The past ten years have seen an unprecedented increase in the number of non-governmental organizations that specialize in providing communities with a voice in local politics. Non-profits embark on a variety of campaigns that seek to give their members and the public information about local elected officials and a way to voice their opinions. Several of these organizations have realized that their correspondence campaigns lack effectiveness because the recipients do not know exactly which local elected official they should be contacting.

Upon the realization that the core concerns of these issues lie in geography, several non-profits turned to Azavea in search of a solution. In response, we are proud to present a new web service aimed at bridging the gap between political advocacy and local government. We call it Cicero, in honor of the legendary Roman orator of the 1st century BC. Cicero uses a “geocoding” service to reference an address in more than 30 cities nationwide, providing the inquiring user with pertinent information on who their local elected official is and how they might be in contact with him or her. We continue to add new cities every week. We invite you to check out Cicero for yourself at http://www.azavea.com/cicero.