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New OMB Federal Spending Database
The Office of Management and Budget is launching USASpending.gov a relaunch of www.FederalSpending.gov to providecitizens with easy access to government contract, grant, and other award data.
News stories:
- OMB Offers an Easy Way to Follow the Money, by Elizabeth Williamson, Washington Post, (December 13, 2007; Page A33)
- OMB beats deadline to unveil federal spending database, by Jason Miller, FCW (December 12, 2007)
"The database’s initial functionality will include the ability to search contracts and grants but not other types of spending data such as loans, said Robert Shea, OMB’s associate director of administration and government performance." (FCW)
The database will have an API (application programmming interface) so that programmers will be able to users to write software to access the data directly, and a wiki where users will be able to suggest changes and add information.
Continue readingWhat is wrong with Fusion Centers
A new ACLU report says that government "fusion centers" have not been planned in a public, open manner and that some are engaging in improper intelligence activities and endanger the privacy of citizens.
- What’s Wrong With Fusion Centers?, by Michael German and Jay Stanley, American Civil Liberties Union, December 2007.
This report is intended to serve as a primer that explains what fusion centers are, and how and why they were created. It details potential problems fusion centers present to the privacy and civil liberties of ordinary Americans, including: Ambiguous Lines of Authority... Private Sector Participation... Military Participation... Data Mining... and Excessive Secrecy.See also: Groups seek definition of terrorism at government and private sector information-sharing centers.
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CongressTube?
Congress Wants To Allow New Web Tools by Aliya Sternstein, National Journal's Technology Daily, December 12, 2007 PM edition [subscription required]
Congress is slowly moving ahead with rule changes that would allow House members and senators to enhance their Web sites with links and content from commercial sites, like social networks and video-sharing services.
Options under consideration include permitting members to use video-streaming sites if the sites are ad-free and protect the uploaded material from tampering.Continue reading
Bill would make CRS reports available
S. Res. 401--110th Congress (2007): A resolution to provide Internet access to certain Congressional Research Service publications
Summary:
Directs the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate, in consultation with the the Director of the Congressional Research Service (CRS), to make publicly available through a centralized electronic system the following CRS-produced information: (1) Issue Briefs; (2) Reports that are available to Members of Congress through the CRS website; and (3) Authorization of Appropriations and Appropriations Products.
Exempts from such requirements: (1) any information determined to be confidential by the CRS Director or the head of a department or agency that provided the information to CRS; and (2) documents, other than those described in clauses (1) through (3), that are the product of a congressional research request.
Allows the Sergeant at Arms, in consultation with the CRS Director, to revise the information made publicly available by removing information concerning CRS employees, removing material that may infringe copyright protection, and making necessary changes to ensure accuracy and currency.
Requires access to the information made available pursuant to this resolution through Senate committee and Member websites. Makes the Sergeant at Arms responsible for maintaining and updating the information and for establishing a database within six months after adoption of this resolution.
Continue readingIs your search engine finding the government information you need?
The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and OMB Watch have released a report, Hiding in Plain Sight: Why Important Government Information Cannot Be Found Through Commercial Search Engines (Dec. 11, 2007), that highlights "a critical gap in online access to vital government information." The press release for the report says:
"It is unclear if agencies know there is a roadblock between the public and their information and have not taken the adequate steps to correct the problem, or if the agencies simply do not realize that their important information is not being found and indexed by search engines," said Sean Moulton, Director of Federal Information Policy for OMB Watch. "In today's Internet age, either answer is unacceptable."The report uses several search examples that Americans might expect to result in access to trustworthy government information. Instead, the results overlook a vast amount of useful government information.
The report is also included in the testimony of Ari Schwartz, Deputy Director, Center for Democracy and Technology at the December 11, 2007 Hearing of U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on E-Government 2.0: Improving Innovation, Collaboration, and Access. See: CRS Reports, E-government, Thomas, indexing of the government web, and more!
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