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ST. LOUIS, MO – OpenSTL, a volunteer organization of civic-minded technologists, hosted its annual Build4STL CivicTech Hackathon on Saturday to find creative and useful solutions to city problems. This year’s flagship hackathon focused on vacant properties. Coding teams were joined by Mayor Lyda Krewson and officials from the St. Louis Mayor’s Office, the Land Reclamation Authority, the Department of Buildings, and the Information Technology Services Agency, who shared data and guidance.

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson stated, “As technology plays an increasingly vital role in the St. Louis economy, the more essential it becomes that we find opportunities to leverage it to address meaningful civic issues.”

Abhi Nemani, St. Louis native and former Chief Data Officer for Los Angeles, stated, “This is a thrilling opportunity for St. Louisans to come together to build better tools and increase access and transparency in government. We are fortunate to have the support and partnership of city officials and agencies who want to improve St. Louis.”

Open Data STL is a group of data-savvy citizens of St. Louis and the surrounding metropolitan area that has come together to provide resources for finding, creating, and utilizing openly available data related to the growth, history, productivity, and demographics of the city.