The state of Maine has updated its website to make it more accessible for users on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets like the iPad. The site also has a new look, faster speed and an improved search engine designed to help visitors find information more easily.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter has signed an executive order to establish an Open Data policy, which will provide increased access and will enhance the transparency of City data sets. The Executive Order creates a Chief Data Officer (CDO) position, which will oversee and enforce the Open Data Policy and will report to the Chief [...]
Gov 2.0 is term that references the use of technology to make government an open platform for innovation. The term and the concept gained traction with public officials around the start of the Obama Administration which brought on a number of forward thinking, technology savvy staffers for key IT roles. Although recently, the idea has [...]
The state of Iowa, through its OpenIowa open data project, is launching StartupIowa, a project for civic developers to work with the state’s open data sets and leverage them for new applications and data visualizations. OpenIowa will also host a weekend long code-a-thon starting on April 27 to get the project moving.
Code for America, a US-based, civic non-profit has launched a new initiative, a civic startup accelerator. The goal of the project is to provide a leg-up to civic technology companies and disrupt the $140 billion government IT market. The organization is known for its flagship program which recruits technologists to serve as civic coders for [...]
In March, Harvard wrapped up its 2012 Harvard College Innovation Challenge. The challenge is put on by the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard (TECH), part of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. This year, TECH and the Innovation Challenge launched a new award – the Public Sector Innovation Award – which looked for [...]
Social impact bonds have recently come into favor in the public sector as a means of financing projects that will impact communities where government funding is typically scarce. Social impact bonds allow governments to contract with a third party to fill gaps in available services, but unlike a standard procurement arrangement, these contracts are only [...]
Denver-based LegiNation has launched a new database – BillTrack50 which helps users navigate bills at the state level to find relevant current and proposed legislation. The database was announced at the NonProfit Technology Conference. Creators of the database point to recent public protests such as those over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the [...]
Sunshine Week, a week devoted grading state governments on their transparency recently concluded, rating most states with failing grades. In response, states are looking at new measures designed to improve transparency and provide more information to the public. In Nevada, lawmakers have proposed bills that would make the state legislature subject to Open Meetings rules. [...]
