Civic Engagement – Page 2

Technology Matching Fund Success Story: UW Women’s Center’s Making Connections

As we come up on awarding the 2015 Technology Matching Fund grantees on Wednesday, July 15 in the Council Chambers, we thought it might be a good idea to look at success stories from 2014.

Seattle CTO Michael Mattmiller awards a $14,399 Technology Literacy and Access grant to the UW Women’s Center in 2014.

The University of Washington’s Women’s Center’s Making Connections (MC) Program received a Technology Literacy and Access grant for $14, 399 to “provide enriching educational and character-building experiences for underrepresented Seattle-area high school girls to achieve in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).”

Making Connections group at Google in April, 2015

In the 2014-2015 academic year, MC served over 105 students from 23 high schools in the greater Seattle area. In addition to new computers at the center, other components of the program include mentoring, tutoring, career exploration, and founding a local chapter of the national “Girls Who Code” program to support MC students who want to pursue computer science.

Making Connections (MC) also provided opportunities for students to explore careers in STEM fields, which focus on providing a better understanding of what different companies (Boeing, Microsoft, Google, etc.) are like to work at through hearing first-hand from managers and employees themselves.

“The most important experience of this event was hearing/networking with the Google employees. You learn so much from their past experience to better prepare yourself for your future. I now know that I can still explore different careers, and still have time to find my passion. Also, it was great to see what the Google company has to offer,” said one student who went to Google to participate in a hands-on activity where students could make their own designs for a product.

MC student with mentor from Microsoft during Microsoft Job Shadow in November

Mentoring is another core element of the MC program that offers students the ability to work one-on-one with a mentor who can provide them academic, professional, and personal guidance as they prepare for life after high school. Mentors have served in a variety of different fields and include college students, working professionals, and even former Making Connections students who want to give back. Mentors meet one-on-one with their mentees each month, and are up-to-date on resources that can assist their students.

The Technology Matching Fund provides
awards of up to $30,000 in matching funds to community projects which increase technology literacy, provide access to computers, the Internet, and other information technologies; and increase civic participation in the use of technology.

As mentioned above, the 2015 Technology Matching Funds will be awarded July 15 in the Seattle City Council Chambers.

Seattle Part of White House’s New Police Data Initiative

Seattle Police Department already utilizes open data. Now, President Obama has announced the Police Data Initiative, based on recommendations from his Task Force on 21st Century Policing.

Seattle is one of 21 communities currently participating in the federal Police Data Initiative.

Photo credit: whitehouse.gov

The recommendations cover policy, oversight, technology, social media, community policing, crime reduction, training, education, and officer wellness and safety. There is also significant emphasis on the potential of data and technology to improve policing outcomes and foster community trust.

Through this effort, local police departments and other participants are responding first to Task Force recommendations within two streams of work: using open data to increase transparency, build community trust, and support innovation, plus better using technology, such as early warning systems, to identify problems, increase internal accountability, and decrease inappropriate uses of force.

Nationwide, all 21 police departments participating have committed to release a combined total of 101 data sets that have not been released to the public. The types of data include uses of force, police pedestrian and vehicle stops, officer involved shootings and more, helping the communities gain visibility into key information on police/citizen encounters.

For more information on the federal police data initiative, visit WhiteHouse.gov. If you want to see how Seattle Police Department currently utilizes open data, visit Seattle.gov.

Seattle: How online are we? Find out May 22nd at 6 p.m.!

Join us May 22nd, 6-8 p.m. at Seattle Goodwill’s new training center as we release new findings on technology access and adoption by Seattle residents.

Learn what more than 2,600 residents who participated in phone and online surveys and focus groups in multiple languages had to say about their use, concerns, and barriers to using the Internet, social media, cable TV and online government services. We will also present information about how to communicate with immigrant and refugee communities. This forum is being presented by the Department of Information Technology and the City’s Technology Advisory Board, with assistance from the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs and Seattle Public Library. Copies of the report will be available at the event and released online after the event.

The new report includes information about:
Do residents have more laptops or smartphones? Is everyone using Facebook now? Which is more important, better Internet speed or price? How do people want to give their opinion or get community information? How do people use high speed Internet and cable TV? How can education, business, social services and government use this data to help close the digital divide and reach diverse residents?

Location: Seattle Goodwill’s training center is located at 700 Dearborn Place S, at the northwest corner of South Dearborn and Rainier Ave, just off the I-90 Dearborn exit or #7 or 9 bus. Free parking is available. See it on Google Maps

For more information about this event, contact: communitytechnology@seattle.gov or call 206-233-7877 or visit www.seattle.gov/tech/indicators. Interpreters available upon request. Please request interpreters by May 16th.

Please join the conversation about how Seattle comes together to keep ensuring we are a leading tech city that also cares about digital equity & diversity.