Loosing Site

Video introduction to openinternet.gov an FCC site that promotes net neutrality and seeks consultation on how this can be achieved.

Google is targetting public sector organisations with mix of products and services. The Google for the Public Sector site has a selection of case studies matching technologies with tasks in marketing, information gathering, policy formation and operations.

The 2008 elections demonstrated how technology can increase political participation, and now we’re beginning to see the power of Web 2.0 come to government. On the heels of last week’s Gov 2.0 Summit in Washington, D.C., we’re excited to launch Google for the Public Sector, a one-stop shop of tools and tips that local, state and federal government officials can use to help promote transparency and increase citizen participation.

Official Google Blog: Introducing Google for the Public Sector

Google Public Sector via kwout

Earlier this year Seattle based Blist changed their name to Socrata and their focus to “social data discovery”, working hard to make government data more interactive.

About | Socrata | Making Data Social via kwout

In the meantime Sunlight Labs is acting as a focus for open source developers and designers to encourage and enable government transparency.

Sunlight Labs via kwout

All of this gives me the feeling that institutional transparency is no longer optional, and that feels good.

Tags: Google, Blist, Socrata, SunlightLabs, government, publicsector, data, transparency

Lawrence Lessig, founder and CEO of Creative Commons is considering a new challenge, Congress.

Lessig ‘08 – Change Congress. via kwout

Lessig believes that money is acting as a corrupting influence in Washington and is establishing a Change Congress movement to address that issue. Key actions for candidates supporting the bipartisan movement are:

• refuse donations from lobyists or political action committees
• ban earmarking of funds
• support public financing of campaigns

Lessig is himself considering running for office in the California 12th as a way of advancing the project.

Laurence sees on-line communities and technologies as timely and important mechanisms for mobilizing the electorate and increasing transparency.

The Sunlight Foundation, for example, “supports, develops and deploys new Internet technologies to make information about Congress and the federal government more accessible to the American people”.

Sunlight Foundation via kwout

Activists are already emerging. A “Draft Lessig” site has been set up to promote and fund raise; together with a MySpace Page and a Facebook Group.

Internet activism in political, economic, spiritual and cultural areas has been stimulated by:

• the Obama campaign
• the EBay Strike
• Anonymous vs. Scientology
• the Free Culture movement

Providing fertile ground for grassroots empowerment.

While the campaign is focused on the United States the lessons, messages, frameworks and packages will have relevance internationally in political and non-political arenas where stakeholders perceive corruption.