Rialtas.net - Government 2.0

Opening our processes of democracy to scrutiny

admin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:32:43 +0000

excerpt from an article in today’s Irish times by Hugh Linehan Online Editor of The Irish Times.

The most interesting battles are being fought, not over constitutional structures, but around the freedom to access and disseminate information. From BlackBerries in the Gulf to search engines in China, authoritarian regimes understand that the free flow of information poses the greatest threat to closed political systems. Some democracies are paying heed to this and taking action; some, including ours, are not.

Take, for example, the Freedom of Information Act. Introduced in 1997, and emasculated by the Fianna Fáil/PD coalition in 2003, this legislation looks increasingly antiquated and inadequate for the era in which we live.

The world has changed in fundamental ways since 1997. It has changed an awful lot since 2003. Perhaps the defining characteristic of the times in which we live is the enormous quantity of digital data we generate in our day-to-day lives, and the ease with which it can be transmitted and shared.

This has huge implications for traditional concepts of privacy; for long-established business models; for the manner in which we lead our personal lives and conduct our relationships.

But you’d have to search very hard to find any evidence that these changes have been taken on board by the Irish political establishment when it comes to the State’s openness to its citizens. Two papers by Dr Nat O’Connor, published last week by the Tasc think-tank at tascnet.ie, make the case that Ireland suffers a dangerous democratic deficit in this area.

The first, The Role of Access to Information in Ireland’s Democracy , argues that “a radical shift in political culture is needed in Ireland to ensure that citizens have every access to records relevant to public policy, many of which are not made accessible”. It says Ireland compares very badly with other OECD countries on public access to documentation of our Government’s decision-making processes.

The second paper, An Economic Argument for Stronger Freedom of Information Laws in Ireland, points out that open data, while desirable in itself for the maintenance of a strong civic society, has further benefits. Firstly, and most obviously, transparent government is more efficient government, imposing a check on unjustifiable or wasteful decisions. But easily accessible data is also of value to businesses and encourages growth.

Read entire article

First Government Twitter Case Study

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:58:26 +0000

One of the U.S. Geological Survey’s unique responsibilities is the monitoring and reporting of earthquakes, which affect the daily lives of people around the world. By mining real-time tweets, the USGS expands its suite of seismically derived information and obtains first-hand accounts of shaking seconds after an earthquake occurs.

The USGS is automatically gathering, summarizing, and mapping earthquake tweets to provide a rapid overview of what people experienced during an earthquake. This Twitter-based application provides tweet counts for affected cities and lists the tweets generated immediately following the event.

Read Twitter’s case study on the USGS use of twitter…

http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/case_usgs

A renaissance of US government Web apps

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:04:06 +0000

Wyatt Kash argues on Government Computer News that while it’s easy to snipe about how basic some of these US Federal Government approches to Web 2.0 might be, the important point is the renaissance that is taking place on federal Web sites. In many cases, federal Web sites are finding innovative ways to serve the public that complement, if not rival, what’s taking place in the private sector.

In this Article Kash outlines 10 such sites which he feels are god examples of such innovation:

Project: Twitter Earthquake Detector:
http://recovery.doi.gov/press/us-geological-survey-twitter-earthquake-detector-ted

Project: 2010 Earthquake in Haiti

http://www.state.gov/p/wha/ci/ha/earthquake/index.htm

Project: Apps for Healthy Kids

http://www.appsforhealthykids.com/

Project: Puget Sound and watershed management wiki

http://www.epa.gov/region10/psgb/

http://www.epa.gov/region10/psgb,%20www.epa.gov/watershedcentral/wiki.html

Project: Global Pulse 2010

http://www.globalpulse2010.gov/

Project: Library of Congress photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/

Project: Pillbox

http://pillbox.nlm.nih.gov/

Project: OpenGov Tracker

http://www.opengovtracker.com/

Project: Summer Travel Widget

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/share_widget.shtm

Project: TV Converter Coupon Box Program

http://www.dtv2009.gov/

Security a top public sector ICT priority

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:51:39 +0000

Excerpt from Article BY AMIT ROY CHOUDHURY Asiaone Tech Sense

EMERGING technologies such as Web 2.0 and cloud computing, plus new ways of transacting and accessing information through new media, have bolstered the importance of online security for public sector institutions.

The public sector typically holds the personal data of its citizens, as well as other sensitive national information.

As a result, according to Gerald Wang of IDC Government Insights, any compromise of this sensitive data can severely dent public safety, national security and undermine public trust.

Speaking to BizIT, Mr Wang, who is senior market analyst at IDC Government Insight Asia-Pacific, said the top three threats facing public sector ICT systems in Singapore and the region are: a) data loss protection; b) messaging and Web security; and c) security policy and compliance.

‘While cloud computing and Web 2.0 technologies have been around and actively discussed over the past few years, governments are still at the infancy stage in utilising these technologies to interact with their citizens,’ Mr Wang said.

One reason for this is that governments are cautious about exposing sensitive data by using such technologies, he said. Many government implementations in this sphere are, therefore, limited in scope.

‘In Singapore, for example, government agencies provide information on policies and invite discussions from citizens via public platforms such as Facebook,’ he said. ‘Yet, other e-government services that entail transactions of sensitive information with citizens or businesses continue to be carried out via secured channels.’

Security risks associated with public clouds have led many governments to consider hybrid and private cloud models instead, where there is better control in terms of where information is stored and processed, Mr Wang explained.

His colleague Janet Chiew noted that Singapore is one of the first countries in the region to have developed a national security masterplan.

‘The setting up of the Singapore Infocomm Technology Security Authority in 2009 demonstrates further the high emphasis the governments puts on security against cyberthreats,’ said Ms Chiew, who is research manager at IDC Government Insights Asia-Pacific.

She added that while security will continue to remain an issue for governments to contend with, there are sufficient technologies that can be deployed to address these concerns.

Read entire article

HM Treasury Spending Challenge – Consultative Website.

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:38:47 +0000

http://spendingchallenge.hm-treasury.gov.uk/

HM Treasury Consultative website receives over 31,000 Ideas

the spending challenge website offers a chance to the UK public to help to shape the way their government works.

The best ideas will be considered as part of the Spending Review 2010, which will be concluded on October 20th 2010.

Visit website.

Code for America- update

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:20:23 +0000

The Preamble to the United States Constitution translated into binary code.

From the NYtimes.com

Talking about government and computer programming most likely doesn’t evoke the feeling of “fun” for most Americans. But a group of Web geeks and technology leaders is trying to change that with a new nonprofit project, Code for America, which aims to import the efficiency of the Web into government infrastructures.

The group, which received seed financing from the Case Foundation and Sunlight Foundation, among others, is the result of a private initiative by technologists. And it recently announced that it was recruiting fellows to work on its projects.

According to its Web site, “during the 11-month program, fellows will receive a crash course in municipal government,” along with networking and mentoring programs, “while they work in teams to develop open-source applications” for assigned cities. They also will be assigned to work with designated government groups.

In a recent blog post, Jennifer Pahlka, Code for America’s founder and executive director, said that the concept for the nonprofit was inspired by a talk given by Tim O’Reilly, a digital publishing and technology expert who coined the term Web 2.0, and who is a board member for the group. In the talk at a technology conference, in 2008, he implored “hackers to work on stuff that matters.”

Read entire article

Kilkenny County Council Launches Collaborative Website for Local Area Plans

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:38:45 +0000

http://lap.kilkennycoco.ie/

At Kilkenny County Council we have just launched a consultative website for the forward planning department.

The new website allows members of the public to comment on and to make submissions to the Local Area Plan. These comments and submissions are considered by the Council in the formulation of the Local Area Plans.

We believe that this site will help to enable enhanced transparency within the consultative process and will also permit a wider group of interested parties to participate in the process.

This site represents an evolution of our planning wiki project , the new site is easier to use and to navigate than the wiki site and allows interested parties to easily make comments on or submissions to the plan.

As far as we are aware Kilkenny County Council is the first Local Authority in Ireland to allow members of the public to make submission to such plans online.

Three additional Local Area Plans, for Fiddown, Piltown and Mooncoin will be published using the same format over the coming months.

Visit Gowran Local Area Plan

US Government Social Media Restrictions Eased

admin — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:05:11 +0000

The guidance makes it easier for agencies to use social media and requires steps to ensure better rule-making and spending transparency.

By J. Nicholas Hoover

InformationWeek

April 7, 2010 01:33 PM

Even as federal agencies release their plans for complying with the Obama administration’s open government requirements, the administration announced additional open government guidance Wednesday.

In a series of memos, the White House provided agencies with new rules and guidance on social media, regulatory information, spending data, and compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, a regulation observers had seen as holding back government transparency.

The Paperwork Reduction Act requires agencies to seek public comment and request clearance from the Office of Management and Budget before requesting most types of information from the public — a process that many agencies and observers find burdensome in the era of instant feedback via social media.

In order to free agencies from these procedures, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs issued a memo from OIRA administrator Cass Sunstein that clarifies that the PRA does not apply to many uses of social media.

For example, OIRA notes that the PRA doesn’t apply to online suggestion boxes and some types of other generally non-specific feedback requests, crowdsourcing applications, e-mail lists, and RSS feeds; online ratings and rankings; and Web site elements that enable users to share content. It also doesn’t cover anything that could be considered an “interactive meeting tool,” including Webinars, blogs, discussion boards, chat sessions, social networks, and most uses of wikis.

Agencies are also free to create user profiles, so long as they only request an e-mail address, username, password, and/or a general location when having the user sign up.

Still, the PRA processes will continue to cover a number of online activities, such as Web polls and satisfaction surveys, contests requiring structured responses, and Web sites collecting demographic information about their visitors.

The guidance makes it easier for agencies to use social media and requires steps to ensure better rule-making and spending transparency.

By J. Nicholas Hoover InformationWeek

April 7, 2010 01:33 PM

Even as federal agencies release their plans for complying with the Obama administration’s open government requirements, the administration announced additional open government guidance Wednesday.

Agencies are also free to create user profiles, so long as they only request an e-mail address, username, password, and/or a general location when having the user sign up.

Read entire article..

US General Services Administration signs agreements with Web 2.0 providers

admin — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:46:32 +0000

By Doug Beizer

This is an article from March last year (published while I was out of commission for a few months) but outlines an interesting precedent for governments internationally.

By Doug Beizer on FCW.com

The General Services Administration has signed agreements with Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo and blip.tv that make it possible for federal agencies to use new-media tools while meeting their legal requirements, GSA officials announced today.

Under the agreement, agencies can immediately begin using new-media tools that let people post, share, and comment on videos and photos on the Web. Individual agencies must decide which tools their employees may use and how they may use them.

GSA and a coalition of agencies have been working with the new-media providers for some time to develop terms of service for federal agencies. The new agreements resolve legal concerns associated with many standard terms and conditions that pose problems for agencies, such as liability limits, endorsements and freedom of information, GSA officials said.

“We need to get official information out to sites where people are already visiting and encourage them to interact with their government,” said GSA Acting Administrator Paul Prouty. “The new agreements make it easier for the government to provide official information to citizens via their method of choice.”

Read original article

Code for America

admin — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:38:04 +0000

Code for America is anew website aiming to help city governments become more transparent, connected and efficient by connecting the talents of cutting-edge web developers with people who deliver city services and want to embrace the transformative power of the web to achieve more impact with less money. Inspired in part by Teach for America, CFA works with city officials and leading web development talent to identify and then develop web solutions that can then be shared and rolled out more broadly to cities across America.

Working with city managers, Code for America plans to help to identify projects that can benefit from web-based solutions. Code for America recruits both the development teams and the participating cities through competitive application processes. Once identified and funded, each city project is connected with a web development team that can further scope the project, develop an action plan, and deliver an appropriate solution over an 11-month development cycle. Throughout the development cycle, CFA mentors, trains, and coordinates the teams and facilitates their relationships with their city management clients.

The applications that Code for America fellows build fit a certain model: 1) They are web applications – think Facebook, Yelp, Zillow, or Picnik; 2) They will enable cities to connect with their constituents in ways that reduce administrative costs and engage citizens more effectively; 3) They support the move toward transparency and collaboration; 4) and finally, they are shareable – which means that an application built for one city can be used by any other city.

Fundamentally, it’s all about helping American cities use web technology to do a better job of providing services to citizens.

Code for America is a new website aiming to help city governments become more transparent, connected and efficient by connecting the talents of cutting-edge web developers with people who deliver city services and want to embrace the transformative power of the web to achieve more impact with less money. Inspired in part by Teach for America, CFA works with city officials and leading web development talent to identify and then develop web solutions that can then be shared and rolled out more broadly to cities across America.

Fundamentally, it’s all about helping American cities use web technology to do a better job of providing services to citizens.

If any Irish technologists are interested in starting something similar over here please contact me.