We are San Diegans who believe a healthier interface between government and technology leads to a healthier democracy and more vibrant civic life. We care about our communities, our fellow citizens, and our civic institutions, and work together to support and bolster our Public. We are a chapter of the national, non-partisan Code for America, leveraging their resources, but focused on our own local issues. We welcome our fellow San Diegans of every skill level and background to be a part of this movement!
Mission: We strengthen San Diego citizens’ experience as among the best in the nation, by assisting San Diegans who want to collaborate and create a more engaged, efficient, and effective democracy and civic life.
Vision: A thriving regional San Diego ecosystem, whose people, environment, and economy are supported by data, information, and insights.
Open San Diego's roots lead back to 2009, when founder Jed Sundwall attended a Sunlight Foundation Transparency Camp, and where he was encouraged by Code for America founder Jen Pahlka to use his development of social media strategies for sites like USA.gov locally in San Diego.
Sundwall initially focused Open San Diego as an open data library for the city of San Diego. “The thesis is that we want to give developers, researchers, journalists, policy makers and bureaucrats easy access to data that accurately describes the city so they can do their jobs more easily.”
"We want to make the case that this isn’t just about transparency, but that sharing data can make lawmakers’ and public servants’ jobs easier while improving the quality of policy and service delivery," Sundwall said. "It’s a win-win."
Since that time Open San Diego has morphed into it's current form as an official Brigade of Code for America.