The next time you ride your bicycle around town, you may be providing a public service. Wired magazine recently posted an article about the use of private sector data to power public sector service delivery improvements. According to the piece, the Oregon Department of Transportation is buying data from the cycling and running social mediaRead… Read more »
At most conferences, staring at your phone during a presentation is generally frowned upon. However, at ModevGov, pulling out your mobile device and firing up an app was often a requirement. On Wednesday, February 26, representatives from government, private industry and the non-profit sector came together to learn from each other and discuss challenges inRead… Read more »
The Federal Communications Commission has launched a speed test application for mobile broadband networks as part of its efforts to help consumers choose wireless providers. The app for Android smartphones works to evaluate the speed and latency of mobile broadband networks, store the information in cloud environments and provide users an overview of actual networkRead… Read more »
Most often, when we talk about open source in government, it’s talked about in one of two ways: either it’s the pitfalls of the federal IT procurement model that can’t seem to comprehend a world in which open-source is an option, much less potentially a superior choice (“acquisition as a roadblock“), or it’s reiterating theRead… Read more »
Government agencies have not always been known as leaders of the web design industry. However, in recent years and even months, there have been a few that truly are on the cutting edge of quality design and user experience. Granted, not every agency requires a modern, flashy, public-facing website, but if your agency engages theRead… Read more »
At least three law-related application programming interfaces (APIs) were released this summer by Code for America. According to a recent post by Dan Melton on the Code for America site, development of these APIs was funded in whole or in part by a Google Summer of Code grant. The new law-related Code for America APIsRead… Read more »
The State Decoded is a proposed open government data platform — currently in development — aimed at providing free online access in interoperable formats to U.S. state codes, and, where possible, at connecting such codes to pending legislation and court decisions. On June 22, a Knight News Challenge grant was awarded for The State DecodedRead… Read more »
A number of legal information and legal communication issues are discussed in the U.S. Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC’s) recent report on the state of U.S. media, entitled Information Needs of Communities: The Changing Media Landscape in a Broadband Age (2011). The report’s findings cover the following legal information / communication issues: In recent years, whileRead… Read more »
New Reports New Report: Information Needs of Communities (by the FCC) “The FCC Working Group on the Information Needs of Communities today delivered an in-depth analysis of the current state of the media landscape along with a broad range of recommendations. The staff-level report, titled “Information Needs of Communities: The Changing Media Landscape in aRead… Read more »
“The FCC Working Group on the Information Needs of Communities today delivered an in-depth analysis of the current state of the media landscape along with a broad range of recommendations. The staff-level report, titled “Information Needs of Communities: The Changing Media Landscape in a Broadband Age” [full PDF here or read by chapter here] wasRead… Read more »