How can the City better work with Austin’s tech community to bring innovative approaches to civic challenges?

Natasha Harper-Madison

City Council, District 1

So much of our existence currently is fully digital or automated, one of the remaining analog experiences is voting. While we have a community with one of the largest registered voter populations in the country we also experience a significantly low voter turnout. One of the reasons people don’t vote is feeling excluded from the system, beginning with education and encouragement to participate. I believe the City can encourage the tech community to become stakeholders by connecting them to underrepresented populations (the youth, the elderly, the poor and differently abled communities) who would serve as an addition to a well trained workforce. Additionally, voters must be informed and our tech community includes organizations with an infinite amount of access to information. The City and tech community need to work together to create highly informed voters and civically active citizens.