Previously in Sunlight Labs: Influence Explorer redesigned, James moved to Boston, and Capitol Words was released. So then why is Luigi cleaning out his desk? Where did Transparency Data go? Why is Ethan calling in to the morning check-in meeting? Find out on this episode of Labs Update! Goodbyes… Let’s start off with some terribleRead… Read more »
Earlier this week, appropriators held a hearing on funding for the legislative agencies that make government information available to the public. Three organizations, the Sunlight Foundation, the Participatory Politics Foundation, and PopVox, filed comments on the importance of making legislative information directly available to the public as a downloadable database, instead of item-by-item, which isRead… Read more »
On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to favorably report a bill that would require the Supreme Court to allow television coverage of its arguments (S. 1945). Currently, only a limited number of citizens are able to see the court’s sessions in person. Audio files of proceedings are released after the fact, but are notRead… Read more »
House Democrats unveiled The DISCLOSE 2012 Act (HR 4010, not up on THOMAS yet) today, a crucial step toward transparency to address the corrupting influence unlimited, secret corporate and union money is having on our elections and our elected officials. Shortly before the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision, the SunlightRead… Read more »
“Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their government is doing. Information maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset.” – President Barack Obama An interesting discussion to have is what is driving government to be more open and transparent. Is being more open occurring out of necessity by government dueRead… Read more »
New York is looking at a new measure that aims to increase transparency in the state government. The bill will require the Assembly to make meeting materials available to the public online either before or at the start of meetings. The bill is sponsored by Assemblywoman Amy Paulin who has a background in citizen activismRead… Read more »
The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD) and the Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC) have put out a joint response to the recent White House call for input. It’s very solid, so please make sure to read it in full: Strengthening the Public Participation Elements of the Open Government Plan (PDF). Especially noteworthy is aRead… Read more »
While I am reflecting, I thought it a good time to consider hackathons. In 2011 the term “hackathon” became common and many cities all over the world opened datasets for developers to build applications around. Below are some lesson’s learned to better position a hackathon to a government context: Lesson learned #1: A hackathon isRead… Read more »
Via Alex Moll on Twitter, I just came across OpenGov.gr, the website for the Greek Open Government Initiative. From the English language version: Opengov.gr has been designed to serve the principles of transparency, deliberation, collaboration and accountability and includes three initiatives: Οpen calls for the recruitment of public administration officials. Top level and mid-level openingsRead… Read more »
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie campaigned on promises of bringing increased transparency to New Jersey. Early on in his administration he launched a transparency website designed to highlight public information from state offices. Despite that, New Jersey last year the state comptroller issued a blistering report highlighting just how opaque the state really is. Now,Read… Read more »