Comments on: Obama and the Internet Generation http://rokdrop.com/2008/11/09/obama-and-the-internet-generation/ Korea From North to South Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:22:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: JoeC http://rokdrop.com/2008/11/09/obama-and-the-internet-generation/comment-page-1/#comment-274165 JoeC Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:32:47 +0000 http://rokdrop.com/?p=9673#comment-274165 We may soon see the first real demonstration of the potential of E-Government as a concept. If Obama's proposal for offering full transparency and openness to the Economic Stimulus Plan spending is done right, according to IT professionals, we could have unprecedented access to unfiltered, unsummarized information.Obama promises to publish the information on a new website called Recovery.gov. Of course the site will likely present a lot of reports and charts for the general viewer, but IT professional are also hoping for complete access to all the actual source data so anyone can analyze and present the data in new and innovative ways. <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13739_3-10150699-46.html" rel="nofollow">Activists call for a mashup-friendly Recovery.gov</a>The are many practical obstacles to frustrate this concept. The Federal government can have detailed oversight on federally managed programs and give us details on what projects are open to bidding, who are the bidders, who won the bid, what are the cost estimates, what milestones have been met, and completion status. But when they dole out money to states and cities for their projects, will we demand or expect the same level of reporting?To the IT professionals, the potential is challenging but enticing. I remember going to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website many years ago thinking I could download years of census data, analyze it and discover some previously unknown nugget of information. I found out then how naive I was. There was massive amounts of data in thousands of tables in hundreds of different layouts. You had to understand the relationships between the tables and had to have a sense of exactly what you might be looking for before you could do anything useful with it.But imagine what could be done through the concerted efforts of a lot of smart people with access to complete American Recovery and Reinvestment Act reporting data. You could go to Google Maps and click on an icon for your child's public school to find out what upgrades are planned to be done. You might compare that to proposals to upgrade other schools in your district or other more affluent or less affluent districts and may start asking questions.Residents and small business owners in rural areas may be able to click on links to find out the time lines and status for upgrades to failing utilities and getting access to real broadband connections. Off course they would be doing it on a slow dial ups until they actually get their broadband connection. We may soon see the first real demonstration of the potential of E-Government as a concept. If Obama's proposal for offering full transparency and openness to the Economic Stimulus Plan spending is done right, according to IT professionals, we could have unprecedented access to unfiltered, unsummarized information.Obama promises to publish the information on a new website called Recovery.gov. Of course the site will likely present a lot of reports and charts for the general viewer, but IT professional are also hoping for complete access to all the actual source data so anyone can analyze and present the data in new and innovative ways. Activists call for a mashup-friendly Recovery.govThe are many practical obstacles to frustrate this concept. The Federal government can have detailed oversight on federally managed programs and give us details on what projects are open to bidding, who are the bidders, who won the bid, what are the cost estimates, what milestones have been met, and completion status. But when they dole out money to states and cities for their projects, will we demand or expect the same level of reporting?To the IT professionals, the potential is challenging but enticing. I remember going to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website many years ago thinking I could download years of census data, analyze it and discover some previously unknown nugget of information. I found out then how naive I was. There was massive amounts of data in thousands of tables in hundreds of different layouts. You had to understand the relationships between the tables and had to have a sense of exactly what you might be looking for before you could do anything useful with it.But imagine what could be done through the concerted efforts of a lot of smart people with access to complete American Recovery and Reinvestment Act reporting data. You could go to Google Maps and click on an icon for your child's public school to find out what upgrades are planned to be done. You might compare that to proposals to upgrade other schools in your district or other more affluent or less affluent districts and may start asking questions.Residents and small business owners in rural areas may be able to click on links to find out the time lines and status for upgrades to failing utilities and getting access to real broadband connections. Off course they would be doing it on a slow dial ups until they actually get their broadband connection.

]]> By: JoeC http://rokdrop.com/2008/11/09/obama-and-the-internet-generation/comment-page-1/#comment-245257 JoeC Sun, 09 Nov 2008 14:52:00 +0000 http://rokdrop.com/?p=9673#comment-245257 You may have noticed Google CEO Eric Schmidt is in Obama's inner circle of advisers. The idea of E-government had been floating around for some time. <a href="http://egov20.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/obama-tech-plan-transparency-is-key/" rel="nofollow">Transparency is the key.</a> There is also much work to be done on the congressional side. thomas.loc.gov is okay, but there is a lot of room for improvement. We know how much lobbyists and special interest groups control the decision making in Washington. I would like to see more transparency there. I hope the site would allow me to list my interests, such as "military retiree overseas." Whenever a congressman makes a proposal to stuff an earmark or meaningless resolution into a bill at the eleventh hour, I want to receive a message telling me who he is and what he said. I want to know before decisions are made that affect my interests so I could fire off my objections. I would also like to be able to click on that congressman's name and see a list of all the companies giving him/her donations of over $1000. You may have noticed Google CEO Eric Schmidt is in Obama's inner circle of advisers.

The idea of E-government had been floating around for some time. Transparency is the key.

There is also much work to be done on the congressional side. thomas.loc.gov is okay, but there is a lot of room for improvement. We know how much lobbyists and special interest groups control the decision making in Washington. I would like to see more transparency there.

I hope the site would allow me to list my interests, such as "military retiree overseas." Whenever a congressman makes a proposal to stuff an earmark or meaningless resolution into a bill at the eleventh hour, I want to receive a message telling me who he is and what he said. I want to know before decisions are made that affect my interests so I could fire off my objections.

I would also like to be able to click on that congressman's name and see a list of all the companies giving him/her donations of over $1000.

]]> By: Ditto81 http://rokdrop.com/2008/11/09/obama-and-the-internet-generation/comment-page-1/#comment-245253 Ditto81 Sun, 09 Nov 2008 14:37:08 +0000 http://rokdrop.com/?p=9673#comment-245253 Actually he won the campaign by Americans in general, not just minorities and young people. Many older GOP members fed up with the party helped him win more than credit is given. Actually he won the campaign by Americans in general, not just minorities and young people. Many older GOP members fed up with the party helped him win more than credit is given.

]]> By: Mark http://rokdrop.com/2008/11/09/obama-and-the-internet-generation/comment-page-1/#comment-245211 Mark Sun, 09 Nov 2008 12:03:05 +0000 http://rokdrop.com/?p=9673#comment-245211 Gleichschaltung. Gleichschaltung.

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