with my friends and family, having a nice cold beer and just laughing. Laughing is my favorite thing in the world, that and my dog and wife (the cat’s cool too). Also love baseball and live music. Go Nationals, rock & roll, hip hop, and EDM (more so house music currently).
Getting the Most Out of Design Research
By: Evagelia, Emily
Tags: Human Centered Design, Civictech, UX, Foster Care, UX Design

The team adapted a great deal, and doing so unlocked significant insights. Their ability to stay focused on the goal but adjust their approach in flight enabled them to learn from their interviewees, go deep on their experiences, and uncover unspoken motivations and beliefs.

A perfect example of this was the team’s plan for recruitment. Originally, they planned to “snowball” (that’s when you interview one person and they introduce you to others) their way into interviewing youth’s supportive adults. But they quickly realized that young people didn’t *want* to introduce the people closest to them. While that required a new plan for interview outreach, it was also an insight in and of itself — youth were so protective of their close, trusted relationships that they refused to introduce them to the system. It was a transformative insight and completely changed how they thought about the problem space.

In another example, the team needed to reframe workshop scenarios and questions in order to get participants to talk about what would best support them in their transition out of foster care in a way that didn’t just mimic how they were repeatedly told by the system to think about that transition. To do so, the team tasked them to list out the hopes and fears they have about growing up, then imagine the app that could alleviate those fears and make their hopes come true. This meant focusing on their strengths and resilience, and getting beyond the stories of loss and hardship that often define them. Something as simple as imagining an app can help make children’s dreams feel more realistic.
Working in the Open: April 29–May 10, 2019
By: Luke Simcoe
Tags: How We Work, Working In The Open, Weeknotes, Civictech

One of Code for Canada’s principles is to operate in public. These regular blog posts put that value into practice, giving readers a window into what we’re doing — and how we do it.

Code for Canada fellows, including (from left) Andee, Jen and Fatima delivered a presentation at the Canadian Digital Service’s regular ‘Show the Thing’ meeting on May 9, 2019.

Welcome to our #weeknotes! Here’s Code for Canada’s Rose, Bud and Thorn for the weeks of April 29–May 10, 2019.

🌹 Rose: Civic Hall Toronto turned one on May 10! 🎂 We want to take a moment and acknowledge all the wins and learnings from CHT’s first year, as well as the incredible work that our staff — especially Shea — and our members have put in to make the program not just a reality, but a success. Here’s a quick ‘by the numbers:’ In the past year, Civic Hall Toronto has signed up 13 government members, hosted 30 events (including 12 training workshops attended by over 200 people), and helped members deliver on seven impactful civic innovation projects. It’s been quite a year, and we look forward to building on our successes and putting some of our learnings into practice for year two.

And because we can’t resist a meta Working in the Open rose, we also wanted to shout out our in-flight fellows for being working in the open champions these past few weeks. Separately and together, they’ve written about bringing modern tech tools into government, presented at the Canadian Digital Service’s ‘Show the Thing’ event, and delivered a lightning talk at Policy Ignite.

🌱 Bud: We’ve been experimenting with a document review format that Melissa Sariffodeen introduced us to called ‘5, 60, 90.’ The idea is to share documents with the people you want feedback from when they’re 5% done, 60% done and 90% done. It helps prevent us from spending too much time on important things without getting feedback (thus preventing sunk costs) while also setting up clear expectations between the reviewer and the reviewee about what stage a document is in, and what sort of feedback is needed. We’ve found the framework to really beneficial, so if you’re looking to improve your document review process, give it a spin!

📌 Thorn: We’re currently planning a number of upcoming events (yay!) but we’re learning that we consistently underestimate the amount of work that putting on a great event requires (boo!). As a result, we often find ourselves a bit over capacity as event dates get closer, and it’s a pattern we’d like to break. We’re going to take some time and put together a clearer framework for how we plan events, why we hold them, and what the expectations and processes are for them. Our goal is to avoid scope creep for events and bring our time/capacity estimations in line with reality.
UX word of the day: separable dimensions
By: Anirudh Kedia
Tags: Psychology, Visual Design, UX, Design, Resources

UX word of the day: separable dimensions

: stimulus parameters that can be processed independently of each other. For example, the area and color of a shape are separable dimensions because the color of the shape would not interfere with your perception of its area. : in UX design, they can be used as a method to code multiple environmental/system properties that are not correlated without using up too much display real estate. The close proximity in space will not hinder their separate processing as separable dimensions do not interfere with each other's processing.

For example, at the time of the US elections, news outlets were using separable dimensions like texture and color to signify whether a state flipped its voting pattern and whether the majority vote from that state was Democratic or Republican respectively.

It is easy to sort clothes for the laundry because I can independently process separable dimensions of color and size. This allows me to separate whites from colors and delicates from the rest of my clothes faster. If I could not process color and size independently, then sorting would be a nightmare as I would trip when I landed with a white, smaller delicate, and a white, larger shirt. The fact that they are the same color would end up being confusing as their similarity in color would cloud my perception of the difference in their size.

Who would’ve thought a Friends episode would end up as an example on my UX word of the day series!

See Also:

https://anirudh-kedia.medium.com/ux-word-of-the-day-integral-dimensions-b06c0b358176