This project was initiated during CapitolCamp2012 which is an annual “Unconference” and “Hackathon” that brings together government technology stakeholders from the public and private sectors to discuss how technology can foster a more transparent, efficient, and participatory government for all New York State citizens.
Hurricane-sandy-relief was one of many worked on during the hackathon. You can find the complete list on the CapitolCamp Github Page.
Many New Yorkers are still without use of public utilities and in need of support in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. On the front page of http://governor.ny.gov the state has provided a list of resources for both those that need help, and those who want to help others. These include topics such as:
- How You Can Help Storm Victims
- How to Apply for FEMA Assistance
- Shelters, Warming Centers & Tips for Cold Weather
- Bridges, Subways, Commuter Railways & Roads
- License Extensions, Renewals & Permit Applications
- Environmental Safety Concerns
- SNAP Benefits Replacement & Recertification
- Health
- Insurance
- Avoiding Storm Recovery Scams
- Tax Filing and Payment Deadline Extensions
A single page with all of the above topics can be accessed through http://governor.ny.gov/storm-resources
After looking at the traffic and analytics of the site, it was clear that the majority of people browsing the site for storm resources were doing so from a mobile device. This makes sense considering how much of the public infrastructure is still recovering.
- Aggregate all of the disparate data into one comprehensive data source.
- Provide a mobile view of the information from the Governor's website, using Drupal as the underlying content management system, and
- release the resulting code and data under an Open license.
- Dan Pozzie - NYS Senate Development Team
- Graylin Kim - NYS Senate Development Team
- Ginger Geracitano - NYS CIO Office
- Meredith Case - NYS CIO Office
- Tom Atkins - NYS Dept of State
- Michael D - New York Power Authority
- Nate Case - FOSS@RIT
- Remy DeCausemaker - FOSS@RIT/CIVX.us
- and anyone else who is willing to contribute
- data scrapers written for most of the shelter sites
- homogenized html source on the Governor's Storm resources page.
- Mocked up a simple Mobile Interface using jQmobileUI
- Created the Drupal Underpinnings of the mobile site, and made many structural and stylistic modifications.
Here is a screenshot of the mobile site at the end of Day 2 of CapitolCamp. This image does not reflect the current state of the project, but will give prospective contributors an idea of where we are headed.
This project will be one of the projects targeted for the Random Hacks of Kindness Rochester Hackathon December 1st and 2nd. For more information visit: http://foss.rit.edu/rhok2012.
To register for the event visit RHoK Rochester's Eventbrite page: <a target+"_blank" href="http://rhocktheroc2012-eorg.eventbrite.com">http://rhoktheroc2012.eventbrite.com