Live, open government data – collated on third-party platforms – can change peoples’ lives profoundly in a wide variety of ways.
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Read More… from How open data can mitigate the floods of the future
Safeguarding open government is a constant struggle. Backsliding can happen easily if people aren’t vigilant.
We have a case in point right here in Sacramento on the eve of Sunshine Week, the annual series of events spotlighting the importance of public access to government.
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Read More… from Editorial: Don’t pull back on open government
When Florida media groups are concerned about freedom of the press and open government, they turn to the First Amendment Foundation for help.
Pete Weitzel, former senior editor of the Miami Herald, founded the non-profit 30 years ago.
The foundation is funded through contributions. It provides training, legal aid, and the annual Government in the Sunshine Manual as a guide to Florida’s open meetings and public-records laws.
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Councils are not doing anything with valuable data that offers insight into the needs of communities, according to the local government thinktank Localis. In their report, based on interviews with council leaders in the UK, they said that local authorities could use data to find out what residents want in a similar way private companies such as Amazon do.
Council leaders said that, particularly around the integration of health and social care, partners were unwilling to share data and that a lack of knowledge about data protection laws was holding things back.
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Read More… from Sixteen ways (UK) councils can better use data
Uncle Sam wants a few good innovators — again. The White House has launched the third round of its Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIF) program, which pairs tech-savvy entrepreneurs from the private sector with top government officials to tackle selected challenges facing the administration.
The program's "lean startup" approach has delivered a variety of tools, including ones that help the public save on utility bills and improve access to government health information, and it has brought acclaim to participants.
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When folks are elected to public office — from local school boards to city councils to county commissions — many have little to no experience with state law regarding public access to government information.
#When the citizens (and media) seek information inadvertent mistakes are too often made because some elected officials simply don’t understand the who, what, where, when, why and how of the state’s open government laws.
#And, as a result, it costs taxpayers a lot to settle lawsuits.
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Read More… from Editorial: Open government training for elected officials should save money
We're quoting from the preamble of New York state's Freedom of Information Law. It requires governments to release records of their activities, with some exceptions, so that taxpayers know where their money is being spent and how their government is performing. FOIL is a powerful tool for demanding accountability.
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To mark Sunshine Week, March 16-22, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press explains how journalists can use information access laws to develop stories in the public interest. This post is written by Emily Grannis, the Jack Nelson FOI Legal Fellow at the RCFP.
Freedom of information laws are invaluable resources to reporters covering any beat. The laws provide access to a wide range of government documents, from budgets to emails, and contracts to crime reports.
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Read More… from How to use FOIA laws to find stories, deepen sourcing
In the afterglow of the Edward Snowden talk at SXSW, the interactive world may be bullish about the future of privacy. And then they'll use free services that data mine their communications to talk about it. As David Tishgart of local security startup Gazzang warned, "If it's free, then you're the product."
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