Civic Hackers Will Face Off to Code a Better Vermont

Hacking for civic good almost implies a kind of either/or ethics for hacking. In other words, one either openly codes for the greater good, or falls somewhere along a continuum occupied by Anonymous, foreign "cyber-terrorists," and Russian fraudsters. But one person's idea of civic good is another person's idea of crime (see: the NSA's various activities). The world isn't so black and white.

Civic hackathons like Operation: Decode San Francisco and HackVT occupy a middle ground, though not an ethical gray area. These civic hackathons deny the hacker his or her traditional booty: a dataset or system that isn't theirs to help themselves to. Instead, the events furnish hackers, or coders, with approved datasets and say "You've got 24 hours to do something—so do it."

HackVT, founded by MyWebGrocer and co-organized by Rebecca Roose, launched its brand of civic hackathon three years ago. While Operation: Decode San Francisco, which I recently profiled, focused on disentangling labyrinthine legal code, HackVT has a broader aim. Organizers and participants set out to produce a range of "killer" apps they hope will enhance Vermont's economy and quality of governance.

The modus operandi is clear: don't just vote, do something in a highly collaborative way. In return, cash and other prizes total $20,000.

"We started this three years ago, but opened it up to other Vermont companies last year," said HackVT's Rebecca Roose. "Last year we opened the competition up to see what people could do for the state. Our goal is really about putting Vermont on the map as a tech hub."

To that end, people arrive at HackVT, meet up with their team members, and get assigned a workspace. Then teams just start coding. As Roose puts it, "the caffeine and sugar flows like wine and honey."

In the 2012 HackVT contest, one app mapped out the location and hours of local farmers markets, while another app discussed how certain smells found in produce promote freshness. And, in a move that would no doubt impress Portlandia's residents, at least four teams built craft brewery-related apps. Last year's winners built a prototype for Datamorphosis, a data visualization tool that shows business trends on a map over time.

Vermont's various state departments can also provide datasets to HackVT coders. If, for instance, the Vermont Transportation Board provide the hackathon with sets of transportation data, teams could combine that data with Google Maps and SMS texting service to notify smartphone users about bus delays or other traffic updates.

"The compressed 24-hour timeline gives you a sense of urgency and encourages quick decisions to eliminate all things unnecessary," said Adam Bouchard, a Datamorphosis team member. "The timeframe also helped everyone focus on execution and conversation topics about delivering on the core app idea."

Another Datamorphosis team member, Katie McCurdy, calls HackVT an exercise in prioritization, delegation, and teamwork.

"Last year, it was wide open," said McCurdy. "We had access to something like 70 datasets from around the state. People were super talented. The thing we had that some teams didn't was a good idea, and an interdisciplinary team that included design, front and back end developers, and people who are good at talking."

McCurdy said that depending on the designer(s) of any given team, it's not so difficult to create a professional-looking app within 24 hours. She credited Patrick Berkeley, Datamorphosis's front-end developer, for making the prototype beautiful.

The important thing to remember as an HackVT team, according to McCurdy, is it's less about creating a working app and more about making a successful pitch.

"You want to create something that works in some capacity, but that also sells the audience on the promise of such an app were it to become a full-fledged, production tool," she said, adding that the truly vital thing is to have a good idea in the first place. (Read Datamorphosis's How We Won HackVT, written by Peter Brown, for more background on their project and approach.)

"Hackathons are a great opportunity for accelerated learning in the creation of something new," Brouchard said. "Regardless of the project outcome, all participants walk away from that experience with self-lessons ranging from delivering code to working effectively with others."

HackVT will be held Friday, October 11 to Saturday, October 12 at the Champlain Mill in Winooski, Vermont.