Category: Miscellaneous
#GOV20 Takeaways from the Space Shuttle’s Final Launch
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There’s more than one way to look at Friday’s historic final launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-135). What can local, state, or other government agencies learn from how NASA handled the event?
Here are just some ways that NASA used the web to both build it’s brand and provide visitors with information that they were looking for. Also, don’t miss the photo collection from the event at the end of this post!
Click the titles to go to that part of the post…
Content and Accessibility
Landing Page
When you visited NASA.gov around launch-time, you didn’t have to go far for the content that you were (probably) looking for regarding the Space Shuttle. NASA had a redirect setup to take you to a landing page for STS-135 with live video of the event front-and-center. On this same page, they had columns for other relevant video, images, and some live-blogging of the events. Some time after the launch, they had another landing page (photo) setup that provided more links to resources about STS-135.
The Takeaway? Make it very easy for people to find the content that they’re looking for.
This takes us back to the quote that we linked to from our coverage of Space Shuttle Endeavor’s final launch (STS-134) from the middle of May:
Making important agency information easy to find online can also be a key factor in improving the agency’s public image, said General Services Administration digital government specialist Sheila Campbell. (from the article “Open government requires accessibility, not just data, specialists say” on nextgov.com)
Video and Replays
Video in multiple forms
There were multiple ways to view the Space Shuttle’s launch. NASA TV had it covered, so if you had that channel on TV you could watch it. Other TV stations covered the event as well, but not to the extent that NASA TV did. News channels have more things to cover than just this event. They move on to other stories. So how can people who want more information find it out? How about straight from the source… NASA.
The Takeaway? Provide coverage of the event yourself. This way, the media can’t cut your message short. If people want to see all of what happened – in context – then provide it to them. It will also help build loyalty between you and your citizens because it helps them feel like they’re a part of it.
Replays
They also had a video clip from the launch available within hours. Not only did they have live video of the event, but immediately after it was over, they showed replays from a wide variety of cool camera angles (see screen-shots for some of them below). See more on-demand videos about STS-135 here.
The Takeaway? While you’re at it, provide visitors with a way to relive what happened. For those who weren’t able to watch the live event, they can still see what happened (as if they were watching it live – except they can skip to the part of the video that interests them the most).
More ways to Interact
This provided opportunities for people to share photos of the event and get real-time information directly from the source. NASA can’t control what people post on Twitter about the event, but they can broadcast accurate information and it provides their fans with a terrific place to interact with each other. Speaking of interaction, NASA had a “NASA Tweetup“. What’s that? According to their website, “A Tweetup is an informal meeting of people who use the social messaging medium Twitter. NASA Tweetups provide [people who Follow @NASA on Twitter] with the opportunity to go behind-the-scenes at NASA facilities and events and speak with scientists, engineers, astronauts and managers. NASA Tweetups range from two hours to two days in length and include a “meet and greet” session to allow participants to mingle with fellow Tweeps and the people behind NASA’s Twitter feeds.”
The Takeaway? Let people go behind the scenes. It shows your biggest fans that you care and in turn, they’ll likely promote you and meetup with other enthusiasts. What if a local government did this with high schools…?
Real-Time Space Shuttle Tracker Mashup
“You can now track the space shuttle during launch and landing in Google Earth using real-time data from Mission Control.” (source)
The Takeaway? Give people ways to interact with data in cool ways. This data was practical and you could see why they put it out there. It’s easily understood by the public and it’s fascinating.
Photos
Here’s some screen-shot photos of the launch as it was happening live and when they showed some replays… photos are another tool that governments can use to inspire their audience (in this case, I took screen-shots of video, but you get the point)…
(Click images to see larger photos!)
*In case there is any confusion, NASA does not endorse our products. Also, here’s the use guidelines for NASA imagery, etc (so please follow them if using any photos from this post). These photos aren’t necessarily in the order that they happened. Photo credits: the NASA.gov website (mainly screenshots of video).
Gov't & Technology, Miscellaneous, Open Government
Government Teaches About Fireworks Safety Online
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Speaking of practical ways that the government can provide useful information to citizens online… there are various government webpages that help citizens become informed on being safe around fireworks. Here’s a sampling of them…
“According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) annual death and injury report (PDF, 325 Kb) on fireworks, approximately 40 percent of fireworks injuries occur to children younger than 15 years of age. In addition, CPSC received reports of three fatalities related to fireworks in 2010″ (source).
Who is at Most Risk?
In 2010, U.S. hospital emergency rooms treated an estimated 8,600 people for fireworks-related injuries. 73 percent of these injuries occurred between June 18 – July 18. Of these:
- 65 percent were to males and 35 percent were to females.
- Children under 15 years old accounted for 40 percent of the estimated injuries.
- Children and young adults under 20 years old had 53 percent of the estimated injuries.
- An estimated 900 injuries were associated with firecrackers. Of these, an estimated 30 percent were associated with small firecrackers, 17 percent with illegal firecrackers, and 53 percent where the type of firecracker was not specified.
- An estimated 1,200 injuries were associated with sparklers and 400 with bottle rockets.
- The parts of the body most often injured were hands and fingers (30 percent), legs (22 percent), eyes (21 percent), and head, face, and ears (16 percent).
- More than half of the injuries were burns. Burns were the most common injury to all parts of the body except the eyes, where contusions, lacerations, and foreign bodies in the eye occurred more frequently.
- Most patients were treated at the emergency department and then released. An estimated 7 percent of patients were treated and transferred to another hospital or admitted to the hospital. (source)
Fireworks Fire Safety Tips
- Sparklers are not toys. They can reach 2,000o Fahrenheit–hot enough to melt some metals.
- Leave pieces of fireworks on the ground after an event. Some may still be ignited and can explode.
- Stand several feet away from the professionals lighting fireworks; fireworks have been known to backfire or shoot off in the wrong direction. (source)
Here are some more tips from the Consumer Product Safety Commission…
And OSHA has this safety information for the fireworks industry…
Gov't & Technology, Miscellaneous
New Report: Information Needs of Communities (by the FCC)
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“The FCC Working Group on the Information Needs of Communities today delivered an in-depth analysis of the current state of the media landscape along with a broad range of recommendations. The staff-level report, titled “Information Needs of Communities: The Changing Media Landscape in a Broadband Age” [full PDF here or read by chapter here] was delivered to the FCC at an open commission meeting.” (source)
The report also talks about Government Transparency (download just that chapter here [PDF]).
Here are some key findings from the report as it regards to transparency in government and related issues (this list is not fully-inclusive)…
Government Transparency
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“Greater openness by government—at all levels—can make it easier for Americans to inform themselves and for both citizen and professional reporters to hold institutions accountable.” (p. 350)
- “Make it easier for citizens to monitor their government by putting more proceedings, documents and data online” (p. 350)
- “First, citizens should be able to more easily monitor the workings of state and local government.” (p. 350)
- “every state should have a vibrant public affairs network, a state-based C-SPAN.” (p. 350; emphasis in original)
- “Second, and just as important, governments at all levels should put far more data and information online, and do it in ways that are designed to be most useful.” (p. 350; emphasis in original)
- “Government transparency improves information flow three ways: directly to citizens themselves, through “information entrepreneurs,” and through journalists.” (p. 204, emphasis added)
- “Greater transparency by government and media companies can help reduce the cost of reporting, empower consumers, and foster innovation.” (p. 28)
- “We offer no magic bullet or magic app. Rather, government policy changes should focus on three primary goals: increasing transparency, making better use of the public’s existing resources, and removing obstacles to innovation” (p. 346, emphasis added)
FOIA
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“Public records law should carry a presumption in favor of releasing documents… (cont’d below)”
- “…whose disclosure would not undermine national security, public safety, compelling privacy interests, trade secrets, or law enforcement. Those responsible for compliance with open records laws should be fully trained, so that they are aware of the relevant laws governing what counts as “confidential” versus “public” information. Agencies should post responses to information requests online to avoid duplication in requests and redundant compliance efforts.” (p. 351; emphasis added)
- More on FOIA-related statements can be found in the chapter on Government Transparency (PDF)
Open Data
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How it helps government: “These approaches can make government more effective and efficient.” (p. 351)
- “For instance, the FCC recently undertook to document broadband speeds in different parts of the country. Instead of sending out, say, half a dozen researchers to report on variations, they built an application that allowed citizens to perform tests themselves and report the data to the FCC. Two million submissions resulted.” (p. 351)
- “There is great variety in the city datasets that prove popular. In May 2010, San Franciscans searched most often for traffic accident data, school dropout data, information on library books available in the San Francisco Public Library, and information on Treasure Island development plans.[23] In Seattle, neighborhood maps, crime statistics, active building permits, and a list of the locations of the city’s public toilets were among those most-frequently accessed.[24] The District of Columbia’s most popular datasets are those on juvenile arrests and charges, crime incidents, purchase orders, and public space permits.[25] In Ann Arbor, Michigan, the most downloaded datasets are the city boundary data, records of checks or fund transfers issued to the city, and a graphic representation of land use planning parcels.[26]” (p. 204; emphasis added; see here for footnote details)
- “Not only do open government initiatives support direct citizen access to information, they support private sector and nonprofit entrepreneurs who create applications to organize and structure government data so that it can be searched and utilized.” (p. 204; emphasis added)
- “It matters greatly how this information organized. It needs to be put out in standardized, machine-readable, structured formats that make it easy for programmers to create new applications that can present the data in more useful formats, or combine one agency’s information with another. Data releases should include an Application Programming Interface (API) that allows the data to be shared easily with other computers and applications.” (p. 351; some emphasis added/in original)
*The quotes for this were taken out of various places from the full report. The headings that they are under here do not necessarily mean that they were under those headings in the report.
Gov't & Technology, Miscellaneous, News & Events, Open Government
Top 3 Posts from May
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A big thanks goes out to all of those who read our blog! We really appreciate it!
Here are all of the posts from the May.
Looking back on our Google Analytics for May, here are the 3 most-viewed posts from the month:
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3 Ways Government Could Save Time & Money if They Used Social Media
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NASA Endeavor’s Final Launch Uses Online Video for Event
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Social Media & Political Campaigns: Resources (tied with Open Government Links of the Week – May 20, 2011)
What was your favorite post of the month? Have ideas for future topics that we should cover?
Back in April, this blog asked the question: “How Can Social Media Help Governments Serve the Booming Hispanic Population?” I gave a few ideas then (see the bottom of that post).
Well just last Thursday (May 26th), the U.S. Census Bureau “released a 2010 Census brief on the nation’s Hispanic population”. It’s got some newly compiled data in it. Here are some of the highlights:
- “Between 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic population grew by 43 percent, or four times the nation’s 9.7% growth rate“
- The Hispanic population growth of 15.2 million people “accounted for more than half of the total U.S. population increase (of 27.3 million)”
(For some thoughts on “How can local governments better engage the Hispanic population?”, scroll down to the end of this post.)
Where was the population growth?
“The Hispanic population grew in every region of the United States between 2000 and 2010, and most significantly in the South and Midwest.”
- “The South saw a 57% increase in its Hispanic population” (4 times the 14% total population growth in the South.
- In the Midwest, Hispanic population grew by 49%” (more than 12 times the 4% growth of the total pop. in the Midwest).
(click here for larger image)
Hispanic growth by State
“The Hispanic population experienced growth between 2000 and 2010 in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.” (emphasis added)
- “In 2010, 37.6 million, or 75%, of Hispanics lived in the 8 states with Hispanic populations of 1 million or more: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Arizona, New Jersey and Colorado.”
- However, “Hispanics were 16% or more of the state population (matching or exceeding the national level) in eight other states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Texas.”
Hispanic growth by County
- “The Hispanic population increased to more than twice its size since 2000 in at least one of every four counties.”
- “Of the 3,143 counties in the United States, Hispanics at least doubled in population size in 912 of them.”
- “Hispanics were the majority of the population in 82 out of the nation’s 3,143 counties.”
Not where you might expect: “Among the 469 counties with at least 10,000 or more Hispanics in 2010, the top five fastest growing counties were Luzerne, Pa. (479 percent change); Henry, Ga. (339 percent change); Kendall, Ill. (338 percent change); Douglas, Ga. (321 percent change); and Shelby, Ala. (297 percent change).”
Here’s an interactive map of the percent of Hispanics per county for 2010 (*minus Alaska & Broomfield County, CO). Below is a static map of (what should be) the same thing.
(click here for larger image)
The quotes above were from here. Here’s the PDF of the actual brief.
How can local governments better engage the Hispanic population?
So what’s the point? Well… many local governments are going to have to serve an ever-increasing population of people who don’t necessarily communicate the best in English. And although this Census data doesn’t discuss language specifically, at very-least, governments are going to have to adapt to helping people with a different culture than what they might be used to.
How can governments better engage these citizens? After all, they too live in the community, run businesses, and pay taxes.
Some ideas:
- Learn their culture.
- Find out how they would like to interact with their government. Treat them like you would want to be treated. Some Hispanics would have a much better experience with government if things were in Spanish. And isn’t that key to strong customer service in government: Helping people to have a pleasant experience? In fact, you might even consider hiring customer service personnel who are multi-lingual.
- Use simple technologies to communicate with them (such as Twitter and Facebook). You might be surprised at how many Hispanics use the Internet and social media. Worried about a “digital divide”? According to a post from the Davenport Institute, they draw the conclusion that Gov 2.0 may actually help engage Hispanics.
- If you video your local government public meetings and put them online, consider making them available in subtitles. After all, this process could end up saving clerks time. Have an opinion on this? Let us know!
- For more ideas, see the bottom of this post on the topic of “How Can Social Media Help Governments Serve the Booming Hispanic Population?“
Local Government, Miscellaneous
