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NYC is 1st to Use Volunteer Techies to Improve Disaster Response

New York City has created the country's first municipal program that uses volunteer tech experts, including Facebook employees, to improve its emergency response.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, New York City has created what it's boasting as the country's first municipal program that uses volunteer technology experts to improve emergency and disaster response. The new initiative, called Code Corps, is a public-private partnership that aims to improve services with minimal impact on the city's budget. Organizations who join the program (Facebook and New York University are already onboard) can donate staff time and expertise, technical equipment, physical space or computational support to facilitate the creation of databases, maps and applications that would aid disaster response. The volunteer organizations, which are vetted by the city, must agree to let their participating employees spend up to 20 percent of their time on the initiative.

Brian Peteritas is a GOVERNING contributor.
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