Eldridge Participates in White House Champions of Change Event

State Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) participated in the Champions of Change event held at the White House on July 23 which honored individuals for submitting a challenge at the National Day of Civic Hacking, a weekend-long event held on June 1-2 that brought together software developers of all skill sets to find solutions using publicly-released data to improve their community, state and country.

"It was an honor to attend the White House 'Champions of Change' Open Government forum (on July 23), and have a chance to speak with Obama administration technology staff, municipal officials, and civic hackers to discuss how to use technology, public data, and community leaders to solve social problems," Eldridge said on his Facebook page. "Lots of great ideas to bring to Massachusetts!"

Eldridge was the only state lawmaker in the country to submit a challenge for the National Day of Civic Hacking, proposed the Help4OK project to build on local efforts for crisis management response based off a website for Oklahoma tornado victims. The easy-to-use website will be a reusable resource to those in need of food, shelter and medical supplies during natural disasters and other statewide emergencies.

“There has always been a tremendous outpouring of support from residents in my district to help those in need during natural disasters and emergencies like Hurricane Irene and Sandy,” said Eldridge. “I am honored to attend Champions of Change to foster acts of civic engagement and enrich the collaboration between technology leaders and community activists to improve the efficiency of data sharing and transparency in government.”

The Help4OK challenge proposal is available at http://www.senatoreldridge.com/help.