But clearly today’s information technology has the effect of disintermediating. It breaks down hierarchies. It breaks down monopolies. That’s got to be good for the individual, and it must be bad for dictatorships.
“What if we could help your city work better, just by using your smartphone?”
-Biz Stone, Twitter Co-Founder
“What if city hall spoke with citizens the way citizens speak with each other?”
-Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Co-Founder
Code for America is announcing their call for 2012 Fellows. The Code for America Fellowship Program connects web developers and entrepreneurs with communities and cities in need. They strive to make government more open, efficient, and responsive, through the use of new technologies. And all the while, they provide leadership training and career support.
You can find out more about Code for America here. And you can apply for the Fellowship Program here.
For every buck we spend we borrow forty cents and if that isn’t stupid. You’ve got a country that is stupid. A government that is stupid.
-Former US Senator Alan Simpson, co-chair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, on our government.
TechCrunch had a great interview yesterday about the new office for Gavin Newsom, the new Lieutenant Governor of California.
Newsom announced that he will forgo an office in San Francisco and will workout of an office/coworking space for entrepreneurs called the Founders Den. Why?
To bring innovation back to our state government. Founders Den provides the kind of collaborative and creative atmosphere to foster new ideas not only for emerging new businesses, but government as well.
Take a look at the interview, where Lt. Governor Newsom compares government (specifically California’s current cash strapped situation) to that of a startup and the need for entrepreneurial energy in government.
John Stewart interviewed Edward Glaeser on The Daily Show earlier this week. It was in reference to Glaeser’s new book Triumph of the City, which has seen rave reviews. It sounds academic, but as a student of local government, I can’t wait to read it!
I am incredibly sad to hear any public servant speak these words, much less a member of the House of Commons.
Google has a great Google Doodle (see it here) for today, the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s inauguration as the 35th President of the United States. PCMag has some background, but the Doodle specifically honors Kennedy’s inaugural address. It includes many of the words of Kennedy’s iconic address (read the text of his address here).
See the Doodle here.
You can also see the earliest known draft of the address at the JFK Library website (along with his secretary’s files of dictation and other notes).
GCN noted yesterday that the U.S. House of Representatives is moving to the open source Drupal content management system. The White House recently moved to Drupal also, which I have discussed here and here.
The founder of Drupal, Dries Buytaert, talked about the House move to Drupal and mentions the requirements:
- Accommodate hundreds of independent websites, each with different sets of features.
- Provide the ability to deploy new sites quickly and efficiently.
- Enable House Members to use the web designer or developer of their choice by leveraging the Drupal community.
A couple of examples of the new Drupal websites, which have initially been deployed for freshmen House members, are here and here.
I am a little late on this, but I wanted to point out a great public interest/public administration/politics piece.
During the most recent snow storm on the East Coast, Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, New Jersey, patrolled the streets using Twitter to direct snow plows and city workers, and even shoveled out residents and cars himself. The Twitter Blog has a great piece on Booker’s heroic efforts and it links to stories at several major news outlets.
You can follow Mayor Booker (@CoryBooker) on Twitter yourself.
These are the accomplishments we public servants can achieve with the help of social networking and social media. These are the types of things I want to do in public service, and services like Facebook and Twitter can help us all improve our communities.
The British organization Index on Censorship has some interesting quotes on internet censorship, especially considering the current crisis over leaked diplomatic cables. My favorite:
The more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable. They can begin to think for themselves.
I can tell you that in the United States, the fact that we have free internet — or unrestricted internet access is a source of strength, and I think should be encouraged.
Can you guess who said that?
Compare those words to the notice from the White House to ban federal employees from reading WikiLeaks (the military has warned soldiers it is illegal to read WikiLeaks without clearance). Is it now illegal to read the New York Times, which has published cables?
