The Unicef innovations team came up with an incredible idea to leverage the increased rate of cell phone use in Africa (65% now have access to a cell phone!) to help malnourished children: they built an open source framework for SMS-based systems. In partnership with graduate students at Columbia University’s SIPA school, Unicef designed anRead… Read more »
The night before last – and in the night – Birmingham City Council without much fanfare switched over to its rejigged website. Within moments the twittersphere was alight. It was crashing, it had obvious faults and it looked terrible. Over the next 36 hours reviewer after reviewer found fault after fault. This would not beRead… Read more »
Jack Dangermond believes today’s challenge is geospatially enabling Gov 2.0. Geospatial data uses integrated applications to show information from multiple sources. It allows for improved planning, management, and increased efficiency. Unfortunately, the government hasn’t yet brought the data together into one map. Yet, many agencies see data sharing as part of their mission. For example,Read… Read more »
Sponsored by The George Washington University Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration and The School of Media and Public Affairs Friday- September 18, 2009 805 21st Street NW Media and Public Affairs Building First Floor 8:00am to 5:30pm with Reception to Follow Please RSVP by September 14th to [email protected] Featuring Doug Holtz-Eakin, FormerRead… Read more »
Everyone I know seems to be arguing about this. I can’t escape the debate; it’s even on Facebook. I know that folks never want to alter the status quo. I guess this stems from an attitude that if change starts, it won’t stop. Women will get the vote, Arizona will become a state. God onlyRead… Read more »
We wanted to let you know of a new course we’ve just added from Web Manager University: an INTENSE two-day “Video Bootcamp” class in Washington, DC October 13-14. Because the format and cost of this class is different from our regular classes, please be sure to read the details below carefully. Please also share thisRead… Read more »
In contrasting the collaborative project Apps for Democracy and the LA Times’ 2005 Wiki editorial experiment, Clay Shirky, highlights keys to success for open collaboration. 1. You’re engaging in open collaboration because of the possibilities. Don’t over manage the process and create too many rules. 2. Give participants space to participate and be as creativeRead… Read more »
There are a couple of quotes that I use to start off my social media seminars/talks/whatnot. Today, I’ll share those. There are two kinds of fool. One says, ‘This is old, and therefore good.’ And one says, ‘This is new, and therefore better.’ — John Brunner, author “The Shockwave Rider” Most people who run acrossRead… Read more »
I came back from a break to the missed news that Google has settled out of court in its clash with US Publishers over its Google Books project. Looking over last Friday’s news coverage in the UK what immediately struck me as someone who has an interest in the story was the repetition that GoogleRead… Read more »
The hatred and disrespect surfacing in the debate about health care reform and education and other discussions in recent days has gone wild. Much of it isn’t about these topics, but something more disturbing — a real contempt for others — an unwillingness to consider anything new and different. I keep wondering how our childrenRead… Read more »