Anna Valuev

This session is a must-attend for anyone who came into the government or tech space to promote democracy and civic participation.  Civics education is at a crossroads: In 2014, less than 25% of 8th graders scored proficient on the National Civics Exam, and in 2018, only 9 states required year-long US government courses. This fall, the State Department’s Office of Foreign Assistance (F) took on the challenge of reimagining civics education through a sprint to develop data-driven digital tools. Groundbreaking not only in the subject matter, but also as the pilot of TOP’s new open source toolkit - TOPx. Hear from Jim Richardson, Director of F on data transparency and usability, and from tech teams from Syracuse iConsult and Suffolk University about the products they developed. Then, join us for a fireside chat with the State team on their experience using TOPx, a newly launched toolkit that allows federal agencies to leverage the TOP model and resources to facilitate sprints on flexible timelines and topics. If you’re an edtech company, a teacher, student, education advocacy organization, or a federal agency looking for new innovation strategies - this session is for you!

This last session of Demo Week is your chance to meet the Census Open Innovation Labs (COIL) team, the organizers of Demo Week!  Through a quick toast and sendoff, we’ll introduce the team behind The Opportunity Project (TOP) and our larger innovation hub, COIL.  Meet the team, hear brief closing thoughts and where we go from here! Join an open Q&A with the team.