Government Techonology reports on New York City’s Open Source Solutions Lab at the City University of New York (CUNY).  The project is a collaboration with Intel and Red Hat to test open sources solutions for government information techonology. The goal of the project is to help provide New York City’s public sector with the most cost-effective and flexlible technology for government needs. 

New York City deserves some praise for creating a resource to help move government to better information technology solutions.  This program, along with the Open Source Lab in Oregon, is helping government take steps to actually create software that meets the needs of agencies and can also create better resources for citizens. 

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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D) joined forces to push for strict limits to the influence of lobbyists in the city, according to the New York Times. The two “jointly proposed new legislation prohibiting all city employees, elected or appointed, from accepting gifts or meals from lobbyists,” and “also proposed legislation that would end matching funds for campaign donations from lobbyists, their spouses and other immediate family members.” The reform proposal also “would seek strict new disclosure and reporting standards, requiring that the information be filed electronically and that lobbyists disclose when they are also helping political candidates raise money.” A proposal for a mechanism to enforce infractions “had not been worked out yet.”

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