Martin O’Malley to host pitch contest for civic tech entrepreneurs in Boston
from the Boston Globe:
____ Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley will visit the techie hangout in the Seaport to host his third pitch contest for startups. Like the other two that the Democratic candidate held in San Francisco and Washington, this contest will be limited to civic tech entrepreneurs. (O’Malley made government data analysis a big priority as governor, and previously when he was mayor of Baltimore.) The previous winners of these pitch contests included an app that makes filing for food stamps easier and a startup that helps track down missing people.
“Startups are there because they believe in this civic tech movement,” said Danny Gaynor, the event’s master of ceremonies and director of policy development with the O’Malley campaign. “In this space, networking matters a lot, exposure matters a lot, hearing other ideas matters a lot.”
On Wednesday, eight or so finalists will make their two-minute pitches to a panel of judges that will include Aimee Sprung, a civic engagement manager at Microsoft in Cambridge, and Jake Auchincloss, who helped oversee the recent MIT $100K entrepreneurship contest. (Other judges will be added.)
read: http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2015/10/28/martin-malley-host-pitch-contest-for-civic-tech-entrepreneurs-boston/IV4Qk57blNmdl9ldkaaAVK/story.html
"His background is very much about looking at how we can use innovation, technology, big data to improve the performance of government, to elevate marginalized communities, to elevate local leaders who are on the front line of transforming those communities," said Danny Gaynor, director of policy development for O'Malley's presidential campaign.
Local civic technology start-ups and community organizations will apply to the competition online, and eight teams will be selected to make a two-minute pitch to a panel of judges. The judges will include local technology executives and community leaders, including a manager from the civic technology wing of Microsoft and a military veteran who runs a start-up accelerator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. O'Malley will speak while the judges deliberate and will spend time afterwards talking to the competitors...
Although the event sounds more typically suited to a local candidate than a national one, Gaynor said part of O'Malley's campaign has been about identifying local leaders who can transform their communities. O'Malley is a former mayor of Baltimore.
"He authentically is interested in shaping an agenda for American cities," Gaynor said. Gaynor added that O'Malley wants to speak to entrepreneurs who are making a difference in their cities.
"He's trying to put a spotlight on people using high value skills to do something that is in society's benefit for the community's welfare," Gaynor said.
read: http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/10/former_maryland_gov_martin_oma_1.html
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