Event Spotlight — Cal Civic Hacks

Cal Civic Hacks’ 2021 Ideathon was a 3-day (March 12–15, 2021) virtual event focused on building a cross-functional community of technologists, urban planners, and policy experts. The organizers recognized that there was an opportunity to break down existing silos between facilities at Berkeley and bring together like-minded people with diverse skills to tackle meaningful urban and civic challenges. Participants competed in teams of 3–4 to develop a ‘pitch’ for their idea to solve an issue in one of the two challenge tracks (Transportation & Wildfires).

Challenge Track 1: Transportation

Prioritize a specific issue to improve resilience in the movement of people and goods in the Bay Area. Justify this prioritization with evidence. Develop an action plan to address the issue.

Challenge Track 2: Wildfires

Prioritize a specific issue affecting resilience against wildfires in the Bay Area. Justify this prioritization with evidence. Develop an action plan to address the issue.

The inspiration for these tracks came from their own experiences as residents of the Bay Area. “Transportation and wildfires are major issues that we grapple with regularly, and we wanted to give participants an opportunity to act locally.”, said Ishan Tikku, one of the organizers.

Approximately 50 people participated and a total of 13 projects were submitted.

Keynote speakers included Molly Turner; a leading expert on technology startups and cities. She is the co-host and co-producer of the podcast Technopolis from Atlantic Media and CityLab. Turner is deeply engaged in contemporary tech and urban policy issues through her advisory role with urban tech startups, and board membership of urban policy think tank SPUR, Derek Ouyang; Co-Founder of City Systems and a Lecturer in Stanford’s Future Bay Initiative, and Rachel Dodell; Executive Director and Co-Founder of Coding it Forward, a 501(c)3 nonprofit creating new opportunities and pathways into social impact and civic technology for young people. In addition, there were various ‘Expert Talk’ speakers and Wellness Session Leaders that guided participants throughout the ideathon.