Civic Tech Stories & Tools
Real stories of civic tech problem-solving. At Code for Dayton, we believe the best way to learn about tools is through the stories of how they've solved real community problems. Each story shows you the full journey: the challenge, the approach, the tools used, and the impact achieved.
Whether you're new to civic tech or looking for solutions to specific community challenges, these stories demonstrate how accessible tools can create meaningful change. We're part of the Alliance of Civic Technologists (ACT) network, and we share these stories to help groups everywhere tackle similar problems.
Quick Tool Reference
Looking for a specific tool? Here's our curated collection organized by category, with links to the stories that show them in action.
Mapping & GIS
QGIS
Open-source Geographic Information System for analyzing spatial data and creating maps.
Data Analysis & Visualization
Python
Versatile programming language excellent for data analysis, web scraping, and automation.
Jupyter Notebooks
Interactive computing environment perfect for data exploration and sharing reproducible research.
pandas
Python library for data manipulation and analysis, essential for working with structured data.
Beautiful Soup
Python library for parsing HTML and XML, perfect for web scraping civic data sources.
Development Tools
Visual Studio Code
Lightweight, extensible code editor with excellent support for web development and most languages.
Jekyll
Static site generator (powers this website!) for creating documentation sites and simple web applications.
Infrastructure & Hosting
Digital Ocean
Reliable cloud infrastructure with simplicity, predictable pricing, and excellent documentation.
GitHub Pages
Free static site hosting directly from GitHub repositories. Perfect for project documentation.
Railway
Modern platform for deploying applications with minimal configuration. Great for prototyping civic tech solutions.
GitHub Actions
Automation platform for building continuous integration and deployment workflows directly in GitHub.
Share Your Story
Have you used these tools to solve a community problem? We'd love to feature your story! Sharing your experience helps other civic tech groups learn from your approach and potentially collaborate on similar challenges.
What makes a good civic tech story?
- Real community impact - You solved an actual problem for real people
- Replicable approach - Other groups could adapt your methods
- Clear tool usage - You can explain which tools you used and why
- Lessons learned - You have insights to share about what worked (and what didn't)
Ready to share? Reach out to us on Discord or email and we'll help you tell your story.
Learning Together
One of our core goals is training people in relevant skills through civic service projects. We welcome diverse skillsets and experience levels—if there's something you want to learn, we'll try to find a place for you to develop that skill while contributing to meaningful community projects.
Our civic tech work provides real-world learning opportunities where you can grow your abilities while making a positive impact. Join us on Discord or come to a meeting to get started!