Urban officials dream of a future of “Smart Cities” that use new technologies to gather comprehensive data and algorithms to achieve increased efficiency, sustainability, and safety. While many of these benefits are real, we must be vigilant to ensure that they don’t come at too high a cost, as the adoption of such technologies can also lead to an unacceptable increase in government surveillance.
Continue readingBeyond open data policy
Earlier this year, Sunlight’s Open Cities team updated its mission to reflect a shifting tide within our team and in... View Article
Continue readingSunset and sunrise: a farewell announcement from Open Cities Director Stephen Larrick
Sunlight Open Cities Director Stephen Larrick practices some personal and professional transparency, announcing his departure from Sunlight, sharing a retrospective on his three years with the team, and bidding a fond farewell as he passes the baton to new Open Cities Director, Katya Abazajian.
Continue readingSiblings or silos: How do open data and FOIA work together?
We’re conducting new research to understand how adopting open data policies affects the number of FOIA requests cities receive, who submits requests, and the type of information citizens seek.
Continue readingBehind the curtain of smart cities: where do we stand?
As cities deal with the byproducts of increased urbanization: overpopulation, increases in energy consumption, and overall resource management, they have looked... View Article
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.
Continue readingCity halls are leading the way on open government
What is my government doing? Where are time and resources being invested? How are those investments shaping my community today—and... View Article
Continue readingIncrease the social impact of open data with user personas
Understanding who uses open data and how helps city staff share public information in ways that are most likely to result in social impact. At “Designing for Community Use," our workshop on the What Works Cities on Tour, we helped city officials brainstorm potential users of open data, develop personas, and then use those personas to design improvements to how city halls disclose information.
Continue readingHow opening city data can support racial justice
Cities collect, store, analyze and disclose many different kinds of government data that are critical to understanding and addressing social inequality and racial justice. Advocates for equity can and must do more to demand more transparency from local authorities by working with cities to open up, close information gaps in their communities, and end data poverty.
Continue readingAmerican cities depend on federal data
To learn how important federal data is to cities, the Sunlight Foundation, in partnership with DataLensDC, conducted a national survey of city staff about how federal data informs their work. The findings of our survey are now available.
Continue reading- « Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Next »
59063
