Yearly Archives: 2013

Extreme camping

I like govcamp I like govcamp because I meet people I know I like govcamp because I meet people I don’t know I like govcamp because there are lots of people who were there the year before I like govcamp because there are lots of people who weren’t I like govcamp because there are sessionsRead… Read more »

Public Sector Data and Google Maps Powers Trulia Local

Earlier this month Trulia released a fascinating visualisation option using Google Maps. The feature allows users to view property values, home values, rental prices, calculate commute times, schools, identify points of interest, natural hazards and view crime data. In order to power this new feature, Trulia leveraged public sector data from USGS and FEMA. InRead… Read more »

Seeing the world differently – Sammies Finalist Makes A Difference for Cataract Sufferers

Worldwide cataracts are the leading cause of blindness. Here in the US, every year there are more than 50,000 cataract surgeries performed by the Department of Veterans Affairs alone. But up until last year there had never been a system in place to collect detailed patient outcomes on a national level, in either the privateRead… Read more »

Instagram Video, The New Vine?

By Kimberly Kelly Instagram, the popular photo sharing application which was recently acquired by Facebook, has released a new software update that enables the recording and sharing of 15 second long videos. This is great news for Android users like me because, unlike Twitter’s Vine application, Instagram video is available on Android and not justRead… Read more »

Congress Impressed by Mobile Medical Apps

By Ryan Kamauff image via mobihealthnews As more mobile medical apps are developed, they are finding their way into our government. Recently, the House of Representative’s Small Business Committee’s Subcommittee on Health and Technology held a hearing titled, “Mobile Medical App Entrepreneurs: Changing the Face of Health Care.” Mobile apps are uniquely suited to helpRead… Read more »

Q&A from the Campaign Trail

As we round out the second month of the Great American Civic Hack we checked in four of our national repos: LocalWiki, OpenTreeMap, CKAN, and Councilmatic. Check out what they had to say on the top issues they’d like to get resolved during the campaign and the greatest challenge about collaborating on open source civicRead… Read more »

Improving the accessibility of social media in government

A few simple precautions can make tweets and other short postings more readable by people using text-to-voice or other aids. Video and audio require more resources to make sure most people can have access to at least the text content. http://www.howto.gov/social-media/using-social-media-in-government/improving-accessibility

10 Questions to Ask Prior to Making IT Investments

In both the private and public sector, the need for increased operational efficiencies and cost reductions are driving IT adoption. The challenge for organizations today is that even though adoption is essential to transform their organization, an emphasis must be placed on preparing for future operational needs. This is a challenging balance for government organizationsRead… Read more »