Civic Innovation

Welcome to Civic Innovation

As one of the first cities, Boston has been creating solutions to civic challenges for over 300 years. It’s in our blood and right at the heart of who we are as a city. Today, we’re retaining our reputation as the torchbearer of civic innovation thanks to the concentration of world-class academic institutions, the original New Urban Mechanics, and the epicenter of technology that we cultivated.

At StartHub, Boston comes together to bear witness to those working to improve equity, increase transparency of government, and use data for forward-thinking policy. Our network is comprised of committed stakeholders including civic media, up-and-coming startups, programmers, government, and citizens who care about the wellbeing of one another.

We’re a city of innovators. That’s just who we are.

Startups

Voatz

Voatz enables citizens to vote in all kinds of elections or voting events via a secured smartphone or via a mobile ballot station.

Involved

Involved is a micro-polling software for local government, helping offices increase civic engagement and understand public opinion through single question surveys.

Soofa

Lovable technology for smarter placemaking. Our urban furniture combines community-centered design, smart technology & heart to enrich your public spaces.

Water Hero

Cloud-connected system to protect against water damage from broken pipes and provide data on water usage.

Donii

Donii is a donation matchmaking service. Through a network of local nonprofit partners, we connect donors to families who lack exactly what the donor has to spare.

Parkloco

Parkloco is a SaaS platform that provides real-time data analytics software to parking lot owners and operators.

Rate Gravity

Delivering lower mortgage rates and improving the customer experience through technology.

ParkWise

The ParkWise Intelligent Parking Platform solves the street parking problem for drivers, connected and autonomous vehicles.

Events

Code for Boston Weekly Hack Night

Code for Boston is a Code for America Brigade - a volunteer civic innovation organization created by Boston-area developers, designers, urban planners, data geeks, and researchers with an interest in solving civic and social problems through the use of creative technology. Weekly Hack Nights are our time to meet in person to work on and discuss civic tech projects.

Initiatives and NPOs

New Urban Mechanics

As the City's civic research and development team, we pilot experiments that aim to improve the quality of life for Boston's residents. Our research and design projects tackle a range of topics — from civic engagement to city infrastructure to education.

Code for Boston

Code for Boston is a Code for America Brigade - a volunteer civic innovation organization created by Boston-area developers, designers, urban planners, data geeks, and researchers with an interest in solving civic and social problems through the use of creative technology.

Spark Boston

Boston is home to a large and diverse millennial population. SPARK Boston, formerly ONEin3, is a City of Boston initiative that aims to empower the millennial generation to play a greater role in planning for the future of our city.

The Ash Center at Harvard Kennedy School

The Ash Center at Harvard Kennedy School explores the relationships between democratic governance and the persistence of urgent social problems. Our research advances the studies of democratic practice and effective governance worldwide.

MIT Center for Civic Media

Working at the intersection of participatory media and civic engagement, the Center for Civic Media's mission is to design, create, deploy, and assess tools and processes that support and foster civic participation and the flow of information between and within communities.

Engagement Lab @ Emerson College

The Engagement Lab is an applied research lab at Emerson College dedicated to innovating the ways people participate in civic life and expanding the study of citizenship in a digital era.

Metropolitan Area Planning Council

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) is the regional planning agency serving the people who live and work in the 101 cities and towns of Metropolitan Boston. Our mission is to promote smart growth and regional collaboration.

Boston Area Research Initiative

BARI supports research-policy collaborations, BARI projects provide insights into daily life in greater Boston, help policymakers and practitioners to better serve their constituencies, and increase our understanding of human behavior.

Investors

Barr Foundation

Our mission is to invest in human, natural, and creative potential, serving as thoughtful stewards and catalysts.

Knight Foundation

Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy.

Omidyar Network

Omidyar Network invests in entrepreneurs who share our commitment to advancing social good at the pace and scale the world needs today. We are focused on five key areas we believe are building blocks for prosperous, stable, and open societies: Education, Emerging Tech, Financial Inclusion, Governance & Citizen Engagement, and Property Rights.

The Boston Foundation

The Boston Foundation devotes its resources to building and sustaining a vital, prosperous city and region, where justice and opportunity are extended to everyone.