A Civic Technologist's Practice Guide

If you want to make a significant positive impact on people’s lives as a civic technologist, at some kind of scale, and you are starting from scratch, you should plan on a minimum of two years to see it through. Three to five years is more realistic in many situations—and even if you put in five years, there’s no guarantee of success. This is as a core team member, where the work is your full-time job; you may also encounter some “spot” opportunities to consult with a team, where you can play a specialized role in a two-to-five year effort without spending the whole time in-house yourself.