Projects
US Ignite
US Ignite is a national, independent non-profit organization with a mission to build transformative, impactful applications that require gigabit fiber networks and similar next-generation infrastructure and to create test bed communities in which to incubate these applications. KC Digital Drive has led the Kansas City metro area’s participation and engagement with US Ignite since both organizations began in 2011-2012.
Digital Week / 1 Week KC
KC Digital Drive, the KC Coalition for Digital Inclusion (KCCDI), and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) have coordinated to host three complementary events focused on the digital future of cities. Digital Week will bring delegates and attendees from around the country for a focused week of learning and connecting in Kansas City. There are a mix of free and paid events with a variety of topics and target audiences, and we’ve included a number of opportunities for Kansas Citians to interact with our out-of-town attendees, to participate in Kansas City’s leadership role in these critical conversations.
I Got Mine
As part of a yearlong collaboration between KC Digital Drive’s Code for KC Brigade and Health Innovation Team, a website was produced for the City of Kansas City, MO that serves as a landing site for the City’s I Got Mine campaign. The website hosts a resource database provided and updated by KCHD staff. These resources include STD testing events, static STD testing locations, HIV and PrEP information, symptoms, where to find contraceptive resources, and common misconceptions about STDs and their symptoms.
Code for KC
Kansas City’s civic-hacking superhero brigade. Code for KC was established in 2013 as the “leave behind” of the Code for America Fellowship program. It has been a program of KC Digital Drive since 2014, and includes a network of hundreds of active civic hackers working on open-source, open-data projects that benefit the community.
IEEE Smart Cities Initiative
Massive technology trade association IEEE selected Kansas City as one of five core cities to participate in the global Smart Cities Initiative.
Capture: A Community Filmmaking Project
A crowdsourced film challenge uniting the arts and tech scenes of two gigabit cities: Kansas City and Chattanooga.
Hack Kansas City: The National Day of Civic Hacking
HackKC 2015 was a two-day hackathon co-organized by the Code for KC Brigade and KC Digital Drive and held at the UMKC School of Law. More than 40 hackers advanced 7 projects.
Civic Tech Forum and Apps Showcase
Created for Code for America’s CodeAcross celebration, the Civic Tech Forum and Showcase brought together 29 City Council Candidates and civic app developers for an innovation summit at Union Station.
KC Digital Roadmap
Kansas City, Missouri’s Digital Roadmap (est. 02/2015) focuses on Digital Inclusion, Open Government, Engagement, Industry and Smart City
Digital Inclusion Fund
In 2014, more than $300,000 was awarded to community organizations actively working to bridge the digital divide. The search is on for this year’s grantees.