They used to say “content is king.” Kings, like anything, have value because they are rare. Is content rare? With hundreds of millions of users on Facebook and Twitter and tens of millions of blogs, content is everywhere. Sure, the quality varies, but content is anything but scarse. Most is ephemeral, easily forgotten, and replaced.Read… Read more »
I was with a friend who sang the chorus of “I don’t do technology” more times than I had verses. He wistfully wondered where all the dialing-for-dollars sales jobs have gone. I disrecall he liked them much, either. Coincidence? James Patterson gets much better rewards from moveable type than Johannes Gutenberg ever did. It’s notRead… Read more »
Last week I was in Ottawa giving a talk at the Department of Foreign Affairs talking about how technology, new media and open innovation will impact the department’s it work internally, across Ottawa and around the world. While there is lots to share, here are three ideas I’ve been stewing on: Keep more citizens safeRead… Read more »
Hadoop World 2011 is upon us. Once again the community, with the consistent/polite/leading/persistent coordination of Cloudera, has built a great agenda with the right speakers and great attendees for what is now the “must attend” Big Data event. For those who are attending, I can’t wait to see you there. We are going to beRead… Read more »
What is part of my job: Advising 9 Departments and untold sub sections on social mediaWriting guidance on social media and digital tech in our org Training 9 Departments and untold sub sections Keeping up with new tools and utilities I can help people use that are appropriate in their job ‘Being’ the Council feedRead… Read more »
Those of us who like to think about city-scale innovation also like to think that it is somehow going to lead us away from our carbon-abusing ways towards a new world of sustainability. Well I’ve got some bad news: it’s not. Sorry to say it. Civic innovation and “smart city” technology is going to doRead… Read more »
Government Technology has announced the 2011 rankings from the 2011 Digital Cities Survey. The city and county of Honolulu, Hawaii, Olathe, Kan., Roseville, Calif. and Eden Prairie, Minn. were identified as the top cities. The survey has been conducted for the past 11 years and ranks municipalities that best show how technology enchances public serviceRead… Read more »
An article in GovTech this morning features new technology by MotionPower-Express Systems being tested in Roanoke, Virginia. They have recently installed rumble strips along roads that capture energy as cars drive over them. The kinetic energy being generated would be converted into electricity, and that electricity would power the traffic signals at the upcoming intersection.Read… Read more »
danah boyd (Cambridge, MA) — “At what age should I let my child join Facebook?” This is a question that countless parents have asked my collaborators and me. Often, it’s followed by the following: “I know that 13 is the minimum age to join Facebook, but is it really so bad that my 12-year-old isRead… Read more »
An initiative by Civic Commons is set to establish Open311 as the global open standard for civic issue tracking. Open311 is an API that will interface with local authority CRM systems, and enable applications developed independently then to link in with the CRM. It is also one of the elements that we will be workingRead… Read more »