Open Government Links of the Week – September 2, 2011
Add Comment (0) | Tweet |
|
Flashback: Government Teaches About Fireworks Safety Online
- 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…
Baltimore empowers citizens to act as sensors with new mobile apps, open 311
The White House and E-Petitions:
- With ‘We The People,’ White House Promises to Go E-to-the-People
- White House offers “We the People” online petitions at WhiteHouse.gov
Public Technology Institute (PTI) seeks citizen-engaged communities
Also, I had a guest post over on the American Society for Public Administration’s (ASPA) blog: “How Local Governments Benefit from Social Media“
| Tweet |
|
Open Government Links of the Week – June 17, 2011
Add Comment (0) | Tweet |
|
“Open data: top tips on transparency for local authorities”
- This includes 6 tips…
- The 1st of which is: “Make a start… accept that it’s not as complicated as you might think. Even on a very limited budget you’ll be surprised at what can be achieved and the difference it could make to the people in your community”
“Guide: Wiki’s for Government”
“Beta: The future of government websites”
- “Launching a website in “beta” used to be a way to test functionality before releasing a more polished product for public consumption, but according to some federal technologists…”
“City commission adopts phone attendance provision”
- What would be beneficial about this (or would it possibly be a negative step)? Hear what some have to say…
“White House Establishes Government Accountability and Transparency Board”
“The Network Effect: Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter & Tumblr Reach New Heights in May” (comScore)
| Tweet |
|
The ROI of Open Government – FOR Government
Add Comment (0) | Tweet |
|
When you invest in something, you want to know how well your investment is paying off – your ROI. Well, citizens “invest” in government (and their community), so they want easy access to useful information about it. They want to see a return on their investment.
But open government is not just beneficial for citizens; there is a Return on Investment (ROI) for governments as well…
The ROI for Government
Saves time (and $)
When government data is easily accessible, citizens can easily find what they are looking for and download the information themselves. This significantly reduces the amount of government time spent on fulfilling Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. If the government voluntarily puts data on its website (proactive disclosure) and makes it easy to use, citizens/reporters can find the information on their own, without needing to fill out a FOIA request. Clerks (and others) who work on fulfilling FOIA requests become enabled to spend their time working on other tasks.
Enabled Participation = Free consulting
Blind spots: everyone has them, including government. Citizens who have data at their disposal can be of greater help by helping to expose these blind spots to the government by means of providing insight and ideas.
If a government provides relevant information that is easily accessible to the public, citizens are then more likely to provide relevant feedback on their wants. Citizens can also take a look at what it going on and provide relevant feedback to the government that could potentially save the government money (see “Case Study: How Open data saved Canada $3.2 Billion” by @daeaves). Armed with this feedback from their citizens, government officials can then make more informed decisions about issues that impact their constituents.
Builds trust
Transparency encourages trust in government. And when citizens trust their government, they’re more likely to support their policies and their decisions. Which would you chose: To walk down a city street in pitch black or in broad daylight? It’s the same with government. Transparency (like sunlight) helps to build trust by removing suspicion.
The Payoff
The Sunlight Foundation puts it well when they say that “today, our newly networked citizenry has rising expectations of greatly expanded access to governmental information, so that it may play a fuller role in understanding, evaluating and participating in the workings of its government.” Remember Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address? The government is “…for the people”.
More openness means that both the people and the government win.
What other ways do transparency and collaboration help government become more effective? Let us know in the comments below!
*Note, Char Domin helped in editing a previous version of this post.
| Tweet |
|
How internal input is helping the Census Bureau
Add Comment (0) | Tweet |
|
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office
I came across an interesting blog post by the U.S. Census Bureau (written by the Director, Robert M. Groves):
We’re trying out some new ideas at the Census Bureau. The motivation for them is simple. We want to get better.
Two things plague large, mature organizations: 1) Quasi-independent subunits not working together, jockeying for resources and influence; and 2) administrative barriers to innovation. These problems in business and industry have inspired many a business school treatise on organizational change.
We’ve started an operational efficiency program at the Census Bureau. We seek proposals for change and innovation from all employees. They send the proposals directly, not through their supervisory chain. My deputy and I read every proposal. The proposal needs to define the problem, propose a solution, and estimate cost savings from the change. If the solution needs some funding to be achieved, we’ll fund it if the savings achieved pay off the funding in three years or less.
The first time we did this, I thought we’d get a handful of proposals. We had over 670 sent in! About 400 of them came from field interviewers, the real front line of the workforce. Some of the ideas were so powerful and simple to implement that we did them without second thoughts. Others competed for common investment funds…. (continue reading…)
How is your government (local, state, or federal) trying to improve?
Let us know in the comments!
| Tweet |
|
Miscellaneous, Open Government
