Why we do it
Imagine a world where every citizen feels empowered and part of their neighborhood. Imagine if everyone trusted and felt taken care of by their local government. We know there are already a lot of involved citizens and hard-working local authorities and service people. We seek to use the power of the internet to bring them closer together and reach even more people.
The founders of SeeClickFix live in New Haven, Connecticut, USA, Planet Earth. We love our home (in fact one of our founders is well known for designing and and selling a local-pride T-shirt) and at the same time we know that any community can be improved. The most avid users of SeeClickFix will be those that love their home.
A few local governments have enough sophistication to run functional websites or 311 hot lines. Most do not have the resources to do much more than brochure-ware. Our site is a place for citizens from anywhere to give their local government a website that tracks local issues. No set-up time. No hiring consultants to study the issue. Just SeeClickFix.
We believe in the power of technology to promote:
- Transparency - governments and most organizations work best when they conduct their business in plain view. We'll do our best to do the same.
- Collaboration - Four brains are better than one. And millions of brains are better than three. Our goal is to give everyone else the tools to accomplish what we never could ourselves. Open source software and wikis are good models for us.
- Scale - We could have created a site that focused on our home town. Using the internet and all the tools others have created, we want to reach as many people as possible around the globe. Massive scale, please.
- Efficiency - Although paper has its place, there is a lot more room for the web and the mobile phone. Rather than re-invent the wheel, our site is built on open source software and Google maps.
Our Team
As senior architect for Yale's High Performance Computing Center, he led the organization through a 20x capacity growth in just three years. On Yale's production team he was essential to modernizing architecture and improving efficiency on core services of the university. At SeeClickFix he is the Chief Technical Officer.
As founder and COO, he led Higher One from inception to over 380 employees and over $75 million in annual revenue. Higher One has received numerous awards for growth including Inc 500, Entrepreneur Hot 100, Delotte Fast 50 and the UHY's Tech Top 40. Miles studied computer science at Yale and started his first "blog" in 1999.
As a community leader acting as Vice President of Public Relations for her sorority Kappa Alpha Theta, she has worked closely with the Hamden, CT community by contributing her efforts in community service and planning philanthropy events. She's currently working with a college colleague to start the social network Gluten-Free Social. Kayla recently graduated from Quinnipiac University with a BS in Marketing.
In the Press
May 2010
- What Soldiers at War Can Teach Us About Surviving Financial Warfare, Huffington Post (by Arianna Huffington) May 20, 2010.
- Get Active: Become an Entrepreneurial Volunteer, Huffington Post (by Jonathan Tisch) May 4, 2010.
April 2010
- How Social Media Can Effect Real Social and Governmental Change, Mashable (Craig Newmark author).,Apr. 20, 2010.
March 2010
- Elmer Smith: Couple turn to Net to cut city red tape, Philadelphia Inquirer, Mar. 2, 2010
- Using GPS To Tag Potholes, NPR All Things Considered, Mar. 5, 2010.
- New technologies get residents involved in problem-solving, Washington Post, Mar. 25, 2010.
Jan 2010
- News Sites Dabble With a Web Tool for Nudging Local Officials, New York Times, Jan. 3, 2010.
August 2008
- The ChronicleWatch for the digital age?, San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 15, 2008.