Saturday, October 02, 2010

Open Government

I find the notion of Open Government to be intriguing. The idea is not to produce more data by the government, but to shed light on existing data, to present it in modern and innovative ways. A bonus is turning governance into an efficient feedback loop where citizens produce their own data, influencing decisions.

This article in MacLean's describes a modest project in Vancouver regarding trash pickup days. It may seem like a humble thing, but the technology and the idea is not. Note the dozen of other projects that are starting up.

In related news, I am going to Saint Louis in a week to visit friends and attend a conference. One of the sessions at the conference is on Open Government.

In even more related news, my father recently announced his candidacy for mayor in our town. I was hoping to link to something online, but despite the press, I can't find anything online. My sister and I did post to Facebook, with enthusiastic responses from friends and family.

I just realized today. If Dad were to win, could I help with technical solutions to Open Government, starting in the small town? A new mayor and a tech visionary awaiting a mission: that might be interesting.

CC

2 comments:

Unknown said...

You go Girl.....
Also you need to update the about me section

Jennifer said...

That's a great idea. Isn't it fun when your skillset can be helpful to a different generation?

PS Have fun in STL.