Sometimes, hurdles along the path to transparency can come down to one thing: a lack of funding. That's why we've signed on to a letter asking California to allocate funding that would help improve access to influence data.
Continue readingWhen will Open Legislative Data come to your town?
Apps for when the next bus will come are great, but what about the next law?
Continue readingAddressing liability: balancing records management and open data
It's time to revisit how long we keep public records and why.
Continue readingWatching out for the future of California’s public records
A vote next month in California could impact the future of public records, open meetings, and even open data across all levels of government there.
Continue readingHow good records management helps open data
Since public records are the foundation for open data, the custodians of public records should be included in the open data process.
Continue readingWhy the DATA Act will be good for local transparency, too
Sunlight has long been a supporter of the DATA Act, which will help open federal spending data. The DATA Act could help improve local financial transparency, too.
Continue readingAsking for top-level changes to help boost local financial transparency
There's a clear path forward for opening up data about local finances, and we've written a letter in support of taking steps in that direction.
Continue readingBoston: the tale of two open data policies
Let’s dig into Mayor Walsh's open data executive order, Councilor Wu's proposed open data legislation, and consider what is possible for the future of open data (and open data policy) in Boston.
Continue readingWhat the feds can learn from state and local e-filing
We already know the federal government has plenty of room for improvement in how it collects information. What about states and municipalities? We wondered whether local governments are doing any better with allowing for electronic filing of information.
Continue readingAn Open Data Ombudsman and rethinking oversight authorities
What have open data policy implementation oversight authorities looked like to date? How might they better represent the public interest in the future?
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