Like Samuel L. Jackson, I’m putting together an elite team of superheroes… an OpenGov team! This will be an internal team at the City of Reno, made up of existing staff. The team’s mission would be to identify and implement opportunities to share data & information, as well as develop policies and procedures related toRead… Read more »
Thanks to all who attended Developing Solutions Camp on Friday. We had an exciting day of interactive working with about 50 people in the room and 6 teams working on ideas that had been submitted under the first phase of the competition. Congratulations to the winners of the mobile application competition; the team who workedRead… Read more »
Of late, a number of tools are popping up on-line to allow the average constituent redistrict their city/county, etc. While the one for Los Angeles has been available since May (facilitating a crowd-sourced effort), New York has recently made theirs available. The interesting twist on the New York release is that it is based uponRead… Read more »
The 2nd annual CityCamp Colorado was held on October 28, 2011, with about sixty participants from eighteen cities and counties around Colorado, several private IT sector leaders, members of academia, and the engaged public. (Cross posted from the Open Colorado website, http://opencolorado.org/blog/citycamp-colorado-recap-2/) Here’s a rundown of how the day went: Opening remarks from Tom Downey,Read… Read more »
*What questions do you have about open data, apps contests and sustainability?* Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency launched a contest to build “green apps” using its data. After months of preparation, development, publicity and engagement, the contest produced 38 apps:http://appsfortheenvironment.challenge.gov/submissions Last week, the winners of the contest were announcedhttp://www.epa.gov/appsfortheenvironment/winners.html Tomorrow, I’ll be moderatingRead… Read more »
Can an entrenched bureaucracy, encumbered by a rigid culture and public records compliance adapt open source ways to collaborate more effectively? Is it like pulling teeth just to get people to share ideas? Is that devil’s advocate bringing your team down? If you want results, try something different. Use open communications and transparency with yourRead… Read more »
Where do you start to standardize legislative information for all 50 United States? Blazing an open data trail for one state government isn’t easy, so shifting 50 must be nearly impossible. Or is it? The Open State Project is making progress towards the impossible—and closing in on the goal. When I first heard about thisRead… Read more »
The 2011 Proposed Planning Rule outlines and discusses the forest planning processes that Forest Service units must follow. If it is adopted, it will replace the 1982 Planning Rule. You haven’t seen the Proposed Rule? You can find it here –> fs.USDA.gov/planningrule. So what’s important about it? Oh, don’t bore me with another academic comparisonRead… Read more »
Transparency Advocates React to U.S. Open Government Action Plan (by techPresident) “President Barack Obama on Tuesday led the public unveiling of national open government action plans from the eight countries participating in the Open Government Partnership, a multilateral coalition on openness and transparency.” Find out what some advocates have said about it. September 2011 MunicipalRead… Read more »
The information is out there. The technology is available. All it requires is a fair bit of inspiration and a little bit of perspiration to develop small scale applications that can really make a difference to people’s lives. A map can tell you which direction to go in, but it cannot tell you what yourRead… Read more »