Tech

The Annual Report

[Warning: This is a rather personal and pretty self-indulgent post I’m afraid; check back another day for pearls of digital wisdom] I blame Paul Graham. A few years ago, his essays started a lingering train of thought that I didn’t necessarily need a job, I needed an income. Just over a year ago, I putRead… Read more »

Another Nice Thing About the New Utah.gov

The newly-relaunched Utah.gov is getting rave reviews from across the Open Government community. Here’s one more reason to like it: Not only do they list all upcoming public meetings and public hearings online, they also allow citizens to create their own “Public Notice Widget”, a custom notification filter. Not sure if this feature was partRead… Read more »

The Federal Government Can Learn a Few Things from a New State Government Website

Have you checked out the new Utah.gov yet? According to the press release, the site gets 1.2 million unique visitors a month and last year “processed more than 25.1 million secure electronic transactions through the official state website, mobile-optimized services, automated phone system, and point-of-purchase systems at retail outlets statewide.” Here’s a quick 2 minuteRead… Read more »

Governing The Commons

Governing The Commons (Google Books), a 1990 book by Elinor Ostrom, of The Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University, presents an approach to avoiding the ‘tragedy of the commons.’ She presents 8 criteria (see below) that are associated with sustainable management of “common-pool resources,” which are non-excludable in physical accessibility (suchRead… Read more »

Designing Digitally, Inc. Wins 2011 Air Force Research Lab Virtual World Contract

Teaching students how to build airplanes, robots and simulations is serious business, but Designing Digitally, Inc. plans to make it a game — literally. Designing Digitally, Inc., the web-based training firm that specializes in E-learning, virtual worlds, and 3D simulations, was recently awarded a 2011 Air Force Virtual World contract from the United States AirRead… Read more »

The California prison system and the impact of the Supreme Court

INPUT Analyst Evan Halperin reports. In a five-to-four vote last month, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the California prison system violates the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. The landmark case had five justices: Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan voted to force the California Department of Corrections to reduce theRead… Read more »

Designing Digitally, Inc. Partners with the United States Air Force Academy to Develop a Browser Based 3D Virtual Campus Tour

Virtual world developer Designing Digitally, Inc. used the Unity development platform to design a browser based interactive 3D virtual campus tour for prospective cadets to tour the United States Air Force Academy. Franklin, OH April 04, 2011 – Designing Digitally, Inc., a full-service interactive design company and developer of “3D Virtual Campus Tours,” recently completedRead… Read more »

Civic Commons Takes Off!

We’re pleased to announce that our Civic Commons project, incubated in partnership with OpenPlans, is taking off with the leadership of Andrew McLaughlin, formerly Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the U.S., and Nick Grossman, formerly Director of Civic Works at OpenPlans. They’ll be leading a team of with staff from CfA, our fellows, and fromRead… Read more »

New SLA Division of Government Information Website Launched

The new SLA Division of Government Information website was launched today. Here’s all the information as provided by SLA DGI’s webmaster, Chris Zammarelli, on the SLA DGI listserv: The Government Information Division is pleased to announce the launch of its new website at http://govinfo.sla.org. Please note that this is a new URL, so you willRead… Read more »