Sunday, May 28, 2023
Interviews, Videos

Liz meets “The Man Behind Apps for Democracy, Peter Corbett” – CEO of iStrategy Labs on the streets of NYC

As CEO of iStrategy Labs, Peter Corbett was the creative force behind Washington D.C.’s hugely successful Apps for Democracy contest. By engaging the software developer community in a contest atmosphere, he turned a $50,000 municipal investment into $2,300,000 in civic applications.

By Liz Azyan , in Interviews Videos , at August 3, 2009 Tags: , , , , ,

Here is a snipet of Peter Corbett’s bio from Participation Camp 09

As CEO of iStrategy Labs, Peter Corbett was the creative force behind Washington D.C.’s hugely successful Apps for Democracy contest.  By engaging the software developer community in a contest atmosphere, he turned a $50,000 municipal investment into $2,300,000 in civic applications.

In his workshop, Peter will briefly discuss the innovative “cradle-to-grave” approach they’re using for the second installment of their contest.  Then he’ll facilitate a discussion on how we can continue to effectively engage the technology community in building a better democracy. Follow Peter Corbett on Twitter.

Citizen Engagement through Apps for Democracy

If you still have no idea what “Apps for Democracy” is, well let’s just say its the US version of mySociety.org that proudly brought us FixMyStreet.com, No 10 Petitions, GroupsNearYou and etc .

Among Apps for Democracy developments include:-

  1. DC Historic Tours
  2. University Mobile Alerting System
  3. We the people Wiki
  4. Your guide to biking in DC
  5. Carpool Mashup Matchmaker

To learn in detail what Apps for Democracy is doing in terms of citizen engagement at the moment, you’ve got to read this!

Meeting Peter Corbett…

I met Peter while I was in NYC attending the Participation Camp (PCamp) and Personal Democracy Forum 09. Its funny how it might seem that I just bumped into him on the street but actually we were on our way back from PCamp and walking towards the subway when I asked Peter if I could do a quick video interview with him. And he was kind enough to agree to do so eventhough the rain was starting to pour ! (Thank you Peter!). We talked about alot of different things. Peter’s a really cool guy and he was more than happy to share his experience and knowledge… and oh ya.. he even produces concerts for some well known bands like Gym Class Heros… What a cool dude!  Where does he find the time… I’ve got no idea!

Anyways check out the interview I had with him here. And below that, you can find his Apps for Democracy’s video Community Edition. Enjoy! Hope you find it useful !

Apps For Democracy Community Edition from Peter Corbett on Vimeo.

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