On June 25, 2009 · Comments Off
Wired has a great interview with the Federal Gov CIO, which actually dates back just prior to data.gov‘s launch. It’s definitely worth a read.
I firmly believe that this is the most important change that the current administration can make. The Federal government did a tail spin into secrecy over the past couple of decades, and while I believe the previous administration took this to a new height, it seems like it was part of a trend that definitely predates them. Secrecy breeds distrust in government, as well as bad decisions, as people don’t have access to all the facts.
Sunlight is definitely the best disinfectant, and nothing has quite the same power of light as the whole of the internet gazing in.
On June 19, 2009 · Comments Off
Hours before the entire NY State Senate imploded into a bunch of whining 1st graders, the previous leadership pushed out something quite interesting: open.nysenate.gov.
To pursue its commitment to transparency and openness the New York State Senate is undertaking a cutting-edge program to not only release data,
but help empower citizens and give back to the community. Under this
program the New York Senate will, for the first time ever, give
developers and other users direct access to its data through APIs and release its original software
to the public. By placing the data and technological developments
generated by the Senate in the public domain, the New York Senate hopes
to invigorate, empower and engage citizens in policy creation and
dialogue.
It remains unclear what will happen once squabble-gate ends, and we get a NY State government again, but hopefully a step into open like this is hard to step back from, especially if more people know about it. So spread the good word, and cross your figures that we get some sort of government back some time this year.
