In yesterday’s online training, “Full Disclosure: How Governments Can Best Display Financial Transparency to the Public,” audience members visited the City of Chattanooga – virtually of course – to get a glimpse into the City’s brand new Open Budget Application – launched only three days ago as a subset of their already welcomed Open DataRead… Read more »
I hate word “bureaucracy” because it degrades public sector workers at all levels. For many reasons, countless pejorative metaphors, theories, and political actions about public sector workers have decorated the iron cage. Public sector staff can weave webs supporting real collaboration, see contacts outside the hierarchy and rules; they seek out connections with people who… Read more »
After millennia, now most people are drawn to “GPS,” or “Google Maps,” and rely on navigation to drive, to hike, to find a restaurant, to catch fish, and more. Such interest and dependence on geospatial information systems’ data creates a neologism of “a Google Map” or a “GPS Map,” but neither are maps as weRead… Read more »
Australia is following the UK and the USA’s digital government lead: the citizen experience is rightly being placed front and centre in “a relentless focus on the needs of the user”. The newly released Digital Service Standard & Design Guide now provide the criteria that Australian Government digital services will meet as they embark on… Read more »
These days, it seems like people are obsessed with numbers. It’s often thought that numbers and statistics are the most powerful source of data. With hard numbers, you can create visuals and graphs to prove your point. No one can dispute your hard data claims. Right? However, there’s a strong argument for moving away fromRead… Read more »
Just how easy is it to get government agencies to bare their secrets? The Center for Effective Government recently came out with its yearly scorecard assessing the fifteen government agencies on their adherence to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Sean Moulton, Director of Open Government Policy at the Center for Effective Government, spoke withRead… Read more »
Have you ever asked someone, do you want the good news or the bad news first? Many people ask for the bad news first, to get it out of the way. On that note, today and tomorrow on the podcast DorobekINSIDER, we’ll be discussing the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) with Sean Moulton, Director ofRead… Read more »
The world can now peek under the dashboard of U.S. government websites—an analytics dashboard, that is. A new site, analytics.usa.gov, shows a live, aggregate view of the Google Analytics data for many federal government websites. The site also links to the open source datasets that run behind the analytics dashboard, should you be in a tinkering mood. The most impressiveRead… Read more »
Libraries are magical places! Growing up, the local library was my favorite place to go. I loved the silence, the endless possibilities of good books, and the feeling of pure escape. But lately, libraries have transformed into so much more than just a book repository. Brian Burke, Managing Director at the Center for Technology inRead… Read more »
In the 1990s, a new model of governance emerged – Reinventing Government. This model was rooted in private sector entrepreneurial approaches and market-like incentives. A new model – dubbed “New Power” – has emerged in the 2010s. Reinventing Government was organized around ten values, such as government being catalytic, community-owned, competitive, etc. Today, a newRead… Read more »