Federal Eye: Recovery.gov Ideas Forum Launches

The Obama administration launched a seven-day “high tech roundtable” today to solicit ideas from IT professionals, government contractors, federal employees and other concerned citizens with ideas on how to build and operate Recovery.gov, the economic stimulus-tracking Web site.

TheNationalDialogue.org will collect the Recovery.gov ideas between today and May 3. Users can submit their ideas with detailed descriptions and then others can vote on the best ideas submitted.

“Leading IT businesses, thought leaders, developers and consumers, please join the discussion. You could directly influence how Recovery.gov is built and implemented,” Earl Devaney, chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board (RAT), says in the site’s welcome video (watch above). The site is operated by the RAT Board and the National Academy of Public Administration.

“We’re looking for honest opinions,” he says later. “If you think something is off-target or won’t work, feel free to give it a low rating and comment.”

So far, users have suggested that the government use Google Earth and webcams to track the progress of recovery-funded projects, or build a nationwide map on the site that allows users to zoom in on projects. Someone else (wisely) suggests that the government define terms including “recovery,” “mismanagement” and “transparency” with sixth-grade, high school and college-level definitions.

Continue reading this post >>>

Leave a Comment

Leave a comment

Leave a Reply