- Instrumentation and Observability (Theo Schlossnagle) — thoughtful talk (text and video available at that link) from a devops master. Many systems have critical metrics, which are diverse and specific to the business in question. For the purposes of this discussion, consider a system where advertisements are shown. We, of course, track every advertisement displayed in the system and that information is available for query. Herein the problem lies. Most systems put that information in a data store that is designed to answer marketing-oriented information: who clicked on what, what was shown where, etc. Answering the question, “How many were shown?” is possible but is not particularly efficient.
- Peak MHz (Mike Kuniavsky) — we hit the era of what I’m calling Peak MHz in about 2004. That’s the point when processor speed effectively peaked as chip manufacturers began competing along other dimensions. Which is why all the effort is going into horizontally-scalable systems like the NoSQL gadgets. (via Matt Jones)
- Transparency — the great British satires Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister continue as one of the writers blogs in the persona of the elder civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby. His take on transparency is funny because it’s true: I understand your anxiety about the new government’s fixation on what they are pleased to call ‘transparency’, but you are distressing yourself unnecessarily. It afflicts all incoming administrations. It used to be called ‘open government’, and reflects the frustrations they felt when they were in opposition and could not find out what was going on, combined with an eagerness to discover and publicise the deception, distortions and disasters of their predecessors.
- The Government Doesn’t Look Good Naked — a fine counter to the squawks of “the government’s open efforts suck!” that are building. this is exactly how to prevent innovation in government. If you want change, you have to tolerate imperfection and risk. If every program manager thinks they’ll end up on the front page of the Washington Post or get dressed down onstage at Gov 2.0, nothing will change. (via Tim McNamara)
"gov2summit" entries
White House proposes sweeping federal IT reforms
Federal CIO Kundra has released a 25-point plan to reform the troubled federal IT sector.
The Obama administration has proposed a 25-point strategy to reboot how the federal government purchases and uses information technology, including new consideration for startups and a "cloud first" approach to new investments.
The convergence of Google, government and privacy
A look at the issues and toolsets driving the online privacy discussion.
Google's new privacy tools highlight the complexity of controlling data, identity and personal information online. Alex Howard takes an in-depth look at Google's current tools and he discusses upcoming services and updates with Google representatives.
We're in open government's beta period
Extending and analyzing the conversations from Gov 2.0 Summit.
As citizens look ahead to the 21st century, can the technology and policy that enables open government be married with a shift in culture, perception and civic action? A series of speakers and analysis at the Gov 2.0 Summit in Washington consider that future.
Four short links: 10 September 2010
Philosophy of DevOps, Peak MHz, Transparency Satire, Naked Government
As California goes, so goes the nation?
Calif. Secretary of State Debra Bowen on open source voting systems and digital literacy
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen endorsed building trust through open source voting systems in interviews at the Gov 2.0 Summit.
Civic Commons code-sharing initiative bids to reduce government IT costs
Civic Commons, a new project launched at the Gov 2.0 Summit, will help city governments reduce costs and inefficiencies by sharing the software they develop.
Better, faster, cheaper … emergent
Commentary: "Beltway bandits" are the result of government complexity.
In this response to Carl Malamud's Gov 2.0 Summit speech, Jim Stogdill says that demonizing the "beltway bandits" without addressing the root cause — the lock-in incentives inherent in a single-customer market — will just lead to new ways to lock them in. Fixing government IT means fixing incentives and making the cognitive leap to intentional emergence.
"Spontaneous collaboration" and other lessons from the private sector
Padmasree Warrior on the tools and technology governments should harness.
In this wide-ranging interview, Cisco CTO Padmasree Warrior weighs in on smart cities, how the signal-to-noise ratio of social media can be managed, and why open government — if done right — can improve the speed and quality of decisions.
Bringing open government to courts
Harlan Yu on how "privacy by obscurity" in court records is changing.
An interview with Princeton computer scientist Harlan Yu is a reminder that the state of open government in the U.S. court system is both further advanced and more muddled than the public realizes.
FCC.gov poised for an overdue overhaul
FCC managing director Steven VanRoekel on participation and building platforms.
The Federal Communications Commission is prepping a significant reboot of its website. In this interview, FCC managing director Steven VanRoekel explains how citizen participation and open government are shaping the new FCC.gov.