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… »

President Obama uses the new IT dashboard

An image posted on White House CTO Vivek Kundra’s blog shows his boss using the new IT spending… »

IT dashboard halts 45 wasteful Veteran’s Affairs projects

The Department of Veteran’s affairs halted 45 IT projects totaling $200 million in fiscal year 2009 alone, the nation’s Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra announced on his blog today.
Kundra wrote that one of the projects was 110% over budget and 17 months behind schedule.
The VA will audit the projects in the coming weeks to… »

D.C. officials announce the opening of a 311 system API for application developers

D.C. officials are touting the Open 311 system as the first of its kind in the world:
Today District of Columbia Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Interim Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Chris Willey announced that the District has launched “Open 311. Open 311 provides open, free Application Programming Interface (API) access to the city’s 311 system… »

Boston debuts iPhone pothole application

It might not be equitable to only give citizens with iPhones the ability to report potholes when they see them — but it’s a start down the path toward more interactive government:
City officials will soon debut Boston’s first official iPhone application, which will allow residents to snap photos of neighborhood nuisances - nasty potholes, graffiti-stained… »

$70 billion in federal IT spending at a glance

President Obama’s CIO, Vivek Kundra, unveiled a new IT contracting dashboard yesterday at the Personal Democracy Forum conference in New York City.
Project managers and the public alike can now see an instant assessment of how well, or how poorly, $70 billion in federal IT investments are being managed.
The Federal IT Dashboard is an… »

Obama’s federal open data policy spreads to state governments

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) will be promoting the creation of public data catalogs by state governments.
NASCIO will work with the nation’s first CIO, Vivek Kundra, to model the same open data approach Obama initiated with data.gov.
NASCIO President and Minnesota State CIO Gopal Khanna said “this is a major step… »

“The Freedom of Information Act should not be necessary”

“The Freedom of Information Act should not be necessary because data should already be readily available to all citizens,” author Jeff Jarvis said to participants of the Personal Democracy Forum conference currently underway in New York City.
“We need for transparency to be the default government,” Jarvis said. “We need a government that is searchable, clickable… »

“Apps for America” contest winners announced

The Sunlight Foundation announced the winners in its “Apps for America” contest.
And the winners are:
First Place for $15,000

Filibusted: “Hold senators accountable for blocking legislation.”
Second Place for $5,000

Legistalker: “The latest online activity of Congress Members.”
Third Place for $1,000 (4)
Hello Congress

Know Thy Congressman

Yeas & Nays

e-PaperTrail

Honorable Mentions for $100 (10)
RepresentedBy
Capital Calls
iLegislator
TweetCongress
Congress Bills
LocalPolitics.in
Words Vote.
Expendicus
Call Congress
Hear Me Say This
Think… »

Complete, primary, timely, accessible, machine processable, non-discriminatory, non-proprietary, license-free

These are eight principles to follow in releasing government data, recommended by the public to inform President Obama’s Open Government Initiative.
The Open Government Brainstorm event was the first of three phases of public comment hosted by the National Academy of Public Administration to elicit suggestions for more transparent, participatory, and collaborative government.
An abridged list of… »