open data – Page 9 – National Freedom of Information Coalition

New Mexico campaign finance open data bill advances

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The public could have a much clearer picture of money in politics if a bill adding open data features to the state’s electronic campaign finance system is successful. The proposal was advanced Monday the Senate Rules Committee.

The bill (HB 105), would require candidates to go online to submit information about their fundraising and spending. It would also make it easier for the public to verify information in campaign finance reports by adding cross-referencing features to the state’s electronic campaign finance reporting system.

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Report: New Jersey agencies face challenges as advocates seek era of open government data

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Meeting the public’s demand for open government data presents opportunities for elected and appointed officials, as well as many challenges, including associated costs and privacy issues, a Rutgers report finds.

Forty representatives from academia, civic groups, media, municipal, county and state government and open government advocates participated in an Open Government Data Thought Forum to learn about issues related to making various data collected and held by government agencies available to the public in unrestricted, reusable and redistributable form.

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Data Governance Council to revamp Delaware’s open data efforts

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Delaware is redoubling its open data efforts, Gov. Jack Markell has announced. Through the signing of Executive Order 57, the governor mandated the creation of a Data Governance Council that will help executive branch agencies publish their data on the state’s open data portal.

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NY Open Government website relaunches

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New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has announced the relaunch of a newly designed state open government website.

By visiting the online public data portal, www.NYOpenGovernment.com, users will be able to tract more easily what issues lobbyists and their clients are advocating, and how they result in specific legislation.

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Editorial: Standards Are Crucial to Successful Open Data Policies

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I recently moderated an event for the National Governors Association at the Harvard Kennedy School. In one session, performance management expert Bob Behn told a group of governors’ chiefs of staff that one of the most basic but often overlooked aspects of an efficient organization is a shared definition of key terms. Simple words can take on significantly different meanings to different people, and if a standard definition for these words is not set, collaboration is stifled by miscommunication.

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Pittsburgh on the road to ‘inclusive innovation’

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In September, the Steel City launched the Pittsburgh Roadmap for Inclusive Innovation, a strategy to facilitate residents’ participation in the New Economy, improve the city’s capacity to serve the public through data-driven services and increase resilience by strengthening the clean tech and local business sectors.

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Critics slam FBI’s new app that demands ID

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The FBI’s new data-requesting eFOIA app comes with controversial terms: The agency wants your ID in exchange for the information. Critics argue that the FBI collecting the requesters’ sensitive information is “over the top” and likely illegal.

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Editorial: Open data grows in 2015 (but not enough)

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As 2015 winds to a close, we can look back on a year of success stories and failures when it comes to transparency in government.

At the start of the year, the federal government began releasing its enterprise data inventories — comprehensive indexes of the data sets it collects — to the public. The move, which came in response to a Sunlight Foundation Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, was a major victory for government transparency.

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Central Indiana cities launch open data portal

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Some of the most common data requests central Indiana city officials field are now available in an online, searchable database. Fishers, Zionsville and Greenwood are joining Indianapolis in publishing police statistics in an online web portal.

The cities are posting records of complaints against police, law enforcement use of force and officer-involved shootings all on one website. The site — data.indy.gov — launched Monday and the other cities will follow soon.

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Are the government’s commitments on criminal justice open data enough?

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The growing importance of criminal justice data in the context of government transparency was highlighted last month when the White House released its Open Government National Action Plan (NAP) to the public. This third iteration of the NAP was the first to include a section on "Justice and Law Enforcement" since the inaugural release in 2011.

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