Blog : Sunlight Foundation

The FOIA Process: Still as Archaic as Snail Mail

by Anu Narayanswamy

investigations

Jun 25, 2009 3:00 pm

There are very few occasions in the Sunlight offices for us to use the fax machine, so we were somewhat out of practice when we learned that we had to use it to send Freedom of Information Act requests to the Department of Treasury. At least the fax is instantaneous: we received most of our responses from them via snail mail.

To do this story, which involved looking into various agencies in charge of the bailout of the financial sector, we had to file seven FOIA requests--all sent via fax to Treasury--then make several phone calls to follow up on ...

Recovery.gov Bid — a Good Failure

by Clay Johnson

technology

Jun 25, 2009 2:32 pm

Last week, we announced that we were going to bid on Recovery.gov. Here, 9 days later we have a few pages of information on our bid, but I don't think it makes sense to turn anything in tomorrow. So I'm declaring this experiment a failure. Most people confuse "failure" with being "wrong" but here in the Labs, we're into experimentation -- and you can't experiment or push the ball forward if you're afraid to fail.

This was a completely worthwhile experiment and we've learned a lot. I want to share some of the reasons why we failed, and what we've learned with all of you:

A Little Help for Open Data Policy? A Call to Data Wonks

by John Wonderlich Jun 25, 2009 11:42 am

If you check out phase III of the Open Government Dialog going on now, there’s currently a pretty glaring omission:... View Article

NPR Launches Dollar Politics

by Paul Blumenthal Jun 25, 2009 11:09 am

NPR launched a new series, Dollar Politics, today to look at the influence of money in the debate over three... View Article

No Raw Data on Recovery.gov. Significant Failure

by Ellen Miller Jun 25, 2009 9:05 am

“A mixed review”…That’s the verdict the Coalition for an Accountable Recovery (CAR) has given the Office of Management and Budget’s... View Article

What the cap and trade rush does to advocacy

by Paul Blumenthal Jun 24, 2009 4:24 pm

So, it looks as though the cap and trade bill will continue to sail toward a Friday vote despite the... View Article

Cry Me A River

by Paul Blumenthal Jun 24, 2009 11:21 am

Call the wahmbulance, some congressmen are complaining about being investigated. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) are organizing a... View Article

Two Questions from the RFP Worth Noting

by Clay Johnson

technology

Jun 24, 2009 11:14 am

Here's two interesting questions from the Recovery.gov RFP Q&A we just posted. These questions were asked by people who are eligible to bid on the Recovery.gov RFP that we're presently creating a community bid for. The questions:

Question 101: The requirements for XML firewall appear to have been copy/pasted from the IBM website (see http://www-01.ibm.com/software/integration/datapower/xs40/highlights.html). Is government looking biased towards an IBM solution for XML Firewall?

Answer 101: No, the government is not biased toward IBM or any vendor. The value of XML firewalls is technology dependent. The capability to provide XML firewalls is pervasive throughout industry and is proven to increase the security of Web Services. Technology descriptions were pulled from several Internet locations as a part of market research.

Question 103: The requirements for data Warehouse appear to have been copy/pasted from the IBM website (see http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/infosphere/warehouse/enterprise-new.html). Is government biased to an IBM solution for data warehouse?

Answer 103: No, the government is not biased toward an IBM or any other vendors’ solution. Technology descriptions were pulled from several Internet locations as a part of market research.