2Day in #OpenGov 12/20/2012

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NEWS ROUNDUP:

Government 

  • House Ethics changes rules: The House Ethics Committee held a 5 minute long public meeting to approve a package of rule changes designed to streamline future investigations. One change relates to when documents and testimony should, or must, be released publicly. (Roll Call)
  • Study panel STOCKed: The National Academy of Public Administration named the five experts who will study the possible effects of putting some federal personal financial disclosure statements online. Congress requested the study in response to repeated concerns about how the STOCK Act requirement could effect employee privacy and national security. (Federal Times)
  • IT Dashboard not being updated: The Federal IT Dashboard, which contains the president’s budget and interactive data on agency spending and is intended to help agencies address duplicative IT investments, has not been updated since August because of the continued spending standoff. (Federal Computer Week)
  • EPA e-mail investigation: Lisa Jackson, the EPA administrator, is under fire from Congressional Republicans and the EPA’s IGA for her use of a secondary e-mail account. Republicans are questioning how transparent the EPA has been while handling electronic records. Meanwhile, the EPA claims using two emails is a long standing practice. (Washington Post)
State and Local
  • Open data that appeals to city dwellers: Cities around the United States released datasets that allowed developers to create apps that were useful to citizens and improved public health and safety. (Atlantic Cities)
International
  • Turkey fined for blocking sites: The EU has fined Turkey for blocking Google Sites, stemming from a 2009 case brought by a Turkish citizen. Turkey blocked all pages hosted on sites.google.com after finding one page that insulted Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey. Turkey’s long history of internet censorship could be a stumbling block in its quest to join the EU. (Tech President)
RELEVANT BILLS INTRODUCED:
  • None

HAPPENING TODAY 12/20: 

JOB OPPORTUNITIES:
  • None

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