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Beta version of new data.gov
This week the White House announced an early beta version of a revised data.gov web site (next.data.gov), promising many improvements. The improvements include examples from data communities of how data are used, a new powerful search engine, rotating data visualizations, a flexible design that displays well on tablets and smart phones, and more. It is all built with open source tools (WordPress, CKAN, SOLR) and meant to be easily scalable.
- First Look at Next.Data.gov, by Nick Sinai and Ryan Panchadsaram, White House Blog (July 16, 2013).
- next.data.gov
California Supreme Court rules GIS files are public records
"The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that digital mapping files known as geographic information systems must be released under the state's public records law. "The decision could make it easier for media organizations, advocacy groups and others to obtain government GIS databases, rich collections of data that can be used to display and analyze multiple layers of geographical information."
- Digital mapping files are public records, state Supreme Court rules, By Tony Barboza, Los Angeles Times (July 8, 2013). Forty-seven of California's 58 counties already provide GIS parcel maps as public records for a nominal fee, said Dean Wallraff, an attorney for the Sierra Club. Los Angeles County charged the group less than $10 for a disk containing the files, he said. Monday's court ruling should compel Orange County to do the same.
Presidential Policy Directives not on White House Website
Steven Aftergood describes Presidential Policy Directives and discusses how and why they are not usually posted to the White House website -- even when they are not classified and are available elsewhere.
- Presidential Directives Mostly Withheld by White House, by Steven Aftergood, Secrecy News (July 12, 2013). The Obama Administration has issued more than 20 Presidential Policy Directives (PPDs), many of which are collected or listed on the Federation of American Scientists web site. But with few exceptions (PPD 14, PPD 19) most of these cannot be obtained from the White House.
Healthcare.gov: The Innovative Development of a .gov Website
In October, the healthcare.gov website will be the site millions of Americans use to choose their health insurance. The new site has been built in public for months, iteratively created on Github using cutting edge open-source technologies. Healthcare.gov is the rarest of birds: a next-generation website that also happens to be a .gov. It will use Jekyll, which allows developers to build a static website from dynamic components. This will make the website faster and more efficient. A fascinating story! Continue reading
Who Pays for Access and Preservation?
July 1, 2013 / 2 Comments on Who Pays for Access and Preservation?
A recent battle in the California Legislature over public records has a lesson for all of us who work with government information. A story in the Los Angeles Times sums up the issue exactly: "In the end it wasn’t really about public records or the people’s right to see them. It was about money." Continue reading →
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