(Austin, TX) // Today, Austin Tech Alliance released their new policy agenda reflecting their efforts to encourage a variety of initiatives in the Austin community in 2019-2020. These priority areas include affordability, connectivity, mobility, open government, community engagement, voting and elections. With the help of local organizations and tech spaces, Austin Tech Alliance will work to influence policy and local initiatives in these point areas during the next year.
Austin Tech Alliance will work towards the following actions:
Voting and Elections
Informed.vote provides a single resource to get educated about candidates running for local office and their positions on community issues, helping Central Texans cast an informed vote at the ballot box.
Voter registration: Voting is our constitutional right and privilege. Leading into the 2020 Presidential election, it is important to register Travis County residents so they may participate in civic action.
Get out the vote efforts: Many residents simply do not know there is an election happening, are intimidated by the ballot, or do not know who is running for office.
Affordability
Compact and connected city: Promote more affordable housing options and greater mobility by allowing for more diverse and dense housing types throughout the city.
Homelessness: Keep Austin’s tech industry informed about efforts to mitigate homelessness.
Connectivity
Small cells rollout: Facilitate the introduction of 5G, the next generation of mobile internet connectivity, by allowing the successful deployment of small cell nodes
Mobility
Transportation awareness: Raise awareness of transportation options that can provide Austinites access to jobs, schools, healthcare and other locations.
Expanded transportation options: Expand knowledge of transportation options in Austin, including on-demand transit solutions, autonomous vehicles, docked and dockless bikes, stand and sit scooter rentals, bus rapid transit and carpool-ridesharing.
Community Engagement
2020 Census: Engage the community to draw attention to the 2020 Census to ensure that Austin and Central Texas achieves a complete count.
Open Government
Open City Council meeting agenda and vote data: Make City Council meeting agendas and vote data more accessible.
Data from city surveys: Support researchers’ access to raw data from city surveys.
Visit www.austintech.org to learn more about Austin Tech Alliance’s policy initiatives and keep up to date with their progress in these areas.
About ATA
Austin Tech Alliance is a nonpartisan nonprofit building a culture of civic engagement in Austin’s tech sector. The organization is focused on helping every tech employee cast an informed vote and using tech as a tool to tackle our community’s most pressing challenges.
As a member-based nonprofit, ATA has membership options for both individuals as well as companies. ATA is made up of over 70 civically engaged companies that are up a cross-section of leading tech brands, including AT&T, Capital Factory, Dell, Facebook, Google, Lyft, RetailMeNot, Silicon Labs, SXSW, Uber, WeWork, WP Engine, and others.
###