Alliance of Civic Technologists Welcomes Programmers, Former U.S. Digital Service Employees to Inaugural ACT Congress

CHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES, June 30, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Alliance of Civic Technologists (ACT) welcomed programmers, activists and public policy advocates to an open discussion about using internet-based applications to reinforce service programs further decimated by federal government budget cuts.

ACT Congress, a virtual meeting featuring dynamic, participant-driven sessions on ways open data and civic technology can help effectively deliver public services, opened Saturday with more than 100 participants throughout the United States. Though interest in civic technology is hardly new, drastic federal government spending cuts initiated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) renewed interest among community advocates to help close local-level technological gaps. ACT Congress attendees discussed how to undo at least some of the DOGE damage and forge new relationships with community-based organizations whose work was also directly impacted by the cuts.

“We are excited to welcome civic technologists and public service advocates to the first ACT Congress - a groundbreaking opportunity to shape the future of our work in over a dozen communities,” said Christopher Whitaker, executive director of the Alliance of Civic Technologists. “ACT supports members working with governments and street-level nonprofit organizations at street-level to reduce harm in the communities in which we live. Civic technology is an enabling function that can support the critical work of local governments and community nonprofit organizations. Our members are proactively closing technological barriers throughout these communities, and especially in the face of willfully short-sighted policies.”

Whitaker, a U.S. Army veteran and former employee of the United States Digital Service (USDS), said community-based organizations engaging vulnerable populations, often in-conjunction with local governments, especially stand to benefit from civic technologists, as ultra-conservative government leaders end relationships with state and federal agencies.

At ACT Congress, ACT leaders presented opening statements and organizational needs before turning over the agenda to the participants. Conversations ranging from service projects to best organization management practices carried on throughout the day in breakout groups. Members will continuously engage each other through proprietary instant messaging applications maintained by ACT volunteers.

Participants leading ACT Congress included laid-off federal government employees whose service with U.S. agencies, including the now-former USDS and Technology Transformation Services department (“18F”) of the General Services Administration, abruptly ended this year. However, many of those leading ACT members have been part of the civic technology movement since its dramatic rise in the 2010s, including the USDS formation in 2014.

Some of the ACT-member civic technology projects already underway include:

- A web-based application showing geopolitical boundaries in New York City and how those constituents receive basic government services.
- Data assessed earthquake risks among properties in the San Francisco Bay area.
- Fellowships for data analysts from underrepresented communities to apply their experience with data science platforms, such as Power BI, among NGOs and local governments near Austin, Texas.

ACT supports member organizations leading civic technology projects in 17 U.S. markets, including Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charlottesville, Va., Chicago, Dayton, Ohio, New York City, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Members receive administrative support, including counseling on how to incorporate, engage volunteers and solicit donations. There is no cost to join ACT. Members sign a memorandum of understanding, agreeing to adopt bylaws and a Code of Conduct.

“Being a part of government isn’t the only way of helping our communities,” said Brianda Hernandez, senior communications director of Open Sacramento. “Civic technologists are stepping up, not to replace government, but to remind it who it’s supposed to serve, and ACT is helping us do that.”

In addition to supporting members and their projects, ACT is recruiting organizers in U.S. cities without a civic technology group bridging digital divides among nonprofit organizations and state and local governments. Whitaker said anyone interested in ACT resources to start a civic technology project should visit www.civictechnologists.org.

About the Alliance of Civic Technologists
The Alliance of Civic Technologists (ACT) is a network of programmers, activists and public policy advocates helping nonprofit organizations and governments effectively use technology. Projects are led by local organizers throughout the United States committed to advancing human rights, civil liberties, and the effective delivery of public services. A full list of ACT member organizations and their projects are available online at www.civictechnologists.org.

Barton Lorimor
Full Stack Strategies, LLC
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