The Transportation Security Administration has a blog
Yes it's true. The Transportation Security Administration, those people who xray your suitcase and make you take your shoes off at the airport, has started a blog called Evolution of Security with the blog description "Terrorists Evolve. Threats Evolve. Security Must Stay Ahead. You Play A Part.
And it's (gasp) clever! Take for example the opening sentence of a Feb. 1 post: "Throughout the ages, there have been many unanswered questions that continue to baffle the human race. Who built Stonehenge? Is there life on other planets? Why does the TSA make me place my liquids in a clear sealable baggie?" There are even a couple of videos about why they do what they do, and they promise more. Transparency and humor from the government. Thank you. I'm so pleased that I won't even ask about the mascara they stole appropriated from my toiletry bag last year. Continue reading
NTIA says we are “reaping the rewards” of government’s broadband policy
We have recently seen reports on the sorry state of broadband network access in the United States (New Broadband Report and Two More Stories About Broadband). Now, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has released an official view of the state of broadband in the U.S in which it emphasizes the fact that things aren't as bad as they used to be and calls that progress. It says that "America’s consumers are now reaping the rewards of the Administration’s pro-investment, deregulatory policies..."
- Networked Nation: Broadband In America 2007, National Telecommunications And Information Administration, United States Department of Commerce, January 2008
The report says that "broadband availability and subscribership have increased dramatically" but ignores the fact that the U.S. has fallen from fourth to 15th in the world in broadband penetration. This is pure politics, it ignores reality, and does nothing to help us move forward.
The report says, "...the Administration has implemented a comprehensive and integrated package of technology, regulatory, and fiscal policies designed to lower barriers and create an environment in which broadband innovation and competition can flourish. The results have been striking." "Strikingly bad" is how most of the recent independent reports would describe the results.
- We have a broadband strategy? Bush administration says "yes" in cheerleading report, By Nate Anderson, ars technica, January 31, 2008
- Ignoring Reality, Bush Declares Broadband Mission Accomplished, press release, Free Press, January 31, 2008
More here.
Continue readingNational Dialogue on Open Government and Secrecy: Sunshine Week 2008
There's a new, updated “Save the Date” announcement for the Third National Dialogue on Open Government and Secrecy, that will take place on March 19, 2008 from 1 - 2:30 PM (EST) on the Open the Government website. The topic is "Government Secrecy: Censoring Your Right to Know" You can participate in person at the National Press Club in Washington DC, or join the conversation online anywhere. The scheduled discussions are: The Secret Executive -- What Can Congress and the Public Do? Confirmed Speakers: Mickey Edwards, Director of the Aspen Institute-Rodel Fellowships in Public Leadership and former Republican member of Congress from Oklahoma for 16 years (1977-92), Ann Beeson, Director of U.S. Programs at the Open Society Institute and previously Associate Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, and John Podesta, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for American Progress, Chief of Staff to President William J. Clinton from October 1998 until January 2001, and formerly in senior staff positions in Congress, will discuss executive branch power and secrecy, congressional rights and responsibilities, and the role of the press in combating government secrecy. Patrice McDermott, Director of OpenTheGovernment.org, will moderate the discussion. Citizen Self-Help: Finding the Information You Need We will be visiting and talking with creators of web sites that help the public avoid having to file official requests or go to offices and meetings to learn what our government is doing. These sites make hard-to-find government information -- federal, state and local -- easy for the public to find and use and may inspire you to do likewise. A quick report will be given, as well, on an initiative to develop a 21st Century Right-to-Know agenda and recommendations for the next President and Congress. In each segment, opportunities will be available for audience questions from all participants. There's lots more information on the Open the Government dot org website. The Sunshine Week website has information about activities for Sunshine Week, March 16 - 22, 2008. Continue reading
Government Transparency and Openness: Questions for the Candidates
OMB Watch is asking for help picking the five best Open Government questions to ask the Presidential candidates. They've developed a survey on Zoomerang called The Open Government: What We Need To Know Survey. By taking the survey you can pick your five favorite questions on the issue of government transparency and openness from a list prepared by OMB Watch and add your own questions too.
The topics and questions that OMB Watch has prepared are:
Corporate Disclosure - Do you support increased corporate financial disclosure (e.g., release of corporate federal tax filings, a database of claimed corporate tax subsidies), and, if so, how would you achieve it?
Worst Abuse of Secrecy - What is government’s worst abuse of secrecy in the last ten years and how would you have handled it?
Whistleblowers - Under the Sarbanes Oxley law, only corporate whistleblowers revealing financial abuses are protected. In order to strengthen accountability against corporate crimes, would you support pending legislation that expands whistleblower protection rights to private sector workers who report violations of any federal public health and safety laws?
Improving Transparency - How should the federal government be more transparent? Suggestions: create a chief counselor for transparency in the White House; more interactive government websites (e.g. wikis and blogs); increased resources for transparency programs; greater openness of government meetings, including task forces and advisory committees.
Pseudo-Classifications - With little or no statutory authority, agencies have created more than one hundred pseudo-classification categories, which often preclude public access to environment, health and safety information. How would you reform these information categories to ensure sufficient public access?
Health, Safety & Environment - Given the importance of health and safety information, how would you ensure that the public has easy access to understandable information about the air they breathe, the water they drink, and the products they use?
Ashcroft Memo - Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a Freedom of Information Act memo urging greater caution in disclosure and establishing a presumption of withholding information. Access experts believe that this significantly reduced the release of information. Would you reverse the Ashcroft memo and reinstate a presumption of openness for government records?
Executive Privilege - What do you believe are the appropriate limits of executive privilege in the disclosure of information to Congress and the public?
Earmarks - Do you support the online disclosure of all earmarks and their sponsors before they become law?
Manipulation of Facts - Concerns have been raised about possible manipulation of information produced by agencies and the influence of the White House over agency decisions. Do you support disclosure of all communications between the White House (including the Office of Management and Budget and other executive offices) and agencies regarding administrative decision-making and information disclosure?
Requiring Full Disclosure - Government is often passive and limiting in disclosure, waiting for requests for documents and then only releasing information to requesters. Do you support reversing this dynamic and requiring that all releasable documents be proactively published online for everyone, thereby negating the need for many Freedom of Information Act requests?
Presidential Records - Executive Order 13233 limits access to presidential records under the Presidential Records Act by giving former presidents the power to effectively veto the release of their records. Do you commit to reversing Executive Order 13233 to restore public access to presidential records after twelve years?
And Finally: If you think any important questions were missing from the list, please suggest additional questions you would like to see included.
OMB Watch is a nonprofit government watchdog organization whose mission is to promote open government, accountability and citizen participation.
It'll only take a few minutes to take the survey and help select the best questions to ask the Presidential candidates on the issue of government transparency and openness.
Two New Pew Internet & American Life Project Report
Thanks for the opportunity to contribute as January Blogger of the Month FGI. Good luck to you Susanna -- I think it is wonderful way to foster conversations within our community. In a note from Beth Haper, who is the editor of the Wisconsin Library Association's Government Information Round Table's newsletter "Eagle Press" informs me that they ask subscribers to respond to a question, and publish the responses in the issue. She wanted to use the three questions I posted on Jan. 18 in this fashion. I said sure -- I love a mash-up between the print and electronic worlds. Seems to be the defining feature of our current professional life, as pointed out by several responders to the discussion -- formats do matter. I guess the debate unfolds over how much they should matter....but that will be for another blog entry.
Along these lines, and in response to another comment sent about the inherent difficulties and limitations of electronic government services in public libraries, I want to note that the good folks at the Pew Trust have released a couple of significant reports about how American's use the Internet in their civic and political lives (another future blog entry; delineation between civic and political information.)
The first report "Infomation Searches that Solve Problems" (http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/231/report_display.asp) reports
"People who have faced one of several common government-related problems in the past two years are more likely to consult the internet than other sources, including experts and family members.
In a national phone survey, respondents were asked whether they had encountered 10 possible problems in the previous two years, all of which had a potential connection to the government or government-provided information. Those who had dealt with the problems were asked where they went for help and the internet topped the list:58% of those who had recently experienced one of those problems said they used the internet (at home, work, a public library or some other place) to get help. 53% said they turned to professionals such as doctors, lawyers or financial experts. 45% said they sought out friends and family members for advice and help. 36% said they consulted newspapers and magazines. 34% said they directly contacted a government office or agency. 16% said they consulted television and radio. 13% said they went to the public library.
The survey results challenge the assumption that libraries are losing relevance in the internet age. Libraries drew visits by more than half of Americans (53%) in the past year for all kinds of purposes, not just the problems mentioned in this survey. And it was the young adults in tech-loving Generation Y (age 18-30) who led the pack. Compared to their elders, Gen Y members were the most likely to use libraries for problem-solving information and in general patronage for any purpose."
The other report, "The Internet Gains in Politics" (http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/234/report_display.asp) continues a decade long study by the Pew Institute that investigates how the internet is used in electoral campaigns.
"Nearly a quarter of Americans (24%) say they regularly learn something about the campaign from the internet, almost the double the percentage from a comparable point in the 2004 campaign (13%)."
So, perhaps it's more than a mash-up between paper and digital. One can argue for a mash-up between the library as place and electronic civic and political information sources. Now there is a novel twist -- the library physical as the ultimate format of choice.....
jashuler