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Syracuse officials hope hackathon will bring new ideas for fixing infrastructure

City of Syracuse
Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner discussing the civic data hackathon

The city of Syracuse is hoping a civic “hackathon” can make some sense of all the data it’s collected about its streets.

The city is partnering with AT&T and Syracuse University’s iSchool, to look for ways to use all the information to create new apps or analysis which can be used to help city government improve roads. Syracuse Information Technology officer Sam Edlestein says there is a lot of information out there.

"We’re making available information about how the roads are rated. So when you drive down a specific segment of road, we rate it on a scale of 1 to 10, so what is that rating. Also, where have all the potholes been filled,” said Edlestein.

Students and residents can take part in the Hackathon.

This follows up other high tech infrastructure initiatives taken up by the city, including SQUID, Street Quality Inspection Devices. City officials say technology is one way to improve on the way the city tries to repair a crumbling infrastructure.

Ellen produces news reports and features related to events that occur in the greater Syracuse area and throughout Onondaga County. Her reports are heard regularly in regional updates in Morning Edition and All Things Considered.