A candidate for Framingham state representative was seeking a list of all city voters who applied for absentee ballots. A reporter wanted information about Framingham Mayor Yvonne Spicer’s expenses. Insurance companies are asking for police records of clients’ car accidents. The city of Framingham posts on its website a log of public records requests, along with the […]
Tag: open data portals
A bunch of #opengov groups are leading a California ‘database hunt’
The Data Foundation, the sister organization of the Data Coalition that launched this winter, is teaming up with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Sunlight Foundation to hold a “California Database Hunt.”
The goal? California’s local government agencies are now (as of July 1, 2016) required to publish a list of all “enterprise systems” they use to store data and information on the public. Continue…
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Los Angeles Leads Open Data Innovation with the GeoHub
Earlier this year, the city of Los Angeles launched GeoHub, an ambitious map-based portal designed to improve communication across city departments, spur innovation, and increase community engagement. GeoHub, powered by Esri’s enterprise location engine, connects citywide location-based data to plan for and support city operations efficiently across diverse residents. The GeoHub’s repository supports interactive maps that can be created and modified in real-time to engage Angelenos and expedite cross-departmental decision making.
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Op-Ed: Is Data Undermining Our Democracy?
In this year’s election cycle, the restless, anti-establishment anger is palpable, and shared by voters on the left who felt the Bern and on the right who love the Donald. Both are animated by a conviction that the moneyed class and corporations have hijacked our democracy. Emerging from their conventions, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will vie to win over these disaffected voters. Right now, both candidates are missing a potent opportunity to publicly recognize that it is not only money producing outsized influence in our democratic system. It is data.
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Municipal Analytics, the Startup Way
Op-Ed: Governments Are Better at Fiscal Transparency, but There’s More to Do (Industry Perspective)
Since the federal Freedom of Information Act was enacted in 1966, transparency has become even more of a hot-button issue across the public sector. All 50 states and many local governments now have their own FOIA laws as well. But while these mandates for transparency enjoy broad support, agencies at all levels of government have limped along in their attempts to abide by them.
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Sunlight Foundation: Analyzing the state of cities’ bulk data
How Open Data Revolutionizes Urban Life
In this episode of the 10 Blocks podcast, City Journal editor Brian Anderson interviews Nicole Gelinas, author of the recent City Journal article “The Fourth Urban Revolution,” about the role of big data in effective urban planning. Continue...
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Delaware: Web transparency varies across state
Delaware’s municipal governments have websites that make it easier for them to share information with residents. But plenty of opportunities exist for them to improve transparency, encourage local businesses and let the public know about important issues.
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