The Road Ahead for DIYcity.org

I started posting again to DIYcity back in September, just as an outlet for all sorts of thinking I was doing around the idea of Open Cities and where they're going. In doing that, one thing has led to another, and I've found myself in conversation with a friend and colleague about what DIYcity could add to the Open Cities space going into 2011.

What would a DIYcity reinvented for 2011 be?

When thinking about this, the question immediately arises: is there a place for an interesting, useful, even game-changing DIYcity today? The scene today is much different from even a year ago. We've got Open Plans doing their excellent thing, Code for America doing their excellent thing, a new Big Apps contest here in NYC, various startups like SeeClickFix doing their thing, and a new hackathon focused on city data practically every weekend.

So is there something DIYcity could contribute to this new ecosystem that would be exiting, energizing, additive?

As of a meeting yesterday, I think the answer is absolutely yes.

We have an idea for a new DIYcity which to me would be all of the above, and would also be a blast to work on.

And so we're starting to work on it - today in fact.

This is still in the drawing stages, the figuring-out-the-nuts-and-bolts stage, so I wont go into details yet. It's entirely possible that something could go awry before the idea ever sees the light of day.

But for now know this: we've got something new on the drawing board, I think it's pretty exciting, and I'm spending part of my busy week pushing it forward to make it a reality. It will guide my postings on DIYcity for the remainder of the year. Posting frequency may go up. The look and feel of the site may start changing at some point. And maybe, as we move toward January, we'll get closer to this idea and we can start to talk about it more concretely.

Hi to all at the Open Cities conference this week. Wish I could be there!