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FOIA Court Challenges Up 27% in FY 2011 (on Federal Level)

• “The recently completed 2011 fiscal year saw 378 court challenges to the withholding of information by the federal government, up 27% from the previous fiscal year, according to district court information compiled as part of the FOIA Project (http://www.foiaproject.org).”

State and Local Cloud Commission Has First Meeting

• “Nine public-sector IT executives were named Thursday, Oct. 6, as advisers to a commission of industry heavyweights that [plan to] develop recommendations for implementation of cloud computing in state and local government.” (govtech.com)

This week is National Newspaper Week.

• We’d provide you a better link but ironically, there doesn’t seem to be a more official (and updated/accurate) one to link to. So if the provided link doesn’t suffice, we’ll kindly just leave it up to you to look it up on your favorite search engine. (HT to a Daily Press article in an email blast from the Virginia Coalition for Open Government)

iPads help suburban governments go paperless, at a cost

• “Mundelein High School District 120 board members no longer wade through thick packets of memos, contracts and reports at their semimonthly meetings”
• Find out more in the article…

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Open Gov Links of the Week

communication, FOIA, freedom of information, gov 2.0, government transparency, local government, meeting productivity, newspapers, open gov, open government, transparency

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Wednesday was International Right to Know Day

• Here are some remarks from the State Department’s Maria Otero who is the Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs.
• The Reporters Committee marks International Right to Know Day.

For Local News, TV Is Dominant But the Internet is Our Digital Future

• “The days of relying on a print newspaper and a television anchor telling us “the way it is” are long gone. In 2011, Americans and citizens the world over consume news on multiple screens and platforms. Increasingly, we all contribute reports ourselves, using Internet-connected smartphones.”

Community Foundations Support Public Access TV

• I have a guest post on The American Society for Public Administration’s blog.
• “From the recent earthquake to hurricanes and wildfires there certainly has been the need for residents to find out timely and useful information from their local government.”
  

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Open Gov Links of the Week

budget data, communication, FOIA, gov 2.0, government transparency, local government, local news, Open Data, open government, public access TV, public communication, public information, public relations, right to know, social media, transparency

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Transparency Advocates React to U.S. Open Government Action Plan (by techPresident)

• “President Barack Obama on Tuesday led the public unveiling of national open government action plans from the eight countries participating in the Open Government Partnership, a multilateral coalition on openness and transparency.”
• Find out what some advocates have said about it.

September 2011 Municipal Cost Index Released (by American City & County)

• Find out if the costs of goods and services purchased by local governments went up or down since last month.
  

August 2011 U.S. Online Video Rankings (by comScore)

• “comScore, Inc. … released data from the comScore Video Metrix service showing that 180 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content in August for an average of 18 hours per viewer. The total U.S. Internet audience engaged in a record 6.9 billion viewing sessions.”
• More data here…

NY Governor launches transparency website (by CivSource)

• Find out how the Governor is trying to interact more with citizens.

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Open Gov Links of the Week

citizen participation, communication, engagement, gov 2.0, government transparency, local government, online video stats, open government, public information, public relations, stats, transparency, video, video stats

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Local Government Guidelines for Working with the Media During an Energy Emergency

• “This document provides strategies that local governments can use for communicating effectively with the media, and for cultivating relationships with both the media and the public during energy-related emergencies.”

Code for America Announces Winners

• Several cities have been selected to participate in CfA’s planned 2012 schedule. Find the winners listed here and here.
• Find out what Code for America does here.

Citizen-Sourced Redistricting Efforts Are Reaching the Finish Line

• Here’s Technically Philly’s post on the updated situation.
  

Look at Cook sets a high bar for open government data visualizations

• Open source tools and a focus on user experience elevate Cook County’s “Look at Cook” data website.

The O’Reilly Radar Visualization of the Week: Mapping U.S. Job Losses

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Open Gov Links of the Week

county government, crowdsourcing, data visualization, government data, local government, map, media, Open Data, open gov, open government, public information, public relations, redistricting

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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“

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Open Gov Links of the Week

311, apps, citizen enagagement, citizen participation, collaboration, engagement, firework safety, gov 2.0, holidays, improving efficiency, local government, mobile, online petitions, open 311, social media