TICTeC Local 2019

Exploring Civic Tech in Local Communities

Friday November 1 2019, City Hall, London

The annual conference that focuses directly on the use of Civic Tech in communities and local government.

On 1st November 2019, mySociety hosted the second TICTeC Local event at City Hall in London. The event bought together 140 local government representatives, CSOs, practitioners, academics, private sector representatives and researchers from across the UK and beyond. Thank you to all who came.

Read our wrap-up report for a summary of this fantastic event.

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Conference resources

Speakers included

Miriam Levin

Head of Community Action and Giving at the Office for Civil Society

DCMS

Vidhya Alakeson

CEO

Power to Change

Sian Berry

Co-leader / Camden Councillor

Green Party

Graham Smith

Professor of Politics and Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy

Westminster University

Tim Hughes

Director

Involve

Alasdair Roxburgh

Director of Communities and Networks

Friends of the Earth

Schedule

London’s Living Room, City Hall, London, SE1 2AA.

Friday 1st November 2019.

08:30

Conference registration & refreshments

Please arrive in enough time to go through the security check at City Hall. This includes going through a metal detector and having all bags scanned.

09:30 · Living Room (9th floor)

Opening words

Mark Cridge (Chief Executive, mySociety) & Theo Blackwell (Chief Digital Officer for London)


09:30 · Living Room (9th floor)

mySociety research: evidence and impact

Dr Rebecca Rumbul (Head of Research, mySociety)

Collaborative hackpad (please feel free to add your notes of the session to this.)
Presentation slides


09:50 · Living Room (9th floor)

What role can digital technologies play in citizen participation?

Panel discussion.

Miriam Levin (Head of Community Action and Giving at the Office for Civil Society, DCMS) Eva O’Brien (Delivery Manager, FutureGov) Graham Smith (Professor of Politics and Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy, Westminster University) Tim Hughes (Director, Involve) Moderator: Louise Crow (Head of Development, mySociety)

Citizen participation processes like Citizens’ Assemblies are a modern solution — so shouldn’t digital technologies play a key part in their implementation? Speakers take an honest look at what tech can do for citizen participation… and what it can’t.

Collaborative hackpad (please feel free to add your notes of the session to this.)

10:30

Refreshment break

Please allow enough time to get from the Living Room to Committee Room 4 – you will need to take the lift to the lower ground floor and it takes around 10 minutes!.

Data changes everything: informed public services

10:45 · Living Room (9th floor)

2 × 20 minute presentations, followed by 10 minute Q&A.

Collaborative hackpad (please feel free to add your notes of the session to this.)

The impact of data-enabled innovation in local public services in the UK

James Maddison (Open Data Institute)

Presentation slides

Beyond open data: how the Housing Data Coalition develops actionable, community-centered services

Georges Clement (JustFix)

Presentation slides

Click to engage: creating active citizens through digital technologies

10:45 · Committee Room 4 (Lower ground floor)

2 × 20 minute presentations, followed by 10 minute Q&A.

Collaborative hackpad (please feel free to add your notes of the session to this.)

Civic Tech to empower democracy and increase civic engagement: Local examples from the US

Tammy Esteves (Troy University)

Presentation slides

The impacts of Civic Tech for elections in the UK

Joe Mitchell (Democracy Club)

Presentation slides

11:35

Time to walk between breakout rooms

Please allow enough time to get from the Living Room to Committee Room 4 – you will need to take the lift to the lower ground floor and it takes around 10 minutes!.

Earlier actions & better connections: technology combatting social problems

11:40 · Living Room (9th floor)

2 × 20 minute presentations, followed by 10 minute Q&A.

Collaborative hackpad (please feel free to add your notes of the session to this.)

Using machine learning to identify food bank dependency early

Giselle Cory (DataKind), Lucy Rimmington (DataKind)

Presentation slides

Digital tools to connect those facing homelessness with the support they need

Chris Hildrey (ProxyAddress)

Showing the way: support with the digital transformation process

11:40 · Committee Room 4 (Lower ground floor)

2 × 20 minute presentations, followed by 10 minute Q&A.

Collaborative hackpad (please feel free to add your notes of the session to this.)

How GOV.UK Common Platforms are helping local authorities transform services for their residents

Laura Payten (Government Digital Service)

Presentation slides

Creating a cross-local government user research plan

Richard Smith (Hackney Council), Sam Whitlock (Hackney Council) & Mirabai Galati (Croydon Council)

Presentation slides

12:30 · Living Room (9th floor)

Standing buffet lunch

Better foresight: Civic Tech for the urban planners

13:10 · Living Room (9th floor)

2 × 20 minute presentations, followed by 10 minute Q&A.

Collaborative hackpad (please feel free to add your notes of the session to this.)

Automating environmental impact analyses to improve urban planning in New York City

Jonathan Pichot (NYC Planning Labs)

Presentation slides

What user reported problems can and can’t tell us: Exploring FixMyStreet data

Alex Parsons (mySociety)

Bringing the citizens in: Civic Tech for engagement and participation

13:10 · Committee Room 4 (Lower ground floor)

2 × 20 minute presentations, followed by 10 minute Q&A.

Collaborative hackpad (please feel free to add your notes of the session to this.)

Creating a live map of empty commercial spaces in London & findings from ‘Act Local: Empowering London’s neighbourhoods’ research

Jo Corfield & Joe Wills (Centre for London)

Presentation slides

Enabling local people to participate in the design of civic and public life

Gail Ramster (Royal College of Art), Mike Saunders (Commonplace)

14:00

Time to reconvene in Living Room (9th floor)

14:10 · Living Room (9th floor)

Taking Back Control: Why community power matters to our economy and society and what gets in its way

Vidhya Alakeson (CEO, Power to Change)

The session will explore the positive economic and social benefits of communities taking power and highlight examples of how this is happening in different communities across England, including community business, resident-led regeneration and community-led health and well being. It will identify a number of barriers to more communities exercising power, from policy to finance to the capacity of communities themselves.

Citizen participation processes like Citizens’ Assemblies are a modern solution — so shouldn’t digital technologies play a key part in their implementation? Speakers take an honest look at what tech can do for citizen participation… and what it can’t.

Collaborative hackpad (please feel free to add your notes of the session to this.)

Presentation slides

14:30 · Living Room (9th floor)

So you’ve declared a Climate Emergency. Now what?

Panel discussion.

Sian Berry (Co-leader / Camden Councillor, Green Party) Emily Tulloh (Service Designer, FutureGov) Trewin Restorick (CEO/Founder, Hubbub) Alasdair Roxburgh (Director of Communities and Networks, Friends of the Earth)

Collaborative hackpad (please feel free to add your notes of the session to this.)


15:20 · Living Room (9th floor)

Closing remarks

15:30

Finish

Sponsors

Thank you to Theo Blackwell, London’s Chief Digital Officer, for hosting TICTeC Local at City Hall.

mySociety is a charity and relies on sponsorship and ticket sales to make events like TICTeC and TICTeC Local happen. If you’re interested in sponsoring the next TICTeC Local please contact Gemma Moulder.