Nearly every federal government agency uses geographic information system (GIS) technology to meet various mission goals. Agencies rely on GIS for asset management, citizen engagement, public policy, planning and analysis, disaster response, and much more.
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Good government groups are lambasting current regulations that govern the Freedom of Information Act and want the Justice Department to consider major changes.
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Read More… from Experts propose model to close loopholes in FOIA regulations
A bill making the University of Delaware and Delaware State University subject to more public scrutiny has been released from a House committee, but with an amendment that guts the intent of the bill and may even weaken existing open-government provisions.
The bill discussed Thursday revises Delaware’s Freedom of Information Act to remove an exemption for the two schools, which receive millions of dollars in taxpayer money each year but are mostly exempt from open records and open meetings laws.
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Read More… from Delaware bill eyes universities’ FOIA exemption
Congressman Ted Yoho (R-FL-03) offered an amendment to a bill that was accepted by voice, which would prohibit any money to be used to mandate any type of government GPS location device on personal vehicles.
The amendment was to H.R. 4745 – Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015 (THUD), in which Yoho voted in favor of.
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Read More… from FL Congressman offers amendment to stop government from tracking private vehicles
Two years ago government watchdog Judicial Watch submitted a Freedom of Information Act request surrounding materials about Operation Fast and Furious to the Department of Justice. At the time, DOJ officials failed to respond, so Judicial Watch sued. Because of the ongoing conflict between the House Oversight Committee and the Department of Justice, a judge granted a brief stay preventing a FOIA lawsuit from moving forward. That stay was issued 18 months ago.
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Federal agencies should do more to cooperate with the government's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) ombudsman, according to recommendations approved June 5 by the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS). The recommendations also called for the ombudsman, the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), to continue efforts to assist people who make FOIA requests. The recommendation is a positive step for helping people access public information under FOIA.
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All over the world, groups and individuals are using technology in a variety of innovative ways to increase government transparency, fight corruption, open data, hack on civic problems, strengthen economic development, address environmental problems, improve public health and education, and advance the conditions of women and children.
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Read More… from WeGov – Our name for this trend is “We-government”
In a win for government transparency, a slew of strong new appointments for a city government watchdog group cleared their first round of approvals yesterday.
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Last month, web designer Sean Wittmeyer and colleague Wojciech Magda walked away with a $25,000 prize from the state of Colorado for designing an online tool to help businesses decide where to locate in the state.
The tool, called "Beagle Score," is a widget that can be embedded in online commercial real estate listings. It can rate a location by taxes and incentives, zoning, even the location of possible competitors — all derived from about 30 data sets posted publicly by the state of Colorado and its municipalities.
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