Making Government Transparent and Accountable
The Sunlight Foundation uses cutting-edge technology and ideas to make government transparent and accountable. Underlying all of our efforts is a fundamental belief that increased transparency will improve the public's confidence in government
The Sunlight Foundation Blog
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CityDW
Back in July, I wrote about Show Us a Better Way, a contest set up by the United Kingdom’s Power of Information Task Force, that asks citizens to identify what they would like to see done with public information. If they like the idea they will help fund it, to the tune of £20,000 to develop the idea to the next level. Here are some examples of ideas they are looking for. The deadline for the submission of ideas ended on September 30th, and they will announce the winners imminently. By the way, Sunlight friend, U.K. Cabinet Office Minister and Member of Parliament Tom Watson was a leading visionary behind the Power of Information Task Force.
David Stephenson, in a post on the Open House Project’s Google group, compared favorably Show Us a Better Way to the Citywide Data Warehouse (CityDW) here in the District of Columbia. CityDW provides a centralized access point for online data about the District’s government operations. It focuses on providing real-time data from multiple agencies and sources, all in an effort at greater transparency. David wrote, “The DC project is, to my knowledge, the first US one to copy the incredibly creative UK “Show Us a Better Way” contest (the humility of the title alone speaks volumes!).” David also gave CityDW some love in his speech at this summer’s Netroots Nation.
As a longtime DC resident, it’s shocking to see any aspect of the District’s government receive any praise. That alone shows the transformative powers of online tools.
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Data Visualizations and Democracy
Blogger, e-government guru and fellow panelist at PDF, David Stephenson, writing at The Huffington Post profiles a speech he’s to give at this week’s Netroots Nation Conference in Austin. David makes the case that government should free up its vast stores of information to the Web 2.0 revolution. This would allow citizens to create “data visualizations,” cool graphics that also help to make information understandable for the rest of us. He quotes Edward Tufte, the so called da Vinci of Data (who’s thinking of Italy?) “Often the most effective way to describe, explore and summarize a set of numbers — even a very large set — is to look at pictures of those numbers.” David says that such graphics “highlight inefficiencies, break down barriers between programs and agencies, and (potentially) leverage “the wisdom of crowds” both within agencies and among the general public to find creative new approaches.”
David highlights Everyblock Chicago, Neighborhood Knowledge Los Angeles and the District of Columbia’s Citywide Data Warehouse as examples of local governments freeing their data to the public.
Sunlight couldn’t agree more that’s why many of our analyses also rely on strong visualizations to bring the story home.
Lastly, my blogging and that of other Sunlighters will be light for the next few weeks as we all seek some summertime R and R.
