http://socialgov.posterous.com examples of social media and local government in UK and beyond posterous.com Sun, 10 Jul 2011 07:54:00 -0700 http://socialgov.posterous.com/open-data-challenge-ireland http://socialgov.posterous.com/open-data-challenge-ireland <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/yfGdidwlBmleAqhaEiyxCFDujDjozwmwnCkGfzgheucufcgqJIbEiblioibe/media_httpdatafingali_BFkmJ.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Media_httpdatafingali_bfkmj" height="297" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/yfGdidwlBmleAqhaEiyxCFDujDjozwmwnCkGfzgheucufcgqJIbEiblioibe/media_httpdatafingali_BFkmJ.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://data.fingal.ie/Blog/July/Name,34007,en.aspx">data.fingal.ie</a></div> <p>Fingal County Council, Dublin City Council and a range of other partners recently hosted Ireland's first <a href="http://data.fingal.ie/Blog/July/Name,34007,en.aspx#">Open Data Challenge</a>. An 18 hour event using local open data to create useful applications and services for people in Ireland. The winning projects included one that could help business find optimum locations and another for data folk helping to refine and link non-standardised data sets. Nice. </p><p>Fingal County Council was ground breaking in its publication of open data and still has one of the most impressive <a href="http://data.fingal.ie/">local open data sets around</a>.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/open-data-challenge-ireland">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/open-data-challenge-ireland#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/joQ_5P07HC0" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Thu, 16 Jun 2011 01:32:00 -0700 http://socialgov.posterous.com/stirling-poo-bag-it-and-bin-it http://socialgov.posterous.com/stirling-poo-bag-it-and-bin-it <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Media_httpfarm6static_erhsh" height="340" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/wfwBABBgGraBpfeiajjzftEgHrmAfjjsgyIHJdCmhuulbfCFEAoJemztyuxJ/media_httpfarm6static_Erhsh.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29872606@N08/5453496352/">flickr.com</a></div> <p>Is there anything ickier than dog poo in your path?</p> <p>Stirling Council has a print/radio/social campaign to remind people to bag it and bin it. And there's a <a href="http://www.stirling.gov.uk/bagitbinit">great council web page</a> which brings all the elements together.</p> <p>Corrinne Douglas writes: "We wanted the message 'bag it bin it' to come from everyone, not just the Council so we got the national charity Dogs Trust to support us and designed the campaign around participation by dog owners and their dogs via a <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150257273751667.371783.366168926666">Facebook album</a> that will eventually be replicated as a wall of honour in our next Council magazine. We also made a humorous film for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=bMoMNK3tX6A">YouTube </a>to give our campaign a light hearted feel while getting a serious message across too."</p> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/stirling-poo-bag-it-and-bin-it">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/stirling-poo-bag-it-and-bin-it#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/okI3mw3rzvU" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Tue, 07 Jun 2011 12:14:00 -0700 http://socialgov.posterous.com/digital-marketplace-campaigns-and-creativity http://socialgov.posterous.com/digital-marketplace-campaigns-and-creativity <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="" src="https://portfoliocreative.org/images/campaign_images/home_page_graphic2.jpg" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://portfoliocreative.org/">portfoliocreative.org</a></div> <p>All councils do campaigns to raise awareness and prompt action on everything from adoption to direct debit on council tax to what's on and more. And although details and branding change from place to place, surely there's opportunity to share. </p><p>Nottingham City Council have set up a nifty digital marketplace at <a href="http://portfoliocreative.org/#">http://portfoliocreative.org</a> for the public sector to buy and sell campaigns and artwork. It's a way for some bodies to save a lot of money and others to recoup costs. Might be nice if there were some 'social' features to help promote new campaigns... a lot of comms officers and comms teams are on Twitter, for example, even if some they don't Tweet much. </p><p>I spotted this one as a great response to an <a href="http://www.simpl.co/blog/2011/05/25/idea-of-the-week-public-sector-asset-sharing-platform/">asset sharing idea </a>proposed on <a href="http://www.simpl.co/">Simpl</a> - the social innovation marketplace.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/digital-marketplace-campaigns-and-creativity">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/digital-marketplace-campaigns-and-creativity#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/Wpw2SKca5nw" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Fri, 03 Jun 2011 02:19:00 -0700 http://socialgov.posterous.com/digitalkoot-fun-in-the-archives http://socialgov.posterous.com/digitalkoot-fun-in-the-archives <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="" src="http://www.digitalkoot.fi/images/fraktuur-compact-wide.jpg?1302076684" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.digitalkoot.fi/en#%21/game_base">digitalkoot.fi</a></div> <p>Lots of talk these days about 'gamification'. Turning mundane tasks into games, making them fun. Getting lots of people to do little bits and pieces of work, like tagging imagines in an archive. Or in the case of digitalkoot getting people to verify how good machine-read archive materials are. </p><p>This is an initiative from Finland, where they've done a lot of work on getting paper-based archives online. In this case, the materials are a little hard to read and the font is archaic. Oh...and of course the material is in Finnish, with a few Swedish borrow words. Think of the image quality as a bit like a 'captcha' - hard to read. And as an English speaker, I'm just looking at patterns, but I like it. </p><p>Right now there are two games, both involving moles. In one you tell the game - yes the computer read the archives or no, it didn't. By completing the answer, you 'whack the mole' from the screen. Too slow, too many moles on screen and you lose. It's hard. But it's fun. </p><p>In the other, you type the word based on the image that pops up to build a bridge from an amorous boy mole to the mole object of his affection. I was way too slow on this one, because I'm not used to the short-cuts for diacritical marks. </p><p>If you like word games, like BookWorm or the online Scrabble games...you'll like this. And they've made good use of other social tools. There's Facebook connect - which I've done. Payback time for all those bloody Scrabble scores in my stream. And there's a <a href="http://twitter.com/digitalkoot">Twitter account</a> (that's how I found out about this!). Although the tag line "By participating in Digitalkoot you are making Finnish culture more accessible for all us." may not attract a huge audience beyond part-Finns like me.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/digitalkoot-fun-in-the-archives">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/digitalkoot-fun-in-the-archives#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/C-gqMNi2REU" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Mon, 30 May 2011 02:51:00 -0700 http://socialgov.posterous.com/transparency-and-text-cllr-iain-roberts-and-c http://socialgov.posterous.com/transparency-and-text-cllr-iain-roberts-and-c <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Media_httpfarm3static_igbpf" height="333" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/pGtjqyrwJlyxcEgpzdeiGBmEHoDFtvFzbqziqtDDvczCqlHlzkAxyolcklgp/media_httpfarm3static_iGbpF.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28783237@N08/4061467259/">flickr.com</a></div> <p>To be honest, I don't really understand why a councillor should have to do this, but it's good that one is.</p> <p>Councillor Iain Roberts (Lib Dem) of Stockport council is republishing council agendas on his blog by using a 3rd party document publishing tool, <a href="http://iainroberts.mycouncillor.org.uk/2011/05/24/roads-repaired/">embedding it on his blog</a>, and highlighting relevant sections. Pulling out spending, budget or other data and putting them in context.</p> <p>One thing we forget at our peril in the open data agenda is the information that's hidden away in PDFs on council websites in documents. When it's a PDF - that means it's pretty much NOT searchable, not re-usable and not commentable - that's digital information jail - not something we want in local democracy.</p> <p>Councillor Roberts says "Although I'm just taking a document that's online in place A and copying it to place B, I think having it as an embedded document in a web page with commentary (rather than a dry meeting title someone has to download and search to find out what's in it) makes a significant difference. It allows me to report on what the Council's doing, whilst giving people an easy way to check on the source material if they want more information - or just to know whether I'm being honest or not!"</p> <p><strong>Updated</strong>: I should say it IS for councillors to highlight and add editorial comment, but it is for councils are corporate bodies to put the agendas and other open documents online in an accessible and preferable machine-readable format.</p> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/transparency-and-text-cllr-iain-roberts-and-c">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/transparency-and-text-cllr-iain-roberts-and-c#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/1-zHjm4Ls1Q" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Mon, 23 May 2011 06:46:00 -0700 http://socialgov.posterous.com/election-tales http://socialgov.posterous.com/election-tales <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Media_httpfarm2static_bibaq" height="375" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/gBpclbqtxfeonIeBCuefzsjtBgxrgodcmAdurjqpkpmgfDFaafFzvIEkIgHr/media_httpfarm2static_BiBaq.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/drexler/1118548040/">flickr.com</a></div> <p>As part of a community reporters project, local people used a variety of social media to cover the local elections in Kirklees. Some really interesting coverage of election night, candidacy and the roles of the people who make elections run smoothly. </p><p>See it all at <a href="http://electiontales.wordpress.com/">Election Tales</a></p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/election-tales">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/election-tales#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/UqiAGslGDb4" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Tue, 17 May 2011 22:18:00 -0700 http://socialgov.posterous.com/nyc-digital-road-map http://socialgov.posterous.com/nyc-digital-road-map <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Media_httpfarm6static_gckee" height="375" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/apkpaEzjEElDxFygyemBvlAEsfbbiEAiAikessvBhAzrxGAgHfHGJdfCrxvv/media_httpfarm6static_GckeE.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25141069@N02/5423435383/">flickr.com</a></div> <p>"NYC Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Chief Digital Officer Rachel Sterne today <a href="http://www.mikebloomberg.com/index.cfm?objectid=F994FBA2-C29C-7CA2-FBEE94BD47BD91A3">unveiled Road Map for the Digital City</a> – a comprehensive strategy to make New York the nation’s leading digital City." 16 May. </p><p>This amazing effort and beautifully structured and designed report sets out examples of what has been done and where New York City will be headed in the future. It's a really fantastic mix of excellent basic web offerings, data and apps, and communication and engagement through social tools. </p><p>In fact, NYC will be partnering with social web companies like Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Foursquare. Not only does this benefit New York City, but this is an amazing step forward for all of "digital municipal" as they work together and innovate in the civic sphere. </p><p>Anyone working in a strategic position in local government needs to check this out.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/nyc-digital-road-map">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/nyc-digital-road-map#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/gE-yEtIfAlU" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Sun, 01 May 2011 11:42:00 -0700 http://socialgov.posterous.com/mobile-phone-touring http://socialgov.posterous.com/mobile-phone-touring <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Media_httpfarm6static_mljun" height="375" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/pCdiHbfAdnzjfmgJdgHzIaoewzEEHqFDFxBEbIeefFlurrnzlxbDoDsofCBB/media_httpfarm6static_mljun.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/londonlooks/5676803140/in/photostream">flickr.com</a></div> <p>One cool thing I've seen on my hols in America is mobile phone tourist info stops. You simply phone the number and get the info that you might have had to get from one of those audio headsets in the past. You could charge for this, or in this case this one is sponsored by a series of organisations and there's nothing to stop you from including a commercial message. </p><p>This one is at the Historic Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia. An awesome place to visit in a great town.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/mobile-phone-touring">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/mobile-phone-touring#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/IJcdM3vNIWE" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Thu, 07 Apr 2011 00:48:00 -0700 http://socialgov.posterous.com/speak-out-sutton http://socialgov.posterous.com/speak-out-sutton <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Media_httpfarm3static_jpuaj" height="333" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/bzEIibftAbJweHovCillajfpfgjDtjzwDhhmHqGHdtpkFfdtmdktoIuttrAi/media_httpfarm3static_JpuaJ.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/21524575@N05/2286514304/">flickr.com</a></div> <p>The London Borough of Sutton, like a number of other councils, is using an online engagement tool to get residents' views and ideas - <a href="http://www.speakoutsutton.co.uk/">Speak Out Sutton</a> It's a dialogue app powered by <a href="http://www.delib.co.uk/">Delib</a>. </p><p>There's a nice little bit of voting/dialogue/crowdsourcing going on in the current open discussion - on <a href="http://www.speakoutsutton.co.uk/the-future-of-libraries-in-sutton">the future of libraries</a> (ever a hot topic, and now even more so). And can I just say that I love, love the idea of <a href="http://www.speakoutsutton.co.uk/the-future-of-libraries-in-sutton/childrens-birthday-parties">children's birthday parties</a> in the local library. And judging by the comments, so do quite a few of the participating residents.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/speak-out-sutton">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/speak-out-sutton#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/bF123sL80C0" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Mon, 04 Apr 2011 05:17:00 -0700 http://socialgov.posterous.com/are-you-in-obama-and-facebook-connect http://socialgov.posterous.com/are-you-in-obama-and-facebook-connect <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/Ingrid.L.Koehler/Workstuff#5591700052195380306"><img class="posterous_download_image" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/__mSCLc4TpVw/TZm1kkWjjFI/AAAAAAAAK_Q/lwqRYqfh1Ng/s640/areyouinobama.jpg" border="0" height="431" width="500" /></a> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/Ingrid.L.Koehler/Workstuff#5591700052195380306">picasaweb.google.com</a></div> <p>Normally, the <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com">LocalGov2.0 blog</a> is reserved for matters local, sometimes state and regional. But never national! Oh dear, making an exception. But this is a good one, this is the kick off to Obama's 2012 campaign. And we know what a campaign2.0-er he is, so no doubt there will be lots to learn. </p><p>They've revamped the <a href="http://barackobama.com">barackobama.com</a> site today in time for the kick-off. And less is more in this case with a completely stripped back site, looking clean and ready for the fight. (I'm sure we'll see stuff added in over time.) </p><p>Already there's one cool feature...the prominent use of Facebook connect. Yes, you can sign up to the site with just an email address and a zip code (you'll be asked to provide more later) - but just as prominent is the Facebook connect button. And if you look at the graphic above, you'll see just how much information and power you'll be giving to the campaign. Which, of course, as a supporter - you'll be happy to do. </p><p>Are any local parties or candidates using Facebook or FB connect well in the UK? I can't feature you during campaign times, but I would LOVE to know so I can feature you in revamped Connected Councillors or I might know a <a href="http://twitter.com/tweetyhall">friendly service</a> that can share what you're up to. <a href="http://twitter.com/ingridk">Tweet me</a> or drop me an email at ingrid.l.koehler AT gmail.com</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/are-you-in-obama-and-facebook-connect">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/are-you-in-obama-and-facebook-connect#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/ME9bKzm7PAg" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Wed, 09 Mar 2011 06:27:00 -0800 http://socialgov.posterous.com/directgov-find-out-about-details-of-council-e http://socialgov.posterous.com/directgov-find-out-about-details-of-council-e <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Media_httplocaldirect_qhppl" height="86" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/ngysIwyqeDrfABpxhFrmFabCdbrpwIAfgDiBbdmguAnIieodnkpesomByDIF/media_httplocaldirect_qhppl.gif.scaled500.gif" width="250" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://local.direct.gov.uk/LDGRedirect/index.jsp?LGSL=1465&amp;LGIL=8">local.direct.gov.uk</a></div> <p>Just a quick one! Type in your postcode, address or council name and be taken to your council's expenditure data.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/directgov-find-out-about-details-of-council-e">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/directgov-find-out-about-details-of-council-e#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/DSalLdPK6wU" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Mon, 07 Mar 2011 04:53:00 -0800 http://socialgov.posterous.com/my-urban-angel-city-camp-brighton http://socialgov.posterous.com/my-urban-angel-city-camp-brighton <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Media_httpfarm1static_drqpe" height="500" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/yeeHttDhfbDuqfyxpcIocbmiaIgtwalqbHFcCGosivtIvmHzjqsqhnpliwlt/media_httpfarm1static_Drqpe.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="334" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/19888921@N00/495921250/">flickr.com</a></div> <p>The CityCamp movement is sweeping the UK....Starting at <a href="http://citycampldn.govfresh.com/">CityCamp London</a>, now <a href="http://citycampbtn.org/">CityCamp Brighton</a> this past weekend and other plans are afoot elsewhere. </p><p>CityCamps combine a teensy bit of traditional conferencing, unconference and hack days to promote digital tech for social good in the civic space. The prize winning project from CityCamp Brighton was <a href="http://myurbanangel.posterous.com/what-is-it#">urban angel</a> - a safety location and notification service for folks hitting the tiles. Nice one.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/my-urban-angel-city-camp-brighton">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/my-urban-angel-city-camp-brighton#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/td5W0Rvv93M" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Mon, 21 Feb 2011 10:51:00 -0800 http://socialgov.posterous.com/open-data-in-catalonia http://socialgov.posterous.com/open-data-in-catalonia <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Media_httpfarm1static_tafce" height="375" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/uBjabtAvyAjbEqqwCxFtDredlBFCeepkDvkfzeJrzEbnBgldphAFJtczbzul/media_httpfarm1static_tAFce.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/71088059@N00/474813176/">flickr.com</a></div> <p>The region of Catalonia has an amazing <a href="http://dadesobertes.gencat.cat/en/">open data site with an English version!</a> In a quick look around the beautiful and easily navigable site, it appears to be acting as more than a registry (a place which indexes links to data sets at host sites). You can download some data. </p><p>There aren't tons and tons of data sets yet, but there is a comprehensive smattering of interesting and useful information some of it which would fall into the transparency and accountability category. </p><p>I like how their data isn't limited to numbers and text fields, but includes visual data as well - archived video and images - there are maps as well as geographic information. </p><p>They also have a section on <a href="http://dadesobertes.gencat.cat/en/aplicacions.html">featured data apps and web services</a> which help a user who isn't able to configure sparql queries navigate the data held and registered on the site.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/open-data-in-catalonia">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/open-data-in-catalonia#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/Y6jgCtZsAwQ" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Sun, 20 Feb 2011 23:49:00 -0800 http://socialgov.posterous.com/ranking-transparency-an-a-in-anderson-south-c http://socialgov.posterous.com/ranking-transparency-an-a-in-anderson-south-c <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Media_httpfarm5static_rfobn" height="500" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/DehtFCqbHdgaHzcjqaazFjyrnwDfpyEgiHDqeBhzfsvfIdJjbdihkqiowmGk/media_httpfarm5static_rfoBn.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="400" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10687935@N04/4337384155/">flickr.com</a></div> <p>The Sunshine Review is an organisation in the US which is evaluating transparency on state and local government websites in the US. They have a clear set of criteria for publishing transparency information and a <a href="http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Transparency_Checklist">10 item checklist</a> that they review and grade. </p><p>With some adjustment, these criteria would be just as useful in a local government checklist in the UK for measuring transparency information on websites. </p><p>Their exemplar authority is Anderson County, South Carolina - who <a href="http://www.andersoncountysc.org/web/Transparency_00.asp">proudly display their A+ grading</a> on their transparency pages as well as the actual information. South Carolina made some significant strides in publishing transparency information <br />as I <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/city-of-columbia-joins-transparency-website-w">wrote about here</a> a year ago.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/ranking-transparency-an-a-in-anderson-south-c">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/ranking-transparency-an-a-in-anderson-south-c#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/001myJrVAik" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Sun, 20 Feb 2011 07:54:00 -0800 http://socialgov.posterous.com/nyc-condom-get-some http://socialgov.posterous.com/nyc-condom-get-some <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Media_httpprofileakfb_erxfg" height="481" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/FeffkbynenoaoAnlrEoAlBwtonoHinlengkFHajGvjgxxbdtDGqmwwgCFJcE/media_httpprofileakfb_ErxfG.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="200" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.facebook.com/NYCcondom">facebook.com</a></div> <p>Earlier this week - on Valentine's Day (which happens to be Condom Awareness Day as well, apparently) New York City launched a new free condom location app. Available for Android or iPhone, the app will tell you the 5 nearest places to pick up some free French letters, as well as providing information about condom use and storage.</p> <p>But there's not just an app, there's a whole social media campaign. A <a href="http://www.facebook.com/NYCcondom">Facebook page</a>, a <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/nyccondom">Twitter account</a> and several versions of YouTube videos based on tv ads (in the US tv stations are required to run public service announcements). The <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGqi3KJdMpg&amp;feature=player_embedded">hip hop version</a> must be for the Yoof demographic and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFmjiZ5Z2vw&amp;feature=player_embedded">the jazz version</a> appears to be aimed at people who wear glasses.</p> <p>Info on the Twitter account seems to indicate they're even about to run a contest for people to design limited edition condom wrappers, which is cool I guess - but I couldn't find any info on that on the city government website <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/condoms/condoms.shtml">condom pages</a>.</p> <p>The "Get Some" page also includes a prominent link to the New York's <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/misc/html/social_media_policy.html">social media customer use policy</a>. Take it how you will that I found this the most interesting and compulsively replicable bit of the whole thing.</p> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/nyc-condom-get-some">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/nyc-condom-get-some#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/cIaczzDbWGc" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Fri, 18 Feb 2011 08:20:00 -0800 http://socialgov.posterous.com/how-open-data-initiatives-can-improve-city-li http://socialgov.posterous.com/how-open-data-initiatives-can-improve-city-li <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/adycEtHhDhFhhJdCvGGhxseAwehmvkFdJwfevBqtHsrHBmyDcsgpqzadCpep/media_http8mshcdncomw_mugga.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Media_http8mshcdncomw_mugga" height="272" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/adycEtHhDhFhhJdCvGGhxseAwehmvkFdJwfevBqtHsrHBmyDcsgpqzadCpep/media_http8mshcdncomw_mugga.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://mashable.com/2011/02/15/how-open-data-initiatives-can-improve-city-life/">mashable.com</a></div> <p>The online tech "magazine" Mashable has <a href="http://mashable.com/2011/02/15/how-open-data-initiatives-can-improve-city-life/">highlighted 5 North American examples</a> of cities doing cool things with open data. Featuring Ottawa's open data app contest with $50k in prizes, Portland, Oregon's Civic Apps, the data Warehouse in Washington,DC - the amusingly named Big Apps2.0 from New York (see what they did there - Big Apps for the Big Apple?), and Data SF in San Francisco which has already accumulated over 60 apps developed on the city's open data.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/how-open-data-initiatives-can-improve-city-li">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/how-open-data-initiatives-can-improve-city-li#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/i37RgB3RzRM" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Wed, 16 Feb 2011 03:57:00 -0800 http://socialgov.posterous.com/sunderlands-social-media http://socialgov.posterous.com/sunderlands-social-media <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Media_httpfarm4static_jjpat" height="358" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/npqCCwfrrjBnkAyAyBepyuskoIsDjHHnvJlFfABByhDvGyJlpxJtzHFojIHr/media_httpfarm4static_JJpat.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrs_logic/2810298307/in/set-72157606643735242/">flickr.com</a></div> <p>Missed it at the time, but there's <a href="http://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/knowledge/articles/2010/05/2010-05-17-how-Sunderland-City-Council-uses-social-media-to-engage-with-constituents/">a nice write up</a> of Sunderland's use of social media featuring <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/lee_ridley">Lee Ridley</a>. </p><p><i>Sunderland City Council has a long history of developing a range of programmes and projects aimed at exploring the use and raising the awareness of digital technologies across the many different communities of Sunderland.</i> </p><p>You can find out more about Sunderland's use of digital as well as help them push the envelope further at <a href="http://localbysocial.net/2011/02/speakers-for-local-by-social-north-east-edition-announced/">the next Local by Social event</a> March 4th and a hack day on the 5th- <a href="http://localbysocialnortheast.eventbrite.com/">sign up for free tickets here</a>.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/sunderlands-social-media">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/sunderlands-social-media#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/d8q_wVDcZ4k" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Tue, 15 Feb 2011 23:43:00 -0800 http://socialgov.posterous.com/wherensw-location-strategies-in-new-south-wal http://socialgov.posterous.com/wherensw-location-strategies-in-new-south-wal <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Media_httpfarm4static_vieji" height="333" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/JajpGiuxedCCxktlIqizEpfvhymFgIocyqsrzoeevcJnkppimEwgDqeqzjEH/media_httpfarm4static_vIEJI.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/26519268@N08/3070580795/">flickr.com</a></div> <p>New South Wales is developing a strategy for better use of location information, which is nice. But the way that they're doing it is even nicer. It's starting out with crowd sourcing of ideas and an unconference to generate more ideas for uses and usability of geographic information. </p><p>Right now <a href="http://wherensw.net.au/about/">the website</a> is full of some fairly dense policy language: </p><p><i>Across Australia and internationally, governments are increasingly developing high-level strategies for the management and use of spatial information, infrastructure and services. By improving coordination, access, sharing and usability of spatial information, such strategies realise the full potential of states’ significant investments in spatial information assets. A NSW Location Strategy will thus ensure alignment with best practice. More importantly, however, it will unlock the value of spatial information – for the benefit of both NSW Government and the broader community.</i> </p><p>But the promising approach and the reference to the use of location information by both government agencies and the public during the Queensland floods tells me that they're going to try to break out of traditional approaches to developing information strategy and that they'll be supporting some pretty creative approaches to generating, sharing and <i>using</i> geographic info. </p><p>One to watch.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/wherensw-location-strategies-in-new-south-wal">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/wherensw-location-strategies-in-new-south-wal#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/V31liX_A1pc" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Mon, 07 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800 http://socialgov.posterous.com/saving-heart-attack-victims-theres-an-app-for http://socialgov.posterous.com/saving-heart-attack-victims-theres-an-app-for <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Media_httpfarm1static_pqyir" height="374" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/kGpAJywwghGiDlvJkBwcrpJBgmjddAnwydfrhBxmmFnepmhgICtvdyycnpks/media_httpfarm1static_pqyir.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/64794448@N00/323803580/">flickr.com</a></div> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/adrielhampton">Adriel Hampton</a> <a href="http://gov20radio.com/arizona-looks-to-implement-fire-department-app-to-save-more-cardiac-arrest-victims/">writes at Gov2.0 Radio</a> about the Arizona fire service using an iPhone app which will allow trained, vetted volunteers to go to the aid of heart attack victims in the vital minutes before emergency responders can arrive.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/saving-heart-attack-victims-theres-an-app-for">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/saving-heart-attack-victims-theres-an-app-for#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/gtMNxmQyPPI" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler Sun, 06 Feb 2011 07:03:00 -0800 http://socialgov.posterous.com/five-things-we-can-already-learn-from-queensl http://socialgov.posterous.com/five-things-we-can-already-learn-from-queensl <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Media_httpwwwbenproct_gcazj" height="300" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/socialgov/nlaAzvevBwJzuqAyGpcEByvprksfygoklHgamEsthAJlsriJlkqIehlHeeCj/media_httpwwwbenproct_gCazj.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="230" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.benproctor.co.uk/2011/02/five-things-we-can-already-learn-from-queensland-police-use-of-social-media/">benproctor.co.uk</a></div> <p>Ben Proctor <a href="http://www.benproctor.co.uk/2011/02/five-things-we-can-already-learn-from-queensland-police-use-of-social-media/">reviews the police and local government use</a> of mainstream social media tools in Queensland, Australia. A really good breakdown of Twitter and Facebook in emergency management.</p> <p>And there's a great presentation based on an academic paper <a href="http://snurb.info/node/1469">"Towards distributed citizen participation: lessons from Wikileaks and the Queensaland floods"</a></p> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/five-things-we-can-already-learn-from-queensl">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://socialgov.posterous.com/five-things-we-can-already-learn-from-queensl#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Localgov20/~4/ZQnJVpQdg7I" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/432506/DSCF6006.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sO7GyYttFaF Ingrid Koehler Ingrid Ingrid Koehler