Azavea releases source code for PhillyTreeMap.org, collaborative forest inventory tool

Every municipality is a little bit closer now to having a broader inventory of trees in its boundaries.

Less than two months after going open source with city data catalog OpenDataPhilly.org, Callowhill-based GIS shop Azavea has now released the source code for PhillyTreeMap.org, the collaborative urban forest inventory tool first unveiled during Philly Tech Week in April.

The project is asking people like you to, using the site, help categorize what types of trees, where and in what shape they all are, to get a more accurate sense of what is here, should be here and could be here in the future. Partnering agencies also hope to raise awareness for a campaign to increase the city’s overall tree canopy average.

Dubbed OpenTreeMap, Azavea has shared the framework of its project with the City of Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Department, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. That allows other cities and towns to save time and money on development and head straight to awareness: trying to get volunteers to help identify and label trees.

Find the code on Github here.

The official press release is here [PDF].

DreamIt Ventures accepts first round of co’s. BFTP lands funding.

Welcome to the VC Roundup, where we’ll parse through venture capital news related to Philadelphia-based private equity firms and the companies they fund. Subscribe to the roundup as an email newsletter. If you have any VC-related news to pass along to us, please drop us a line.

MUST READS

We’ve been hearing from a few sources that DreamIt Ventures is beginning to notify companies if they’ve been accepted into the incubator’s Fall season in Philadelphia. So far, we know CloudMine is among the new class. If you know of another accepted company, drop us a line.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners continues to make news. First, if you missed it, we interviewed the group’s VP of investing, Terrence Hicks for our Friday Q and A last week. Hicks offered an inside look at Ben Franklin’s process for soon-to-be entrepreneurs out there. Shortly after our conversation, Ben Franklin announced it has received $30.6 million to distribute to its four subchapters.

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Open Angel Philadelphia II opens for applications

Open Angel Philadelphia, the free-to-pitch angel investment event is back for the second time.

Headed by DuckDuckGo founder Gabe Weinberg and Antonio Tedesco, Open Angel Forums are nationwide pitch events created in response to pay-to-pitch events like the Karatsu Forum (which, coincidentally, has set up shop in Philadelphia recently).

The last OAF event featured several local startups including DreamIt grad Sqoot, RezScore and Contently. Read more about the last OAF forum on Weinberg’s blog.

Interested startups can apply to present here. The event is also seeking sponsors and angel investors.

Esri highlights OpenDataPhilly and technology behind Azavea-built project

GIS leaders Esri highlights OpenDataPhilly:

Through the OpenDataPhilly website, the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, now provides access to over 100 datasets, applications, and APIs containing authoritative regional information on a wide variety of topics. The site includes a series of map services built with ArcGIS technology from Esri that offer data and imagery related to census tracts, political wards, crime incidents, hydrology, evacuation routes, bicycle networks, and more.

Deb Boyer of Azavea noted a few new open data projects added to the site this week:

• Phind It For Me – http://opendataphilly.org/opendata/resource/166/phind-it-for-me [Technically Philly coverage]
• DisasterMapper.com – http://opendataphilly.org/opendata/resource/160/disastermappercom [Technically Philly coverage]
• Property Owner Search – http://opendataphilly.org/opendata/resource/161/property-owner-search [Technically Philly coverage]
• Philadelphia Dance Calendars – http://opendataphilly.org/opendata/resource/69/philadelphia-dance-calendars/
• Philly Dance Spaces and Dance Directory – http://opendataphilly.org/opendata/resource/165/philly-dance-spaces-and-dance-directory/
• Census Tracts (2010) – http://opendataphilly.org/opendata/resource/164/census-tracts-2010/
• Street Centerlines API – http://opendataphilly.org/opendata/resource/39/street-centerlines/
• Trulia Crime Maps – http://opendataphilly.org/opendata/resource/163/trulia-crime-maps-phila-only/

Event Highlights: August 1st – 6th, 2011

Summer is halfway over, Philadelphia, we hope you’ve been able to make it to the beach.

But if you’re hanging around town this week because there’s just too many darn cool events (or because you are trying to spot Hunter Pence), allow us to help. Below are the three events that we recommend this week.

This week in event highlights: dine with geek girls, decipher Google+ and talk JavaScript.

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