Tech Tuesday: Tim Wisniewski is the City's first Director of Civic Technology

From the Philly311 Mobile App empowering residents to become community heroes to the open-source Licenses & Inspections Mobile App putting property information at your fingertips, and the many data releases that power this technology, we’ve seen a strong display of embracing civic technology from Mayor Nutter and Chief Innovation Officer Adel Ebeid.

Today, this embrace extends to the appointment of the City’s first Director of Civic Technology, Tim Wisniewski. This new position will leverage technology for civic gains. Externally, these gains could include mobile applications to interface with the public using newly released data. Internally, the Director of Civic Technology will work with the CIO and other city-departments to field their ideas on how to be more efficient, pairing those ideas with technological solutions.

“Mobile technology has come so far and it has created so many opportunities for efficiency that were never there before,” Wisniewski said. “Let’s take advantage of them.”

Tim Wisniewski comes from the Managing Directors Office, where he served as an Assistant Managing Director, providing project management for several technical projects including the Philly311 Mobile App. Tim previously worked in non-profit management as the Executive Director of the Frankford Special Services District, but developed a strong interest in civic technology through the OpenAccessPhilly partnership, participating in various hackathons, and serving on the City Commissioners Transition Team as a technology advisor. He holds a BA in Political Science from Richmond, the American International University in London.

“I am honored to have been selected for an opportunity with such potential for impact, said Wisniewski. “The CIO has lined up a great team for innovation and I’m excited to be part of it.”

The creation of this position by the Office of Innovation and Technology means more efficiency within city government and more mobile apps, websites, and software aimed towards civic engagement.