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July 27, 2012 By News Staff
Most public-sector officials are quite familiar with the movement toward increased transparency in government operations, known as the “open government” movement. Most could also probably rattle off a list of the kinds of data now commonly being published for public consumption.
But the Center for Technology in Government (CTG) at the University of Albany, in conjunction with international software company SAP, wants to develop tools for the public sector that will help it leverage open government to improve relationships within government, and between government, community groups and citizens.
"Government's ability to develop appropriate policies and practices to make the best use of information lags behind the rapidly increasing power of information technologies," said CTG Director Theresa Pardo in a news release. "This project will contribute to the development of better research, consulting and government practice models to address the policy, technology and management challenges in our increasingly computational and data-intensive world."
The CTG recently hosted a group of international experts representing the public sector, education and business to contribute to the discussion, and provide feedback on its recently released white paper, titled Modeling the Informational Relationships between Government and Society. The draft paper will be revised based on feedback and other information gathered during the June workshop.
The CTG’s analysis considered the case of New York City’s website that was created to put restaurant inspection reports directly in the hands of Manhattan diners. An early open government effort that started in 1999, it brought together diverse stakeholder groups with an interest in the information.
CTG Senior Program Associate Natalie Helbig explained the inclusion of the New York City case study this way: “The information relationships between government, restaurant inspectors, the restaurant operators, citizens and mobile app developers, changed in complex ways that have led to greater openness, transparency and accuracy of information.”
More information on the Center for Technology in Government’s Open Government Thought Leadership Program is available here.
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http://www.govtech.com/policy-management/Improving-Open-Government-Outcomes.html
Attorney General Sam Olens is on record pledging more “government transparency” and advocating “Open Records” mandates in HB 397 for stronger Sunshine Laws, while, at the same time, Attorney General Olens is on legal record exempt from the Open Records he mandates for other government officials in the cases he and his office defend. My Georgia Whistleblower case is one strong example. Attorney General Sam Olens filed his third “Response in Opposition” on 10 May 2012 in Fulton County Superior Court to the Third Motion that requested the Court to release the Depositions, Affidavits and Discovery documents which confirm ethical and fiscal violations by his defendants – the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia – a serious “Conflict of Interest.” FACT: All three Motions filed to lift the Protective Orders being used to literally bury serious ethical and fiscal "criminal" violations tjat negatively affect USG faculty, staff, students and Georgians by top officials at the Board of Regents of the USG from public view were denied by Judge Doris L. Downs, Fulton County Superior Court, following the filing of “Response in Opposition” of each Motion by the Board of Regents’ attorneys, Attorney General Sam Olens and his staff. I am available to discuss in detail. E. Denise Caldon Macon, GA 31210 478.757.0870 C: 478.731.5576 Email: cotn712@aol.com http://www.linkedin.com/pub/denise-caldon/26/624/949 Georgia Whistleblower Protection Act Case CALDON V. BOARD OF REGENTS Fulton County Superior Court - 2009-CV-165267
Community leaders and government officials who want to encourage the development of "tools for the public sector that will help...leverage open government to improve relationships within government, and between government, community groups and citizens" should check out the resources available at http://openimpact.us