gov 2.0

"Over the last ten years, open source has become unremarkable. I think that’s a great achievement. We no longer argue about whether it’s secure or not, or whether it’s safe to use. We focus now on how best to use open source to get the best value for every tax dollar," said Gunnar Hellekson, Chief Technology Strategist for Red Hat’s US Public Sector Group.

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As those steeped in the policy wonk geekery of open data are likely already aware, last Thursday the President of the United States issued an Executive Order Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for Government Information. » Read more

I got bitten at camp this weekend, but indifference would have been the only relevant repellant and thankfully, I'm allergic to that. Here's what I learned as a first-time camper.

Transparency Camp is not for the faint of heart. It requires you to dig in deep.

If you are a tech expert, like Northeast Ohio's own Jeff Schuler, you look for how to apply everything you know to figuring out ways to free data.

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On March 15, 2013, ComputerWeekly.com, the “leading provider of news, analysis, opinion, information and services for the UK IT community” published an article by Bryan Glick entitled: Government mandates 'preference' for open source. The article focuses on the release of the UK’s new Government Service Design Manual, which, from April 2013, will provide governing standards for the online services developed by the UK’s government for public consumption.

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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