City of Palo Alto Launches “Open GIS”

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Kristinpedia

Originally released through city of Paleo Alto

Palo Alto, California – The City of Palo Alto today again stepped up its commitment to open government by releasing the first sets of City Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) data as open data through the innovative use of Google Fusion Tables. Called Open GIS, this release joins Palo Alto’s existing open data sets athttp://data.cityofpaloalto.org, and the award-winning site for City budget information, Open Budget, available here: http://data.cityofpaloalto.org/openbudget.

The new service, accessible via http://data.cityofpaloalto.org/opengis will, over time, make hundreds of data layers easily available. The data will contain a large volume of geographically-referenced features which have been created and catalogued over the past 20 years in Palo Alto’s GIS. Coupled with these features is attribute data—additional information about each of the features such as size, material, owner, census tract, and other characteristics.

Open GIS was created through the innovative use of Google Fusion Tables, an experimental data visualization Web application to gather, visualize, and share large data tables. Developers can extend the power of Fusion Tables using the Fusion Tables API and by using FusionTablesLayers in the Google Maps API.

Palo Alto City Manager James Keene commented, “Open GIS continues our rapid pace to unleash the value of data stored on our servers so it can serve our community in completely new ways. Geospatial data is particularly valuable to a large range of stakeholders as it is the underlying physical blueprint of every community.”

Jonathan Reichental, Palo Alto Chief Information Officer said, “We’re stepping up to our responsibility as the heart of Silicon Valley by not just being a model for open government, but for doing it in the most innovative way. Experimenting with the power of Google Fusion Tables provides us with a free platform to try new ways to extend the data back to those it belongs: our community.”

Development Services Director Peter Pirnejad said, “Geospatial data is valuable to a wide range of stakeholders such as city planning, construction, architects, utilities, and public safety. I’ve already seen innovative start-ups use our open city permit data to create useful apps so I’m confident by making more and more of our GIS data easily available, we’ll see useful innovation for the community happen.”

The initial data sets on Open GIS include location data, road centerlines, land use, tree data, public projects, and trench plate data. More data will be added in the weeks ahead, so City staff recommends visiting the site often.

Citizen Journalism Proven at Boston Bombings

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Kristinpedia

Yesterday marked a tragic day for our country when two bombs going off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing two and injuring over 100 others.

In the face of this act of terror, I stand comforted by two things. The first is the sheer amount of people who rushed to the aid of those injured, who ran towards the blasts rather than away from them.

I also stand proud of all the citizen journalists, who through social media, were able to send out instantaneous pictures, videos, and information on what was happening. Furthermore, thanks to those at Google and other social networks, people were able to find their loved ones even after cell phones failed.

I’d like to send a personal thank you to everyone who stepped up to help yesterday—you are what keeps my faith in humanity strong.

Announcing the 2013 Sunny Award Winners

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Kristinpedia

Sunshine Review, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to government transparency, released the winners of the fourth annual Sunny Awards. The award, which honors the most transparent government websites in the nation, went to 247 government entities with Florida receiving the most Sunny Awards.“The Sunny Awards recognize governments that make transparency a priority. The winners of the Sunny Awards are cities, counties and school districts that proactively share the public information that empowers citizens and keeps government accountable to the people,” said Michael Barnhart, President of Sunshine Review.For the 2013 awards, Editors at Sunshine Review analyzed more than 1,000 qualifying government websites and graded each on a 10-point transparency checklist. Editors looked at content available on government websites against what should be provided. They sought information on items such as budgets, meetings, lobbying, financial audits, contracts, academic performance, public records and taxes. The winners of the Sunny Award all received an “A” grade during the extensive grading process.

Eight states earned nearly half of the 247 Sunny Awards given. The leading states were Florida (25), Virginia (19), Illinois (19), California (12), Georgia (12), Kansas (11), Oklahoma (10) and Colorado (9). In addition, 35 counties, 22 cities and 42 school districts from all over the country earned the coveted “A+” grade. Sunshine Review also analyzes official state government websites. However, no state received an “A” grade due to Sunshine Review’s 2013 “raising the bar” initiative, which includes additional budget requirements, online checkbook register and a FOIA compliance report.

Since beginning the Sunny Awards in 2010, Sunshine Review has given 613 awards to local and state governments. In 2012, Florida once again took home the most awards with other leading states including Texas (21), Illinois (19), Virginia (14), Ohio (10) and Pennsylvania (10). Florida won more Sunny Awards than any other state in 2011 and 2010 as well.

“Sunshine Review applauds the 247 winners of the Sunny Award and encourages every government to allocate the resources to improving their website transparency,” said Barnhart.

The Sunny Awards announcement falls during the annual of “Sunshine Week,” March 10-16, a period nationally recognized by hundreds of media and civic organizations, that celebrates the efforts of activists and the strides taken towards open government.

New Jersey’s Sandy transparency website goes live

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Cory

Hurricane Sandy prompted millions of dollars in federal, state, and local spending to rebuild devastated northeastern communities. Following an executive order signed by New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie, that state has finally launched a website dedicated to reconstruction fund transparency. flickr-8131409082-hd

NJ Sandy Transparency currently contains copies of Sandy-related state contracts, state and local cooperative contracts, federal funding legislation, and a breakdown of federal spending by department. According to the site, a “funds tracker” including data sorted by geography and program is coming soon.

Christie signed Executive Order No. 125 back on February 8. According to news reports, it was prompted at least partially by a $100 million no-bid contract awarded to the Florida based AshBritt Inc. for debris removal.

In the end, though, it is hard to see why it takes a tragedy like Hurricane Sandy, followed by public outcry over a massive no-bid contract for the state to make vital information available to the public. Perhaps New Jersey could take lessons learned from the implementation of NJ Sandy Transparency to improve statewide contract and funds reporting.

11-yr-old schools Dallas City Council

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Kristinpedia

This is amazing. An 11-yr-old boy named David Williams reprimanded the Dallas City Council for rudely walking around during the public comments section of an open meeting, saying:

“Do you feel it is acceptable for City Council members to be up and walking around while constituents are addressing them?” he asks.

The council apologized for the actions and took Williams’ comments on school safety to heart. Inspired by David? Check out your state’s open meeting law.