Census 2020 Hackathon

The Los Angeles Public Library, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of the Census, LA City’s Information Technology Agency, and the County of Los Angeles are hosting the first-ever hackathon focused on the 2020 Census to ensure that everyone gets counted in Los Angeles. This event is presented as part of Digital Inclusion Week.

About:

Per the U.S. Constitution every person living in the U.S. must get counted every ten years. An accurate census count translates into equitable political representation in Congress and billions of dollars in federal funds for vital social programs and services in the City and the County of Los Angeles (i.e., health, social services, transportation, medicare, medicaid, foster care, senior services, education, etc.).

For the first time in history the U.S. Census Bureau will make the survey available online. This will have a drastic impact in how Los Angeles County residents complete the survey. The online Census will pose unprecedented opportunities and challenges, including a strong need to bridge the digital divide.

In addition to the digital divide, concerns over the addition of a citizenship question have cast a shadow over an already plagued census. Given that Los Angeles has the second highest immigrant population in the country and immigrants’ heightened sense of fear and anxiety, civil rights organizations, immigration advocacy groups, and several state and local government agencies worry that immigrants and other hard-to-survey populations will not exercise their Constitutional right to get counted. Given the critical importance of the census and its fiscal and political impact, it is important that we do everything we can to ensure a full, fair, and accurate count in Los Angeles.

Call to action:

Do you want to ensure that everyone in the City and County of Los Angeles is counted accurately and that our region gets its fair share of funds for social programs, transportation, medicare, education, and other services? Do you want to make sure that all Angelenos are counted regardless of their citizenship status?

Help everyone exercise their Constitutional right to get counted by developing strategies and/or products to effectively outreach to and engage residents for the 2020 Census.

Challenge:

What creative solutions, technological or otherwise, can you design to make the 2020 Census survey more accessible and engaging, especially for those that will be hard-to-survey, including immigrants, racial and ethnic communities, children 0-5 years, renters, college students, individuals with limited-English proficiency, and people living in poverty?

Note: In this context “accessibility” means mobile apps, outreach tool kits, easy to understand informational material, multi-lingual translated material, easy to navigate website or digital tools.

Hybrid Event:

This event will be hosted at the Central Library in Downtown Los Angeles, with the opportunity for teams to participate virtually. Attendees are encouraged to meet virtually prior to event in Slack channel 2020census.slack.com to begin the conversation. Request join access by emailing erodarte@lapl.org.

A team size of 4-5 people is recommended. The ideal team make-up should include at least one subject matter expert, a tech person, and a digital storyteller or data person. A team leader will need to be selected.

Presentations and/or content can be saved in a shared Google Folder. Each team will give a five minute presentation before the judging panel at the end of the day. Those participating virtually will present to the judges via Zoom.

Date: May 6, 2018

Time: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm

Location: Central Library, 630 West 5th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90071

Parking: Located directly underneath the library at 544 S Flower St, Los Angeles, CA 90071 Cost for the day is $8. Public transportation is highly encouraged.

Food: Participants will be provided with lunch

Prizes:

• 1 iPad Pro

• Gift Basket from Los Angeles Public Library

• City of LA Recognition Certificate

• Opportunity to present idea at the quarterly Census 2020 Countywide Outreach Complete Count Committee meeting on Thursday, May 24, 2018

Timeline:

• 9:00 am - Participants check-in

• 9:30 am - Welcome / Intros (Mark Taper Auditorium)

• 10:00 am - Teams assemble

• 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm - Lunch provided in the Courtyards

• 4:15 pm - Finalized projects are submitted to Google Folder

• 4:30 pm - Team presentations

• 5:30 pm - Winners announced

Questions and comments can be directed to erodarte@lapl.org. Please include any dietary restrictions to ensure sufficient options are available.