Posts tagged tech
City of Boulder going all-out virtual (TMI?)
Aug 20th
Today, the City of Boulder is proud to announce the launch of Inspire Boulder – an idea-collaboration engine that allows for real-time engagement 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Inspire Boulder is an online, civic engagement platform that combines the ease of social sites (like Facebook) with the purpose and substance of city projects, issues and programs. A sort-of digital town hall, residents can submit ideas, help prioritize options and even do real-time budgeting. Community collaboration happens in real time so results, ideas and priorities can occur organically, as if it were a public meeting.
“Boulder has a thriving tech and start-up community and our residents are some of the most connected folks on the Front Range,” said City Manager Jane Brautigam. “Having a virtual town hall, to inspire and inform all the important work we do, just makes sense in Boulder.”
Typical workshops, meeting and open houses will still be held citywide. Inspire Boulder is meant to augment these more traditional venues for receiving community input.
The platform also combines idea submission with game theory. Registered users get ‘points’ for submitting ideas and can accrue points for getting ‘up votes’ on their submitted ideas. It’s pretty simple: the better ideas are, the more points they earn. Naturally, the best ideas move to the top.
“Boulder is also known for its well-educated residents,” Brautigam said. “We want to enrich our conversations by tapping into the many creative minds that exist in our community.”
Inspire Boulder will host topics, issues, projects and programs from around the city organization. At launch, the site includes:
- Boulder Civic Area project;
- Boulder’s Energy Future;
- Transportation (Transportation Master Plan); and
- Waste Reduction and Recycling.
Stay tuned! Additional topics from Parks and Recreation, the Boulder Public Library and more will be featured in the coming months.
SOPA ^ H.R.3261 – Stop Online Piracy Act; editorial by Jann Scott
Jan 11th
Below is the actual bill before congress. You can read it for yourself. In Boulder there is a severe reaction to this bill by techies led by tech entrepreneur Brad Feld. In a tweet to me he said that he does “not support Piracy or Hacking or theft:” so why is he against this bill??
Privately most techies are hackers, steal songs and movies and feel the internet should remain a lawless wild west. They think everything on the Internet should be in the public domain. They are anti-business anti capitalist though many of them work in so called Start-up business’s. They are anti-protected rights though all techies demand it for themselves. We have come to a cross roads where the US Congress has now taken up the cause of protecting artists and film makers from world wide internet Piracy and Organized crime.
At Boulder Channel 1 we see both sides of the issue. We are concerned about censorship and the far reaching arm of a bad law. We have been victims of it many times. So we don’t like the idea of government reaching into our television channel or newsroom. On the other hand we don’t steal movies or music. We don’t allow criminal enterprises to advertise with us. So we are pretty clean.
Other issues at hand are hacking, corporate espionage, identity theft, credit card theft and theft of anything online. This now becomes a moral crisis for all in the Boulder tech world.
City giving incentive rebates to high-tech company
Jan 5th
City Manager Jane S. Brautigam has approved a flexible rebate application for Boulder-based Tendril for up to $85,000 in rebates. The rebates were authorized for sales and use taxes, and permit-related fees.
The flexible rebate program is one of the city’s business incentives, covering a wide range of fees, equipment and construction use taxes. Under this program, the city manager may consider a specific incentive package for tax and fee rebates to meet a company’s specific needs. The company is then eligible for the rebate after it has made its investment and paid the taxes or fees to the city.
“The City of Boulder is pleased that Tendril, a company founded in Boulder, is growing and able to maintain operations in the city, in part, due to city-offered incentives,” said City Manager Jane S. Brautigam. “Tendril is at the forefront of energy technology and represents the future of the industry.”
Tendril is transforming the way the world interacts with energy. The company’s technology allows consumers to modify their behaviors to reduce both their costs and energy usage and allows the utility to speak with the consumer during peak periods in order to reduce demand. Tendril is expanding and recently renovated and moved into an approximately 52,000 square-foot space at 2560 55th St.
“We are proud to be a Boulder-based company. Boulder provides access to great talent, an unmatched quality of life for our employees and a vibrant technology community that is quickly becoming a center of clean tech innovation,” said David Rayner, chief financial officer at Tendril. “As a leader in clean technology, it is important to us that we ‘walk the walk’ on green initiatives and we’re thrilled to receive recognition from the City of Boulder for our sustainability efforts.”
The flexible rebate program uses social, community, and environmental sustainability guidelines. Companies choose the guidelines that best fit their circumstances, but must meet minimum requirements in order to receive the rebate. Tendril has exceeded the minimum community sustainability guidelines. Of note, Tendril participates in RTD’s Eco Pass program and has a Green Team responsible for managing environmental initiatives, including holding in-house educational sessions, purchasing energy-friendly appliances, and maintaining composting and recycling programs. The company will participate in energy efficiency programs such as receiving an energy assessment for its new facility and participating in the 10 for Change challenge.
Tendril’s flexible rebate application is one of six submitted to the city in late 2011. Five 2011 applications are pending. The city’s approved 2012 budget includes $350,000 in funding for 2012 flexible tax and fee rebates for primary employers.