Policy Fellow Matt Rumsey wrote this post. Here is a look at this week’s transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings,... View Article
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 1/6/2011
Policy Fellow Matt Rumsey wrote this post. Here is the week’s last look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings,... View Article
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 1/5/2012
Policy Fellow Matt Rumsey wrote this post. Here is Thursday’s look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills... View Article
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 1/4/2012
Here is Wednesday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
- Iranian bloggers are reporting that Iran will be cut off from the larger World Wide Web once the country launches its own planned national internet network. (Global Voices)
- Most Cubans don't have access to the internet, or even own personal computers, but many manage to share information and media with flash memory sticks full of data. (Havana Times)
- A new group, United Republic, aims to eliminate the influence of money over politics. Their three pronged strategy revolves around efforts to increase awareness of the issue, replace lawmakers who put money over their constituents, and amend the constitution to limit money's power in politics. (National Journal)
- The Iowa Caucuses were held last night and Super PACs and other independent groups made their presence known. Mitt Romney, who narrowly won the Caucuses, has seen the most monetary benefit. (Washington Post)
- Stephen Colbert has taken advantage of the Citizens United decision and FEC rulings to educate his audience and satirize the campaign finance system by becoming an active participant in it. (New York Times Magazine)
- Nevada launched a new online system for campaign finance filings. All parties filing contribution and expense reports or financial disclosure statements are required to report online. (Lobby Comply)
- The Montana Supreme Court found that a state law prohibiting independent expenditures by corporations related to a candidate is constitutional and does not conflict with the Citizens United decision. (Lobby Comply)
2Day in #OpenGov 1/3/2012
Here is 2012's first look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
- A post about I Paid A Bribe, a website that makes it easy for users to report bribery and corruption, was one of the World Bank's top blog posts of 2011. (World Bank)
- Digital Divide Data, a 10 year old non profit started in Silicon Valley, helps train poor workers in the developing world for entry-level technology jobs. (Mercury News)
- 2012 looks like it will be a big year for Africa's technology scene. Highlights include increases in mobile broadband access, improved mobile health initiatives, and a push for more tech education and incubation. (Connected Africa)
- The UN held its fourth, and largest to date, anti-corruption conference in October. Despite its size and scope, no major initiatives were passed. (Transparency.org)
- 2012 was a busy year for Government 2.0, with notable strides being taken by cities around the country. Other highlights came in the form of open source initiatives in federal government IT. (O'Reilly Radar)
- The National Archives is preparing to release the 1940 U.S. Census online for free. This is a major step in the Archives' attempt to make their information more easily available to the public. (Mashable)
- Super PACs have spent almost $13 million on the early Republican nominating competitions. Mitt Romney got the most help, to the tune of $4.6 million, with Rick Perry not too far behind. (I Watch News)
- In one week alone Super PAC ad spending in Iowa topped $1.2 million, which easily surpassed combined ad spending by the candidates. (AP/Yahoo)
2Day in #OpenGov 12/30/2011
Policy Fellow Matt Rumsey wrote this post. Here is 2011’s last look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related... View Article
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 12/29/2011
Here is Thursday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. Here is the weeks first look! News Roundup:
- Last week, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that New York City lawmakers cannot accept or solicit donations from individuals or organizations that do business with the city, despite an argument that the Citizens United decision made such contributions legal. (Courthouse News)
- The coal industry, organized labor, and hospitals all boosted their political spending in Virginia this year, according to analysis done by the Virginia Public Access Project. (Washington Post)
- The Our Destiny Super PAC, created to support John Huntsman's presidential bid, is trying to change its filing status from quarterly to monthly. The change would allow the PAC to avoid filing a 12 day pre-primary financial report, otherwise due on Thursday, and keep its donors secret longer. (Politico)
- Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE), who recently announced his retirement, could garner salary offers up $1 million if he decides to become a lobbyist. Nelson has yet to announce his next career move. (The Hill)
- Former Representative Brian Baird (D-WA) can't lobby his former colleagues until next summer, but that hasn't stopped him from taking a job as a lobbying coordinator at a Portland based shipbuilder. His position likely involves overseeing and directing lobbying and government relations strategy. (National Journal)
- An Arizona appeals court ruled in favor of watchdog Judicial Watch and against the Mayor of Phoenix. The Mayor will have to release 600 more pages of his police detail's activity logs. (Courthouse News)
- Philadelphia had a year full of Open Government initiatives. Highlights included the arrival of Code for America fellows and the launch of Open Data Philly. (Gov Fresh)
2Day in #OpenGov 12/28/2011
Here is Wednesday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. Here is the weeks first look! News Roundup:
- British officials are considering creating an Ipad app specifically for Prime Minister David Cameron. The App would be designed to deliver key data directly to Cameron's Ipad. (Yahoo/AP)
- 2012 looks like it will be a year of more data, but less money for government IT programs. Luckily, it is widely agreed that there is ample room for efficiency improvements. (NextGov)
- The battle over SOPA continues to develop and bloggers from all political sides are coming out against the legislation, some going so far as to argue that it would destroy the concept of blogging. (Politico)
- Over $10 million has been spent on political radio and tv ads in Iowa in the past month alone. Most of the money was spent by Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, and their affiliated Super PACs. (Politico)
- The Young Guns PAC, created to support a group of House Republicans only four months ago, appears to be disbanding already. (Politico)
- A new Taiwanese project is taking advantage of crowd sourced financing and ideas to spark a new wave of investigative journalism. (Global Voices)
- The Developing Latin America project, a public hackathon aimed at finding technical solutions to various public issues using open data, produced interesting results in Mexico, Chile, Argentina, and other countries. (Global Voices)
2Day in #OpenGov 12/27/2011
Policy Fellow Matt Rumsey wrote this post. Here is Tuesday’s take on transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills... View Article
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 12/26/2011
It's going to be a quiet week, but that won't stop us from highlighting transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. Here is the weeks first look! News Roundup:
- The eight countries to submit their Open Government Partnership plans have addressed the concept of transparency in a wide variety of ways. (NextGov)
- Two Bolivian groups organized a citizen journalism contest that wrapped up on December 1. The winners were just announced. (Global Voices)
- Agencies set up to deal with corruption in Nigerian politics struggle to fulfill their missions. (Sahara Reporters)
- The American League of Lobbyists has asked Kentucky's Legislative Ethics Commission to rescind their speaking invitation to Jack Abramoff. (Lobby Comply)
- Take a look at these Venn diagrams for a great visual of revolving door connections. (Tech Dirt/Lessig)
- The man behind Stearns County, Minnesota's award winning website sat down to talk about the project, explaining why it was a success. (Government Technology)
- California's online campaign finance search system is 12 years old and showing its age. It crashed at the end of November and the Secretary of State's office hasn't been able to get it back up since. (TechPresident)
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