about this event
Saturday, October 3, 2026 · 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM · George Washington University (building and room to be announced)
A one-day open source AI Hackathon co-hosted by Civic Tech DC and GW's Open Source Program Office (OSPO). Two civic data projects, one room, one day. Pick a project, pick a track, form a team, and make real progress, whether you've been with a project for months or are showing up for the first time.
Project 1: RideScore DC. RideScore DC is a Civic Tech DC volunteer project building an open data pipeline and interactive map that scores DC streets for bike safety and comfort. Website / UI: frontend work, new features, and interface improvements on the RideScore DC map. A ready-to-run environment (HTML or Docker) with instructions will be waiting so you can plug in and go. Models: plug and play. We'll provide a data pipeline and a clean, downloadable dataset with instructions so you can build and test your own scoring model. Non-technical (tentative): outreach, benchmarking peer projects, strategy, and user research. Whether this track runs depends on who steps up to help shape it. If that's you, say so when you register.
Project 2: FEC Data. Do you think money in politics is an important problem? The Federal Election Commission publishes campaign finance data for every federal race: candidates, committees, contributions, and spending, available through the openFEC API and bulk downloads. You will have the freedom to combine datasets, perform analysis, and build tools for researchers, journalists, and everyone to better understand who is influencing US elections and politicians: Data: pull, clean, and combine FEC datasets so they're easy for others to build on. E.G. combine FEC candidate data with demographic data and voting scorecards to explore where money goes based on gender, race, or various issues. Analysis & visualization: explore where the money comes from and where it goes, and tell a clear story with the data. Tools: build tools based on combined datasets and using the openFEC API or bulk data to help people learn about donations to and from specific candidates, corporations, and individuals. We encourage all attendees to make all data, analysis, and tools open source so they can be shared and will continue after the AI Hackathon.
Schedule: 10:00 AM: Check-in & coffee. 10:30 AM: Kickoff, project backgrounds & track introductions. 11:00 AM: Choose a track & form teams. 11:30 AM: Build begins. 1:00 PM: Lunch. 1:45 PM: Volunteer & mentor check-ins. 4:00 PM: Submissions close. 4:15 PM: Demos & showcase. 5:15 PM: Wrap-up & group photo. 5:30 PM: Happy hour (location TBD). Come celebrate with us!
Who should come: Developers, data scientists, designers, students, cyclists, open source contributors, people who care about campaign finance transparency, and anyone who wants better civic data in DC. No prior involvement with either project needed. Bring a laptop.
Before the day: We'll run an onboarding session ahead of the AI Hackathon to walk through the projects, the data, and the codebases. Details will be posted here and sent to registered guests.
Want to help run it? We need setup and registration volunteers, breakdown volunteers, mentors, and people to help present at the onboarding session. Tell us at a Civic Tech DC Project Night or use the Contact Host button on this page.
tracks
RideScore DC: Website / UI
Frontend work, new features, and interface improvements on the RideScore DC map. A ready-to-run environment (HTML or Docker) with instructions will be waiting so you can plug in and go.
RideScore DC: Models
Plug and play. A data pipeline and a clean, downloadable dataset with instructions will be provided so you can build and test your own scoring model.
RideScore DC: Non-technical (tentative)
Outreach, benchmarking peer projects, strategy, and user research. Whether this track runs depends on who steps up to help shape it. If that's you, say so when you register.
FEC Data: Data
Pull, clean, and combine FEC datasets so they're easy for others to build on, for example combining FEC candidate data with demographic data and voting scorecards to explore where money goes based on gender, race, or various issues.
FEC Data: Analysis & Visualization
Explore where the money comes from and where it goes, and tell a clear story with the data.
FEC Data: Tools
Build tools based on combined datasets and using the openFEC API or bulk data to help people learn about donations to and from specific candidates, corporations, and individuals.
when
Civic Tech DC x GW OSPO Hackathon: RideScore DC + FEC Data
Check-in and coffee at 10:00 AM, kickoff and track introductions at 10:30 AM, team formation at 11:00 AM, building from 11:30 AM, lunch at 1:00 PM, mentor check-ins at 1:45 PM, submissions close at 4:00 PM, demos and showcase at 4:15 PM, wrap-up and group photo at 5:15 PM, happy hour at 5:30 PM (location TBD).
◍ George Washington University (building/room TBA)tickets
| tickets | price | Fee | Status | description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Registration | Free | None | Available | Free admission to the one-day AI Hackathon; registration required. |