As cities deal with the byproducts of increased urbanization: overpopulation, increases in energy consumption, and overall resource management, they have looked... View Article
Continue readingBEGA amendment will hinder public education advocacy
This post was initially published by the DC Open Government Coalition. As a parent raising children in a city whose... View Article
Continue readingWe’re collecting user personas for open data — send us yours!
We’re collecting all existing examples of cities’ user personas for open data and government websites, and developing best practices for other cities that are looking to create them.
Continue readingUnseal the deal! How open contracting can improve your city’s procurement process
On Tuesday, June 5, join the Sunlight Foundation's Open Cities team, the Open Contracting Partnership, Harvard Kennedy School’s Government Performance Lab, and the City of Glendale, Arizona for a webinar discussion about how open data can be used to improve contracting outcomes, including tips for how cities anywhere can use this approach.
Continue readingHere are all the open data user personas created in our workshops
Understanding who wants to use public information and why is one of the best things cities can do to improve the impact and relevance of their open data programs. The Sunlight Open Cities team helps city staff develop open data user personas, and we wanted to share some of these personas to spark ideas and inspiration for open data staff in other cities.
Continue reading39 fresh ideas to support community use of open data
Open data professionals from across the country came together yesterday to share ideas for helping residents from all walks of life find, understand, and use publicly available data. Here's what they shared.
Continue readingSunshine Week shed a stark light on the state of open government in Washington
Washington DC is taking some great steps toward data transparency...but it could do better. And the Trump administration is setting a new low bar for public accountability. Those were some of the highlights of "The State of Open Government," our two-part panel conversation on March 15 in honor of Sunshine Week 2018. If you weren't able to join us last night, here's a short recap of the conversation.
Continue readingTwo models for increasing community impact of open data
On February 27, we hosted a webinar with our colleagues at Canadian non-profit Open North designed to help city staff collaborate more with community residents on open data. The recording of the webinar is now available on-demand in this post.
Continue readingJoin us for “Community impact with open data: Two models from Canada and the United States”
For city data to have the biggest impact, it needs to be open and it needs to involve residents. For many city staff, this can be unfamiliar, unclear, or even intimidating. How can city staff recognize these fears, understand the powerful potential of public collaboration, and cultivate that power to create a robust and enduring open data program? Join us for a webinar conversation with Canadian nonprofit OpenNorth about two models for what engaged, collaborative data publication and use looks like.
Continue readingThe transparency effect of city certification
Cities often have challenges in common. Certification encourages them to share these challenges with one another, along with how they addressed those challenges and what they’ve learned. Being transparent in this way benefits everyone.
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