2Day in #OpenGov 1/24/2013

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NEWS ROUNDUP:

  • Nonprofit Common Crawl is following in Google’s footsteps by indexing large amounts of the internet, over five billion pages so far. But, there is one important difference; they’re making their database available for free. (Technology Review)
  • NextBus, a popular app that provides real-time transit information for Washington, DC, went down recently after the company behind it failed to update their API to a standard format promoted by the regional transit authority. (Slate)
  • Google dropped nearly $17 million on lobbying in 2012 as it fought anti-trust investigations and argued for internet freedom. The total is nearly double what the tech giant spent in 2011. (The Hill)
  • Former Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) is making nearly $1 million in his new career. As chief executive of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, he doesn’t plan to lobby the government. He is technically allowed to lobby the administration now, but has to wait two years before making a decision about lobbying Congress. (The Hill)
  • New York City is launching a new searchable, machine-readable, programmatically accessible database of city financial data. Checkbook NYC 2.0 is an upgraded version of an existing tool.  (Tech President)
  • New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has invested significant resources from his personal fortune to advocate for new gun control measures. He has spread his largess between Mayors Against Illegal Guns and his very own super PAC, Independence USA PAC. (NPR)
RELEVANT BILLS INTRODUCED:
  • None. 

HAPPENING THIS WEEK 1/24: 

  • Data Innovation in Government. Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Thurs. 9:00 0 10:30 am. 1101 K Street, NW, Suite 610, Washington, DC 20005.

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