Election mania is subsiding in Washington, DC (although it’s definitely not over yet), and this week’s hot topics focus on data mashups, mobile phones, and technology for international development rather than just polling. If you’re ready to dive back into it, check out some of the interesting events happening in the city this week. Below are the events we’re hoping to make it to. You can find a full listing of tech events here.

Wednesday, November 12

1:00 – 4:00 pm

Workshop: The Role of Cell Phones in Carrying News and Information: This event will bring together people who are using cell phones for journalism and activism with the people who want to be. The discussion will center on how are people using cell phones to receive and send news, how journalists and nonprofits are currently using the medium for outreach, and what all nonprofits could be doing.

6:00 – 7:30 pm

The Wondrous World of the First Amendment: An Encyclopedic Look: After some of the confusions in recent weeks by politicians like Sarah Palin, it might be time for a refresher course in what rights the First Amendment really protects.

6:30 pm

From Data to Visualization: Emerging Tools for Research: Web-based tools can show data in some pretty cool ways. At this meetup, researchers – led by Jan Johansson from the Library of Congress – will talk about what that means for them and show several examples of web-based data visualization tools. Cost is $15 – $20.

Thursday, November 13

12:30 – 2:00 pm

Mobilizing for Development: Civil Society and ICTs in Southern Africa: In another mobile phone for development, the nonprofit SANGONeT is using mobile phones successfully in their development work in South Africa and will be sharing their experiences at this event.

6:00 – 9:00 pm

Apps for Democracy Awards Ceremony: Turns out Washington, DC has a ton of open data feeds, and they want to make something of it (yay DC!). So the DC government is holding a contest – Apps for Democracy – to find the best data apps and reward the winners with fame and fortune. Come out to see what the winners and everyone else came up with.

7:00 pm

Washington Information Architecture Meetup: If you’re into information architecture, check out the first meetup of the new IA group in Washington, DC and help kick start the conversation!

Hope to see you out this week!