Mission & Vision
Open Austin's mission is to end disparity in Central Texas with technology and in technology. We envision a city that respects and serves all people.
We do this through facilitating issue-based conversations between government and residents, providing service to local nonprofits and community groups that leverage our expertise, and advocating for policy that utilizes technology to improve our community.
Values
We improve Central Texans' lives through civic design, technology, and data.
- We are results-oriented and action-oriented. Too often, projects are stifled by perfection rather than completion, and technology projects tend to be insular rather than reaching the community.
- We build together with respect, humility, and listening because inclusion and collaboration are essential to long-term adoption and impact.
- We understand that change takes time because building relationships and trust takes time.
We also believe that technology should support the intellectual freedom at the heart of a democratic society. In the digital age, that entails advancing:
- Free expression: People should be able to speak their minds to whoever will listen.
- Security: Technology should be trustworthy and answer to its users.
- Privacy: Technology should allow private and anonymous speech, and allow users to set their own parameters about what to share with whom.
- Creativity: Technology should promote progress by allowing people to build on the ideas, creations, and inventions of others.
- Access to knowledge: Curiosity should be rewarded, not stifled. We uphold these principles by fighting for transparency and freedom in culture, code, and law.