mySociety news

March 2020

Community

All the signs are there

But some of them are broken — and that's where you come in.

If you've used FixMyStreet, you already know how to use Transport Focus' new site, Sort My Sign.

That's because we repurposed the FixMyStreet platform to build it for them. So now, you can report a damaged, dangerous or obscured road sign, and be sure your report will go to the right place. Find out more about Sort My Sign here.

Friends of the Earth's Climate Tool and MapIt

MapIt is our solution for matching people's geographical points (like postcodes) to administrative boundaries (like council areas).

The latest organisation to make good use of MapIt is Friends of the Earth, who have created a tool to help you see what your local authority is doing about the climate emergency. Read all about it here.

Peak pothole day

Potholes are one of the most-reported issues on FixMyStreet.

Researcher Alex recently took a closer look at the stats around pothole reporting, including when and where they are most reported — and what date each year we hit 'peak pothole'.

Transparency

Who uses WhatDoTheyKnow?

We've also been exploring who are the typical users of our Freedom of Information site WhatDoTheyKnow.

Are they male or female, retired or working, disabled or not — and what are the reasons for making an FOI request? Read the findings here.

mySociety

We've turned off tracking

One of our recent mailouts started a conversation — both with our users and internally at mySociety — on the tracking of opens and clicks in these newsletters.

The result? We're not doing it any more. Here's a post about that decision.

Check out the TICTeC schedule

The full run-down of sessions and speakers at TICTeC in Reykjavik is now online.

Joining keynotes Nanjala Nyabola and Hollie Russon Gilman will be representatives of Iceland's civic tech scene, universities, national and local governments.

This year there are speakers from 18 other countries sharing research into topics as varied as social media manipulation and fighting corruption through data.

It's not too late to book your place - full details here.

What we're reading

The Bureau Local's FOI request, trying to find out more about the 'Russia Report' into electoral interference, has been branded vexatious.
Images that accompany news stories can frame how concepts such as 'poverty' are understood. A thoughtful piece from the New Statesman.
The Isle of Bute might not be where you'd expect to find a community of Syrian refugees. And yet.
"I bloody love blog posts like this," said one of our designers, about this GOV.UK piece on input types for numbers. Expect geekiness.
"Cycling, maps, obsessive pursuit of a rather niche goal" said another colleague, noting that this post ticks a lot of mySociety boxes.
This photo essay on the effects of climate change in Norway is simultaneously beautiful and sad.
How to make the world a better place for wheelchair users... with Lego.

Did you know that you can subscribe to our special interest newsletters too? Get an extra monthly bulletin on Democracy & Campaigning, Freedom of Information, Better Cities & Councils, or Research. Pick and choose your mySociety newsletters here.