"local government" entries
With new maps and apps, the case for open transit gets stronger
OpenPlans looks to improve transportation infrastructure with open data and open source code.
Earlier this year, the news broke that Apple would be dropping default support for transit in iOS 6. For people (like me) who use the iPhone to check transit routes and times when they travel, that would mean losing a key feature. It also has the potential to decrease the demand for open transit data from cities, which has open government advocates like Clay Johnson concerned about public transportation and iOS 6.
This summer, New York City-based non-profit Open Plans launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a new iPhone transit app to fill in the gap.
“From the public perspective, this campaign is about putting an important feature back on the iPhone,” wrote Kevin Webb, a principal at Open Plans, via email. “But for those of us in the open government community, this is about demonstrating why open data matters. There’s no reason why important civic infrastructure should get bound up in a fight between Apple and Google. And in communities with public GTFS, it won’t.”
Open Plans already had a head start in creating a patch for the problem: they’ve been working with transit agencies over the past few years to build OpenTripPlanner, an open source application that uses open transit data to help citizens make transit decisions.
Palo Alto looks to use open data to embrace ‘city as a platform’
Palo Alto CIO Jonathan Reichental talks about the city's vision for open data.
In the 21st century, one of the strategies cities around the world are embracing to improve services, increase accountability and stimulate economic activity is to publish open data online. The vision for New York City as a data platform earned wider attention last year, when the Big Apple’s first chief digital officer, Rachel Sterne, pitched the idea to the public.
This week, the city of Palo Alto in California joined over a dozen cities around the United States and globe when it launched its own open data platform. The platform includes an application programming interface (API) which enables direct access through a RESTful interface to open government data published in a JSON format. Datasets can also be embedded like YouTube videos, as below:
The new guy wants to hack the city's data
Christopher Groskopf looks to bring open data and open source to Tyler, Texas.
Instead of quietly settling in like most new residents, Tyler, Texas transplant Christopher Groskopf is on a mission to find and unlock his new city's datasets.
Election 2010: A refresh for Gov 2.0?
A new GOP majority in the U.S. House and open government elections in state government shift the Gov 2.0 landscape.
Sweeping election gains for Republicans in the 2010 midterm elections will shape how Gov 2.0 initiatives and open government move ahead in the next two years at the state and federal level. Here's a look at what happened and what's to come.
Gov 2.0 goes local
How local governments are using technology to deliver smarter government.
The quiet evolution in the use of technology by local governments is one of the great under-covered stories of Gov 2.0. Here's a look at the platforms, standards and connections local elected officials and public servants are using to empower citizens.