11 Dec 2009
The Obama Administration released the long anticipated Open Government Directive on Tuesday. It lays out some ambitious steps for executive departments and agencies to take over the relatively near-term to be more transparent, participatory, and accountable, such as:
- Within 45 days, each agency shall identify and publish online in an open format at least three high-value data sets and register those data sets via Data.gov
- Within 60 days, each agency shall create an Open Government web page, and respond to public input received via that page
- Within 120 days, each agency shall develop and publish an Open Government Plan that will describe how it will improve transparency and integrate public participation and collaboration into its activities
Not sure how to get started? We can help.
We've worked for many years helping organizations develop effective approaches to be more transparent and accountable online. We can help you develop and document a credible Open Government Plan that meets OMBs objectives and at the same time...
3 Dec 2009
The folks at IOM are looking to hire a Manager of Web Communications, to serve as the primary point of contact for the IOM’s interactive activities as well as the producer and editor of the IOM’s website. "It is a critical role in this 175-person organization focused on improving health." More info here.
23 Nov 2009
We have described previously on this blog how Forum One approaches social media in general, as well as our experience with SlideShare and Scribd. In this post, we'll discuss the current glamour child of social media, Twitter.
Twitter is impossible to ignore. It has been embraced by celebrities (Britney Spears, Oprah), adopted by journalists (Anderson Cooper, Nicholas Kristof) and appropriated by politicians (Nancy Pelosi, Sarah Palin). More importantly, it has grown quickly (from 5 million to 50 million users this year) and is becoming a fixture with the influential...
17 Nov 2009
We're seeing exciting trends in governments making data more available — and valuable — for the public. Whether on crime, education, or the environment, governments are putting more data on the web. And they're doing it in ways that allow people to build web applications on top of the data.
By now, most folks in the web development and Gov 2.0 communities (and readers of this blog) have heard about the federal government's Data.gov initiative (and the winner of a certain Apps for America competition using these data sets). But local and state governments are also setting their data free. Here are a few examples:
- District of Columbia's Data Catalog: The District has opened up 405 data sets across multiple agencies. Users can, for example, subscribe to feeds of crime incidents or view a ...
17 Nov 2009
A number of federal agencies are experimenting with fascinating approaches to online public engagement, even in the absence of specific guidance about how they should approach such online opportunities.
This was the theme I heard echoed throughout the interesting Open Government: "Strategies and Tactics from the Playbook" event I attended this past Monday in DC. It was organized by the team of Lucas Cioffi, Stephen Buckley, and Kaliya Hamlin.
They designed the event with the goal of sharing lessons from agencies that have some early experiences. The format was a series of short, five-minute, presentations, which I think worked well. Here are some insights I picked up:
Open Government Directive: Coming soon?
A large part of the motivation for the Playbook event was to get people engaged in discussing the Obama Administration’s Open Government Directive, which is expected to address how agencies should proceed on open data...
11 Nov 2009
Many of our clients at Forum One produce large numbers of PDF documents (reports, studies, policy briefs) which then are placed in a "documents" section on their web sites. The challenge these organizations face is then making these documents as widely accessed as possible.
One way to increase attention to documents is to use Scribd, a third-party document sharing site (or in shorthand, "YouTube for documents"). We have had good luck at Forum One using Scribd for our clients.
For example, one of our clients produced sixty well-crafted, arcane reports on medical technologies. The reports were getting about 11,000 "views" per year on the client's site. We put them on Scribd, where they quickly received about 50,000 "views" per year. It is difficult to precisely compare web site traffic to Scribd traffic because the notion of "view" may be different (on Scribd it can mean a quick visit to the document's description page). Nonetheless, at relatively little cost, the documents clearly got a lot of new attention.
There are three ways in which Scribd increases "views" of your documents...
6 Nov 2009
First came "Web 2.0" in which we (the people) got the power to publish, share, comment, friend, follow, tag, and organize online.
Then came "Gov 2.0" and the trumpets sounded for transparency of government data and innovation.
Now, Hope Street Group (a Forum One client) has opened up the policy making process with a new collaboration platform: Policy 2.0.
The concept is simple. The three steps are:
- Recruit engaged citizens from outside of government -- most importantly the people directly impacted by the policy
- Provide them with the tools to learn about, collaborate and refine real world policy recommendations
- Give them a microphone and access to government leaders to advocate for and implement these recommendations
Hope Street Group pilot tested its Policy 2.0 model this past summer with a project to craft recommendations that improve teacher evaluation systems nationwide.
"Recommendations like this generally come from researchers and policymakers, administered top-down in states, districts, and eventually schools,"...
3 Nov 2009
It's election day in the Commonwealth of Virginia -- the state in which most Forum One staff call home. Today we'll elect a governor, a lieutenant governor, attorney general, and 100 house delegates. Thousands of people woke up this morning seeking answers to these three questions:
- How do I found out if I'm registered to vote?
- Where do I vote?
- What's on the ballot?
Many will turn to the internet for the answer and will find themselves at this polling place form on the Virginia State Board of Elections voter information web site. The form is clunky. It assumes you know your exact "locality." ("Do I live in Fairfax City or Fairfax County?"). Worse, it is the only place to find this official information.
Official voter information should be easily available in myriad web sites, search engines, and mobile phone...
2 Nov 2009
We recently described how we use social media at Forum One. Today we'll talk about the category leader for posting and sharing PowerPoint presentations, SlideShare.
Since we're a consulting firm, we (and many of our clients) produce a lot of PowerPoints. Some of them are not too bad. We've used SlideShare actively for the last three years posting our better efforts, as well as presentations from many of the events we host. The Forum One channel on SlideShare currently has 64 presentations.
The good news about SlideShare is that it is free, relatively easy to use (we'd give it a B+ for usability - some uploading is tricky), and seems to attract a lot of traffic. Our presentations have had about 90,000 views, with 5000 new views per month. This is more than they receive when posted on our own site. (A "view...
29 Oct 2009
I want to tell you about a fantastic new (and developing) resource for congressional staff.
Back in September, Forum One was one of the sponsors of CongressCamp, an informal "barcamp" unconference here in Washington. For two days, attendees exchanged ideas on how social media and collaboration tools could increase citizen engagement with Capitol Hill.
As conversations came to a close, a session's focus turned toward creating something of lasting value. Hill communication folks are smart folks, but things are changing fast. Each Hill office typically has one person focused on social media. They depend on external advice and lack a single common resource for finding (and suggesting) the best tools and practices.
Even once the event ended, CongressCamp participants wished to help bridge the gap between citizen knowledge and congressional needs. They asked themselves, "How can we help Hill staff make their internet sites and services more useful for citizens?"
The result is the "...
Influence covers innovations in communication, Internet technology and strategy to generate influence on important public policy issues. Chris Wolz manages this blog with the help of his colleagues at Forum One Communications, a web strategy/technology firm in the Washington DC area.
