San Francisco to Hire a Chief Data Officer Under Revised Open Data Legislation
BY Miranda Neubauer | Monday, October 15 2012
San Francisco plans to hire a chief data officer under new legislation announced Monday by San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee.
At an event Monday morning at the Hatchery, a co-working space in San Francisco, Lee said that the changes in the city's open data legislation followed best practices established in New York City and Chicago, and proposed by the Sunlight Foundation*. While Chief Innovation Officer Jay Nath helps to promote open data and other technology projects externally, he said, "we need somebody on the inside to get [city departments] on a higher level of sharing their data."
Read MoreBridge to Somewhere: Open Data in Public Policy
BY David Eaves | Thursday, October 11 2012
Saveourbridges.com
If you haven't had the chance, check out saveourbridges.com. It's a simple but wonderful example of data journalism that shows both the effectiveness and the limits of opening up data. given the media attention it has received, there is some evidence to show that a well presented visualization of data can engage the public and help prompt a conversation on an important, if fairly mundane, issue. Read More
Investing in "Crazy" Innovative Ideas to Promote Global Transparency and Accountability
BY Lisa Goldman | Wednesday, October 3 2012
Global Integrity, a Washington, DC-based NGO that works for government transparency and accountability launched two major new initiatives this week — a hub for like-minded NGOs and an innovation fund that provides grants for projects that promote transparency and fight corruption. Read More
How The White House Is Reaching Out To The Tech Community To Hack Government-As-Usual
BY Sarah Lai Stirland | Tuesday, September 25 2012
Todd Park, U.S. Chief Technology Officer, solicits ideas from the crowd. Photo: Sarah Lai Stirland
As politicos ratchet up the election-year rhetoric over the role of the government on the campaign trail, a small group of White House staffers and volunteers from the technology community are quietly getting down to the brass tacks: They’re engaging in what amounts to a national tour to crowdsource outside-the-Beltway talent in the ongoing quest to make impenetrable government processes more accessible. Read More
What Congress.gov Means for a Congressional API
BY Nick Judd and Miranda Neubauer | Wednesday, September 19 2012
The Library of Congress today unveiled beta.congress.gov, a new web platform offering legislative information that is expected to eventually replace the existing THOMAS system and the congressional Legislative Information System.
House leadership has promised to offer access to the underlying data that fuels THOMAS and has repeatedly expressed a commitment to doing it. They just haven't committed to doing it during this Congress. And the lack of action on something that seems to them to be eminently doable has advocates kind of frustrated.
Gayle Osterberg, Director of Communications for the Library of Congress, seemed to indicate in an email that the Library of Congress is ready to cooperate. They just need Congress — meaning the House and Senate both — to give them the go-ahead.
Read More[OP-ED] Are Innovation Hubs the Future of Open Government In Africa?
BY Chris R. Albon | Tuesday, September 18 2012
Members of Accadius, a project at the iHub in Nairobi, Kenya. Photo: Courtesy of Juliana Rotich
Set alongside one Nairobi’s main roadways, the Bishop Magua Centre looks on the exterior no different than any other mid-rise office building. However, inside its drab khaki walls are some of the most innovative technology projects in Africa. Why this building? Because the Bishop Magua Centre’s fourth floor is home to what has been named the “unofficial headquarters of Kenya’s tech movement,” less grandiosely called the iHub. More than simply a space to build the next Instagram, these hubs could be home to the next wave of open government innovation in Africa. Read More
Firefox Targets Developing States with Open Source Affordable Smartphones
BY Lisa Goldman | Friday, September 7 2012
Firefox has announced the 2013 launch of an open source operating system for smart phones. Since open source will bring down the price of a smart phone significantly, the initial launch will be in Latin America, with other developing regions to follow. Read More
Opening up the World's Legislative Bodies: The Global Game
BY David Eaves | Wednesday, September 5 2012
The National Democratic Institute (NDI) and several partners have launched a Declaration on Parliamentary Openness that seeks, among other things, to make parliamentary information more transparent, accessible and available in bulk online. According to NDI, over 70 organizations in 50 countries, mostly transparency groups, have signed the declaration. Sadly, there are no parliaments or legislative bodies on the list. How effective will such a declaration be?
Read MoreWhat to Do When Open Data Is Either Wrong, Scandalous, or Both?
BY David Eaves | Thursday, August 23 2012
David Eaves asks: How do governments and advocates handle open government data if it misreports the facts? Read More
Timeline Update: January 17, 1994--Carl Malamud Launches Free Online Access to SEC EDGAR Records
BY Micah L. Sifry | Friday, August 17 2012
Soon after launching the Politics and the Internet timeline, we saw a tweet from long-time tech publisher and visionary Tim O'Reilly, retweeting a plug from Rep. Darrell Issa, but adding "Alas, omits @carlmalamud's work RT @DarrellIssa: An interactive history of the Internet & politics..." I immediately responded that it was an unintentional oversight, as Malamud is truly the modern open data movement's founding father. Here's the update to the timeline, which was just added. Read More