Emerging Technologies Go Local

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Chris

O’Reilly Radar has a great article on Government 2.0 in local government:

The primary benefits of Gov 2.0 that IT professionals cite include improved e-services to the public, resident participation in government, and collaboration between agencies. That snapshot of Gov 2.0 evolution offers ample perspective on the challenges for Gov 2.0 at the federal level.

Cities like New York, Boston, San Francisco, Portland, Ore. and the District of Columbia, have all been hailed in the media for innovative use of open data, new urban mechanics, adoption of Open311, and improved e-services. Promoting government transparency through technology is a leading topic of interest for local government officials, though implementation still lags that interest in many counties. Abroad, the growth of government 2.0 in Australia and development of open government in Britain are key case studies to watch, particularly data.gov.uk. Last weekend’s CityCamp in London drew hundreds of citizens, technologists and government workers together to talk about the next steps.

The article even connects government (and web) 2.0 to the foundations of democracy:

“The most powerful force in American democracy is the connection between and among citizens,” said David B. Smith, NCoC’s executive director in a prepared statement. Civic life in America now includes a digital component that allows people to share news and co-create in unprecedented ways. What citizens and local government do with that force is the next great question.

Critical Website ‘A Good Learning Experience’

Posted on October 15, 2010 by Chris

Have you faced an angry or overly critical website in your jurisdiction? They seem to be springing up everywhere.

The City of Beaumont, California, found itself in a similar situation, and did something positive in response. I especially like this quote, from the Public CEO story:

“I think it’s a good learning experience,” said City Manager Alan C. Kapanicas. “Either we’ve done something wrong and we’ve got to fix it or we’ve got to explain what we did right.”

And in response?

In response, the city posted its 1994 contract with Urban Logic Consultants. It was a move designed to increase transparency, as BCRG has advocated for years, said Bingham.

The city’s also has a page on its website for “Myths and Facts about Contract Employees,” refuting the serious allegations without citing the citizens group by name. See the webpage here.

What a way to handle criticism! It all starts with a mindset similar to this city manager’s.

How Social Media Can Effect Govt Change

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Chris

Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist and an government 2.0 advocate who we’ve covered before, has another post on Mashable entitled, “How Social Media Can Effect Real Social and Governmental Change“. He discusses accomplishing everyday tasks, improving government from the outside, and open data and government data. A must read.

In-Depth Pew Study about Government Online

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Chris

The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project just released a study entitled “Government Online.” It is a very detailed report on citizens’ usage of government websites and interaction with government on and off official websites. For example:

These results should not imply that Americans are not involved in online discussions around government issues or policies—these conversations are simply taking place within the broader online environment rather than on “official” government blogs or fan pages. In the twelve months preceding this survey, one in ten internet users (11%) posted comments, queries or other information related to government poli- cies online, while 7% of internet users uploaded videos or photos online related to a government policy or issue. An additional 12% of internet users joined a group online that tries to influence government policies, and 3% participated in an online town hall meeting. Taking all of these activities together, nearly one quarter of internet users (23%) have posted comments or interacted with others online around government policies or public issues.

Another area I thought interesting was the discussion of minority usage of online government interactions:

The report also finds that 31% of online adults have used social tools such as blogs, social networking sites, and online video as well as email and text alerts to keep informed about government activities. Moreover, these new tools show particular appeal to groups that have historically lagged in their use of other online government offerings—in particular, minority Americans. Latinos and African Americans are just as likely as whites to use these tools to keep up with government, and are much more likely to agree that government outreach using these channels makes government more accessible and helps people be more informed about what government agencies are doing.

This is a rather long report, but I recommend you read it (here’s the pdf), but in case you don’t, I will likely post more information as I digest it all. And, the O’Reilly Radar has a good overview also.

Budgeting for the Opening of Data

Posted on April 23, 2010 by Chris

Governing had an article recently about better aligning budget with IT innovations. I thought one portion was especially insightful about the need for data initiatives:

Budget for cross-program initiatives, especially sharing data with communities of interest and the public. Standardized data can allow agencies and the public to report once for many purposes, rather than suffering under requirements for multiple and repeated “single purpose” reports. For example, corporate financial reporting in the Netherlands is now considerably more efficient and effective because firms make available real-time data feeds to replace a series of required reports. Closer to home, the D.C. data feeds and federal Data.gov initiatives are releasing government data to encourage transparency and feedback for better productivity and civic trust. To find these cross-boundary opportunities, the budget process must search for them.

Making Staff Just a Click Away

Posted on April 21, 2010 by Chris

The Alliance for Innovation writes about how the City of Surprise, Arizona, created a new page to make contact city staff and leaders easier:

“Surprise is city of connection and opportunity, and our new streamlined directory makes it easy for our residents to connect with the right person in city government,” says Interim City Manager Mark Coronado. “We continue to drive Mayor and Council’s goal of constantly improving our open and transparent relationship with residents.”

The new City Directory, which includes staff contact information and numbers to local utilities, is among many new improvements to the web site, all designed to improve connections to government information. Other recent additions include a Google site search and the “It’s Your Money” city finance site. The city’s commitment to openness was recently recognized by Sunshine Review with a perfect score for the openness and transparency of surprise.gov.

Check out their Connect/Contact page here.

Design for America Contest for Data Accessibility

Posted on March 31, 2010 by Chris

Sunlight Labs is opening up a contest called Design for America that encourages the public to create data visualizations with open government data. See news of the contest at Wired and govfresh.

Access and Twitter in the White House

Posted on March 31, 2010 by Chris

FoxNews’ White House Correspondents write a blog about covering the White House. They recently published a post titled, “Getting Closer: A New Era of Access.” The post discusses the amount of citizen access in the recent healthcare debate and specifically mentions the White House Press Secretary’s usage of Twitter.

Robert Gibbs, the White House Press Secretary, is @PressSec on Twitter.

Why the Need for Open Records

Posted on March 22, 2010 by Chris

As part of Sunshine Week, the nation’s new Freedom of Information Act ombudsman, Miriam Nisbet, took part in an exclusive interview with the Associated Press. This question-and-answer really struck me:

Q: Why is this important to the average citizen, someone who doesn’t work for a newspaper?

A: “If people are going to know how their government is operating, what they are doing that affects them, what they are doing on behalf of the people, they have to be able to see the records that reflect that. The documents that are being created, the data that are being produced. Particularly, you look at huge government programs and all the data that come out of that. Those data belong to the people, and they should have a right to see them and then do with them what they want.”

This stuck out to me because we as public administrators often think of only the media, local newspaper, or kooky citizen as requesters of open records. In reality, “Those data belong to the people.”

Drupal for Building Gov 2.0 Sites

Posted on March 22, 2010 by Chris

GovFresh has a great article on the usefulness of the open source Drupal content management system in creating transparency and government 2.0 websites.

Don’t forget to look at our Goverments Using Open Source CMS for many examples of sites built with Drupal (and other open source solutions).

Open Source Critical to Open Government

Posted on March 19, 2010 by Chris

The lead architect for Red Hat Government responds to criticism from folks who don’t believe open government and open source software are connected.

Technology Transforming Cities

Posted on February 6, 2010 by Chris

How Technology Can Transform Cities from Newsweek.

FollowYourGov

Social Media and New Technology for Government and Public Administrators

Tag Archives: transparency