You hear it all the time: Facebook this, Twitter that, social media… blah, blah, blah. But why should government care? Especially when many are in a pinch for resources and the costs for municipal goods aren’t helping them out so much. Well for starters, two words: Time & money. Now saving time and money areRead… Read more »
Photo: Space shuttle Endeavor launches on the STS-134 mission to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA——————- This might have been the last launch of Space Shuttle Endeavor, but it wasn’t the first time that NASA has used online video to broadcast a space shuttle launch to the world. NASA streams video of NASA TVRead… Read more »
“Open government requires accessibility, not just data, specialists say” “Making important agency information easy to find online can also be a key factor in improving the agency’s public image, said General Services Administration digital government specialist Sheila Campbell.” “Open Government Philadelphia: an initiative and policy paper from Councilman Bill Green” The post has “his 10Read… Read more »
“NJ court: High costs is denial of access; awards atty’s fees” (The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press) (HT Virginia Coalition for Open Government email) “[Quincy] Massachusetts Turns on Camera for Court Proceedings” (GovTech.com) “The initiative, called “OpenCourt,” incorporates digital technology such as video streams and live broadcasts and makes the media available onRead… Read more »
There is a conference going on right now in Oklahoma (Gov 2.0a) related to government and technology… The second annual Gov 2.0a conference is focused on applications of technology to government problems. The conference will be a forum to learn about successful Gov 2.0 applications through case studies, to learn about best practices for GovRead… Read more »
Today (Thursday) is Cinco de Mayo, which “celebrates the legendary Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, in which a Mexican force of 4,500 men faced 6,000 well-trained French soldiers. The battle lasted four hours and ended in a victory for the Mexican army under Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza. Along with Mexican Independence Day on Sept.Read… Read more »
This week is celebrating two large groups of government employees: Municipal Clerks and all of those in Public Service. Public Service Recognition Week About: Public Service Recognition Week (PSRW) is hosted annually by the Partnership for Public Service and the Public Employees Roundtable. Their website has a “Celebration Toolkit” and an “Events” page to helpRead… Read more »
“Obama orders agencies to improve customer service” Here’s the Executive Order. Here are “10 Ideas on Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service” (by Steve Ressler on GovLoop) Philly gets an Open Data Portal Here’s a brief rundown. “Insulate Open Government Efforts From Budget Cuts” (by Steve Radick) “The problem is that most open governmentRead… Read more »
When you invest in something, you want to know how well your investment is paying off – your ROI. Well, citizens “invest” in government (and their community), so they want easy access to useful information about it. They want to see a return on their investment. But open government is not just beneficial for citizens;Read… Read more »
Sunshine Review They’re “a non-profit organization dedicated to state and local government transparency. The Sunshine Review wiki collects and shares transparency information and uses a ‘10-point Transparency Checklist‘ to evaluate the content of every state and more than 5,000 local government websites” (more about them/source; emphasis added). Sunlight Foundation It’s open government in action. MajorRead… Read more »