The 9th annual National Day of Civic Hacking is right around the corner! This year’s event will take place virtually on Saturday, September 18, 2021 and there’s plenty of ways for you to get involved.

The National Day of Civic Hacking is the largest civic hacking event in the country, hosted by Code for America. Each year, thousands of people get together to not only leverage the power of technology, but to share innovative ideas and creative solutions to strengthen communities through meaningful improvements in systems and processes.

Participants of all skill levels and backgrounds are able to get involved including experienced coders, civic leaders, government officials and engaged citizens. These volunteers partner with local governments to help communities experience the benefits of working together to solve problems using data.

For this year’s event, Code for America has partnered with Transform911 to evaluate and improve emergency response services across the country. If you’d like to participate, you can register to help with locating open data, data analysis, and system mapping. The goal of these efforts are to survey the 911 data available around the nation to create a 911 Open Data Scorecard. Another way to get involved is to identify areas of improvement in emergency response and come up with proposed solutions to be submitted to the applicable jurisdictions. You can register and learn more here.

The event will kick off on September 18 at 12:00 p.m. ET with an opening session, followed by working time for participants, starting at 1:00 p.m. After a 30-minute lunch starting at 3:30 p.m., participants can get back to working and innovating until 6:00 p.m. when closing remarks begin.

Outside of joining in the largest civic hacking event in the country, there are several other ways you can be an active participant in the Information Security community throughout the year. A great place to start is to join in the many online conversations surrounding Cyber Security, many of which are taking place on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Discord. For those who might not be active on social media, the INE Community is another place for you to share your thoughts and experiences by engaging directly with INE instructors, students, and community leaders!

Virtual and in-person events are excellent ways to stay on top of the latest trends and build relationships with others in the industry. Some of the most popular events occurring throughout the year include RSA Conference, Black Hat, DEF CON, and The Diana Initiative. Whether you physically attend or participate from your computer, there are a variety of opportunities to meet new people, get hands-on in an IoT Village or CTF event, and hear insights from industry experts.