As a member of the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee, the Philippines is uniquely positioned to be a highly visible leader on open government. However, the legislature’s failure to pass a freedom of the information bill has brought this role into question.
So, what’s going on in the Philippines?
In the parliament, bills on internet freedom, legislative crowdsourcing, and parliamentary openness have all been introduced this summer. The other branches of government are also turning increasingly towards technology to improve governance. All this suggests that the Philippines’ role as an open government leader may be back on track, but only if this summer’s promising work is sustained.
Open Government: Collaboration, Transparency, and Participation in Practice
A new book from O’Reilly media, entitled Open Government: Collaboration, Transparency, and Participation in Practice, discusses the possible ways government can utilize the power of citizen engagement to become more efficient and transparent.
Continue readingWhat do you think of USA.gov?
About a year ago, we posted our first Redesigning the Government results. The post-- entitled Rethinking USA.gov set off a firestorm of comments both inside and outside the Federal Government.
Now the GSA is interested in getting your ideas on what they can do with the site. They've launched a site called Your Voice Matters to get ideas from citizens. Did our feedback make sense? Do you agree with some of the comments? Now's your chance to give them your thoughts.
Continue readingOur FEC Testimony
I went in to testify last week on how the FEC can improve their website. Their hearing was actually the first to be streamed live on the Internet. I'm hoping we can get a recording up soon.
It went well. The commissioners were very amenable to feedback and heard what we had to say. I delivered all your comments, and they were receptive to all of them. Primarily in my own testimony I talked to the FEC about how they should spend less time making maps and more time making bulk data available in extensible formats, and that they should hire a New Media Director to carry the ball on this stuff and make sure it happens.
Continue readingHelp Sunlight Build Our FEC Testimony
Yesterday, the FEC posted a 46 page PDF file to its website asking for comments on the FEC.gov website. We've taken the entire PDF and put it up online for easy perusal. You can email the comments in to improvefecinternet@fec.gov, or send them in to the FEC via mail. But to make it really easy, we're launching our FEC Brainstorm today to solicit comments to submit to the FEC. We'll take the best comments that are submitted and include them in our testimony, with attribution of course.
Continue readingNARA Goes Fishing for Comments
The National Archives and Records Administration is asking for comments from the public on how they can make the archives... View Article
Continue readingMemorandum on Transparency
President Obama’s Memorandum on Transparency (still not published at WhiteHouse.gov) is just too important not to post in its entirety. ... View Article
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