gov 2.0

Last week, The White House published an Executive Order by which the default method for government data collection and dissemination must now be: » Read more

For many, Gov 2.0 is about putting government in the hands of citizens. Whether it’s a mobile app alerting residents to a local meeting or checking social media networks to see which roads are clear for the morning commute. The term should be defined primarily by its utility in helping citizens or agencies solve problems, either for individuals or the commons, according to a recent article on the subject by Alex Howard on GovFresh. » Read more

State legislatures around the United States have been going through a redistricting process where they are updating the electoral boundaries that will impact future elections. Do you think the open source way could play a role in this process? » Read more

No matter where you live or how big your community is, you probably see a few things that could be improved. Maybe you don't know who to call or email. Perhaps you think someone else will report it (or already has). Those unknowns go away with a simple technology that eliminates anxiety and empowers everyday citizens to improve their community. » Read more

Personal Democracy Forum‘s TechPresident recently published a post on the drawbacks of "civic hackathons" – weekends where, generally, developers and designers set out to solve city problems through coding and rapid prototyping in the course of 48 hours or less. This post, from TechPresident Associate Editor Nick Judd, was followed up by a very well-written article from Alex Howard of O’Reilly Radar highlighting the importance of realizing sustainability, community, and civic value beyond a single weekend of hacking and prototyping civic solutions. » Read more

In part one of our interview with David Diaz, president and CEO of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, we explored how open source is applied to economic development, how his organization works with local government, and the programs Downtown Raleigh Alliance has implemented.

Now, David tells us how influential open source is to local leaders and how they educate government and business leaders about the power of open source. He also shares his experience with citizen participation and how he uses the open source way in his everyday life. » Read more

I've found myself hanging out more and more on GovLoop lately. It's a social network for the government community focused on connecting people and sharing information. It boasts more than 45,000 members, and I'm happy to be a part of the community. I first learned about GovLoop at a CityCamp event earlier this year. Now that I've become more active in the community, I wanted to share a few topics from GovLoop that you might find interesting. » Read more

Last week, the Iceland Constitutional Council, made up of 25 Icelandic citizens, presented a bill to their parliament outlining a new constitution. The bill contains 114 articles in nine chapters, and includes elements for a more open government. It appears that the population will be given the chance to vote on the new constitution after the Alþingi (national parliament) reviews the draft.

In April 2011, Iceland decided to rewrite their constitution by crowdsourcing ideas and suggestions from the Internet. We've taken a look at the draft constitution and there are several articles that create a more open government for Iceland. » Read more

What is innovation? In this week’s edition of Time Magazine, Fareed Zakaria writes: “We don't really have a good fix on the concept. We know it when we see it. But this much is clear: it encompasses more than just scientific or technological breakthroughs...” » Read more

A draft executive order from the Obama administration recently surfaced titled “Disclosure of Political Spending by Government Contractors.” If signed and implemented, potential contractors bidding on federal work would be required to disclose contributions and spending two years back. » Read more