Miami-Dade County chosen for the 2015 Code for America Fellowship Program

(MIAMI, September 23, 2014) – Code for America today announced that Miami-Dade County had been chosen for the 2015 Code for America Fellowship Program. The official announcement was shared with more than 850 attendees at the annual Code for America Summit in San Francisco, where Code for America also announced partnerships with Albuquerque, New Mexico; Indianapolis, Indiana; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Somerville, Massachusetts; Vallejo, California; and West Sacramento, California.

“This announcement is one more sign of Miami-Dade County’s emergence as a hub for technology and innovation,” said Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez.  “As part of our continued efforts at implementing open data policies, the Code for America fellows will work with us to provide greater transparency in government, using technology to make us more efficient and bring us closer to our residents.”

The Code for America Fellowship will pair Miami-Dade County with teams of civic-minded technologist for one year. The county and fellows explore answers to local challenges by engaging with the community, as well as building applications and technical solutions. Over the past four years, the fellowship program has produced more than 55 Web apps with 30 municipal governments and 103 fellows.

“By working in an iterative, user-centered, data-driven approach, the Fellowship program strengthens key capabilities within local government and communities. Well beyond the Fellowship, we see city staff continuing to design services for and with the community, make data meaningful, and make better technology choices,” said Luke Norris, Director of Government Relations. “The Fellowship shifts the way cities think about, and use, technology to deliver public services.”

In Miami-Dade County, Code for America will assemble a team of three fellows for 11 months of service to help improve core government services. The fellowship will begin in January 2015, with a month-long training session in San Francisco, following which fellows will travel to Miami to take on a residency with local government. During the residency fellows will work with officials and residents to identify specific government challenges and devise ideas to solve them. Key focus areas for fellows will be making improvements to economic development and the County’s regulatory environment. They will then start developing technology solutions to tackle these challenges. Projects will be presented in October 2015 at the Code for America Summit.

Over the last four years, Code for America Fellows, in partnership with cities, have developed a growing portfolio of products, tools, and standards. The governments selected for the 2015 Fellowship will build on prior learnings in economic development, procurement, public safety, and justice.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is investing $75,000 to support the launch of the program in Miami.

“Forging strong partnerships between entrepreneurs, technology innovators and government can make a major impact in Miami,” said Matt Haggman, Knight Foundation program director for Miami. “It will both enhance the county government’s ability to connect with residents and open new paths for people to shape the future of our city as a place where ideas are built.”