Open Government (Excerpt)

By Daniel Lathrop and Laurel R. T. Ruma

Available: January 2010

This collection of essays, interviews, and case studies provides a multi-faceted and nonpartisan account of government as it becomes more transparent, collaborative, and participatory. Each chapter expresses the views of its prominent author, and the book as a whole offers a persuasive argument for transparency and interactivity in government at all levels. As a handbook for advocates of openness and e-government, Open Government provides a valuable mosaic of opinions from leading politicians, journalists, programmers, professors, and visionaries, making it a must-read, particularly in light of current events and technologies.

Topics include:

* The beautiful vision: seamless access to government information that is remixable, meaningful citizen interaction with government officials, and improved government effectiveness through realtime data analysis and visualization

* Transparency in the U.S. and abroad: solutions to bureaucratic indifference as well as government procurement biased towards proprietary, closed-source vendors

* Open, semantic government using Web 2.0 technologies: mashing up government data, knowledge management via wiki, and the open source approach to government

* Government 2.0 agenda for public participation: reforming government procurement, mandating the use of open standards, and bringing citizens into the government process

Open Government editor Daniel Lathrop is a former investigative projects reporter with the Seattle Post Intelligencer who's covered politics in Washington state, Iowa, Florida, and Washington D.C. He's a specialist in campaign finance and "computer-assisted reporting" -- the practice of using data analysis to report the news.

• Language: English
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 23, 2010