[open-government] OpenGovernment.org (beta) launches - local versions of OpenCongress.org

Thu Jan 20 08:29:29 UTC 2011

Hi David,

thank you very much for this update. This looks like an ambitious project. I am sure you guys will do very good! I really hope the very best for your endeavours and looking fwd for this project become successful and interconnected with other initiatives and networks like this working group.

All the best
Daniel

On 20.01.2011, at 00:26, David Moore wrote:

> Hello OKFN list,  
> 
> David with the Participatory Politics Foundation here, a U.S.-based 501(c)3 non-profit. We make OpenCongress.org, the government transparency site for tracking the U.S. Congress. 
> 
> Ever since we conceived of OpenCongress back in 2004, we recognized that its model of aggregating official government information with other data sources could be productively applied to government at all levels: state, city, local, and especially, internationally. 
> 
> Since OC launched in 2007, we've continually received the question, "When will there be an OpenCongress for my country?" Or, "How can I create a version of OpenCongress for my locality?" Our code has always been 100% open, but now there's an even more modular version that will hopefully provide a solution. Yesterday we announced the beta version of our next major project, OpenGovernment :: 
> 
> http://opengovernment.org/
> 
> ... free & libre & open-source as always. The web app itself is built in Ruby on Rails, and powered by the open-source GovKit API wrapper :: 
> 
> http://opengovernment.org/pages/developer
> 
> http://github.com/opengovernment
> 
> http://opengovernment.org/pages/about/#our_data_sources
> 
> ... which can of course be remixed for other data inputs -- meaning that, given programming time & data wrangling, OpenGovernment can be customized for any country or city, creating in essence a local version of OpenCongress. 
> 
> For our part, we've started with U.S. state legislatures, with official state-level government info on OpenGovernment from the community-driven Open States Project, coordinated by Sunlight Labs :: 
> 
> http://openstates.sunlightlabs.com/
> 
> ... but we're not U.S.-centric, and we're excited -- very much so -- to help facilitate localization of OG to other countries as quickly as our resources allow. Carl Tashian, PPF's Director of Technology and the lead on OG, is a member of this mailing list and we're happy to answer questions. Developers: we've made it as easy as possible to get set up with OG, check it out and see what we have to play with ::  
> 
> https://github.com/opengovernment/opengovernment/blob/master/README.md
> 
> We're actively seeking non-profit funding support to continue to roll out OpenGovernment to all 50 U.S. states, major cities, and -- this is the key point -- other countries! So if you're in touch with any foundation funders or philanthropists who can support our work and help us scale up, please be in touch. Here's a .pdf copy of our non-profit funding prospectus to download and circulate (1.6 MB) :: 
> 
> http://opengovernment.org/images/OpenGovernment_prospectus_1-18-10.pdf
> 
> ... my full contact info & Skype handle are below, of course I'd love to be in touch with anyone who can help us expand our open-source development capacity. We're a small team (the equivalent of four full-time folks, all working remotely), easy to reach & happy to talk. We'd love to partner with anyone here in order to make OpenGovernment for other countries a reality as soon as possible. 
> 
> Below I've pasted our announcement from yesterday on our OG Google Group, a link to which is included below. Let us know what you think, and please be in touch if you're interested in setting up a version. In the meantime we're continuing to build out this beta version and add from a long wish-list of data & feature enhancements. If any volunteer developers care to contribute time, it's much appreciated. 
> 
> Don't hesitate to ping me anytime, glad to be in touch with everyone here. Let us know what you think of our latest version of a public-facing web app for engaging with all the data we're opening together.
> 
> Thank you, 
> -David
> 
> 
> ###
> 
> We're very excited to announce that OpenGovernment is launching in 
> beta today :: 
> http://opengovernment.org/ 
> ... with information for the five state legislatures previously 
> mentioned: CA, LA, MD, TX, and WI. 
> Our team is hard at work making tweaks already in response to user 
> feedback and doing outreach to our data partners & allies, so more to 
> come. For now, here's the official blog post announcement, please feel 
> free to share widely :: 
> http://bit.ly/OG_announce 
> ... and I'm highlighting some early (and quite appreciated) blog/press 
> coverage on my micro-publishing account :: 
> http://twitter.com/#!/ppolitics 
> ... most of all, this Group exists as a discussion forum to hear what 
> you think, so I look forward to corresponding here. I won't belabor my 
> point that we're truly a community project, and as with our Miro 
> software app and the OpenCongress web app itself, your beta-testing & 
> user interface input & bug reports will have an impact. PPF is a small 
> team, the equivalent of just four full-time folks at the moment, all 
> working remotely, so we appreciate all the help we can get. 
> First, developers (developers developers): Carl Tashian, our Director 
> of Technology and (as one might expect) the technical lead on OG, made 
> it as relatively frictionless as possible to set up a version of OG. 
> Check out our hub w/ more links & getting-started how-to 
> instructions :: 
> http://opengovernment.org/pages/developer 
> ... our public-facing wish-list of data & features, in early bullet- 
> point format :: 
> http://opengovernment.org/pages/wish-list 
> ... we're definitely interested in hearing more detailed suggestions 
> for data, design, and feature enhancements to this beta version. The 
> best way to get started (and the most efficient for us, we appreciate 
> the help) is to submit them via our LighthouseApp project management system :: 
> 
> https://participatorypolitics.lighthouseapp.com/projects/47665-opengovernment/overview 
> 
> ... registering is free, signup is in upper-right. But it's not nec. to dive in there, as suggestions are welcome anytime on our Google Group :: 
> 
> http://groups.google.com/group/opengovernment
> 
> ... or over email or IRC (#opengovernment on Freenode) anytime :: 
> 
> http://opengovernment.org/pages/contact 
> ... for routine bug reports (e.g., page formatting glitches), please 
> submit new issues to me on ZenDesk: 
> http://opencongress.zendesk.com/anonymous_requests/new 
> ... and don't forget to help spread the word about our launch to your 
> online communities. Looking forward to rolling out OG to all 50 states 
> and beyond together. Let us know what you think about this beta 
> version! 
> Thanks, 
> -David 
> m: (917) 753-3462 
> AIM / Jabber / Skype :: davidmooreppf 
> IRC: davidrussellmoor in #opengovernment on freenode.net 
> 
> 
> http://participatorypolitics.org 
> http://opengovernment.org/pages/about
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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