On Friday, State CIO Sanjeev “Sonny” Bhagowalia and the Office of the Governor called together several community stakeholders to update them on their ongoing initiative to transform government. The presentation came just as the state selected Socrata for its open data platform. Contrasted against the passage of SB2858, it made for an interesting week in government reform.

I was glad for the chance to attend Bhagowalia’s presentation, especially given the caliber of others in attendance. Much of the work to date was made possible through the financial backing of the Hawaii Community Foundation, and HCF president and CEO Kelvin Taketa was there to set the stage. Other groups represented included the Hawaii Business Roundtable (HBR), the High Technology Development Corporation (HTDC), Enterprise Honolulu, the Kauai Economic Development Board (KEDB), the Healthcare Association of Hawaii (HAH), HMSA, and First Hawaiian Bank.

Of course, there were many friends there as well, including Burt Lum, Dan Leuck of TechHui, Jay Fidell from Think Tech Hawaii, Forrest Frizzell from the City & County of Honolulu’s Department of Information Technology, and Jared Kuroiwa of Oceanic (but better known for independent, pro-civic affairs hacking). It was also great to see Ricky Li, now part of the governor’s communications team, as well as Keith DeMello, with whom I worked at Ka Leo more than 20 years ago.

Taketa noted that the HCF had been working with the governor’s office on a tech transformation initiative since Gov. Abercrombie took office, with $4.1 million in backing from the Omidyar Foundation. The money provided for staffing, including Bhagowalia’s position, and so far two major projects: a baseline assessment [PDF] of existing government IT, and now, the development of a 10-year strategic plan.

“We saw a this as a chronic issue affecting the effectiveness of government,” he said. “We also saw it as an equity issue: access to government benefits and services being limited because of the inability of the government to provide 24/7 access to services, especially for rural communities.”

Of course, the funds will only last through next July. And that’s why the group was convened.

“This is a long-term effort, and the energy for its continuation has to come from the consumers of government services, the interests that you represent, to make sure that this happens,” he said.

Then came Bhagowalia’s presentation, “Transforming Government through Business and Information Technology (IT)/Information Resource Management,” the slides from which I’ve embedded below.

He opened by retelling the story of how he was lured to Hawaii from his federal post, thinking the first email was an incredibly sophisticated spear phishing attempt, and how his boss said, “If you’re not going, I’m going.” Then he got down to business, sharing the results of his extensive meetings with every department, getting a solid picture of what IT there was in state government.

“There is nothing like pressing the flesh, and we collected over 1,500 pages of notes,” he said.

Throughout state government, IT involves more than $157.5 million in budget, and carries a staff of 746 (out of 14,000). In addition to countless inefficient manual systems, the assessment found over 700 different applications (and dozens more by the week) across the state government’s 200 lines of business. There were wide funding disparities, and a lot of duplicated effort.

“We are 20-30 years behind,” Bhagowalia said, noting that he even found a 20-year-old VAX system in the Department of Education that was being kept alive through sourcing old parts on eBay. He added: ”Within a mile of this building, there are four data centers below sea level, and we’re storing backup data/tapes in the flood zone.”

But Bhagowalia said several times that we can now jump to the leading edge. He was bullish on tablets, and on the cloud, remarking that the timing is such that the state could effectively skip an entire generation of computing.

“The tablet will replace the computer in three years. The world is going IP, as a utility. The promise of Hawaii is that we can catapult directly to the front — we can leapfrog directly from mainframes to modern technology,” he said. ”By July, we will publish a State Strategic Plan, and for the first time we will make sure all department plans are aligned. In ten years, we want to have one network, one computing environment, with five sigma (99.999%) reliability.”

And Bhagowalia said that open data was one of the key ways that Hawaii could distinguish itself as a national leader, announcing that the state had selected Socrata to provide a platform through which all state agencies would be able to make information available to the public through a web portal and robust APIs.

(Open data is one of my personal obsessions, of course, and my day job is at Hawaii Information Service, which is similarly focused on public records. Now Burt Lum and I, as Hawaii Open Data, will be working with Socrata as part of a geek ground team.)

Noting that most people have phones, but not necessarily computers, Dan Leuck asked Bhagowalia if he’d consider a “mobile first” strategy. Bhagowalia said that mobile was absolutely a priority, “along with ‘cloud first’ and ‘XML first.’”

Gov. Abercrombie spoke of a recent visit to Searider Productions at Waianae High School. “Kids are way ahead,” he said. “It’s the school and our infrastructure that is way behind.”

“Government does not have a monopoly on the best ideas,” Bhagowalia concluded, explaining why we were all called to the governor’s office. “We’re forming a stakeholder group, and as we present the strategic plan, we want to know what you think are the most important priorities, and how we should go about it.”

The group was dubbed the “Make IT Happen Coalition,” and the governor’s office said that its membership would grow, and be called upon for feedback and community support. A website and social media presence is already in the works.

The state also set up a feedback crowdsourcing site at idea.hawaii.gov. Using the Ideascale system, people can suggest, review, and vote up ideas to shape the state’s technology transformation strategy. And that’s where the first draft of the strategic plan has now been posted.

Here are the slides from Bhagowalia’s presentation:

And here are some photos from the meeting:

On Wednesday, the first local meetup of the Sunlight Foundation community will be held at Yogur Story . Pulled together by  Burt Lum, my fellow open government advocate and long-time partner in geekery, the gathering will bring together like-minded folks to discuss how technology new thinking can make government more transparent and accountable.

The meetup comes just as the Hawaii state legislature has passed a bill that will give government agencies a process by which they can fight information disclosure in the courts.

SB2858 is aimed at the Office of Information Practices, an agency with which I’ve tangled before. The OIP was designed to act as an advocate and enforcer of open government, to whom the public or the media would turn when a government agency resisted turning over requested records. By design, the OIP’s rulings were hard to fight… but in 2009, the Kauai County Council sued the OIP, and won. Ostensibly fearing the door had been opened to future litigation, the OIP backed this bill, which sets a framework for judicial review.

I was invited by the Sunlight Foundation to contribute a guest blog post reviewing the new law and the arguments on both sides:

If a good compromise is one in which neither side is satisfied, a new bill passed by the Hawaii state legislature is an unmitigated success.

The state Office of Information Practices, dedicated to “ensuring open government” but headed by a political appointee, supported amendments to Hawaii law that would give government agencies a process by which they could fight requests for information in the courts.

Open-government and media organizations fought the measure, saying it created a costly and cumbersome process that goes in the wrong direction. Yet, even some of the government bodies that would be given more options to fight information disclosure decisions by the OIP were against the bill, saying the measure “goes too far.”

Click through to read the full post.

“Explore” is the theme of this year’s Springfest event, one of two signature annual gatherings of the Hawaii Macintosh & Apple User Society (HMAUS). Taking place on the campus of Kapiolani Community College, Springfest is a free, casual conference that offers presentations and workshops inspired by Apple technology. Topics include photography and digital art, as well as home networking and computer security.

The main attraction will be a “Made In Hawaii” panel, showcasing apps and technology rooted here in the islands.  The great Brian Dote of Tapiki — creator of Sushi Star, Movie Buddy, and other great apps — will be featured, as well as Andy Yip and Jane Zeng, who created the DaBus app, and Zubin Menon of Oceanit. Russell Ogi, a 3D printing guru, rounds out the panel.

Springfest runs from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and will close with door prize giveaways (including a Doxie Go portable scanner). For more information, check out the HMAUS website.

Startup Weekend Honolulu went down over a 54-hour jam session in Kakaako, in conjunction with other Startup Weekend events happening around the world. The goal? To pitch, design, code and launch a startup in less than three days. The event was hosted at The Greenhouse Innovation Hub on Auahi Street. On Friday, several ideas were proposed, teams were formed, and everyone got to work. Today, the startups were presented to a panel of judges. Here were the winners and other presenting startups:

Who Will See Me
“I’m sick, but I’m not dying. I want an appointment for today… Have you ever needed to see your doctor, but they’ve told you the next appointment is in two weeks? ” The startup was created by members of the Business As Usable team at HMSA. Learn more @WhoWillSeeMe on Twitter.

Tealet
“Specialty tea directly from the grower. Learning about where your tea comes from and the art and passion that goes into producing it gives you a more enriching tea experience. Join our network and connect directly with growers all around the world.” Learn more @TealetTea on Twitter and on Facebook.

Laughpop
“We provide a way for people to find others who share their sense of humor, and share the things that make them laugh the hardest. You can LaughPop jokes, pictures, video, audio, and website.” Learn more @laughpophawaii on Twitter and on Facebook.

Find My E-Team
“Find My E-Team is a website designed for entrepreneurs and specialists to establish relationships with each other and create startup businesses. Our website is targeted towards people who want to start startups or work on startups.” Learn more @FindMyETeam on Twitter and on Facebook.

Hoodini
“Escape a solitary life. Create a geofence around you or your favorite place. Add some of your Twitter friends to your hood. Enter the email address you want to use for notifications. SHAZAM! We’ll notify you when your friends enter your hood.”

LinkedOut
“LinkedOut is using the power of nature to support the development of business relationships by connecting people outdoors. Ever get tired of networking online or indoors? We provide an alternative way for business professionals and individuals to network through outdoor activities in small groups around Hawaii (next step, around the world). There is an event for everyone.” Learn more @GetLinkedOut on Twitter and on Facebook.

PartyMD
“Sick and tired of showing up at lame or empty parties? Never again! Find local hotspots, and get your party on!” Learn more @ThePartyMD on Twitter.

Reward Ya
“Rewardya is an advertising platform that allows merchants to participate in a loyalty based system that attracts and keeps customers coming back and allows consumers to earn rewards for their everyday purchases.” Learn more on Twitter @Reward_Ya and on Facebook.

Tie Combinator
“Snap a photo of your shirt with Instagram and tweet it out with our #tiecombinator hashtag, we’ll tweet you back with a selection of tie styles. Choose your favorite, and we’ll combinate the perfect color choices for you.” This startup generated so much activity on Twitter @TieCombinator, its account was suspended. Learn more on Facebook.

The judging panel featured Hawaii’s own Kevin Hughes, Tim Dick of Startup Capital Ventures, Katie Stratton from Google, Enrique Allen from the Designer Fund and 500 Startups, and John Niebuhr of Honolulu’s J.J. Dolans, which also provided the delicious fuel for the weekend.

Startup Weekend Honolulu has been in the works for some time, with a false start or two coming years after an unofficial, informal event back in 2008. This weekend’s success comes via the direction of Danielle Scherman and the support from premier sponsors The Greenhouse, Startup Capital Ventures,  Social Wahines, and Mentalpez.

This Sunday brings the annual Institute for Astronomy Open House in Manoa. As a science-positive geek dad, it’s one of my favorite family events, and you can browse photos I took last year on Flickr. There are many hands-on activities, from dry ice comet making to sunspot observing, informative displays, and several expert talks.

It’s a great event for kids, with bottle rocket launching, “Mars drop” experiments, sundial making, and face painting. One of the high points each year is an elaborate setup by the LEGO Enthusiasts Association of Hawaii (LEAHI). And you can catch a short show in the StarLab planetarium (though it fills up fast).

Interspersed throughout will be science fair exhibits, and booths featuring partners like the Bishop Museum, the Hawaiian Astronomical Society, the Hokulani Imaginarium from Windward Community College, and the UH Bookstore. And parked out front, the Shogunai Tacos truck.

And this year, the Open House will set the stage for the upcoming “Transit of Venus” on June 5. The planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, an event described as being “among the rarest of predictable astronomical phenomena.” Although there was a transit in 2004, there won’t be another until 2125.

While the IfA has a number of events planned to mark the occasion, you can get an early preview on Sunday. Just by showing up, you can be among the first to get your free “solar viewer” (the IfA had over 25,000 of them made). And at 1 p.m., leading astronomer Gareth Wynn-Williams will give a talk on “The June 5th Transit of Venus.”

The Open House runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Institute for Astronomy at 2680 Woodlawn Drive (across from Noelani Elementary School near Manoa Marketplace). Admission and parking is free. For more information, visit the IfA website or the Friends of the Institute for Astronomy Facebook page.

I love Twitter. It’s a fast and efficient social network and status stream based on short messages. And today, the Hawaii-based team at Shacked Software released an app that pairs Twitter’s modern, real-time stream of news with some vintage, old-school technology.

TeleTweet [iTunes link] is a Twitter client that unearths an unexpected and clever connection between Twitter and the classic telegraph, one of the first ways people sent short messages to each other. And while I’ve enjoyed other apps by the Shacked team, including the Flickpad photo browser and the kid-safe YouTube browser Gube, TeleTweet is the most beautiful app they’ve made yet.

You can use TeleTweet as a basic Twitter client, posting updates with a standard keyboard or reading updates as they stream by on a virtual ticker tape. But what makes TeleTweet special is its big, inviting telegraph key. With TeleTweet, you can craft your Twitter posts using Morse code.

Chad Podoski, co-founder and chief designer at Shacked, said in a statement: “We wanted to give our customers the feeling of sitting down at a telegraph office 150 years ago and tapping out a message to a faraway friend. We spent a lot of time getting the look, sounds, and entire experience perfect before we felt ready to release TeleTweet.”

I’ve recently been studying to get my ham radio license. And while you no longer need to know morse code (or “CW,” continuous wave), it’s definitely a skill that old-school geek in me would love to learn.

So while TeleTweet is already a worthy and quirky Twitter client, it could also be a way to pick up Morse code. What better way to get comfortable with a new language or alphabet than using it to communicate everyday messages? Messages that are, by design, mercifully short.

To see it in action, check out the TeleTweet introductory video on Vimeo:

Before today’s launch, Shacked Software’s Jason Skicewicz brought TeleTweet to the fifth annual Hawaii Geek Meet, where he met with some of the app’s most promising potential users: ham radio enthusiasts. I watched in awe as friend, photographer, and ham Keith Higa (WH7GG) indeed managed to tap out a morse code message in the app. The only challenge was finding what speed worked best.

“Right now the teletype is tuned for someone that is just starting out with morse, in terms of cpm, but our hope is to make the algorithm more adaptive in the future so experience individuals can send morse at their full, faster speeds,” explained Podoski.

And Podoski and Skicewicz are very open and responsive to feedback. New user David Cabatu (AH7E) found that the combination CW tone and click-clack typewriter-like sound effect was distracting. The Shacked team said they’d add a setting in a future release.

I have my own suggestions, of course. I think it’d be cool to have the app play the morse code equivalent when I’m typing in letters using the standard keyboard, rather than just when the Twitter message is sent, as a way to help learn the alphabet. And I hope they’ll implement the standard iOS text editing interface so I can insert and select rather than having to hit delete to go all the way back to my mistake. (Though that’s certainly an old-school typing challenge!)

My craziest idea? Letting TeleTweet post Twitter messages in Morse code, and translate incoming messages (tagging them to be easily found across the network). While that would admittedly eat up those 140 characters pretty quick, allowing for only the shortest of tweets, it would be fun to confuse and intrigue others with the geek equivalent of pig latin.

Anyway, even though I’m no morse code expert, I’ve had a blast playing with TeleTweet. You can learn more at the Shacked website, or pick it up in the iTunes App Store for $0.99. And if you download it before April 26 — the day before the birthday of Samuel Morse — you’ll be able to download a free steampunk style Morse code cheat sheet.

The Hawaii Geek Meet will once again be held at Magic Island in Ala Moana Beach Park, Picnic Area #40, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Sunday, April 15. You can RSVP on Facebook, but what matters most is that you join us. Bring your friends, your family, some food to share (and some sunscreen), and hang out with perhaps the most eclectic and diverse group of creative, curious, colorful, passionate people you’ll ever see in one place.

Yesterday brought the fifth-annual Unconferenz, held at Kapiolani Community College. The event is a great grass-roots geek gathering, and one that has developed a reputation over the years of fostering connections and sparking ideas that have gone on to create real change in the local tech community.

This year’s Unconferenz was also an official stop on the nationwide “Code Across America” calendar, and it was also the host of Ignite Honolulu 3, a fun, fast-paced presentation format that pushes people to share their passions in a creative way.

Nearly 100 local designers, developers, activists, educators, thinkers, and simply curious people came together to spend a Saturday exploring current, relevant, and interesting topics ranging from mobile app development to 3-D printing to design thinking.

At last year’s Unconferenz, the seeds were planted to bring the “coworking” movement to Honolulu. Since then, three creative spaces have popped up, prompting a “Coworking Summit” at this year’s event to share how things are going, and what’s coming next.

There was also an e-democracy track of sorts, including an organizational meeting for the Hawaii Innovation Alliance. With so much policy talk on the agenda, we were glad to see local government representatives turn up, including Rep. Gene Ward, Rep. Kymberly Pine, and Rep. Heather Giuni.

We were also fortunate to have the participation of the three Code for America Fellows assigned to Honolulu: Sheba Najmi, Diana Tran, and Mick Thompson.

Perhaps most notably, though, the Unconferenz drew Code For America founder and executive director Jennifer Pahlka, who spoke first-hand about the mission and work of her organization, and Tim O’Reilly, founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, the world’s biggest publisher of computer books.

O’Reilly is credited with popularizing the term “Web 2.0.” People at O’Reilly’s company are credited with creating the Ignite format. In fact, the Unconferenz was inspired by Foo Camp and BarCamps, which also have roots in O’Reilly’s empire.

Obviously, it was especially meaningful and inspiring to have Tim O’Reilly there, and even participate in Ignite Honolulu.

The Unconferenz is the brainchild of Burt Lum, my friend and frequent partner in geeky shenanigans. But each year I’ve pitched in to help organize the event. This year I helped put together the Ignite session (with the help of Ignite Honolulu’s Christine Koroki and Chris Ota), and even designed the T-shirt.

But one of the best parts of Unconferenz is how all of the participants play an active part in running it, from choosing the day’s topic mere moments before the first session to cooperatively guiding each discussion (eschewing keynotes, panels, and other talking heads). And at the end of each Unconferenz, I can’t help but wonder which new ideas we discussed will also have grown and evolved into something real… and that we’ll get an update on at Unconferenz 2013.

Check out my video of Unconferenz 2012 on YouTube or on Blip.TV, or browse through my photos on Flickr:

On the national front, we had the Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA), beaten back by a massive groundswell of opposition from major internet firms and grassroots geeks alike. Here in Hawaii, a proposed law that would have required internet service providers to track and save user data for two years was shelved after a similar uproar from the tech community.

At the same time lawmakers at both the federal and local level are pushing for stronger regulation of the internet, it looks like the internet is finding its voice and fighting back.

At the Hawaii State Capitol, more than 30 bills have been introduced related to “cybercrime,” proposing things like increasing penalties for web designers and developers that use “unauthorized graphics,” or making “unauthorized computer access in the 1st degree” a Class A felony (on par with violent crimes like rape and murder).

Some of these bills are well intentioned, but have grievous unintended consequences. Others seem to be rooted in petty, personal squabbles. But this apparent upswing in legislative activity aimed at technology clearly calls for greater participation and a stronger voice from the tech industry.

Tonight on Bytemarks Cafe, the weekly science and technology show I co-host with Burt Lum, we brought two leading voices into the studio to review some of the proposals before the 2012 legislature. While Daniel Leuck and Peter Kay touched on a few of the specific bills in circulation, their main message was a broader one.

“It’s time for the tech industry here to grow up,” Kay said, outlining a three stage plan to move forward.

First, he said, we need to address current legislation, tracking bills and submitting testimony in a coordinated, constructive way. Ideally, the tech industry should stay ahead of lawmakers, working with them before new laws are even drafted.

Secondly, we need to have a unified voice. Whether it’s a grassroots, decentralized coalition or a formal organization with a bona fide full-time lobbyist, the tech community needs to be better represented, and represented consistently. The community includes both well-funded firms to bootstrapped startups and independent entrepreneurs. Given its growing size and proven savvy with tools like social media, it shouldn’t be hard for us to have a real impact.

Finally, Kay said, Hawaii needs a tech candidate. Someone with the knowledge and backing of the tech industry needs to get into office and fully represent its interests. Of course, he said, Rep. Kym Pine’s district would be a great place to start.

You can download the MP3 audio file of today’s show (or better yet, subscribe to the podcast in iTunes and get the latest Hawaii tech and science news each week).

Following our radio show, the conversation continued at a “Tech Town Hall.” It was held at The Greenhouse in Kakaako and streamed live on the web, and dozens of people showed up and spoke up. Veterans of the legislative process, including Yuka Nagashima of the HTDC and Susan Jaworowski, shared their insights on how to be effective lobbyists. Attorney Ryan Hew spoke on how laws are drafted.

Tech currently has a bad reputation, Nagashima said, so it’s important to avoid looking like a ‘one-trick pony’ (a la Act 221). She added, “Decisions are made by people who show up.”

Hew said: “Use statistics when submitting testimony. Long rambling manifestos make you look like a crazy person.”

The conversation was live tweeted with the hashtag #HiTechTown, and you can watch the full recording of the event below:

The gathering solidified the Hawaii Innovation Alliance, which started as a simple Facebook group that Kay set up in the lead up to the HPR radio show (and enlisted Burt and I as co-administrators). After tonight, HIA is quickly growing into an official organization, with a charter in the works and several committees already formed.

Tara Coomans, head of the Hawaii chapter of the Social Media Club, had called into our show. After the Tech Town Hall, she was heading the HIA Communications Committee. Jaworowski, another caller, now co-chairs the Education Committee. She’s already shared a series of videos that she created to explain the state legislature website.

So what happens now? Join the Facebook group to find out. A separate website is already in the works.

Meanwhile, organizing and advancing HIA is likely to be a key session at the fifth annual Unconferenz, taking place Feb. 25 at Kapiolani Community College.

Geeks of all stripes are encouraged to register… even those with no interest in politics. There are a number of proposed sessions on the table, covering everything from mobile app development to “design thinking.”

Tuesday night brings the premiere of “The River” on ABC. Created by Oren Peli, the man behind the “Paranormal Activity” film franchise, the show is described as a “paranormal adventure horror” series. The modest production came to the islands with a modest, eight-episode first-season order, following in the much larger footsteps of ABC’s previous filmed-in-Hawaii hit show “LOST.”

This show is set in the uncharted backwaters of the Amazon, rather than a mysterious Pacific island, but to be sure, the parallels to “LOST” are many. From a menacing jungle rife with scary sounds and dark mysteries to characters struggling with daddy issues, it’s only natural to think ABC is trying to tap the same vein of rabid “LOST” fandom.

Fortunately, “The River” is a completely different animal. It falls unabashedly in the horror bin, with a solid setup and interesting characters. The show-within-a-show setup is surprisingly clever, building upon documentary-style found-footage to take us along on a rescue mission that quickly turns into a fight for survival. We were properly spooked, and quickly hooked.

If you’re looking for a more thorough review, my wife Jen and I reviewed the first two hours of “The River” on today’s episode of Popspotting.

And if you tune in tonight, watch for two split-second cameos in the first couple of minutes. Local newscaster Jill Kuramoto makes an appearance, as does Hawaii Public Radio’s Michael Titterton.

Both Kuramoto and Titterton also had cameos on “LOST,” appearing as a newscaster (natch) and as a bartender.

Note that the pilot, or first hour, of “The River” was largely filmed in Puerto Rico before relocating to Hawaii for the remaining seven episodes.