CivicApps for Greater Portland is “an open source design contest to showcase regional open data and promote collaboration between citizens and government to create applications, or ‘apps’, that address civic issues and benefit the 
greater Portland community.”[1] The CivicApps website provides data from various government agencies in the Portland area including the City of Portland, Metro (an elected planning organization), the Portland Public Schools and Trimet (the regional public transportation system). Software developers can submit descriptions of applications they have developed using the data available. Users who lack the resources or knowledge to develop an application themselves can submit ideas for applications. CivicApps also allows users to rate the ideas and applications submitted.
[1] City of Portland, “City of Portland Launches CivicApps Design Contest,” March 17, 2010, accessed February 29, 2012, http://www.civicapps.org/press/city-portland-launches-civicapps-design-contest.
The initiative highlighted on this page was identified and researched by students from Northwestern University as part of a course that was a collaboration between Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies and the OIG. This research was done by Phil Boardman, Peter Contos, and Bryan Weber, Winter Quarter 2012. For a full transcript of their research please contact instructor Donald Gordon at donald-gordon@northwestern.edu.