Ottawa Civic Tech

Ottawa Civic Tech (YOWCT) is a community of citizens from diverse sectors and experiences who are interested in better understanding our complex social and civic challenges and building solutions at the intersection of technology, design, data, policy, entrepreneurship, advocacy, and citizen engagement.

YOWCT creates an inclusive environment and safe space for people of all backgrounds to connect, learn, share, collaborate, and participate in the democratic process in a modern and digital world. We aim to build a sustainable community by hosting regular meetups, twice a month. A special guest speaker is featured on the first Tuesday of every month, along with project updates being shared and new ideas being pitched to the group. All are welcome.

YOWCT is generously hosted at a different location every month, from community spaces to government offices to tech companies, to emphasize the cross-sector nature of our work. We operate with an ‘open’ model (open source software, open government, etc.) which enables collaboration in a non-competitive, non-hierarchical, and non-traditional way. 

Civic Tech hacknights are not unique to Ottawa. It is inspired by Code for America, and has sister groups throughout North America: from Toronto, to Chicago, New York, or Boston. Join this global movement and come build a made-in-Ottawa community with us! 

Stay in touch:

Website: http://ottawacivictech.ca

Twitter: @yowcivictech

Slack: yowcivictech.slack.com (request an invite!)

Google Doc of Projects: here