In 2013 a few Silicon Valley engineers formed Lincoln Initiative, with the ambition of bringing together entrepreneurs and technologists to address the policy and process problems our government faces. Though not specifically partisan, there is an unabashed interest in promoting economic and personal liberty throughout their efforts.
For the last three years, Lincoln Initiative has hosted their annual Reboot Conference to help increase the impact startups and new civic technologies have for creating smarter campaigns, advocacy, and government. The conference brings together top influencers from industries and is a unique opportunity for political and civic tech enthusiasts to engage.
The conference included a shark-tank style Startup Pitch competition featuring ten top emerging civic and campaign tech startups. They pitched their ideas in two flights. A finalist emerged from each and the ultimate winner was selected by the audience using their phones to vote via the Microsoft Pulse polling tool.
The winner of the start-up contest was Seamus Kraft of OpenGov Foundation. His pitch was focused on generating excitement and interest for the newly formed Congressional Digital Service (CDS), modeled after the US Digital Service. Though their efforts are just beginning, Seamus emphasized what a huge help the $25,000 prize was going to be in their efforts to modernize the US Congress.
In addition to the start-up pitches, some established companies were also invited to speak on trends and progress they are seeing with technology in the political market. Ginny Badanes with Microsoft’s Civic Technology Services team discussed lessons learned from Microsoft’s efforts to encourage political entities into the cloud. Using a Sway presentation, Ginny walked the crowd of ~150 civic and political tech professionals through Microsoft’s engagement with political committees and trends the team is seeing in the use of new technologies. She emphasized the excitement around Machine Learning and PowerBI, providing examples of how each has been utilized by large political organizations this cycle.
The event wrapped up featuring a fireside chat with Libertarian party presidential candidate, Gov. Gary Johnson.
Below are a few notable tweets from the conference:
