Seattle open data policy will improve public access to city information

Seattle is the next city to follow in the footsteps of open data reforms implemented by San Francisco, New York City, the District of Columbia, and other cities. Data.Seattle.gov is planned as a Web site that will publish city data sets to be downloaded by citizens, or used by citizen programmers to build Web-based applications… »

TechStat: A new way to manage IT projects

President Obama’s Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra has initiated a new accountability process to reduce waste and manage the success of federal IT projects.
TechStat accountability sessions will inform management decisions with a “data-driven, action-focused and results-oriented” process, evaluating federal IT projects across an array of project metrics to satisfy President Obama’s priorities:

Manage IT investments effectively.
Leverage… »

Can we “get an app for that” in New Orleans?

John Sutter, “Cities embrace mobile apps, ‘Gov 2.0′,” CNN.com:
Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist and a customer-service guru, was riding on a public train in San Francisco, California, recently when something common but annoying occurred: The railcar filled with people and became uncomfortably hot. …
Newmark pulled out his iPhone, snapped a photo of the train car… »

“The government doesn’t have a monopoly on the best ideas.”

Apps for Democracy was the brainchild of former Washington, D.C., chief technology officer Vivek Kundra, who joined the Obama administration this year to become the nation’s first federal CIO.
“The government doesn’t have a monopoly on the best ideas. We look forward to unleashing the creativity of the American people to show us what is possible… »

San Francisco improves public access to data by executive order

Inspired by President Obama’s Open Government Initiative, the D.C. Digital Public Square, and other developments around the country, Mayor Gavin Newsom made public access to electronic government data matter of official policy by issuing an executive directive on open government to all agencies (pdf). The directive is reprinted here with emphasis added to key points:
Executive… »

Governments are asking and citizens are telling

The San Jose Mobile City Hall was launched on December 15th as a free download from the Apple iTunes store.
“We need to embrace emerging technologies in order to more efficiently serve our residents at a time when our budgets are dwindling and deferred infrastructure maintenance costs are skyrocketing,” said San Jose Councilman Pete Constant.
A caution… »

President Obama: A “presumption of openness”

What does President Obama think about government transparency?
The three principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration form the cornerstone of an open government. Transparency promotes accountability by providing the public with information about what the Government is doing. Participation allows members of the public to contribute ideas and expertise so that their government can make policies… »

Can New Orleans get an app for that?

An iPhone screen displays Boston’s “Citizens Connect” app. Citizens take photos of potholes and other repairs and the location’s coordinates automatically embed in the photo. The complaint goes hurtling through the bureaucracy of City Hall and heads straight out to public works crews around the city.
Listen to the NPR story to learn… »

“I can’t wait until it challenges and infuriates the bureaucracy.”

Claire Cain Miller, “Local Governments Offer Data to Software Tinkerers,” The New York Times, December 6, 2009:
“It will change the way citizens and government interact, but perhaps most important, it’s going to change the way elected officials and civil servants deliver programs, services and promises,” said Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, which is… »

Public access to data is now a contractual obligation in San Francisco

Should public transportation agencies release their route and schedule data to the public?
CNet blogger Rafe Needleman thinks the answer is a resounding yes. He just wrote a new post documenting the growing movement in open access to public transportation data, and other kinds of government data.
It really goes without saying anymore that open application interfaces… »