Category: Open Government

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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

• Video and Replays

• More ways to Interact




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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)




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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).




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More ways to Interact

Twitter

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.




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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!)




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*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).

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Gov't & Technology, Miscellaneous, Open Government

citizen participation, communication, engagement, gov 2.0, government transparency, map, Open Data, open government, public relations, social media, video

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Last week, The Brookings Institution hosted a panel discussion about (among other things) social media and civic engagement. The event was held in Washington, D.C.

Here are some posts/news stories about the event. Video of the event is embedded below…

• “Ten Ways Social Media Can Improve Campaign Engagement and Reinvigorate American Democracy” (Moderator of the event, Darrell M. West, Vice President and Director, Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution)
• “Recap: Brookings’ Panel on How Social Networking Can Re-Invigorate Civic Participation” (Alicia Mazzara on GovLoop)
• “Can Social Media Reinvigorate Civic Participation?” (ICMA)
• “Crowd Pleasers v. Policy Heft” (nextgov)
• “White Boards and Goolsbee vs. Obama and Babies” (techPresident)

Panelists included:

• Mindy Finn (Partner, Engage)
• Diana Owen (Associate Professor of Political Science, Director of American Studies, Georgetown University)
• Macon Phillips (Special Assistant to the President and Director of Digital Strategy, The White House)
• Lee Rainie (Director, Pew Internet & American Life Project)
• Welcoming Remarks and Moderator – Darrell M. West (Vice President and Director, Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution)

Special thanks to Leandro Oliva (@lmoliva_ on Twitter) for letting me use this info!

While I’m not totally sure where I originally found out about this, it might have been from here.

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Gov't & Technology, Open Government

accessibility, citizen participation, collaboration, elections, engagement, gov 2.0, open government, public information, public relations, social media, video

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On Friday, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission held a roundtable discussion throughout the day on “Voting Goes Viral. Using New Media to Manage an Election and Communicate with Voters“. The archived video of the webcast is available here.

An Introduction

Their premise going into the day?

There are a multitude of social media sources for information about elections and voting. In this rapidly moving, multi-source environment it is more important than ever that there are official resources about voting that the public can rely upon. (source [PDF])

Here’s some interesting statements that are made in the Agenda and Meeting Information [PDF]

There is more information about the event at the bottom of this post…

• The voting public increasingly relies on information that is generated and exchanged amongst themselves, about elections, including the basics of how, where and when to vote. Candidates, parties and voting activists have their own strategic uses of social media. Social media outlets are the platforms in which information about elections is being shared and repeated.
• Journalists and election officials share a common goal of informing the public about election procedures and election outcomes, and both groups are using social media to inform the public.
• An important point to make about social media is that it is not a technology; it is a culture. And, yes, it can be scary and unfamiliar to some of us. However, we have to remember our goal – serving voters. They are on Twitter. They use Facebook. And we have a responsibility to go where they are and make sure they have reliable, credible information about exercising their right to vote. Remember, using social media is not about getting a return on your investment; it’s about having conversations with the people you work for. It’s about collaboration, interaction and it is the way business is being done.
• In an era of dynamic changes in voting technologies, increased voter expectations and reduced budgets, journalists and election officials need to find common ground and explore ways to improve the efficiency and effectives of communicating critical election information to the public. A natural tension between these two groups has been speed versus accuracy regarding unofficial election results.
• The social media environment is fast-paced, unforgiving and can be cruel. If you enter it, you will make mistakes, big and small. It’s important to develop a strategy, but also be confident enough to experiment. At the end of the day, election officials should always remember that these efforts are being undertaken on behalf of the public. You want to make sure they have accurate information about how to successfully cast a ballot. Get ahead of rumors and take advantage of this built in early warning system. Get unfiltered feedback, which all true leaders want. It may get weird out there, and it is normal to be scared, confused and excited. But you are helping more people and you are accomplishing your mission.

Insights

The archived video of the webcast is viewable here.

Here are some Tweeted insights from the @EACgov Twitter account from throughout the day …

More Information About the Event

Their Agenda included the following sessions:

• Social Media: What Is It?
• Social Media: Who Uses It?
• Journalism and Social Media
• Strategies & Stories from Election Officials

Participants included:

• Chuck Todd — NBC News political director
• Lee Rainie — Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life project director
• Chris Chambless—Clay County, Florida, supervisor of elections
• Alysoun McLaughlin — District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics public affairs manager
• Brian Newby — Johnson County, Kansas, election commissioner
• Dana Chisnell — the Usability in Civic Life Project

Also, see techPresident’s post about the event.

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Gov't & Technology, Local Government, Open Government, Tech Tips

accessibility, communication, county government, election officials, elections, engagement, gov 2.0, government transparency, local government, Open Data, open government, public information, public relations, public servants, social media, vote, voting

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Last Friday, a new policy paper by Peter Levine was released entitled: “Civic Engagement and Community Information: Five Strategies to Revive Civic Communication“.

“His paper is the sixth in a series focused on implementing the Knight Commission’s 15 recommendations for creating healthy informed communities across the country released in 2009 in a landmark report, Informing Communities.” (source)

(Download the PDF or Read it Online)

There are 5 main strategy recommendations:

• Create a Civic Information Corps using the nation’s
  “service” infrastructure to generate knowledge (view online)
• Engage universities as community information hubs (view online)
• Invest in face-to-face public deliberation (view online)
• Generate public “relational” knowledge (view online)
• Civic engagement for public information
  and knowledge (view online)

What do you think? Do you agree? Let us know in the comments below!

Quotations from the paper: Peter Levine, Civic Engagement and Community Information: Five Strategies to Revive Civic Communication, Washington, D.C.: The Aspen Institute, April 2011.

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Open Government

citizen participation, collaboration, communication, engagement, gov 2.0, government transparency, local government, open government, public comment, public relations, transparency

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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