National News There’s a lot for the White House to like in a new study from McKinsey & Co., notably... View Article

National News

• Yesterday I noted that new legislation would allow businesses to ignore open data requirements, turns out that it's sponsor has decided not to introduce the legislation without significantly scaling it back first. (Data Transparency Coalition)
• Rumors are swirling that one of K Street's top firms is looking at a merger opportunity. Patton Boggs, the law and lobbying giant which has seen its revenues and prestige decline recently, may be in talks with Locke Lord, another large firm. (The Hill)
• A group of prominent Latino fundraisers for Obama are moving on to other priorities, namely vulnerable members of Congress that are against immigration reform. The group, the Latino Victory Fund, is planning to use as much as $20 million to target lawmakers with substantial Latino populations in their districts. (Washington Post)

• The Philippines is looking for public input on one of its key open data websites. The Transparency and Accountability Initiative for Lump Sum Funds website will begin asking citizens for feedback on how lawmakers are spending Priority Development Assistance Funds, detailed on the site. (Future Gov)
• The Open Knowledge Foundation launched its 2013 Open Data Index on the eve of this week's Open Government Partnership Summit. The Index found that many countries around the world are still struggling to provide important data to the public. (Open Knowledge Blog)

National News

• A new bill being considered in the House could allow companies to avoid filing reports to the SEC in open data formats. (fed scoop)
• The Supreme Court has been notoriously hesitant to adopt new technologies or open up their proceedings to appease transparency advocates. While state courts are beginning to embrace webcasting and other technologies the Supreme Court of the land seem unlikely to follow suit. (Washington Post)
• A few years ago, the argument that campaign finance disclosure was a threat to first amendment rights, personal safety, and liberty, was championed by only a few conservative voices. Today that same argument is being embraced almost as gospel by many prominent, right wing, members of the Republican party. (National Journal)
• The Defense Department revealed their internal "revolving door" database in response to a FOIA request from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Military officer's have to request ethics rulings when they plan to leave the Pentagon for civilian employment. The department has kept a list of these rulings for the past several years. (Government Executive)

• With the OGP Summit in London set to kick off later this week a new report looks at the "influence of the Open Government Partnership on the Open Data discussions." (EPSI Platform)

• A top Humane Society official in California has a side gig walking the state's First Dog, Governor Jerry Brown's Corgi Sutter. Jennifer Fearing's influence with the political pooch may have spilled over to its owner. The legislature passed and Brown signed all six bills that Fearing lobbied on during this year's session. (Washington Times)
• President Obama acting locally with his campaigning prowess, biting in to some famous Brooklyn cheesecake during a campaign stop for Bill De Blasio, who is likely to win the race to replace Michael Bloomberg as mayor of New York.   (Washington Post)
• A new report from Justice at Stake, the National Institute on Money in State Politics, and the Brennan Center for Justice explores the gorwing role of big money in judicial elections. Judicial elections, which were often relatively sleepy affairs in years past, have been inundated by the same flood of spending and negative ads as other races in the post Citizens United world. (Roll Call)

National News A group of the most conservative members of the house reached out to some of K street’s most... View Article

National News

• The government shutdown has officially pushed back the first round of requirements associated with President Obama's recent open data Executive Order. The requirements, now due November 30, include enterprise data inventories and public data listings.(Project Open Data)
• President Obama looks to escape some of his Healthcare.gov related troubles by hitting the fundraising trail. Between now and the end of November he is scheduled to appear at 8 fundraisers for national Democratic groups. (POLITICO)
• FedBizOpps, a top destination for Federal contracting data, underwent a significant change this summer that may hinder open data. A significant portion of the site's information is now behind a login wall, restricting its ability to be indexed. (Fed Scoop)
• The Open Government Partnership's Independent Reporting Mechanism has weighed in on the United States' OGP progress. This is the 8th IRM report and found that, while significant progress was made by the US on a number of commitments, progress has been slow on controversial issues. (Open Government Partnership)

• Philippines is looking to launch an open data portal next month. The portal, set to go live on November 27, will host government data sets in machine readable formats. (ABS-CBN News)

• Folks in Philadelphia now have a user friendly way to browse, search, and use the Philadelphia code. The site is still working out the kinks and the organization behind it is looking for feedback. (Technical.ly Philly)
• After years worth of campaign finance scandals and drama, the Washington, DC Council is inching closer to a vote on reform legislation that would improve disclosure and shut down the avenues for some controversial donations. (Washington Post)

National News

• Teach For America has grown into a political powerhouse and has the money to back up their policy goals. The group, which sends recent college grads into underfunded public schools for two year stints, has a $100 million endowment, $300 million in yearly revenues, and growing leverage as their alumni take high powered positions and launch innovative ideas. (POLITICO)
• President Obama took a break from one of his favorite activities, raising money, during the government shutdown. But, now that things are back up and running, he's heading to New York to raise money for the DCCC. (Washington Times)
• Meanwhile, the DCCC wasn't feeling so hindered by the potential for a shutdown during September. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had its best non-election year September fundraising haul ever, pulling in $8.4 million as the shutdown grew closer. (National Journal)

• As a number of Balkan countries look to join the EU civil society organizations are pushing their governments, often controlled by a single party, to embrace principles of openness. (SE Times)
• Open data in development projects will not necessarily lead to better outcomes without models to put the data to use. (Open Knowledge Blog)

• As cities increasingly tune in to the advantages of releasing their data openly and in useful and attractive formats they should be thinking about ways to tie all of their various data together to give citizens a picture of the ways that various city data connects down to the neighborhood level. (The Atlantic Cities)
• San Francisco has teamed up with Google.org for a new real-time crisis map that will track a variety of emergency situations as they appear around the city. Crisis Mode is launching in conjunction with SF72, an open sourced platform that provides online resources and updates for emergency preparedness. (Government Technology)

National News

• Uber, the 21st century taxi competitor, has focused considerable effort on influencing elected officials and regulators in the various cities where it operates. But, now it's turning its lobbying efforts to the federal government for the first time by signing up with the tech lobbying firm Franklin Square Group. (The Hill)
• When political candidates find themselves with extra cash at the end of a race they have some options. Many candidates who failed to reach their goal refund donations, give money to charity, or shift the funds to other candidates. (Roll Call)
• The DSCC outraised the RSCC in September and appears to have significantly more cash on hand. But, once the Democratic committee's debt is taken into account the two are running neck and neck. (Roll Call)

• Representatives of the Romanian prime minister spent last month meeting with various agencies and other public bodies to identify datasets that are eligible to be published as part of their OGP plan. (EPSIplatform)
• Armenia is also working through its OGP commitment. Civil Society groups in the country have been monitoring implementation of the Armenian National Action Plan and have decided that, while most of the commitments were "formally" met, their implementation has been shaky. (Armenia Now)
• Open corporate data for all! The OpenCorporates corporate network platform allows for visualization of corporate networks around the world, aiming to eventually be the best place to go for this information. (Tech President)

• A FOI battle is brewing between the legislature and executive in Cleveland, Ohio where the mayor is suing a member of the city council for emails and documents. (NFOIC)
• Hawaii's public records act appears to open up a wide range of government information, but the law's fee provisions often result in charges that are too high for citizens and public interest media organizations to afford. (Huffington Post)