Open Gov’s CEO Zac Bookman shares how OpenGov the company’s new open data solution will impact public administration – including how governments engage with citizens such as civic developers.
Why open source matters for government and civic tech (and how to support it)
The Open Knowledge Foundation and University of Cambridge recently published a must-read and circulate widely report on why open source software matters for government and civic tech and how to support it.
White House makes open source official, will launch Code.gov to share U.S. government software
The White House released an official Federal Source Code policy that green lights the use and free distribution of software code developed for and by the U.S. Government.
If Clinton is president, she’ll expand USDS, federal open source and open data efforts
Hillary Clinton released her technology and innovation agenda that promises to expand the U.S. Digital Service and agency-specific digital teams, encourage the continued adoption of open source and open data and bring a more user-friendly approach to federal government operations.
Defining civic tech
Over the past few days, I’ve been thinking about Omidyar Network’s recent report, “Engines of Change,” and the need to better label and define the movement happening around civics and government with respect to technology.
Government as ‘The Open Organization’
For those who want to learn how government can become more engaged institutionally, both internally and externally, “The Open Organization” is the blueprint.
Substantive feedback on White House open source policy as comment period extended
The White House extended the Federal Source Code Policy comment period to April 18 and, to date, there there are 147 comments with much of the discussion centered around licensing and security.
U.S. government releases federal open source policy
The White House has published a federal source code policy that requires custom code paid for by the U.S. government be made available to all federal agencies, and a portion be released to the public.
USPTO’s tech strategy is a blueprint for all government IT
I just discovered the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office strategic IT plan, which should serve as a blueprint for all government agency technology efforts.
5 principles of government software development
The inexorable march of technology and the rise of computers, software, and free and open source software in particular, requires that we articulate principles by which a government of the people, by the people, and for the people develops software.
USPTO preps for new website launch
The U.S. Patent and Trade Office plans to move its beta website, located at beta.uspto.gov, to the official agency domain, USPTO.gov, on February 5.
DHS report outlines challenges, opportunities of open source in government
The report emphasizes the importance of case studies to highlight open source execution within government, bringing more awareness to support and warranty options, simplify code release process and increase education around license guidance and procurement.
GovFresh guide to openFDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s openFDA initiative aims to “make it easier for web developers, researchers, and the public to access large, important public health datasets.”
Got natural disasters? There’s an open source emergency preparedness toolkit for that
If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area and woke up at to a 6.1 earthquake at 3:30 a.m. this morning, now would be a good time for citizens and local governments everywhere to take a look at City72 Toolkit.
An open data blueprint for the U.S. Department of Commerce
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker recently announced the Department of Commerce will hire its first-ever chief data officer. I wanted to make sure that when this new and extremely important individual assumes their role, they have my latest thoughts on how to make the Department of Commerce developer portal the best it possibly can be, because this will be the driving force behind the rapidly expanding API driven economy.
Introducing GovPress
After several years of talking about and conceptualizing, and months of development, I’m proud to formally (and finally) release GovPress, a simple, elegant WordPress theme for government.
GitChat with Gavin Newsom
California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom is our next GitChat guest.
NASA re-launches open innovation efforts
NASA Deputy CIO and CTO for Information Technology Deborah Diaz introduced a new open innovation team via a rebooted open.nasa.gov.
NIST releases open source mobile app test tool
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has released an open source tool, AppVet, that makes it easier for agencies to test mobile applications security and reliability.
GitHub and the C-suite social
Much like we pooh-poohed Twitter in those early days, GitHub, in its early crawl, is today dismissed simply as a tool for the diehard developer. However, as with any tool with great potential, innovators find new ways to leverage emerging technology to communicate, and government chief information and technology officers can effectively do this with GitHub.
New Zealand forks the United Kingdom
Perhaps the biggest civic open source story of 2013 was the government of New Zealand’s copying of the United Kingdom’s gov.uk code to begin building a new version of its own website.
Inside the new BART.gov
Bay Area Rapid Transit Web Services Manager Timothy Moore discusses the recent upgrade of its flagship website, BART.gov, including a Drupal migration, embracing agile development, encouraging third-party developers to build off its open data and APIs, and plans for the future.
GovFresh WP: building a government WordPress theme
Despite the fact that millions of websites around the world today are powered by low- and no-cost open source content management systems, nearly all small city governments remain trapped in the 90s. To date, however, this need hasn’t adequately been served, and we need to change this. We can change this.
Open source all the cities
Finally finished reading Jason Hibbets’ “The Foundation for an Open Source City,” a must-read for anyone interested in building a strong civic community, whether you’re an elected official, public servant or citizen.
White House opens huge opportunity for designers, developers to increase We the People engagement
The White House will soon open a limited beta test to developers on a new We the People Write API that allows third-party applications to submit information to official petitions.
Breaking the wall in Chicago
Over the past few years, the civic innovation movement has grown tremendously. It’s exploded really. Ten years ago, who would have imagined that Chicago would be a national leader in open government data?
We the People petitioners want access to healthcare.gov source code
A new We the People petition opened Sunday calling for the federal government to make the healthcare.gov source code publicly available “so we may help fix any found issues.”
FreshWrap: CfA Summit, procurement, healthcare.gov and more
A wrap-up of this week’s civic technology and open government news.
America needs a .gov backup plan
Regardless of what’s happening between the opposite ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, why is America in this situation, and what can we do to ensure it never happens again?
SF mayor helps cut tape on new GitHub HQ, posts muni code repo
Lee announced the city posted municipal code on GitHub “to make it more accessible to our public.”