What Would You Ask The Open Government Genie For? Win a Free Tix & Travel to OpenGovWest

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Comment by Kendra Lebel on May 9, 2011 at 7:26pm

I would like for the genie to make a health records database appear that would serve military members.

This database would combine health records for military members, and combine database records from a military person's record while they were fighting in theater, from records that where this person was treated at a military hospital/facility, behavioral health (mental health) clinic, etc, and then have the ability to transfer all that data when the military person transfers to their next duty location.  In addition, it would be most helpful if this was integrated into an electronic provider interface that would make it easy for providers (of all kinds) to see the overall health record for their patient. 

Sounds simple... but it's not.  There are numerous legacy databases in the military networks that do not talk with one another.  For example, the behavioral health data is not necessarily included with the medical records.  Makes it hard for a doctor to get a good overview of how the military member is doing when records are in multiple systems. 

Comment by Gary Pollack on May 6, 2011 at 3:27pm

[quick disclaimer: I'm not eligible for this contest because I am employed by Knowledge As Power, the organization behind Open Gov West - definitely come find me if you are attending, and thanks for all of these great entries! Keep 'em coming!]

I'd like a lot of open gov-related things to magically appear, and sometimes they do - like http://wiki.civiccommons.org - but what I'd really like is for my MPA program to create/partner with ongoing workshops for faculty and students to understand and engage in the potential of the Internet (FB/Tw, GovLoop, SlideShare, blogging, etc.). I've already seen how great a simple discussion about social media can be within the City of Seattle, it's time for educators to jump in, too.

Comment by Mark Dwyer on May 6, 2011 at 1:46pm

To get my grant funds on time -- at the beginning of our program year, and not six or seven months into the PY. In other words, please: no Continuing Resolutions; decide on funding levels on time!

Comment by John Conatore on May 6, 2011 at 1:32pm

Information sharing between States and the Federal Government that works and is readily accessible to those that need it.

Comment by Terri Jones on May 6, 2011 at 12:49pm

I like the Peace, Love and Understanding wish but I guess my wish is that people would commit to the goal. I think the collective wisdom of the world's public servants can figure out what we need to do, we just need people to truly be committed to Open Government.

Comment by Caryn Wesner-Early on May 6, 2011 at 12:34pm

Outstanding wish, Martha!  I second that one!

Comment by Tony Edwards on May 6, 2011 at 12:26pm

1. My first wish is an either/or, either reintroduce thumb drive useage or develop a Common Access Card (CAC Badge) with memory storage capabilities.

2. Allow for more cross agency colaboration and problem solving sharing.

3. Do away with NMCI, of course doing that may eliminate the need for the two previous wishes. 

Comment by Anne Sherwood on May 6, 2011 at 12:16pm

Not sure if we qualify or not, but we’d still like to share our wish for open government!

 

The National Institute on Money in State Politics would love to see more governments working together with outside institutions to solve problems. Specifically, open the window to state-level campaign finance data so citizens can see who is getting access to decision-makers and deter corruption. The ultimate goal, and the one wish we have, is that states implement best practices for state campaign finance disclosure. Meaning their data is made public, it is complete, it is timely, it is accurate, and it is searchable.

This way, it is easier for citizens to follow the money in their state governments.

Comment by Michael Reid on May 6, 2011 at 10:14am

Peace, Love and Understanding (hey, whats so funny? - it's my wish).

Peace and Love don't need any explanation - so I'll expand on understanding.

Understand that there are many fine people in the .gov who want to make OpenGov work. However, we ALL have some "resource" issues - people, $$$, etc. so it's going to take some time to get where we want to go.

I'm all for doing more with less; but it's a fine line between: Doing More With Less and Doing Everything with Nothing (I heard that somewhere, but not sure where/who/what but it stuck in my head).

So have some understanding, and some patience and believe we will all be a little better off than we were before.

Comment by Candace Riddle on May 6, 2011 at 9:07am

Dear Gov Genie (I can't make the conference), but how about an app that allows for quick, cross agency, or cross-state data mining of contracts?  It would help to reduce fraud, improper payments, and yes may even increase revenue.  Let's look at an example of how it has been used in the past:

 

For example, one Midwest grocery chain used the data mining capacity of Oracle software to analyze local buying patterns. They discovered that when men bought diapers on Thursdays and Saturdays, they also tended to buy beer. Further analysis showed that these shoppers typically did their weekly grocery shopping on Saturdays. On Thursdays, however, they only bought a few items. The retailer concluded that they purchased the beer to have it available for the upcoming weekend. The grocery chain could use this newly discovered information in various ways to increase revenue. For example, they could move the beer display closer to the diaper display. And, they could make sure beer and diapers were sold at full price on Thursdays.

Now imagine if you had the power of all of that data in the palm of your hand.  Would that not make the decision to award or not to award a contract a lot easier?  We shouldn't have to go to a million different websites to figure out if a vendor is debarred, or if the possibility to cooperate on a contract exists. 

 

 

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