Python and a small but fixed set of the most common packages are helping Baltimore City government address human capital, culture and performance challenges at the interagency level. This talk is for you if you work with government organizations who could be using Python to make government better or, if you are an advocate for establishing a Python eco-system within the public sector.
Infrastructure and operational agencies in local government have alarmingly high levels of retirement ready, retirement eligible staff and a predisposition for paper-based task performance. In this talk I will outline the roadmap to establish a Python ecosystem in city government that is changing the culture and the way government works at the interagency level. As part of this talk I will discuss: 1. How we arrived here -- What happen’s when you win a pie eating contest is more pie ... arriving at Python from the scars of ‘Special Projects’, the short lifespan of ‘the fixer’ and the need for transparency and reproducibility 2. The fixed stack ... our gov toolkit (Python, Jupyter Notebook, GitHub, Pandas, Matplotlib, Plotly, Heroku, PythonAnywere) 1G - 1H - 1J - 1M & 4PPPPs ... rationale and benefits of this set up 3. Making the case for a Python Ecosystem with data projects----they saw the light! ... brief intros of each project with project output/ image ....... gender compensation parity analysis project ....... a reminder bot mimicking the Chief of Staff ....... an overtime dashboard report 4. Maintaining and growing the eco-system ... workday Python policy & workshops for interested employees ... problem sourcing with a gaze fixated on 1G - 1H - 1J - 1M & 4PPPPs ... monthly sponsored open Meet Up for government employees and software engineers ...* inception via targeted Lunch & Learns 5. Benefits of the small stack and roadmap