Coding for Heroes: Second Lady Biden, Chopra, Levin Praise Civic Technologists

Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden, U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra and Department of Veterans Affairs Chief Technology Officer Peter Levin visited the headquarters of civic technology nonprofit Code for America in San Francisco on Wednesday, where they praised the contributions of citizen developers, including work related to the Joining Forces initiative created by Biden and First Lady Michelle Obama in April 2011.

At the “Apps for Heroes” event, Chopra discussed government’s use of application programming interfaces and open data to empower civic developers with the resources needed to build services for their fellow citizens and cited the VA’s Blue Button initiative and Veterans Job Bank as examples.

“We’re launching a new model of government, and that’s best described as a government that is playing the role of impatient convener,” said Aneesh Chopra. “We have resources, information as a resource to this technology-driven economy, and it is our responsibility to make it accessible so that all of you can do your thing.”

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