local government

A recent poll asked about brand practices for cities and city governments. While the results are still coming in, it's clear that citizens want to be included in this process. Having an open, well-documented process is critical to achieving consensus. But what about the power of crowdsourcing?

Should local governments leverage the power of their citizens and tap into public perception of their city? » Read more

Does your city need to solve a big civic problem? Cities across the United States can now submit their Code for America applications for 2013. Boston, Philadelphia, and Seattle have just wrapped up their 2011 projects. We're eager to see what happens in Austin, Detroit, Chicago, Honolulu, Macon, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Santa Cruz in 2012. The application process opened on January 9, and applicants have until the end of March to complete their submissions.

What problems can your city tackle with help from Code for America? How can your city build on other open source projects to make your government more accessible, more efficient, and more engaged with citizens? » Read more

A case study for municipal open data.

The heat is scorching! Residents across Ontario, Quebec and parts of the US are trying to stay cool. Many seek out public swimming pools and splash-pads, and turn to their municipalities for information. Others, like the Canadian 'hacktivists' Joey Coleman of OpenHamilton and yours truly of OpenHalton seek out ways to make that information more accessible.

Hamilton 's Dowsing and Milton Splash are two of the most recent examples of what is possible with open data. They represent a real-life case study of how open data can help keep us cooler, while also helping cities provide a better service at a lower cost.

This is how: » Read more

Think about a public space. Maybe it’s a park, or a public library, but some physical space owned by government. We have different expectations about public spaces, and our freedoms in them, compared to private spaces.

Think about a place where civic happenings go on, where dialogue and delivery of services occur. What comes to mind for me is the (maybe nostalgic) notion of a bustling city hall. People go there to interact with government and each other, and accomplish something. In theory, at least.

Now, imagine this public space is virtual. » Read more