Just a quick note to let folks know that I'm currently at Transparency Camp this weekend. It's a great meeting of activists and technologists concerned with all kinds of transparency and government. To follow what's happening, you can track on the twitter hashtag #tcamp09. Since it's an unconference, talks can be proposed on the fly. I gave a talk on the FDLP which got a lot of interest. Contact me if you've got other ideas for presentations. There are still slots available for sunday.

Today, Barack Obama was sworn in the 44th President of the United States. The White House has a new website now and it is expected that this will serve as a place for “online engagement” with American citizens and the global community. It has been stated that the efforts of the new media will focus on a) Communication b) Transparency and c) Participation
Those who wish to know more about the economy, national security, etc. can get information and updates from the briefing room. They can subscribe to the WhiteHouse.gov blog or get e-mail updates. President Obama has pledged that he will publish “executive orders and proclamations for everyone to review, and that’s just the beginning of [his] efforts to provide a window for all Americans into the business of the government.” The President’s policy priorities are available online. He has also promised to ensure that American citizens participate in the work of the new administration. The White House is inviting comments, concerns, questions, etc. If you have any, please use this form online. Now is your chance!

Personally, I am very happy to witness one of the most significant turning points and a new chapter in American history – the inauguration of the nation’s first African-American President. Today, the United States has really upheld the values of democracy and freedom.

Vivek Kundra, the Chief Technology Officer of Washington, D.C., has adopted an uncommon approach for conducting the daily operations of the District's 86 agencies. YouTube is used to post information regarding the bidding process for city contracts. He and other DC government employees use Google Apps as a collaboration tool and for sharing information. Kundra believes that it encourages government transparency and improves government services. The Washington Post article mentioned that he may be a potential candidate for the new position of Federal Chief Technology Officer, which Obama intends to establish.

A juicy tidbit of info over at the Sunlight Blog and ABC News: Stimulus Bill to go Web 2.0?

They’re planning a Google-like search function to show every program funded by the stimulus package, whether it comes in under or over-budget, whether it is meeting its intended purpose, and how many jobs it is creating.

Sounds interesting! Let's hope they follow through.

Piling on Jim's recent post about Web sites pushing for transparency, my buddy Howard just tweeted about a new site called Speechology -- "User-powered analysis of political debates, speeches and campaign ads." The developers got a minigrant from Sunlight Foundation in order to build a site that would archive political speeches/advertisements etc so that the public could then crowdsource (aka collaboratively fact-check) and discuss them. Nicely done!

While watching the countless debates of the 2007-2008 primary season, we noticed a trend: Moderator asks politician a question, politician dodges the question and instead uses the time to rehash his/her platform, moderator thanks politician and moves on to next question. In other cases, the candidates on stage would go back and forth, unequivocally contradicting one another on points of fact. The moderator--a journalist--simply moved on, leaving voters in the dark as to the truth.

The ads on television were no different: quotes taken out of context, completely unchecked accusations, citations in miniscule type...All of these political videos left us wondering who was right, and who was lying.

We created Speechology so that we don't have to wonder anymore. Speechology is an archive of videos that show politicians stumping for your vote. If a candidate said it on TV, we want you to be able to find it on here.

But instead of just showing you the video, we invite you to do your own research and then tell the rest of us what you found. Speechology is a place that does not care what your political preferences are. We only care if you contribute good research. If you would like to argue over politics, go somewhere else. Here, we value facts.

[cross-posted from Legalresearchplus.com]

As I wrote about earlier, I was having a fun, albeit geeky Saturday night following links hither and yon, and I ran across the fascinating PublicMarkup.org site.

PublicMarkup is a project of the Sunlight Foundation , and just like sunlight is the best of disinfectants, a bit of public scrutiny and participation should make legislation stronger and more viable. The folks at PublicMarkup drafted the Transparency in Government Act of 2008, and hope that the wonders of online collaboration will enhance and improve the legislation and will inspire lawmakers to carry it forward.

From the PublicMarkup site:
“The Sunlight Foundation has put together what we think can become model transparency legislation—the Transparency In Government Act of 2008—and we now need your help to further shape and refine it.”

Interesting? Inspired?
Well, you better move fast if you want contribute — You only have until May 19th before they close the site for comments and then try to re-craft/re-draft the legislation.
-Erika