Help Wanted: Giving Back to Your Country, One Line of Code at a Time
When it comes to doing your “civic duty” in today’s technologically driven world, there is something of a perception that we “don’t care” as older generations used to. History teaches us in the early 20th century how in the New Deal, Americans stepped up to challenges posed on a wide range of government-financed “public works” projects. Airport construction. Infrastructure improvements. Building dams, bridges, hospitals. This was more than just individuals “pulling themselves up by their bootstraps” but, by design, performing an incredible civic duty. Quite an amazing feat, when you think about it.
In our modern digital world, though, it is thought we have lost that sense of civic duty. There is something of a debate brewing that we as a society are losing ourselves in technology instead of being inspired by it. This isn’t just a single generation, but multiple generations indulging into innovative technology. But in that indulgence, are we missing opportunities to push technology forward?
Deep question, we know. Just track with us here.
Technology is more than just a service, more than just a convenience. Technology in our smartphone- and Desktop-driven culture is a gateway to civic service. At least, this is what we offer at Code.gov. Through our website, we offer you an opportunity to work with Open Source Software (OSS) that belongs to you. It is, after all, you the taxpayer that has paid for this code. This is one of many reasons why we call what we offer at our website “America’s Code.” One option we offer at Code.gov to enable you to take on your digital civic duty is our “Help Wanted” section. Here, tasks ranging from debugging the code itself to amending code in order to offer up a new capability or improvement, are featured. When you undertake a single task or an entire project (or something in between), you are not only honing your coding skills but also fulfilling — again, by design — a service to your government to help them improve and innovate.
In turn, the code you work with through Code.gov is yours. Do you need a base to build your app on? Can you see you or your business in need of the software one of our federal agencies is currently implementing? We want to inspire you in your creativity and ingenuity. We want to hear your story concerning your experience with Code.gov and how we have inspired you, so share your stories with us through email, Twitter, LinkedIn, or the Comments section below.
Perhaps we are far-removed from the “pulling up by the bootstraps” generation of the New Deal, but we are hardly lacking opportunities in taking an active role in the shaping of our country. Code.gov offers you a chance to fulfill a civic duty, this time on a digital platform, by answering challenges the government’s projects offer you. We hope to see you online, to answer whatever questions you may have for us, and to stand alongside you as you fulfill your own civic duty, one line of code at a time.
Code on, and thank you.
