Gun trace data is restricted from public scrutiny by the Tiahart Amendment. It should be made available publicly in order to determine where crime guns are originating and for purposes of assisting with research with respect to which policies are actually having an impact in reducing violent crime associated with firearm accessibility.
Data is more useful when it is linked together and discoverable. If important data elements had a single point to link to across the federal space, more data would be discoverable about each important element. For instance, if all records concerning federal buildings were reciprocally linked to a permanent location containing the core definition of each building, then we could find more information about each building... more »
Whenever a new classified record is created, the person classifying it should set a time limit for when the new record should have its classification level reviewed. There should be a reasonable coherent justification for keeping records classified for lengthy periods or indefinitely. There should also be a default time period for having classified records become automatically declassified. No records should be classified... more »
In the old days, information was a one-way avenue; government would distribute information to news and media outlets that then added their political or demographic agenda and redistributed it to the general public in the form of censored TV newscasts, radio shows and other legacy media outlets. Welcome to the 21st century and to a world driven by information technology shared and crowdsourced by social media such as... more »
OMB's RAT Board Chairman Earl Devaney has complained that the transparency respecting expenditure of stimulus legislation funds on the Recovery.gov website will require most of his $84 million oversight budget, and over a year to develop. Federal and state agencies can't agree on how much detail should be included in reports on construction projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. I have an idea... more »
In future brainstorming and idea gathering sessions like this one, it may be more illuminating to all who review the results to see an actual count of
positive and negative reaction instead of the reductive number that posts currently. One now must scroll over the number to see responses, which seem
surprisingly and questionably spare throughout the site, given it's content and scope
A single website that allows users to interactively and visually explore the federal budget. The site should start out with basic high-level information about revenue, expense, deficit, and then allow users to click on a category of interest to drill down into the details and see precisely where money is being spent. Most people are not economists so the information should be basic but allow users the opportunity to... more »
The use of words and images work well to convey complex ideas. This process is called visual recording. I used this process for the Cabinet retreat during President Clinton's second term and have posted samples (now unclassified) visuals at http://www.visualrecording.blogspot.com Many skilled visual recorders are available across the country to translate ideas into images and words and others can be trained in this skill... more »
I suggest that the government create a cable TV channel that broadcasts news and information about the government 24/7. I don’t mean a single program – I mean an entire channel devoted to information about our government. The programming would be exciting and interesting. It could feature: - breaking news - daily news - call-in programs - a series on a particular topic - some private programs, like Ken Burns'... more »
The Congressional Research Service does some excellent research and analysis on all manner of things. These reports are not officially accessible to taxpayers.
CRS reports to Congress or individual members of Congress should be readily accessible via the World Wide Web within two weeks of their delivery to the requesting member(s).
Eliminate the CIA "Black Budget" and divulge their budget uses
The CTO should ensure that agencies create websites that use open source software and distribute data in open formats that are accessible to all search engines. OMB should direct agencies to actively make all their online resources searchable by major public search engines and available in open formats. Similarly, agencies should have a policy to exercise a preference for open-source software for government activities... more »
OMB, the GSA, or another similar body should undertake a review of metadata standards throughout government (and Congress) and issue recommendations for standards development and coordination. The key purpose of metadata is to facilitate and improve the retrieval of information, making it easier for the public to access the information. At a minimum, metadata should answer who, what, when, where, why, and how about every... more »
The president should direct agencies to minimize the use of copyright claims on government-sponsored materials and include a statement on websites establishing that in the absence of expressed copyright agency-produced materials are copyright free. The government should minimize the copyright claims it allows for materials produced under contract with federal agencies. Each agency should include on its website a clear... more »