Tech

Transparency advocates to express their support during Sunshine Week

Next week, activities will get underway across the nation commemorating Sunshine Week. Sunshine Week is a week of activities meant to support more open government, transparency and the public’s right to know. Sunshine Week is supported by the American Society of Newspaper Editors and a coalition of government transparency advocates. Activities will include several publicRead… Read more »

Gov’t FB Pages: Allow Fans to Post or Not?

Here’s a discussion from a gov’t web managers listserv. The original question was: should gov’t Facebook pages allow people to post? I want to be very clear: I interpreted this question as being about posts – where they start a whole new item: text, photos, videos, links, etc. I’m emphatically NOT talking about accepting comments.Read… Read more »

Elements of local digital ecosystems

Apologies for using the word ecosystems – I just couldn’t be bothered thinking of anything less naff. So earlier I blogged about the ways NESTA identified that government can help support local digital activity. I mentioned that there are many different elements of the digital scene within a specific locality, so thought it only fairRead… Read more »

Good data, is the answer in the clouds?

Question I asked during a Q&A session at Transportation Camp East with H. Giovanni Carnaroli, Senior Accountable Official for Open Gov, USDOT, Peter Appel, Administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, USDOT, and Charles Monheim, Chief Operating Officer of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. I have always questioned if technology and information gathered by theRead… Read more »

Digital America project looks at how state legislators use social media

Yesterday, my colleagues at DCI Group released an interactive map of the United States that details state government social media participation. This resource displays research that indicates at least 46 states have legislators actively using Twitter and more than one-third of these legislators are utilizing Facebook, putting access to state leaders at your fingertips. TheRead… Read more »

Renewable Energy Powering US Troops Overseas

Marines serving in Afghanistan now have another ally on their side – renewable energy. The Quantico Sentry reported that the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment stationed in Afghanistan are currently utilizing a solar array to cut down the need for refueling convoys. The story includes a quote from a member of the Battalion who describesRead… Read more »

Research and Best Practices eNewsletter

Research Survey connects transparency and citizen satisfaction (03/01/2011) – PEW study finds open data creates a better relationship with government. Citizens who view their government as transparent are more satisfied with the overall government performance.http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/08-Community-Information-Systems.aspx Youth and the Internet (02/23/2011) – MacArthur study finds ways to build youth engagement with digital media. For many, spendingRead… Read more »