iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Quanta Magazine @quantamagazine.org · 27/02/2025

These are coral polyps, tiny animals that build coral reefs. Coral can grow into many shapes, including shelves, boulders, pillars, branches and cauliflower-like nubs. How these structures emerge is a kind of polyp packing problem. www.quantamagazine.org/the-elegant-...

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Brendan Babb @brendanbabb.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Are you a city/county government employee? Then come join the Results for America Results Network and discuss evidence-based solutions to help address communities' biggest challenges. resultsnetwork.results4america.org #LocalGovernment #ResultsforAmerica #EvidenceBased @bloombergcities.bsky.social

resultsnetwork.results4america.org

Join The Results Network

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Inclusion Chick @inclusionchick.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

E-bikes are a legit car replacer! 💙🚲💙

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Michael Baskin @michaelbaskin.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

ChatGPT is an awesome tool for preparing facilitation, especially as an experienced facilitator. It helps me brainstorm creative agendas, foresee challenges, draft messaging, train co-facilitators, and wrap it all up…all with the facilitation methods I like. Paired with MiroAI….magic.

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

IMPORTANT NEW STUDY: Fully flexible parking rules would result in MORE NEW HOMES than legalizing granny flats & larger multifamily buildings near transit combined, even if every new building still included some amount of parking. The #PowerOfParking. @sightline.org www.sightline.org/2024/12/10/p...

Bar graph showing effect of parking significantly exceeds effects of other changes

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Office of Mayor Michelle Wu 吳弭 @mayorwu.boston.gov · 12/12/2024

Our $13M Boston Acquisition Fund offers low-interest loans to local, mission-driven developers to purchase housing, keep tenants in their homes, and make sure these properties remain permanently affordable.

wgbh.org

Boston launches new fund to preserve affordable rental properties

The fund will provide loans to developers to buy existing rental properties and prevent them being sold to investors who would convert them to condos.

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Paris definitely wasn’t always this way. This is very recent. It wasn’t magic. It just took vision and leadership. Your city could choose leadership too. Great pic via @JBPssx

Long line up of people on bikes waiting for the light to change on a Paris street, in a separated bike-lane.

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Brendan Babb @brendanbabb.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

Just started reading this at lunch (Alaska is 4 hours earlier than East Coast) and it so cool! Thanks US Digital Response and State of New Jersey for this amazing research and work and for sharing it openly for other states and cities to leverage and remix!

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Stephen Goldsmith @goldsmithongov.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

2/ A big thank you to these powerhouse panelists, @eyalfeder.bsky.social, Arti Tangri, Carrie Bishop, and Enzhou Wang, who made moderating this session a great experience and shared fantastic insights.

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Stephen Goldsmith @goldsmithongov.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

1/ Moderating a great conversation today at the 2024 GovAI Coalition Summit @cityofsanjose.bsky.social and Government Technology. I had the honor of leading a data governance session discussing ethics and best practices for public sector employees on the front lines of integrating #AI and #GenAI...

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Brendan Babb @brendanbabb.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

A good discussion about the #energy future of #Anchorage, #Alaska at the #Assembly retreat on Energy & Infrastructure. I'll be on a panel at 1pm talking about solar & Muni buildings. Happening now at UAA Student Union - muni.org/Departments/... Live feed - www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqlt...

youtube.com

Assembly Retreat on Energy & Infrastructure

YouTube video by Municipality of Anchorage Meetings

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Brendan Babb @brendanbabb.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Honored to be named one of @statescoop.bsky.social's 2024 City Executives of the Year, on behalf of the #Anchorage i-team (Ben Matheson & Emily Bokar), Muni IT Dept., Muni employees & partners. #Alaska #LocalGovernment #iteams @bloombergdotorg.bsky.social statescoop.com/list/announc...

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

IMPORTANT STUDY: “On average, the implementation of 30 km/h speed limits in European cities demonstrated a 23%, 37% & 38% reduction in road crashes, fatalities & injuries respectively. Lower speed limits also yielded environmental benefits.” www.nrso.ntua.gr/review-of-ci...

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Brendan Babb @brendanbabb.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

#GivingTuesday - I'm the co-captain of @codeforanchorage.org and we would love you to consider donating to our #civictech volunteer group - hcb.hackclub.com/donations/st... We have been making projects for 12 years for #Anchorage & #Alaska and funds go to pay for software services, pizza and more.

hcb.hackclub.com

Donate to Code for Anchorage

Donate to Code for Anchorage. Your contribution will be tax-deductible.

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Mayor Melanie Kebler @melaniekebler.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Building homes - it works.

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Jason Thorne @jasonthorne.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

If you zone it, they will come. Trend in “Attached Accessory Dwelling Units” (planner-speak for housing units like basement apartments) since zoning/parking restrictions were removed (data and graph from new University of Toronto School of Cities report schoolofcities.github.io/gentle-densi...)

A line graph depicting the number of attached accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in Hamilton from 2014 to 2023. The graph displays two trends: issued building permits, shown in white, and completed building permits, shown in light green. Both lines show significant increases.

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Brendan Babb @brendanbabb.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

Totally agree! Also their is a certain excitement in having an idea and having #GenAI create quick prototypes moments later for you to refine that is very energizing.

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Jason Thorne @jasonthorne.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

A micro-theatre. Love it. Every park could have one.

An outdoor seating area resembling a modern architectural structure, with a group of people watching a performance or presentation on a screen. The setting is surrounded by trees, and the scene is illuminated by soft lighting.

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Brendan Babb @brendanbabb.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

This should be an informative and interesting show on Wednesday, Dec. 4th. I’ve heard @cmyeaton.bsky.social speak several times and enjoyed her perspective.

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

“Believe it or not, electric bikes offer more exercise than pedal bikes on average. That fact might sound strange, but the science is clear.” Why e-bikes actually give more exercise than “acoustic”bikes. (but both/either are excellent when it comes to better cities) electrek.co/2024/02/20/w...

electrek.co

Why electric bikes actually give more exercise than pedal bikes

Believe it or not, electric bikes offer more exercise than pedal bikes on average. That fact might sound strange (and...

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Brendan Babb @brendanbabb.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

Apply for Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities (BASC) Innovation Teams - Experiment - #GenAI podcast fed job descriptions & overview - www.brendanbabb.com/experiments/... Job Listings - publicinnovation.jhu.edu/about/career... Not reviewed by @publicinno.bsky.social #LocalGov #iteams Apply!

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Mark D. Levine @marklevinenyc.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

Please enjoy this animation of peak hour MTA subway service (by u/mtdfan)

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Jascha Franklin-Hodge @jfh01.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

Reviewing our first year of data about e-bikes in the Bluebikes public bike share system. e-bikes get used much more frequently and people travel farther on them. Those things are workhorses.

A line chart showing the number of trips per bike per day. There is a black line for e-bikes and a blue line for "classic" (non electric assist) bikes. The black line ranges from ~3 trips/bike/day in January to almost 10 trips/bike/day in October. The blue line ranges from ~1 trip/bike/day in January to almost 4 trips/bike/day in September.

A bar chart comparing the median trip distance of e-bikes and classic bikes (non-electric) by month. It shows that e-bike trips are 20-30% longer in distance each month compared to classic bikes. E-bike trip distances range from 1.3mi (January) to 1.57mi (June). Classic bike trip distances range from 1.09mi (February) to 1.24mi (June).

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Brendan Babb @brendanbabb.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

You should check out my friend, @lanefab.bsky.social low-carbon house designs and more. And he is a really nice guy.

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Tracy Chou @triketora.com · 27/11/2024

"if you unsubscribed by mistake" I HAVE NEVER UNSUBSCRIBED BY MISTAKE it is always 10000% intentional

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Brendan Babb @brendanbabb.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

A cool project I worked on w/@codeforanchorage.org, created in collaboration w/Native Lands Digital that lets you enter your city or zip code and learn what #indigenous land you are on. Also a FB Messenger bot - www.messenger.com/t/LandAcknow... land.codeforanchorage.org

land.codeforanchorage.org

Land Acknowledgement

Learn more about the land you're living, working, or recreating on. Data from native-land.ca/

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Brendan Babb @brendanbabb.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Thanks for sharing this real world data - Bryn

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Brendan Babb @brendanbabb.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

A) I love #Clippy references - B) A good example of what I have been thinking about. Making agents for residents to navigate government services. Privacy & security needs to be figured out, but having an agent watch you apply for SNAP & advise you on next steps to succeed. C) Fix the damn website

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Jonathan Edward Durham @thisone0verhere.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Public library energy is the best energy. Like here is all the knowledge we could find, it's been meticulously organized and vetted and it will cost you nothing today, welcome to the absolute pinnacle of human civic evolution, feel free to pull up any bean bag chair you like

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Brendan Babb @brendanbabb.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Being an #iteam (#Innovation Team) director is my favorite & most rewarding job ever. If you live or want to live in #Akron, #Ohio you should look into this Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities i-team Director job. @bloombergdotorg.bsky.social #LocalGoverernment jobs.jhu.edu/job/Akron-i-...

jobs.jhu.edu

i-team Director, Akron, OH

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Brendan Babb @brendanbabb.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

This looks pretty promising from #Claude and #Anthropic. I need to try some experiments. Model Context Protocol for talking to GitHub, Servers, Databases, APIs.

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Stephan Janssen @stephanjanssen.be · 26/11/2024

#Anthropic releases Model Context Protocol ( #MCP ) A framework that allows Claude to run servers, effectively turning the Claude app into an API. Quickstart tutorial @ glama.ai/blog/2024-11... Available online MCP servers @ github.com/modelcontext...

glama.ai

Introducing Model Context Protocol (MCP)

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open-source standard released by Anthropic in November 2024 that enables AI models to interact with external data sources through a unified interface.

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

HOUSING THE HOMELESS SAVES MONEY IN FINLAND: “a recent study showed the savings in emergency healthcare, social services & the justice system totalled as much as €15,000 a year for every homeless person in properly supported housing.” It works AND it saves money. www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/...

theguardian.com

'It’s a miracle': Helsinki's radical solution to homelessness

Finland is the only EU country where homelessness is falling. Its secret? Giving people homes as soon as they need them – unconditionally

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Denver gave people experiencing homelessness $1k/month. A year later, nearly half had housing. They also had fewer ER visits, nights spent in a hospital, and jail stays. The report estimates that this reduction in public service use SAVED the city $589k. www.businessinsider.com/denver-basic...

businessinsider.com

Denver gave people experiencing homelessness $1,000 a month. A year later, nearly half of participants said they had housing.

Participants in Denver's basic-income program reported having more-secure housing, though results were similar in the trial and control groups.

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Reposted by Brendan Babb

Jonathan Bowles @jbowlesnyc.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

There are 1.5 million adults in NYS who have some college credits but no degree. Our new @nycfuture.bsky.social report urges state leaders to create a new program, SUNY Reconnect, to help these adults re-enroll at SUNY & get over the college finish line. nycfuture.org/research/its...

nycfuture.org

It’s Time to Launch SUNY Reconnect | Center for an Urban Future (CUF)

Center for an Urban Future calls for New York to launch SUNY Reconnect for working age adults who have earned some college credits but have no degree.

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Michael Hallsworth @mhallsworth.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Great example of govt doing things better: Michigan created a "pizza tracker" so you can see the progress of your benefits application. Led to ⬇️14% in calls to support staff civilla.org/stories/appl... h/t @brendanbabb.bsky.social

civilla.org

A better way to track your benefits

Designing the country’s first benefits application tracker

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Jay 🦋 @jay.bsky.team · 23/11/2024

Bluesky's firehose is a treasure trove of public data for researchers and developers, and it's completely free. Check out our developer docs: docs.bsky.app

docs.bsky.app

Bluesky Documentation | Bluesky

Explore guides and tutorials to the Bluesky API.

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Brandon Wood @bwood.me · 23/11/2024

Did a very Alaskan thing today, and walked out to see a dead whale that washed up in Anchorage.

People gathered around a dead fin whale that washed up in Anchorage.

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Laura G Mitchell @lauragmitchell.com · 23/11/2024

If your city’s bike network is safe & connected, people of all ages & abilities will use it, including people in motorized wheelchairs. Everyone deserves freedom of mobility & to get around in the ways that work best for them. Cities need to ensure that’s possible.

Photo of someone using a motorized wheelchair on a 2 way elevated bikeway.

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Jorge Valens 🚀 @jorgevalens.com · 23/11/2024

Really enjoyed taking part in The Opportunity Project for Cities cohort this year. Love building cool, impactful solutions for local residents. Particularly those that help people apply for public benefit programs. www.govtech.com/gov-experien...

govtech.com

Local Governments Work With Google.org to Design Digital Tools

City and county officials discussed partnering with community organizations and technologists from Google.org on digital tools to resolve neighborhood issues, during a “Demo Day” webinar hosted by The...

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Scott Crass @scottcrass.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

With a nod to inspiration from @brendanbabb.bsky.social I went ahead and fed our muni code into a GPT. I've been meaning to do this since AML last year. Check it out! chatgpt.com/g/g-673edae0...

chatgpt.com

ChatGPT - North Star Code Assistant - Experimental

Answers North Star Borough code questions with detailed examples and code references.

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Brendan Babb @brendanbabb.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

This looks amazing! Sign up today, before you forget during the holiday haze. #AI #GenAI #Safety

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Jascha Franklin-Hodge @jfh01.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

The first City of Boston curbside EV chargers are now live in Charlestown helping "garage orphans" go electric ⚡⚡⚡ . Meet the diverse, local team that's installing the chargers and training up Boston's green jobs workforce.

youtube.com

Boston’s First Curbside Electric Charging Stations

YouTube video by City of Boston

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Brendan Babb @brendanbabb.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Avoid the Noid - #Civilla and the Michigan Health and Human Services department are working on the often talked about in #localgovernment, Pizza Tracker for X. In this case for benefits in Michigan. Awesome work! civilla.org/stories/appl...

civilla.org

A better way to track your benefits

Designing the country’s first benefits application tracker

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Chief Digital Officer for London @ldncdo.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

🚲 One of my fave city innovations I must ramp is how Transport for London & GoogleMaps are working together to make #cycling safer. Because of this, today you can choose a safer, low-traffic route across the city. Here's how this amazing #collaboration happened... 🧵 1/6 tfl.gov.uk/info-for/med...

tfl.gov.uk

Transport for London and Google Maps collaborate to make cycling better for Londoners and people across the world

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