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Civic Hacking: It's Not For Evildoers

Susan Stephens
/
WNIJ

The word “hacker” can strike fear into the heart of anyone who has a credit card, a computer, or a smart phone. Saturday, June 6th, thousands of “civic hackers” across the country will reclaim the art of accessing data. Northern Illinois University is one of the sites where people can get together to observe the National Day of Civic Hacking. WNIJ’s Susan Stephens spoke with Tracy Rogers-Tryba of NIU’s Center for Governmental Studies.  She’s one of the organizers of NIU's“hack-a-thon.”

NIU's Civic Hacking event is Saturday from 1:00 until 5:00 in Founders Library. 

  This fall, a much larger, 24-hour civic hacking eventwill be held on campus. Students from throughout the region will be challenged by community representatives to help them come up with technology-based solutions to their biggest problems.

Susan is an award-winning reporter/writer at her favorite radio station. She's also WNIJ's Perspectives editor, Under Rocks contributor, and local host of All Things Considered.