Digital Government

Is administration more interested in transparency of Congress?

Some open government advocates question whether the White House is moving more quickly to disclose legislative matters while delaying the same for the executive branch.

Ideas

Birthers and Transparency

Programmers may extract data from a White House-led online discussion about transparency to analyze the influence of participants who are out to prove that President Obama is not a natural born U.S. citizen.

Digital Government

Firm awaits decision on whether Defense will disclose contractor ratings

The FOIA Group hopes the Obama administration's commitment to transparency will be enough for it to overturn past decisions to not release contractors' performance scores.

Ideas

Stimulus Reporting Process Starts

Stimulus money recipients can start on Monday the process of reporting their spending and job creation statistics to the public.

Digital Government

Social Security e-health records requirements draw fire

Critics say Recovery Act contracts to automate the agency's medical disability program and cut wait times for medical records to determine disability claims could slow innovation.

Ideas

Take Responsibility for Your Cookies

The Cato Institute's Jim Harper on Tuesday <a href="http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/08/11/all-hail-the-demise-of-a-bad-policy/" target="_blank">blogged</a> that a recent White House proposal to reverse a long-standing ban on cookies is an acknowledgment that Americans can control their own cookie intake. No, this was not a commentary on the administration's healthcare overhaul plan.

Digital Government

State deploys low tech social media to reach those without computers

Stripped-down process for town hall meetings includes displaying presentations in text-only formats, printing transcripts and soliciting questions via text messaging.

Digital Government

When it comes to transparency, Supreme Court's Web site is dark

The public had plenty of access to the hearing arguments of newly confirmed Sonia Sotomayor, but when she takes the bench in September, the Court will not provide the same online accessibility.

Ideas

IT Dashboard Updates Reviews

The government's IT shop on Wednesday announced it has updated a recently-launched White House Web site with reviews of all major federal IT investments.

Digital Government

Vendors worry posting of contracts will expose proprietary data

In light of publication of Recovery.gov contract, companies worry information that might be included in proposals and posted online could put them at a competitive disadvantage or compromise national security.

Digital Government

GSA posts winning Recovery.gov overhaul contract proposal

Much of the pricing in Smartronix's winning proposal was redacted to protect competitive information.

Digital Government

Health care reform hinges on technology

An electronic marketplace would allow consumers to compare insurance plans.

Ideas

Updated: Recovery.gov Contract

The government is behind in posting the potential $18 million contract for the redesign of Recovery.gov because of the work involved to ensure the disabled can access it, said officials at the General Services Administration and the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board.

Ideas

Godwin's White House Tenure Ends

Bev Godwin, who helped bridge the digital divide between federal Luddites and Obama administration tech whizzes, is leaving her post at the White House's new media office.

Digital Government

Privacy protections could hamper agencies' adoption of cookies

OMB wants to allow the use of cookies to improve online services, but agencies may have to conduct privacy impact assessments to determine if they comply with privacy regulations.

Ideas

The Health Show Must Go On

After liberal and conservative House Democrats on Wednesday compromised on a health care bill, the <a href="http://energycommerce.house.gov/">Web site of the committee with jurisdiction</a> apparently went down due to "an unusually high number of visitors."

Digital Government

States' stimulus tracking sites are mediocre at best, report finds

The average score for overall Web site performance was 28.2 on a scale of 0 to 100.

Ideas

Library Official Picked For Archivist

President Obama reportedly plans to appoint David S. Ferriero to the position of U.S. Archivist, a job that entails deploying a massive technologically-agnostic system to preserve and publish the historical record of the United States, according to the nonprofit National Coalition for History.

Digital Government

Public more satisfied with agencies that pursue transparency online, study says

Open government advocates say while good Web interfaces are important, the report failed to define trust and transparency properly.

Ideas

White House Confronts Cookies

The White House may lift its policy barring federal Web sites from tracking users' online behavior. A <a href="http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-17756.htm">Federal Register notice</a> published on Monday seeks public comment on revisions to an existing ban on persistent cookies -- common software programs that commercial sites deposit on a visitor's computer to collect usage information.