The Chicago City Data User Group empowers end users, businesses, and enthusiasts to leverage city data for civic engagement and innovation.

The Chicago City Data User Group serves as a central hub for end users, business users, enthusiasts, students, entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in utilizing the rich datasets provided by The City of Chicago. Our primary goal is to promote civic engagement, innovation, and economic opportunity by leveraging the city's data resources. We welcome participants of all skill levels who wish to learn about data and civic life together. While the group focuses on data utilization, the broader Chicago civic tech ecosystem includes various related initiatives such as Chi Hack Night, which offers weekly breakouts for learning and prototyping; City Bureau, a civic journalism lab developing open source projects to standardize public meeting information; City Open Workshop, which fosters collaborations on Chicago's built environment; Maptime Chicago, a weekly meetup for collaborative mapping; Open Uptown, a Code for America brigade focused on improving access to public services; and South Side Code & Coffee, a weekly gathering for developers and tech enthusiasts on the south side. These diverse groups collectively support the ecosystem of civic technology in Chicago, offering opportunities for collaboration, skill development, and community improvement through the strategic use of technology and data.