During his State of the City address on Feb. 14, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Code Corps -- a new initiative that enlists volunteer techies to help city government with its emergency and disaster recovery needs, TechPresident reported.
Touted as the country's first municipal program of its kind, Code Corps was launched by NYC Digital and the Mayor’s Office of Policy and Strategic Planning in response to needs that arose from Hurricane Sandy’s impact on the city.
The program engages vetted volunteer technologists -- data scientists, developers and designers -- from nonprofit and private-sector organizations who partner with city agency representatives to develop strategic projects that serve civic needs, according to the NYC Digital website.
These volunteer technologists will coordinate with a newly formed advisory committee called the Data Advisory and Research Taskforce (DART), which consists of data scientists, developers and experts from across city government.
According to NYC Digital, potential projects include developing new databases, Web and mobile applications, emergency-related information maps using city data, analysis of impacted populations, and data sharing with other governments or utilities.
Emergency Management News in Your Inbox
Subscribe to Emergency Management
Emergency Management is the award-winning, all-hazards publication of record for emergency management, public safety and homeland security stakeholders.
Subscribe | View Digital Issues