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Transparency Camp West 2009
August 15, 2009 — 1 Comment
The non-profit organization Sunlight Foundation, together with Google, hosted “TransparencyCamp West 2009,” a two-day unconference on transparency in government, to convene…
- “a trans-partisan tribe of open government advocates from all walks — government representatives, technologists, developers, NGOs, wonks and activists — to share knowledge on how to use new technologies to make our government transparent and meaningfully accessible to the public.”
“Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants”
– Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis
What is “transparency in government,” anyway? Here’s an outline as applied to federal government, but the ideals are relevant to state and local government as well.
Government 2.0 – What’s Next
May 10, 2009 — 1 Comment
The power of online mass collaboration–how will it impact governments?
- What is next in governance and civil service?
- How will governments of all sizes and jurisdictions evolve?
- Are governments out of touch with the behaviors of their own constituents?
- What is Government 2.0?
If the world of social networking has wrested control of “brand experiences” from the companies who produce those brands, do you think the brand experience of the US Government, or the State of California, or a City Government, or a Water District public utility is also up for grabs?
On Tuesday, May 12th, a new documentary film called “Us Now” will launch online. “Us Now” is a documentary about the power of mass collaboration, government and the internet.
Want more clips? Click here for a boat load!
Current and emerging internet technologies are firmly based on concepts of collaboration. As people become more adept at online collaboration, and as we expand our habits of collaboration, what happens to governments that are bogged down in older forms of bureaucracy, especially top-down hierarchies?
From the “Us Now” blog:
The online launch of Us Now on the 12th of May will be marked by an event with Richard Sennett and Tom Watson MP in the UK and a simultaneous event at The Kennedy School of Government, Harvard. The events, coordinated by FutureGov, will be broadcast live online, please visit this site on the day for further details. From the 12th of May onwards the full film will be available to stream from this website.
I think these issues are relevant and urgent. The Obama campaign used some of these emerging technologies to great effect, and the Obama White House is expanding government transparency and collaboration tthrough online tools.
However, are state and local governments learning? How can we contribute to our communities in meaningful ways using these tools?