Gov 2.0 Hero: Daniel Newman

MAPLight.org Executive Director Daniel Newman

shares what his organization is doing and what it means for politics and money.

What was your path to Gov 2.0?

As a volunteer in politics, trying to improve my community, I realized the tremendous influence of wealthy interests which slant laws to their benefit. I co-founded MAPLight.org to shine the light of transparency on the river of money that underlies our politics and to help citizens hold their politicians accountable

Gov 2.0 Hero: Jen Pahlka

Jen Pahlka on her new role as founder of Code for America, the new role developers play in democracy and the importance of their involvement

Gov 2.0 Hero: Bill Eggers

Government 2.0 author Bill Eggers sat down with GovFreshTV to talk about his new book, If We Can Put a Man on the Moon … Getting Big Things Done in Government

Gov 2.0 Hero: Mark Drapeau

Dr. Mark Drapeau (@cheek_geeky), co-chair of Gov 2.0 Expo, share his thoughts on Gov 2.0 in 2009, and what to expect in

Gov 2.0 Hero: Anil Dash

Anil Dash, tech entrepreneur and former Vice President and Chief Evangelist at Six Apart (makers of TypePad and Movable Type), recently opened Expert Labs, a “new independent initiative to help policy makers in our government take advantage of the expertise of their fellow citizens.” (See Entrepreneur, blogger Anil Dash announces venture to connect tech, government experts)

Dash shares thoughts on his new role and civic venture

Gov 2.0 Hero: Steve Lunceford

What was your path to Gov 2.0?

I’m a communications guy by trade, working in media relations and strategic communications for nearly two decades. Over the last 10 years or so I’ve worked in and around the public sector for organizations like Sprint, BearingPoint and now with Deloitte. Around 24 months ago, it became obvious to me that new technologies and tools were fundamentally changing the way communicators worked — the way reporters interacted with sources, the way organizations disseminated information, the way citizens expected to interact with their government. While I was familiar with eGov initiatives and the web 1.0 services that federal, state and local governments were providing (ordering birth certificates or publishing reports on line and such), it was less apparent to me how new channels like Twitter, YouTube, FaceBook, MySpace and the like could be applied to the public sector. After all, these were “social” tools and seemed more fitting for lighter discussions and interactions, or maybe more relevant for the technology sector, not the business of government

Gov 2.0 Hero: Silona Bonewald

GovFreshTV talks with Silona Bonewald of Citability.org and League of Technical Voters

Gov 2.0 Hero: Jay Nath

GovFresh TV talks with City of San Francisco Director of Innovation Jay Nath

Gov 2.0 Hero: Clay Johnson

GovFreshTV talks with Sunlight Labs Director Clay Johnson

Gov 2.0 Hero: Laurel Ruma

GovFreshTV talks with O’Reilly Media’s Laurel Ruma

Gov 2.0 Hero: Dmitry Kachaev

GovFreshTV talks with Dmitry Kachaev, Director of Research and Development, DC Government OCTO Labs

Gov 2.0 Hero: Jake Brewer

Sunlight Foundation Engagement Director Jake Brewer discusses Gov 2.0, open government and transparency

Gov 2.0 Hero: Ellen Miller

Sunlight Foundation Co-founder and Executive Director Ellen Miller discusses open government, transparency and gov

Gov 2.0 Hero: Dustin Haisler

Local Gov 2.0 Hero Dustin Haisler, is Municipal Judge & CIO/City Secretary of Manor, Texas.

What was your path to Gov 2.0?

Coming out of the banking industry, I began my career in local government almost four years ago as the Finance Director for a small growing city in Central Texas. After a few days on the job I realized there were significant technology shortfalls that needed to be addressed. At the time, the city did not own a server and each department’s software operations were run on stand alone machines, and there was no integration. The biggest challenge was how to overcome this monstrous obstacle with an IT budget less than $100,000. We could have issued debt to pay for building a technology infrastructure from scratch, but instead, we decide to innovate most of our own solutions. After three years of software and network integration, the City of Manor is now recognized as a leader in local government technology. The amazing thing is that through innovation and creativity our city was able to make this transformation with limited funds in such a short period of time. These technologies have allowed us to further increase efficiency and transparency in our community

Gov 2.0 Hero: Rob Rhyne

Rob Rhyne, User Experience Designer at SRA International, will present “Invisible City” as part of the Gov 2.0 Expo Government as a Provider section.

What was your path to Gov 2.0?

I’ve worked in Knowledge Management as a designer and developer 8 years for a government contractor. I’ve redesigned numerous systems, increasing user buy-in simply by increasing the feedback loop for the design and construction of those applications. It became obvious that user trust was directly linked to their understanding and control of the application.

Specifically to Gov 2.0, I’ve developed a concept I call Invisible City (no relation to Calvino’s “Invisible Cities”) that is a vision for an Augmented Reality that utilizes data services provided by a local municipality in a mobile application. It’s a natural combination of current mobile technology with a government that opens the doors to its data storage and collection procedures. I see the government becoming a data platform that provides application developers a rich set of information and information collection resources to facilitate citizen interaction with government

Gov 2.0 Hero: Rita J. King

Rita J. King is CEO and Creative Director of Dancing Ink Productions and Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.

What was your path to Gov 2.0?

I’ve been studying the cultural effects of digital anonymity since 1996, but when I discovered a Muslim woman in a virtual Jewish synagogue in Second Life in 2006 I realized that global culture had entered a powerful new realm. The idea of “avatars” is polarizing. Some people instantly see the benefit of this new form of identity and community construction while others, believing that avatars dehumanize people, are appalled. I was not a gamer, nor did I ever expect to be mesmerized by the virtual world of Second Life after a friend of mine who works at IBM suggested that I check it out. I was reading Joseph Campbell’s “The Power of Myth,” and I searched on temples, synagogues, churches and mosques during my first few hours and days in Second Life, which was how I found myself at prayer services in a virtual Jewish synagogue speaking to a Muslim woman.

Gov 2.0 Hero: Beth Beck

As Space Operations Outreach Program Manager for NASA Headquarters, Beth Beck has one of the best jobs in the universe. Beth shares her affinity for iPhones and chaos via social media.

What was your path to Gov 2.0?

WIRED Magazine is my bell-weather for all things new. How does that apply to Gov 2.0? I find that we, the generic government, usually lag two years behind industry in our application of new products or processes. WIRED showcases all things trendy, giving me a jumpstart on ideas for cool new applications and products. I can try out new technology and software in prototype projects and once we’ve worked out the kinks in the system, others can follow

Gov 2.0 Hero: Nick Charney

Gov 2.0 Hero Nick Chaney, Renewal Wonk, aka “Mr. Engagement” of the Rat Pack of Canadian Public Service Renewal, shares his thoughts on Gov 2.0.

What was your path to Gov 2.0?

Nick Charney: Let’s just say it’s been long, dual-tracked road. Officially, I’ve been a federal public servant (in Canada) now for just over three years, during which time I’ve held 5 different positions, each of which has taken me a bit closer to Gov

Gov 2.0 Hero: Jim Gilliam

Jim Gilliam talks about his many Gov 2.0 projects, including NationBuilder, White House 2 and act.ly and what inspires him to make government work.

What was your path to Gov 2.0?

When I found out computers could talk to each other, I fell in love. That was over 20 years ago, and I’ve spent most of my career using the internet to bring democracy to different industries. I was involved in partnering with Netscape to bring the Open Directory Project to Lycos and Hotbot back in the late 90′s. Yahoo built a directory by hand, and Chris Tolles had this crazy idea that he could crowdsource a much better version. This was probably one of the first Web 2.0 projects, before the term even existed

Gov 2.0 Hero: Craig Newmark

Craigslist founder Craig Newmark talks about Gov 2.0 and social media’s role in democracy