Mayor Nutter on government transparency, city CTO and business retention

Copyright City of Philadelphia. Photograph by Mitchell Leff.

Since we launched a year-and-a-half ago, we’ve not only watched, but followed as closely as we could City of Philadelphia technology policy.

Even in our short tenure covering all that is involved — like municipal information technology, government transparency, citywide broadband network infrastructure, economic policy and much, much more — we’ve been witness to a city intent on finding new ways of utilizing technology and finding better ways of connecting with citizens.

Throughout, we’ve heard repeatedly from leaders that Mayor Michael Nutter understands the value of technology in city government and he is intent on involving Philadelphia’s technology community.

Though we write about these initiatives weekly, nothing was more of a reminder of the Mayor’s commitment to technology than when Nutter announced a $120 million capital investment in the Division of Technology during the pageantry of his budget address to City Council in March.

And with his support, DOT has been steered in a new direction, a Chief Technology Officer appointed to the mayoral cabinet, pilot programs created to attract technology businesses and broadband stimulus dollars and gigabit broadband chased.

So, we had to get the man on the phone to talk tech. Yesterday, we spoke with Mayor Nutter about government transparency, Philadelphia’s tax structure, and about his call to action to Philadelphia’s technology community. Our Q&A with Philadelphia’s Mayor after the jump.

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Code For America seeking fellows for 2011 Philly government tech innovation

Here’s your chance to change the game inside city government IT.

Code For America is officially recruiting fellows for its inaugural Code For America class, according to a blog post.

In May, it was announced that Philadelphia was one of five cities chosen
to receive the help of fellows which will help develop innovative new government technology, as we reported.

Fellows will receive training around Gov 2.0 and professional development, have the opportunity to make alumni connections and increase their chances to nab a job after the fellowship clears.

Being located in Philadelphia may not help your chances since the initiative is seeking technologists around the country, but it certainly couldn’t hurt. There’s plenty of folks with tech chops around the city that could change the game for Philly and abroad. Be sure to check our interview with Code for America founder Jennifer Pahlka—it may include some insider information you can use on that application.

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Code for America chooses Philly for web development team

It seems as though the City of Philadelphia will get a helping hand in its quest to move forward with the growing list of possibility in Web transparency and government openness.

As expected, Philadelphia was chosen as one of five cities to receive the work of a team of Web developers and technologists as part of the inaugural Code for America class.

Starting in January 2011, the organization, which founder Jen Pahlka called something of a Teach for America for online government application development, will give each city a top tech team of developers, designers, and product managers for an entire year to build out their dream application that drives transparency and participation within the city and its government.

Mashable reports that Philadelphia’s project will be an ‘Open311-type project.’ No word yet on how that relates to the 311 application that City technology honcho Allan Frank had pledged could be completed this month.

Winning is not entirely free, as WHYY reported in a follow up on our interview with Pahlka. The city would put out $225,000 for expenses, though CFA organizers say the talent they receive will exceed $1 million.

The other winning cities are Boston, Washington D.C., Seattle and Boulder, Colo.

Five city departments and agencies that could use a Web overhaul

In an informal partnership with Philadelphia magazine‘s new Philly Post daily news blog, Technically Philly will be offering our insight on Philadelphia technology to a broader audience of tech-interested individuals every Tuesday. As is true of so much of our effort, this is yet another opportunity to voice the triumphs and concerns of the community to a broader audience in the city and beyond.

The use of technology to transform government has been a growing municipal interest in city halls across the country.

Here, the City of Philadelphia has announced intentions to release a service-orientated 311 iPhone application, it’s applying for ultra high-speed broadband from Google and it’s in hot pursuit of a funded team of developers and technologists which may someday make our every government transparency dreams come true.

Read more at Philly Mag’s Philly Post.

Code for America founder Jennifer Pahlka on bringing open government help to Philadelphia

If you talk to someone involved in government budget negotiations — from small towns to the federal government and everywhere in between — you might find a lot of eternal, undying truths.

One that comes to mind is what gets funded in the lean times: fundamental core services and the projects near and dear to the hearts of those most powerful and connected. It’s some variation of the old ‘bread and circuses.’

It’s why funding for government IT projects — particularly at the financially-tighter municipal level — are so hard to come by. They aren’t core services — their impact is often harder to grasp — and many in power haven’t much come to know the trans-formative potential for a more efficient, transparent and responsive government that can come from technology implementation. There are those who might more cynically say that those in power wouldn’t want any sweeping changes in government efficiency, transparency and responsiveness anyway.

Whatever the cause, it leaves us with a quandary.

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Google ultra high speed fiber application closes today, attention picks up

Nearly one month after the announcement came at Ignite Philly, widespread attention for the City of Philadelphia applying to partner with Google on its proposed ultra-high speed internet experiment has finally come.

The deadline for applications is today. That has led local politicians scrambling to social media to sure up their tech credentials and community support, and, yes, a Philadelphia media binge.

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City of Philadelphia to offer tax breaks to tech companies

Tech companies in Philadelphia might finally see some long-awaited light at the end of the tax tunnel.

Mayor Michael Nutter has announced tax breaks for technology, design and video game firms that would hopefully encourage more companies to set up shop in the city.

As the Metro reported this morning, under the new tax policy, tech sector businesses would not be taxed for services sold outside of Philadelphia, which could pave the way for tax overhauls for all city businesses. The news follows Nutter’s address to the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce last week outlining the need to experiment with the city’s tax structure.

Videogame Growth Initiative organizer Mike Worth, who’s helped lead a grass roots effort to lobby City Hall on tech tax issues, as we’ve reported, tells Metro that the incentives might help convince his game development studio Space Whale Studios to move downtown.

Two City Council members want to sue Twitter, Facebook over flash mob

Councilman Frank DiCicco

Councilmembers Frank DiCicco and James F. Kenney are seeking the possibility of suing social media sites like Twitter or Facebook if they indeed played a role in Tuesday’s Market East flash mob, as CNET reported this week.

The councilmen requested permission from Mayor Michael Nutter to take legal action to force a mechanism to stop events like the flash mob of this week.

On Tuesday, roughly 150 teens may have used text messaging and social media sites to coordinate a chaotic rampage from the Gallery mall throughout Market Street, pushing, kicking and vandalizing their way toward the Macy’s near City Hall and an inevitable snowball fight.

No serious injuries were reported, though 16 arrests were made, according to the Inquirer.

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Friday Q&A: Councilman Bill Green talks technology and Philly Charter

Early this week, Councilman Bill Green and five members of City Council introduced legislation that would change Philadelphia’s Charter to include a permanent Chief Information Officer.

As we reported, the bill would continue consolidation of the city’s Information Technology resources and it would require that the CIO develop annually a 5-year technology strategy, among other changes.

We spoke with Green on Monday to put into perspective the reason for the legislation and whether or not the bill represents concern for current Chief Technology Officer Allan Frank’s leadership. Green’s answers, after the jump.

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City Council bill would make IT permanent part of city government

Councilman Bill Green and five members of City Council have co-sponsored legisilation that would create a permanent Charter position for a Chief Information Officer and would consolidate all of the city’s Information Technology resources under the Division of Technology.

The legislation would require the CIO to report directly to the Mayor and to create an annual IT strategic plan that includes productivity enhancements to help the city utilize paperless services. It also gives the CIO more oversight over city department technology appropriations.

“When they wrote the Charter in 1952, no one imagined there could be a paperless system,” Green told Technically Philly during a telephone interview this morning. “[The legislation would] make investment in and continual upgrade of our technology a permanent part of city government.”

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