National News

• Women are still struggling to fill the most public jobs in politics and government, but there's one area where they are already exerting their power in large numbers. Political fundraising is a competitive business where women dominate. (National Journal)
• Tom Blanton, longtime FOIA activist and director of the National Security Archive, outlined five challenges he sees facing journalists and transparency advocates as they attempt to open government information. Among them, he highlighted expanding the open data movement and finding sustainable funding sources. (Journalism in the Americas)

• Last Friday, France released their open data action plan stemming from the recent G8 Open Data Charter. France has plans to upgrade their open data portal and the plans lay out data set for release by specific agencies. (Tech President)
• A new whistleblower protection law passed in Hungary lacks some major changes and keeps existing, and lacking, oversight systems in place. One positive outcome may prod companies to set up compliance programs, but not without controversy. (Transparency International)

• Modern city dwellers are remembering what their parents taught them and figuring out ways to share everything from bikes to beds. The "sharing city" benefits from advances in technology that allow interested parties to connect more easily. (Tech President)

National News

• House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Federal Chief Technology Officer and former CTO at HHS Todd Park to testify about issues with healthcare.gov. The move has drawn criticism from several technology experts and former White House employees as well as Democrats on the Oversight Committee. (govfresh, The Hill, Washington Times)
• National Security whistleblowers may be getting some official protections, following major revelations throughout the year by former NSA employee Edward Snowden. The Senate Intelligence Committee recently approved language that would provide these whistleblowers with official channels to reveal problems. (Government Executive)
• The end is near for Thomas.gov, the nearly 20 year old Congressional information website. On November 19 THOMAS will begin redirecting to its replacement, Congress.gov. (Fedscoop)

• A coalition of more than 200 civil society groups, under the banner of The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU), are circulating a petition aimed at fixing problems with the EU's official lobbyist register. (Open Knowledge Foundation)

• The Pennsylvania State Senate is considering legislation that would extend the state's open records laws to bring in police forces at the four largest state funded universities. The legislation would not include any other aspect of the university system. (NFOIC)
• Socrata is working to build standards for civic data that are also supported by Code for America. They hope to help cities adopt new standards and easily work with other cities embracing open data standards.(Socrata)

National News A new system that helps create, file, and track open records requests launched in October. iFOIA is a... View Article

National News The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy is set to hold a hearing on a bill that would increase... View Article

National News

• Joe Biden, along with President Obama and plenty of other politicians, canceled some fundraisers during the shutdown. But, now that the government's up and running again it's time to party! The Vice President will appear at a high dollar fundraiser for the DCCC in Baltimore. (POLITICO)
• John Bolton, former U.N Ambassador under George W. Bush, is getting back in the foreign policy game in an unlimited way with a new super PAC. Bolton's PAC, which stems from the idea that "Americans don't care about foreign policy," will presumably support candidates that fit Bolton's right leaning neoconservative approach. (Executive Goverment)
• The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is set to mark up the DATA Act on Wednesday. The Committee will likely make some major changes that could weaken accountability standards included in the current Senate version. (Federal News Radio, Data Transparency Coalition)

• The OGP Summit last week in London provided a launching pad for a new Legislative Openness Working Group that represents a partnership between civil society, parliaments, and governments around the world. The group is anchored by the Congress of Chile and NDI. (Opening Parliament)
• Students and faculty who participate in student government at Hungarian universities receive "public service scholarships" and bonus payments for the work that they do. Details about these payments at Hungary's largest university will be available to the public for the first time thanks to a freedom of information request filed by the blog Transparent Education. (Transparency International)

• The federal government might be able to learn a few lessons from state and local governments in the wake of the recent shutdown. While the Obama Administration has embraced open data, states and municipalities have often been first movers when it comes to opening their information and taking proactive steps towards transparency. (Slate)
• An investigation, and the resulting record fine, into the practices of two California dark money groups is shedding some light onto the ways that well funded donors and groups are influencing elections across the country. The California Fair Political Practices Commission exposed some of the techniques these groups used to launder donations and hide their funding sources.  (Washington Post)

National News The website set up to track government aid given in the wake of Hurricane Sandy might not live... View Article

National News The Hill’s list of 2013’s top lobbyists includes influencers of all stripes, but not all of them are... View Article

National News The 29 lawmakers tasked with solving the most recent budget issues held their first hearing yesterday. This meeting... View Article