Evolution of Design and Research in Civic Tech by Ryan Koch

We're joined by Amanda Renteria (https://codeforamerica.org/people/amanda-renteria/) CEO of Code for America (https://codeforamerica.org). We dive into a conversation about what's needed to make 'good' government forms and we let you know about a neat event coming up on 9/30/2025 called FormFest(https://formfest.org/). Register for the event here: https://formfest.org/register/ .

Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol

We're joined by Brett Ferrin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-ferrin-8504b8346/) VP of Sales at Traffic Logix. Together we have a conversation about how technology and data can be used to proactively improve traffic safety. If you're into data, urban planning, or transportation, this is an episode for you.

Resources and Shoutouts:

- Traffic Logix: https://trafficlogix.com/

- Vision Zero: https://www.cdc.gov/transportation-safety/vision-zero/index.html

Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol

We're talking about experimentation in government services with two experts from Nava Labs, a philanthropically funded part of Nava PBC: Genevieve Gaudet (Director) and Martelle Esposito (Partnerships and Evaluation Manager). Learn about their approach to experimentation, leveraging data, and how they advocate for adoption.

Resources and shoutouts

- Keep up with the Nava Labs team (make sure to select the "Nava Labs" checkbox): https://www.navapbc.com/nava-newsletter

- Nava PBC website: https://www.navapbc.com

- Nava Labs’ work, including the AI tools for Caseworkers project: https://www.navapbc.com/labs

- AI appropriateness checklist: https://www.navapbc.com/toolkits/ai-public-sector-challenges

- Feel free to reach out to the Nava Labs team any time at [email protected]

We're joined by Ami Yares (https://www.amiyares.com/) songwriter and Executive Director of Build a Bridge (https://buildabridge.org), a non-profit that focuses on transforming lives through art-making, and by Shannon, a User Experience designer with over 20 years experience including time across 3 Federal agencies. We'll talk about their initiative called We the Songwriters (https://www.wethesongwriters.org), which connects federal employees with songwriters to share their stories.

Resources and Shoutouts:

- Friends of USAID Playlist (https://open.spotify.com/artist/33NtIX8ae3eovd3AQtMEKO?si=S2IhqKRHSFqAA1xKH3Ts8Q&nd=1&dlsi=54817e06c5dd427b)

- Song: USAID (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlFaXtVW4VM)

Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol

We're joined by Amanda Renteria (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-renteria/), CEO of Code for America to discuss their upcoming Summit event. We'll cover a bit about the event itself, the state of the civic tech ecosystem, and the impact that event could have on the space.

Resources and shoutouts

- https://codeforamerica.org

- https://summit.codeforamerica.org/

Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol

Our host, Ryan Koch, does a breakdown of infinite scrolling. We talk about what this design technique is, why it gets used, and the potential effects it could have on folks using applications.

Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol

We're joined by Mike Gifford (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgifford), Open Standards and Practice Lead at CivicActions (https://civicactions.com/). We'll dig deep into what it takes to build accessible web services and why that effort is so important.

Resources and Shoutouts:

- Accessibility Chapter of the Web Almanac (https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2024/accessibility)

Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol

We reach back into the archives to re-release episode 84. In it we were joined by Marina Nitze (https://twitter.com/MarinaNitze) to talk about their book Hack Your Bureaucracy (https://www.hackyourbureaucracy.com/). We discussed tactics you can use to get things done in all sorts of organizational environments.

Resources and Shoutouts:

- Hack Your Bureaucracy (https://www.hackyourbureaucracy.com/)

- Recoding America (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61796680-recoding-america)

- Power to the Public (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55421550-power-to-the-public)

Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol

We're joined by Sarah Schacht (https://smartercivic.squarespace.com/), Senior Data Fellow at Data Foundation and author of a new report called Innovation Fellowship Career Outcomes. We'll dive in and talk about this report, their research, and the innovation fellowship space.

Resources and Shoutouts:

- Innovation Fellowship Career Outcomes (https://contact-us-a9fb0e.zapier.app/)

Music Credit:

- Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol