January work begins with CityCamp Arizona, Tech Venture and more

With January comes the New Year. The holidays are over. The rush of shopping, parties and extended-family visits slows down, and once again, we return our focus to the priorities of our daily lives.

For the Technology, Sustainability and Economic Development Council Committee, our year is moving quickly already. Our next meeting is this Friday, 10 a.m., Third Floor, City Hall – 31 E. Fifth Street.

I love that this committee has such a broad range of topics, yet they intertwine so much. I’ve been invited participate in CityCamp Arizona, an unconference scheduled for Feb. 15 in downtown Chandler. http://www.citycampaz.com/

 

This event seeks to create innovative and practical solutions to make cities and other local communities more open and “user friendly.” The stated goals for CityCamp Arizona are:

 

• Bring together local government officials, municipal employees, experts, programmers, designers, citizens, and journalists to share perspectives and insights about the cities in which they live
• Create and maintain patterns for using the Web to facilitate local government transparency and effective local governance
• Foster communities of practice and advocacy on the role of the Web, mobile communication, online information, and open data in cities
• Create outcomes that participants will act upon after the event is over

 

These goals are right in line with what this committee has been working toward for years. I can’t wait to be part of the conversation. I’ve invited key staff to attend as well.

 

Technology and economic development are closely entwined. Tempe is a major provider of technology jobs in Arizona. New concepts lead to new companies, which, in turn, provide more jobs and revenue for our city.

 

To help innovators take their concepts and turn them into viable companies. The City of Tempe offers the FastTrac Tech Venture program. This 10 week intensive entrepreneurial training course starts Feb. 7 at 5:30. The cost is just $150 for materials. Registration: http://stealthmode.affiliate.fasttrac.org/

I encourage anyone interested in starting a tech company to take advantage of this program as well as the training at Arizona State University and our community colleges.

 

We will be talking more about Escalante Community Garden and community gardens in general. I would invite you to attend Tempe Leadership’s fundraiser hosted on Jan. 27 at Quiessence at the Farm at South Mountain. You can find more details here: http://www.tempe.gov/newsroom/Archive/201101/21498484-560D-4FDB-8A70-5314BD7540FF

 

The State Press wrote a great article about the impact of community gardens locally. If you are interested, read more here: http://www.statepress.com/2011/01/17/group-proposes-first-tempe-community-garden-on-public-land/