First POST: Challenges
BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, February 24 2015
How Silicon Valley donors are thinking about Hillary Clinton 2016; Yahoo's security chief locks horns with the head of the NSA; Instagram location data catches a Congressman with his hand in the till; and much, much more. Read More
First POST: Jargon Busters
BY Micah L. Sifry | Wednesday, January 28 2015
Changes in the RNC's tech team; big plans for digital democracy in the UK; how people in Cuba are making their own private Internet; and much, much more. Read More
First POST: Urgency
BY Micah L. Sifry | Monday, January 19 2015
How Republicans are starting to embrace net neutrality; more predictions of the blockchain's impact on society; new "innovative communities" legislation in Massachusetts seeks to boost civic tech there; and much, much more. Read More
First POST: Inners
BY Micah L. Sifry | Friday, January 16 2015
Dissident Saudi blogger Raif Badawi; the limits of social media-powered protest movements; why California is lagging in opening up government data; and much, much more. Read More
First POST: Turbulence
BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, January 13 2015
Why David Cameron's call to ban encrypted communications in the UK is stupid and unworkable; what "democracy in the digital age" might look like; the open data movement's turbulent teenage years in the US; and much, much more. Read More
First POST: Dealing
BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, December 23 2014
As North Korea's Internet mysteriously goes down, doubts remain about the source of the Sony hack; Facebook's Russia dilemma; some big news in open government data; and much, much more. Read More
At PDF Italia, Tom Steinberg Explores Five Digital Asks We Should Make To Our Government
BY Antonella Napolitano | Thursday, November 20 2014
As the first edition of PDF Italia revolved around "the data society" we live in, there was probably no better person to start the conversation than mySociety's founder Tom Steinberg. Here's a writeup of his speech, ... Read More
After Sunflower Movement, Taiwan's g0v Uses Open Source to Open the Government
BY Sonia Roubini and Jason R. Tashea | Wednesday, November 5 2014
g0v took the lead in organizing Taiwan's Sunflower movement (speedbug/flickr)
This past March, the online community g0v helped organize hundreds of protestors to storm Taiwan’s parliament, the Legislative Yuan, in opposition to a pending trade deal with China. Now g0v wants to make the government more transparent and accessible. By doing so, it hopes to help citizens understand both how government works and how to make it better. Read More
First POST: Scotched
BY Micah L. Sifry | Friday, September 19 2014
Why conservatives should back net neutrality; how big data may damage civil rights; the ways Silicon Valley start-ups are exploiting freelance workers; and much, much more. Read More
In New York City and Silicon Valley, Local Government Innovation Gets Outside Help
BY Miranda Neubauer | Friday, August 8 2014
Bill signing with Ben Kallos, Bill de Blasio, Brad Lander, Noel Hidalgo and others (via @BenKallos on Twitter)
At this year's Personal Democracy Forum, executive director of digital at the British Cabinet Office Mike Bracken discussed how the push toward civic innovation often does not start from within government. "You have to start on the outside, you have to finish on the inside." Two announcements in in New York City and Silicon Valley this week illustrate an increasing interplay between government's desire to take advantage of technology potential and the capabilities and skills of the external civic technology community (and the new trend of mayoral selfies). Read More