NYC: April 4, 6-8pm Location TBD

Join the New York Technology Council (NYTECH), StartupBus NYC, and AlleyNYC for a lively discussion on citizen science and how it's driving the development of new technologies and the public's response to crisis situations. Our panel will address the following questions:

• What is citizen science?
• Who are the key players?
• How can ordinary citizens get involved?
• How is citizen science used in crisis situations and crisis mapping?
• What are some citizen science projects that have made significant impacts on the world?

Attendees will also learn about the International Space Apps Challenge, a two-day hackathon led by NASA's Open Innovation Team and taking place on April 20-21, 2013 in New York City. The event will allow participants to use open data and technologies to develop mobile applications, software, hardware, data visualization and platform solutions that could improve space exploration missions and address global needs to improve life on Earth.

Last year, the Challenge engaged more than 2,000 participants who collaborated on more than 100 open source solutions to 71 featured challenges. New York City produced fully-functioning applications, including: an application for empowering rural farmers with market price and crop related climate data solutions for visualizing Kepler exoplanet data, a standardized set of font symbols for meterologists to mark maps digitally, an SMS powered night sky observation app that tells you when the space station and other satellites are overhead.

As a result, New York City is the 2013 international flagship site! Join us and learn how you can participate in this exciting event. Appetizers and beverages will be served.