Sessions at FOWA Vegas 2011 about Government and Startups

Wednesday 29th June 2011

• The Next Disruption: The Opportunity for Civic Startups

  by Jennifer Pahlka

  So much of the culture of the web stands in stark contrast to our notions of what it’s like to work with the government, but a lot is quietly changing, and there’s increasingly an opportunity for web 2.0 teams to make a real impact on the $166B government technology market. There’s money to be made, but glory as well, as this largest of our public institutions is in desperate need of disruption. And there’s increasingly an opportunity for web 2.0 teams to make a real impact on the $166B government technology market. Remember, the government market is 30% of our GDP.

  This session will outline three demographic trends that make change in the sector inevitable, describe the changing environment that is opening up a formerly insular system, and then get real about how hard it really still is to work in a government context. We’ll hear stories from such companies as Azavea, OpenPlans, SeeClickFix, and GroundCrew. Then we’ll return to the sunny side of the street and talk about how you can disrupt this market from the inside or the outside, and why it’s worth it.

  • Government
  • Startups

  At 2:45pm to 3:25pm, Wednesday 29th June