Category: News & Events

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This afternoon there was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that had it’s epicenter in VA.

We felt it here in the office and within moments of it happening, I checked Twitter. What did I find? Multiple people that I follow had already said they felt it in DC and elsewhere. This was before the mainstream news websites would have had any information on it – well before the newspaper for tomorrow has come out.

I also quickly checked the USGS’ website to see if they had any information on it and they sure did!

So what can governments learn from this? (I get some of this from Steve Ressler’s point in this post on GovLoop, “What Tools Government Needs in an Earthquake“)

Here’s some ideas:

Be where THEY are!

• You need to be in places that you will be heard quickly. These need to be outlets where your citizens are and regularly frequent for news and official (or unofficial information). If they don’t hear your message, the rest pointless. Whether that is Twitter, Facebook, through an email list, or someplace else where people go for breaking news.

Be Official!

• People are talking about it – whether you are or not. And they may have inaccurate information. You need to be out there with correct and trustworthy information.

Be Fast!

• Like I said, I found out info about the earthquake within moments of it happening – from sources who didn’t know what the earthquakes’ magnitude was, if there might be an aftershock, etc. You have to be quick to get information out there. The USGS was pretty fast. They had data about the earthquake available almost instantly on their website and they Tweeted about it on Twitter within minutes of it.

More Observations…

• Jeffry Levy (@levyj413 on Twitter) has an interesting observation about the USGS Tweets on Twitter.
• “USGS crowd sources earthquake reports“

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Gov't & Technology, News & Events

accessibility, broadcasting, communication, engagement, gov 2.0, government websites, local government, Open Data, open government, public comment, public information, public relations, social media

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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

• “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

• “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

• 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.

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Gov't & Technology, Miscellaneous, News & Events, Open Government

citizen participation, collaboration, communication, FCC, FOIA, gov 2.0, government transparency, journalism, media, Open Data, open government, public information, transparency, video

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There is a conference going on right now in Oklahoma (Gov 2.0a) related to government and technology…

The second annual Gov 2.0a conference is focused on applications of technology to government problems. The conference will be a forum to learn about successful Gov 2.0 applications through case studies, to learn about best practices for Gov 2.0 applications, and to network with other professionals from city and state organizations, community groups, non-profits and the private sector who share interest in the application of technology to improve the functioning of our government.

Here’s the schedule for it.

And if you’d like to listen to the music for the song that’s inspired the title of this post… we’ve got you covered!

Follow the conference below by using the #gov20a hashtag on Twitter…

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Gov't & Technology, News & Events, Open Government

#gov20a, citizen participation, engagement, gov 2.0, government transparency, local government, Open Data, open government, social media, transparency

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This week is celebrating two large groups of government employees: Municipal Clerks and all of those in Public Service. So thanks for the service that many of you provide that goes unnoticed!

Public Service Recognition Week

About: Public Service Recognition Week (PSRW) is hosted annually by the Partnership for Public Service and the Public Employees Roundtable.

Their website has a “Celebration Toolkit” and an “Events” page to help you celebrate the week.



Municipal Clerks Week

“This event features a weeklong series of activities aimed at increasing the public’s awareness of Municipal Clerks and the vital services they provide for local government and the community.” (source, PDF)

“The true worth of the Municipal and Deputy Clerk is often not realized,” said IIMC President Sharon K. Cassler, MMC, Clerk of Council in the City of Cambridge, Ohio. “But Clerks perform some of the principal functions of the democratic process.” (source, PDF)

Here’s a “Fact Sheet” (PDF) on the week.



*Also, May 3rd is World Press Freedom Day.

Information on their Webcast Series can be found here.


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HT to GovLoop for the reminder about PSRW, to the NC Clerks Listserv for the heads up about Municipal Clerks Week, and to this Tweet on Twitter from @digiphile / this search for multiple Tweets the on #WPFD Twitter hashtag on Twitter.

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Local Government, Miscellaneous, News & Events

clerks, local government, public servants

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“Where is broadband available? How does it compare with other areas? Who are the providers? And what can you expect for your home broadband speed?” (source)

Well, on the new National Broadband Map’s website, you can type in your address or browse the map to research various information about broadband access in your area (or across the country).

The National Broadband Map even has it’s own blog. The opening line to it’s 2nd post says:

Welcome to the first-ever public, searchable nationwide map of broadband access.

Why was it created? They answer that on the post: “We created the map at the direction of Congress, which recognized that economic opportunities are driven by access to 21st Century infrastructure.”

According to the website for the National Broadband Map, it “is a tool to search, analyze and map broadband availability across the United States.”

The website also says:

We are very excited to provide a rich collection of data about the state of broadband availability across the country, along with tools to analyze, explore and share.

According to @NTIAgov:

HT The WallStreet Journal, techPresident, National Journal, and @BaileyMcC Tweet on Twitter (and probably others)

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Update (2/22/11): Government Technology has an article out called “National Broadband Map’s Accuracy Questioned“. (HT)

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Gov't & Technology, Miscellaneous, News & Events, Open Government

broadband, FCC, gis, map