Podcasts about Sunlight Foundation

Joining the podcast this week is Eric Mill, Senior Advisor on Technology and Cybersecurity to the Federal CIO in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). We discuss some of the latest and impactful security initiatives, policies and technologies in U.S. Government today – and highlights from some that OMB is helping to drive. We cover topics spanning the Executive Order on Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity, the Technology Modernization Fund, Zero Trust and what it has come to mean today, FIDO and PIV, and so much more! Eric also shares an interesting essay that is worth a read, “Reflections on Trusting Trust” by Ken Thompson. Read it here: https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rdriley/487/papers/Thompson_1984_ReflectionsonTrustingTrust.pdf. Eric Mill A leader in technology policy and cybersecurity, with a long background in public service. Eric currently serves in the Biden-Harris administration in the Office of Management and Budget as the Senior Advisor on Technology and Cybersecurity to the Federal Chief Information Officer, Clare Martorana. Prior to that, Eric was the Lead Product Manager for the security of the Chrome web browser at Google. In 2019, Eric worked for Senator Amy Klobuchar through the TechCongress program, with a focus on election security, vulnerability disclosure, and management of the .gov internet domain. Before that, Eric served in the 18F team at the U.S. General Services Administration, where he led the federal government's adoption of strong encryption for its online services. While at GSA, Eric oversaw Login.gov, which lets millions of people sign into U.S. public services securely and privately. Prior to 18F, Eric was a part of the Sunlight Foundation, a civil society group dedicated to government transparency. At Sunlight, Eric created open data services that helped the public follow government activity, advised Congress on its open data strategy, and provided expert guidance to anti-corruption NGOs around the world. For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e207

Our host, Dr. Fethke, dedicates this episode to a remarkable college classmate and friend at a time when she needs everyone's support. This person is none other than Maria Ressa, the recipient of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, recognized for her tireless efforts over the past three decades to champion Freedom of the Press in the face of overwhelming obstacles. In the words of the Nobel Committee, Maria Ressa received the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Russia's Dmitry Muratov for "their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace."In order to do justice to Ressa's cause, Dr. Fethke has invited a very special and highly knowledgeable guest, Professor Kathy Kiely. She is the Lee Hills Chair in Free Press Studies at the Missouri School of Journalism. She has worked more than four decades as a reporter and editor for regional and national newspapers as well as online and multimedia publications. She has been recognized for her passionate support of  transparency, free speech and education. After a long career covering politics in Washington, Kiely moved into the classroom full-time because, she says, universities are the laboratories that will discover the formula for making fact-based journalism viable again. Kiely has covered regional and national politics for a number of news outlets, including USA TODAY, the New York Daily News, the Houston Post, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Press. She served as an editor for WAMU, Bill Moyers, the Sunlight Foundation, Bloomberg Politics and helped coordinate the National Journal's campaign coverage with CBS News. She also served on the Congressional Standing Committee of Correspondents and on the boards of the National Press Club Journalism Institute and the Daily Princetonian. She holds a master's degree from American University and a bachelor's degree from Princeton University. She is the inaugural Press Freedom Fellow for the National Press Club‘s nonprofit Journalism Institute.Prof. Kiely is a well recognized advocate of Journalistic Freedom who believes that Maria Ressa's voice is at an extremely high risk of being silenced by those in power in the Philippines who are threatened by the integrity and truth of her work. Kiely has commented that the Nobel Peace Prize given to journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov is a warning that across the globe, “forces of darkness and intolerance are on the march… Journalists are the canaries in the mine shaft.In this episode, Prof. Kiely teaches us why Freedom of Speech and Health are intrinsically linked. Dr. Fethke and Prof. Kiely review the rationale behind the U.S. Consititution's 1st Amendment protecting free speech and a free press. She then clearly reviews the evolution of digital and social media, with its pros and cons. She defines the concepts of Misinformation and Disinformation, clarifying why the latter is so dangerous to us all. She explains that the Nobel Committee has specifically recognized Maria Ressa because she has led the way for us all to understand the impact of Disinformation and is actively working on solutions to regain the integrity of facts and bring the truth back to journalism. Kiely stresses that the battles that Maria Ressa and her journalist team at Rappler are fighting in the Philippines are critically relevant to the Global pursuit of democracy. As Kiely reminds us, “My father fought in WW2 to defend and help establish a free Philippines. We must never forget that Maria Ressa's defense of Freedom of the Press is a part of our fathers' legacies. To do so would be a dishonor to their cause and memory.”LINKS:House: https://www.house.gov/Senate: https://www.senate.gov/Post office (where you can look up ZIP+4 to get House member's name: https://www.usps.com/

Guest: Rebecca Williams is a Fellow with Belfer Center's Technology and Public Purpose Project where she is researching threats to civil liberties posed by "smart city" technologies. Rebecca has previously worked on data policy and management at the local, federal, and international level for the White House Office of Management and Budget's Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer, Johns Hopkins University's Center for Government Excellence, General Services Administration's Data.gov, and the Sunlight Foundation. You can follow her work on her personal website, on her Substack, or her Twitter account.Related Readings:Kalia, Shahid Buttar and Amul. “LinkNYC Improves Privacy Policy, Yet Problems Remain.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, October 5, 2017. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/09/linknyc-improves-privacy-policy-yet-problems-remain. Descant, Skip. “Lawsuit Challenging L.A.'s Collection of Scooter Data Dismissed.” Government Technology State & Local Articles - e.Republic, March 1, 2021. https://www.govtech.com/fs/Lawsuit-Challenging-LA-s-Collection-of-Scooter-Data-Dismissed.html. Musulin, Kristin. “Cisco Explains Its Smart City Software Exit.” Smart Cities Dive, January 15, 2021. https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/cisco-explains-its-smart-city-software-exit/593139/. Sheard, Adam Schwartz and Nathan. “Why EFF Doesn't Support Bans On Private Use of Face Recognition.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, January 20, 2021. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/01/why-eff-doesnt-support-bans-private-use-face-recognition. CreditsProduced by Mark LernerMusic by Zach PfeiferArtwork by Zihao Wang

One promise of civ-gov tech is that it helps optimize democratic government, particularly in the cities where most people live. This panel explores how well that promise is being kept and how to improve things if it's not. SPEAKERSAmanda Brink is a Wisconsin-based political operative with over 12 years of experience in the field. A utility infielder, happy to assist with campaign management, overall strategy, fundraising, organizing, operations, compliance, digital, press, training, recounts, logistics, advance, and more. Former O.F.A., H.F.A., Tony for WI, Burns for W.I., Dems in Philly, D.N.C., WisDems, Raj for Madison, and more. Currently working for Organizing Empowerment, helping organizations put relationships back into organizing. Michelle Kobayashi M.S.P.H. is the Senior Vice President for Innovation for Polco/National Research Center. She began her career as a research analyst for the City of Boulder in 1989 and then helped to found National Research Center (N.R.C.) in 1995. Michelle has 30 years of experience conducting research, surveys, and policy studies for local, state, and federal government. She has authored numerous journal articles, book chapters, and books on research techniques and trained hundreds of government and non-profit workers on evaluation methods, survey research, and uses of data for community decisionmaking and performance measurement. Last year, N.R.C. and Polco, a tech company providing a digital engagement platform, merged, creating new opportunities for Michelle to modernize her survey work and the methods she uses to bring residents and stakeholders' voices into local governing. Micah L. Sifry is the Founder and President of Civic Hall, curator of the annual Personal Democracy Forum, and editor of Civicist, Civic Hall's news site. From 2006-16 he was a senior adviser to the Sunlight Foundation, which he helped found. Micah currently serves on the boards of Consumer Reports and the Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science. He is the author or editor of nine books, most recently Civic Tech in the Global South (co-edited with Tiago Peixoto) (World Bank, 2017); A Lever and a Place to Stand: How Civic Tech Can Move the World (PDM Books, 2015), with Jessica McKenzie; The Big Disconnect: Why the Internet Hasn't Transformed Politics (Yet) (OR Books, 2014); and Wikileaks and the Age of the Transparency (OR Books, 2011). In 2012, Micah taught "The Politics of the Internet" as a visiting lecturer at Harvard's Kennedy School. From 1997-2006, he worked closely with Public Campaign, a non-profit, non-partisan organization focused on comprehensive campaign finance reform, as its senior analyst. Before that, Micah was an editor and writer with The Nation magazine for thirteen years. He is the author of Spoiling for a Fight: Third-Party Politics in America(Routledge, 2002), co-author with Nancy Watzman of Is That a Politician in Your Pocket? Washington on $2 Million a Day (John Wiley & Sons, 2004), co-editor of Rebooting America, and co-editor of The Iraq War Reader (Touchstone, 2003) and The Gulf War Reader (Times Books, 1991). MODERATORJoel Rogers is the Sewell-Bascom Professor of Law, Political Science, Public Affairs, and Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also directs COWS, a national resource and strategy center on high-road development that also operates the Mayors Innovation Project, State Smart Transportation Initiative (with Smart Growth America), and ProGov21. Rogers has written widely on party politics, democratic theory, and cities and urban regions. Along with many scholarly and popular articles, his books include The Hidden Election, On Democracy, Right Turn, Metro Futures, Associations and Democracy, Works Councils, Working Capital, What Workers Want, Cites at Work, and American Society: How It Really Works. Joel is an active citizen as well as an academic. He has worked with and advised many politicians and social movement leaders and has initiated and helped lead several progressive N.G.O.s (including the New Party [now the Working Families Party], EARN, W.R.T.P., Apollo Alliance [now part of the Blue Green Alliance], Emerald Cities Collaborative, State Innovation Exchange, and EPIC-N (Educational Partnership for Innovation in Communities Network). He is a contributing editor of The Nation and Boston Review, a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, and identified by Newsweek as one of the 100 living Americans most likely to shape U.S. politics and culture in the 21st century.

Holiday Greetings Glocal Citizens! This week my guest is Joy Namunoga, currently an Advocacy Officer in Governance and Social Accountability at ActionAid International. Joy is a Ugandan, based in Kampala with a 10-year experience in program management, research, public policy, civic technology and community engagement. she’s an expert on governance and social accountability who has designed civic technology projects like “Fix My Community” to strengthen Uganda’s health systems supply chain, and co-designed Uganda System of Electronic Open Data Records (USER) to enhance information flow and transparency. Her work in holding governments accountable was supported by the Community Solutions Program Fellowship from the US Department of State at the Sunlight Foundation, Washington Dc. In 2017/2018, Joy served as Uganda’s Alternate Chairperson for the Justice Law and Order Sector (JLOS) Human Rights and Accountability Committee and the brain behind the Health and Education Sector Anti–corruption working groups as platforms for citizens – state engagement. Joy is most definitely a Diasporan one to watch! Where to find Joy? On LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joy-namunoga-282a42a/) On Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/joyecstasy/) On Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/JoyFaby) On Twitter (https://twitter.com/JoyEcstasy) What’s Joy reading? Worst Enemy, Best Teacher : How to Survive and Thrive with Opponents, Competitors, and the People Who Drive You Crazy (https://smile.amazon.com/Worst-Enemy-Best-Teacher-Competitors/dp/1577314824/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=worst+enemy+best+teacher+book&qid=1608415244&sr=8-3) by Deidre Combs Other books by Deidre Combs (https://smile.amazon.com/Deidre-Combs/e/B001K8MFQS?ref_=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000) Other topics of interest - • USAID programs in Uganda (https://www.usaid.gov/uganda/health-and-hiv) • MTRAC Uganda (https://www.unicef.org/uganda/what-we-do/mtrac) • Fix My Community Uganda (https://www.facebook.com/fixmycommunityUganda/) • Makerere University (https://www.mak.ac.ug/) Special Guest: Joy Namunoga.

Holiday Greetings Glocal Citizens! This week my guest is Joy Namunoga, currently an Advocacy Officer in Governance and Social Accountability at ActionAid International. Joy is a Ugandan, based in Kampala with a 10-year experience in program management, research, public policy, civic technology and community engagement. she’s an expert on governance and social accountability who has designed civic technology projects like “Fix My Community” to strengthen Uganda’s health systems supply chain, and co-designed Uganda System of Electronic Open Data Records (USER) to enhance information flow and transparency. Her work in holding governments accountable was supported by the Community Solutions Program Fellowship from the US Department of State at the Sunlight Foundation, Washington Dc. In 2017/2018, Joy served as Uganda’s Alternate Chairperson for the Justice Law and Order Sector (JLOS) Human Rights and Accountability Committee and the brain behind the Health and Education Sector Anti–corruption working groups as platforms for citizens – state engagement. Joy is most definitely a Diasporan one to watch! Where to find Joy? On LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joy-namunoga-282a42a/) On Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/joyecstasy/) On Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/JoyFaby) On Twitter (https://twitter.com/JoyEcstasy) What’s Joy reading? Worst Enemy, Best Teacher : How to Survive and Thrive with Opponents, Competitors, and the People Who Drive You Crazy (https://smile.amazon.com/Worst-Enemy-Best-Teacher-Competitors/dp/1577314824/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=worst+enemy+best+teacher+book&qid=1608415244&sr=8-3) by Deidre Combs Other books (https://smile.amazon.com/Deidre-Combs/e/B001K8MFQS?ref_=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000) _by Deidre Combs _ Other topics of interest - • USAID programs in Uganda (https://www.usaid.gov/uganda/health-and-hiv) • MTRAC Uganda (https://www.unicef.org/uganda/what-we-do/mtrac) • Fix My Community Uganda (https://www.facebook.com/fixmycommunityUganda/) • Makerere University (https://www.mak.ac.ug/) Special Guest: Joy Namunoga.

Monopolies are Anti-Democratic A monopoly is a company that has the power to set the terms of interactions, from the pricing of consumer goods to interactions with suppliers and resolving disputes. The most insidious and anti-democratic example is private arbitration, a judicial system where the parties to the suit pay the judges. Large companies force employees and even customers to litigate all grievances through arbitration courts, making a mockery of justice and infringing upon our civil rights. In essence, monopolies exert a form of private governing power and control over citizens within our democracy. US History of Trust-Busting America has a long history of trust-busting, dating back to the late 19th century. At that time, thousands of antitrust leagues around the country verified that companies were not controlling large market shares. Anti-monopolism was once a vital facet of American political activism, and it could be again. US antitrust law still exists; it just isn't being enforced—and hasn't been since Reagan's administration. The Biden-Harris administration could start enforcing existing laws, which would create a sea-change in the antitrust landscape. We have the tools to break up monopolies, but we lack the political and organizational will-power. Chickenization Chickenization refers to the ways large poultry distributors subjugate independent chicken farmers who depend on them to bring their chickens to market. These regional monopolies exercise immense control over these farmers by forcing them to use their feed, abide by their coup house specifications, and accept the equivalent of poverty wages. They also require arbitration contracts, ban communication between farmers, and retaliate against farmers who break the rules. Other sectors of the economy are following suit: delivery apps control restaurants and ride-share apps control taxi drivers. Find out more: Zephyr Teachout is an Associate Law Professor and has taught at Fordham Law School since 2009. In addition to Break ‘Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money, she published Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin’s Snuff Box to Citizens’ United and has written dozens of law review articles and essays. Teachout was a death penalty defense lawyer at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation in North Carolina. She co-founded a non-profit dedicated to providing trial experience to new law school graduates. She is known for her pioneering work in internet organizing and was the Sunlight Foundation's first National Director. She grew up in Vermont and received her BA from Yale in English and then graduated summa cum laude from Duke Law School, where she was the Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review. She also received an MA in Political Science from Duke. She clerked for Chief Judge Edward R. Becker of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. She ran unsuccessfully for New York State Attorney General in 2018, for Congress's 19th Congressional District in 2016, and for the Democratic nomination of the Governor of New York in 2014. You can follow her on Twitter @ZephyrTeachout. We've started a referral program! Refer us to your friends to get a free button or Moleskine notebook. Please use this link to get your personal referral code: https://refer.glow.fm/future-hindsight, which you can then forward to your friends.

topic: a conversation with the quintessential philanthropist bio: Craig Newmark Founder of craigslist and Craig Newmark Philanthropies Craig Newmark is a Web pioneer, philanthropist, and leading advocate. Most commonly known for founding the online classified ads service craigslist, Newmark works to support and connect people and drive broad civic engagement. In 2016, he founded Craig Newmark Philanthropies to advance people and grassroots organizations that are “getting stuff done” in areas that include trustworthy journalism & the information ecosystem, voter protection, women in technology, and veterans & military families. At its core, all of Newmark’s philanthropic work helps to strengthen American democracy by supporting the values that the country aspires to – fairness, opportunity, and respect. Newmark serves on the board of directors of a number of organizations, including Blue Star Families, the Center for Public Integrity, Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, Girls Who Code, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of American, Poynter Foundation, Sunlight Foundation, VetsinTech, and Women in Public Service Project. He also serves on the Board of Overseers of the Columbia Journalism Review and on the advisory board of nearly twenty other nonprofit organizations, including DonorsChoose.org, EFF, New America Foundation, Voto Latino, Wikimedia Foundation, and Women Who Tech. In 1995, Newmark started curating a list of San Francisco arts and technology events, which he personally emailed to friends and colleagues. People were soon calling it "Craig's List," and when Newmark turned it into a company, he monetized it minimally, opting for a business model that prioritized "doing well by doing good." Today, more than 5 billion ads have been posted on the site, the vast majority for free. Newmark has not been involved in the day-to-day management of the company since 2000. Born in Morristown, New Jersey, Newmark earned degrees in computer science from Case Western Reserve University. He lives in San Francisco and New York City and enjoys birdwatching, science fiction, and Dad jokes. Newmark travels the country speaking about the initiatives he supports, and he uses Twitter to further get the word out – and share photos of birds.   In this wide ranging interview, we cover:   1. Being a Nerd 2. Hebrew school lessons 3. computer programing 4. craig's list/no banker's please 5. allergic to money for monies sake 6. elections 2020 7. philanthropy/giving pledge   And much much more!-- -- 

In this episode, Professor Lawrence Lessig, the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership and Harvard Law School discusses his newest book, Fidelity and Constraint: How the Supreme Court Has Read the American Constitution. In his book, Professor Furman discusses the challenges Supreme Court Justices face when interpreting our "ancient' Constitution in modern times. In this discussion, Professor Lessig explains what he means by fidelity to the role of judicial decision making and explains that Supreme Court justices, regardless on either side of the political spectrum share the same constraints. The Court, he suggests, has an obligation to defend its institution and to make sure the institution can survive and develop its authority to do its job. As our discussion makes clear, in Fidelity and Constraint, Professor Lessig mines past judicial decisions to explain present-day judicial rulemaking making for a compelling and understandable read. About our guest…Lawrence Lessig is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School.Prior to rejoining the Harvard faculty, Lessig was a professor at Stanford Law School, where he founded the school’s Center for Internet and Society, and at the University of Chicago.He clerked for Judge Richard Posner on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court. Lessig serves on the Board of the AXA Research Fund, and on the advisory boards of Creative Commons and the Sunlight Foundation.He is a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Association, and has received numerous awards, including the Free Software Foundation’s Freedom Award, Fastcase 50 Award and being named one of Scientific American’s Top 50 Visionaries.Lessig holds a BA in economics and a BS in management from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in philosophy from Cambridge, and a JD from Yale. To Learn more about our Professor Lessig visit:http://www.lessig.org/about/You can purchase Fidelity and Constraint by clicking on the link belowhttps://global.oup.com/academic/product/fidelity-and-constraint-9780190945664?cc=us&lang=en&Want to learn more about Professor Lessig? Visit the links below: As always, if you have any suggestions for an episode topic, please let us know! You can email us at leslie@lawtofact.com or tweet to @lawtofact. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram (@lawtofact) and to like us on FaceBook! And finally, your ratings and reviews matter! Please leave us a review on iTunes. Want to stay updated on all things Law to Fact? Join our mailing list by visiting us at www.lawtofact.com.

What makes a friendship great? Lane celebrates his birthday in Austin, Texas! The Sunlight Foundation works to increase transparency & accountability in the United States Congress, executive branch, & state & local governments. The Sunlight Foundation currently has three main initiatives; the Web Integrity Project, the Open Cities team, and Trump Conflicts-of-Interest project. Learn more: https://sunlightfoundation.com/ 

The Trump administration released first — and the government's fourth — National Action Plan for Open Government, more than a year after the original deadline from the international Open Government Partnership. As a member, the U.S. has put out a new transparency road map every other year since 2011. Alex Howard is a former Sunlight Foundation deputy director and now a writer for the website E Pluribus Unum. He told Federal News Network's Jory Heckman what's included and what's missing from the administration's action plan. Hear more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

In this episode, we talk to Jovan Levokic and Helen Jones about the BBC Audience Team’s Style Guide, which you can find by going to: https://public.tableau.com/views/BBCAudiencesTableauStyleGuide/MoreInfo2?:embed=y&:display_count=yes We talk about the process for creating the style guide and gave kudos for such a comprehensive tool they’ve built. Jovan shared the materials they considered when completing their style guides: IBM: https://www.ibm.com/design/language/experience/data-visualization/ The ONS: https://style.ons.gov.uk/category/data-visualisation/ The Sunlight Foundation: https://sunlightfoundation.com/2014/03/12/datavizguide/ Andy Cotgreave's Oxford University style guide: https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/access/content/group/6a4b704f-24ea-4b87-bc8d-bf34327e3979/Tableau%20style%20guide.pdf Announcements Jovan has since started the https://synthesisbureau.com/ which is a data visualization practice that also includes R&D (how cool is that?) which means there’s an open position on the BBC Audience’s team. You can learn more about this job by going to: https://careerssearch.bbc.co.uk/jobs/job/Data-Analytics-Manager-Visualisation/29671. The job closes 7 October 2018, so make sure you act fast if this is the position for you! Nominations for the Vizzies close on 30 September 2018, so make sure you vote for this community-based award! www.bit.ly/2018Vizzies Speaker applications close soon for TFF LATAM! Check out http://www.thefringefestival.rocks/tff-the-americas-latam--nam.html for the speaker application (we have them in English, Spanish, and Portuguese). Applications close on 30 September! Don’t miss sharing your message about the Tableau eco-system with LATAM and the world! TFF LATAM will be held on 16 November 2018! Good day and good viz!

Alex Howard, open government advocate and former deputy director of the Sunlight Foundation, shares some illuminating thoughts with producer Michael O’Connell about the importance of holding those in power accountable and the role of media in bringing shady intentions and actions into the light.

Enabling more use of public data is a key challenge for cities across the country. This week, we will be talking with our partners from the Sunlight Foundation about their efforts to improve Tactical Data Engagement. For this episode, we’re joined by Stephen Larrick, Open Cities Director at Sunlight. Stephen leads all city-focused work for Sunlight, including work we've done together on open data through the What Works Cities Initiative. Sunlight's recent work has focused increasingly on putting city data to use. To do that, they have piloted a technique called Tactical Data Engagement. Madison, WI, was one of their pilot sites and through a focus on equitable neighborhoods they were able to build user personas and a public data use toolkit for residents to use. Many cities are also interested in this work and through a recent workshop, Sunlight and cities were able to generate 39 fresh ideas for community use of open data for cities across the country to use. Like Data? Listen and Get in Touch You can find updates to the podcast in several ways. Look for us on iTunes as GovEx Data Points Find up-to-date episodes on our website at http://govex.jhu.edu/podcast Get in touch with us and let us know what you want to hear, suggest potential episodes, and give us feedback on how the podcast is going. You can contact us on Twitter at Gov_Ex or reach out via our website at govex.jhu.edu/contact.

Local governments and community groups are abuzz about the potential of open data policies to make government more transparent, accountable and efficient. We talk with the Sunlight Foundation's Open Cities Storyteller about trends in open data, how it can more communities more effective and equitable, their Tactical Data Engagement approach and the importance of going beyond "raw data" to storytelling.

The Trump administration has ushered in a new wave of conservative policies and personnel. But it’s also led to the rise of watchdog groups dedicated to investigating Trump and his agencies. And on this episode of PULSE CHECK, leaders of two new watchdogs discuss why they launched and what they’ve learned. First, Mary Alice Carter of Equity Forward joined POLITICO’s Dan Diamond to discuss her organization’s focus on the HHS officials overseeing reproductive health, and why she thinks Trump’s health policy moves are especially dangerous. (Starts at the 1:50 mark.) Then, Toly Rinberg and Rachel Bergman of the Sunlight Foundation’s Web Integrity Project discuss how their fledgling effort to track changes to federal webpages led them to Washington, D.C., and what they’ve uncovered at HHS and beyond. (Starts at the 17:10 mark.) We'd appreciate your help: Please share PULSE CHECK and rate us on your favorite podcast app! Have questions, suggestions or feedback? Email ddiamond@politico.com. Referenced on the podcast: HHS’ move to remove lesbian and bisexual health content from its women’s health website, uncovered by the Web Integrity Project: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/21/hhs-strips-lesbian-bisexual-health-content-from-womens-health-website-430123 Equity Forward's focus on Scott Lloyd, the director of the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement: https://www.equityfwd.org/research/personnel-policy-meet-anti-abortion-crusader-scott-lloyd/ Dan’s podcast with Seattle public health director Patty Hayes, who’s suing HHS over its move to cancel the teen pregnancy prevention program: https://simplecast.com/s/46ec2019

Tom Schenk, Jr.(https://twitter.com/tomschenkjr), Chicago's Chief Data Officer, joins us to discuss the role of open data in civic tech. Our host questions Schenk on the virtues of the Chicago Data Portal(https://data.cityofchicago.org/) and examines the role data plays in building a stronger, more transparent government. Resources and Shoutouts: - Chicago Open Data Portal: data.cityofchicago.org/ - Chi Hack Night: chihacknight.org - Open Uptown: http://openuptown.us - Executive Order: https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/narr/foia/open_data_executiveorder.html - Chicago Github: https://github.com/chicago - Chicago Python User Group: http://www.chipy.org/ - OpenGrid: https://chicago.opengrid.io/opengrid/ - WasMyCarTowed: http://wasmycartowed.com - SweepAround: https://sweeparound.us - Sunlight Foundation: sunlightfoundation.com/ Music Credit: Tumbleweeds by Monkey Warhol http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monkey_Warhol/Lonely_Hearts_Challenge/Monkey_Warhol_-_Tumbleweeds

Kara Kratowicz, Data Projects Coordinator, will be presenting to the Common Council on the city's Tactical Data Engagement Pilot. Through the What Works Cities initiative, the City of Madison engaged with the Sunlight Foundation as a pilot city to launch a new technique aimed at increasing the impact of open data within the community. This presentation will cover the Tactical Data Engagement efforts to date and next steps for implementation.

Kara Kratowicz, Data Projects Coordinator, will be presenting to the Common Council on the city's Tactical Data Engagement Pilot. Through the What Works Cities initiative, the City of Madison engaged with the Sunlight Foundation as a pilot city to launch a new technique aimed at increasing the impact of open data within the community. This presentation will cover the Tactical Data Engagement efforts to date and next steps for implementation.

This is the to the first of our series of breakdown talks. These sessions are meant to summarize various civic technology concepts. Our subject today is Open Data. Resources and Shoutouts: Project open data: https://project-open-data.cio.gov/ Data.gov: https://www.data.gov/open-gov/ Sunlight Foundation: https://sunlightfoundation.com/ My building doesn’t recycle: http://mybuildingdoesntrecycle.com/ Govlab: Nepal Earthquake case study: http://odimpact.org/case-nepal-earthquake-recovery.html Cincinnati Open Data Portal: https://data.cincinnati-oh.gov/ Chicago Open Data Portal: https://data.cityofchicago.org/ Chi Hack Night: https://chihacknight.org/

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with Alex Howard, the Deputy Director of the Sunlight Foundation, to discuss the public’s right to know what the government is doing in its name.

The Sunlight Foundation is going through an identity crisis. It's done great work for open government, but its theory of change must evolve to go beyond radical transparency and include radical engagement. We are living in a tech-driven world. If we don't have tech that helps people organize and channel their social pressure in response to what transparency initiatives reveal, no meaningful action will take place. Give me a few minutes.

Today we try to figure out what happens when our future presidential candidates have thousands of Tweets and Tumblr posts and Instagrams in their online record.     What happens, when today’s teens start running for office? When their entire internet history is there, searchable, for us to read? What if these teens Tweet something at 15 that they might regret at 45? Do we learn to accept that their opinions have changed? Or do we go through every candidate's entire social media history to find dirt on them? Does that tactic still work in the future? Or do we all just throw up our hands and admit that teens have bad opinions and that hopefully those opinions have changed?     To find out, I talked to a real live young person with political ambitions, Eve Zhurbinskiy a student at George Washington University. She describes her own social media strategy, and how she never Tweets without thinking about how it might come back to bite her. She also talks about going back and deleting Facebook posts and even in one case her entire Tumblr because she thought it might be used against her.    And that’s not paranoid, I also talk to someone who tracks that kind of thing among politicians. Josh Stewart from the Sunlight Foundation explains what Politwoops is and why they’re tracking the deleted Tweets of politicians.     And to round things out this episode I talked to someone who’s got a lot of experience managing digital campaigns for today’s politicians. Laura Olin was one of the first hires for Obama’s 2012 digital team, and she not only ran the Obama Tumblr, but she also actually Tweeted as the President.     Throughout the episode we discuss all kinds of questions about how we think about and forgive humans.     In March of this year, a State Supreme Court justice from Wisconsin named Rebecca Bradley issued an apology for some columns that she wrote 24 years ago in a student newspaper. In the columns she referred to gay people as “queers” and called people with AIDS “degenerates who basically commit suicide through their behavior.” She also said that it would be better to get AIDS than cancer, because, quote “those afflicted with the politically correct disease will be getting all of the funding.” And that abortion is like the Holocaust and slavery.     Bradley says that she was, quote “frankly embarrassed at the content and tone of what I wrote those many years ago” but she also said that when she wrote them, she was “a very young student.” Now the release of these 24 year old columns wasn’t random, the organization that found the columns unveiled them just a month before voters in Wisconsin would vote on whether or not Bradley should retain her seat on the court.     People who wanted Bradley off the court, said that the comments in the columns were so hateful that time didn’t really matter. People who wanted Bradley to say said that she had grown and learned since then, and did not still hold those beliefs. (To be clear, there was also a contingent of people who supported Bradley because they still do hold those beliefs).     So, voters in Wisconsin could decide. And they decided to keep her, Bradley won her seat back. So you could interpret that as evidence that past transgressions can be forgiven, right?     So this brings us to one version of this future. A future in which voters learn to approach their candidates as flawed individuals, people who have made missteps, people who can change their mind. This isn’t to say that we let people off the hook for their past, but rather that we are okay with them saying “I was wrong, and here’s how I’ve changed for the better.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

European Lab WInter forum 2015 2025 : la prochaine décennie culturelle ? 15 - 17 décembre, la Gaîté lyrique, Paris La valeur de la démocratie : conf. call avec Larry Lessig Lawrence Lessig est professeur de droit à l’école de Droit de Harvard, et ancien directeur du Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics à l’Université d’Harvard. Il a aussi été enseignant à l’école de Droit de Stanford ou est a été créé le Center for Internet and Society et à l’Université de Chicago. Larry Lessig a aussi travaillé avec le Juge Richard Posner à la 7e cour d’appel de Justice Antonin Scalia à la Cour Suprême des Etats-Unis. Lawrence Lessig est aussi le Président et fondateur de Creative Commons, membre des bureaux de MAPLight, Brave New Film Foundation, The American Academy, Berlin, AXA Research Fund et iCommons.org et est membre exécutif de la Sunlight Foundation. Il est membre de l’Académie Américaine des Arts et des Sciences et de l’American Philosophical Association et à été récompensé de nombreux prix dont le Free Software Foundation’s Freedom Award, le Fastcase 50 Awards et fait partie du classement Scientific American’s Top 50 Visionaries. Lessig est diplômé en économie et en management de l’Université de Pennsylvanie, en philosophie à l’université de Cambridge et est également diplômé de Yale. Photo : ©Brice Robert

In July, the House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill that would allow expiring anthrax vaccines to be given to civilian emergency responders within the United States. The question: Is that vaccine safe? In this episode, we look at the history of the anthrax vaccine and the results of the investigation into the only anthrax attack on the United States: The anthrax laced letters which were mailed to members of the mainstream media and Congress in September and October 2001. Last, an update on the current security of the United States' anthrax supplies. Warning: This episode contains disturbing information. Please support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute with PayPal or Bitcoin; click the PayPal "Make it Monthly" checkbox to create a monthly subscription Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! The Bill H.R. 1300: First Responder Anthrax Preparedness Act Summary: Republican Policy Committee Legislative Digest for Wednesday, July 29, 2015. Creates a program for distributing anthrax vaccines that will soon expire to emergency responders who volunteer to accept them. Creates a program for tracking the vaccines. Creates a two year pilot program, in at least two states, for distributing the vaccines. Passed the House of Representatives 424-0 Sponsored by Rep. Peter King of New York 6 Pages Additional Reading Anthrax Vaccine Website: What is BioThrax (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed), Emergent BioSolutions. Article: Experimental Drugs Linked to Gulf War Veteran's Ills by Warren Leary, New York Times, May 7, 1994. Article: The Anthrax Vaccine Scandal by Laura Rozen, Salon, October 14, 2001. Report: Biological Warfare and Anthrax Vaccine by Barbara Loe Fisher, National Vaccine Information Center, December 2001. Article: Gulf War Vaccine Still a Problem, Leading Scientist Tells Inquiry by Michael Smith, The Telegraph, August 12, 2004. FDA Document: The safety and efficacy of anthrax vaccine have not been estabilished, and the preponderance of the world's literature show the vaccine is unsafe, and a contributor to Gulf War Syndrome as acknowledged in the vaccine's package insert by Meryl Nass MD, December 29, 2004. Report: Anthrax Vaccine and Public Health Policy by Martin Meyer Weiss, MD, Peter D. Weiss, MD, and Joseph B. Weiss, MD, American Journal of Public Health, November 2007. Article: Gulf War Illness: Thousands Still Report Symptoms by Diana Washington Valdez, El Paso Times (republished on Military.com), April 21, 2014. Report: The Project BioShield Act: Issues for the 113th Congress by Frank Gottron, Congressional Research Service, June 18, 2014. Report: Emergent BioSolutions 2014 Annual Report Website: Emergent BioSolutions Lobbying, OpenSecrets.org Website: Emergent BioSolutions Lobbyists, OpenSecrets.org 2001 Anthrax Attacks Article: U.S. Germ Warfare Research Pushes Treaty Limits by Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg, and William J. Broad, New York Times, September 4, 2001. Article: The Anthrax War by the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal and R. James Woolsey (reprinted by Free Republic), October 17, 2001. Article: Public Enemy No. 2 by Richard Cohen, Washington Post, October 18, 2001. Article: Who Made the Anthrax? by Richard Butler, New York Times, October 18, 2001. Article: Anthrax Bacteria Likely to be US Military Strain by Debora MacKenzie, New Scientist, October 24, 2001. Article: F.B.I. Presents Anthrax Case, Saying Scientist Acted Alone by Scott Shane and Eric Lichtblau, New York Times, August 6, 2008. Article: Scientist Officially Exonerated in Anthrax Attacks by Eric Lichtblau, New York Times, August 8, 2008. Department of Justice Report: Amerithrax Investigative Summary, U.S. Department of Justice, February 19, 2010. Press Release: Justice Department and FBI Announce Formal Conclusion of Investigation into 2001 Anthrax Attacks, U.S. Department of Justice, February 19, 2010. F.B.I. Document Directory: Amerithrax or Anthrax Investigation Article: Timeline: How the Anthrax Terror Unfolded, NPR, February 15, 2011. Article: Anthrax Redux: Did the Feds Nab the Wrong Guy? by Noah Shachtman, Wired, March 24, 2011. Article: The Anthrax Scare: Not a Germ of Truth by Nicholaus Mills, The Guardian, September 15, 2011. Article: New Evidence Adds Doubt to FBI's Case Against Anthrax Suspect by Stephen Engelberg of ProPublica, Greg Gordon of McClatchy, Jim Gilmore and Mike Wiser of PBS Frontline, October 10, 2011. Article: Did Bruce Ivins Hide Attack Anthrax From the FBI? by Stephen Engelberg of ProPublica, Greg Gordon of McClatchy, Jim Gilmore and Mike Wiser of PBS Frontline, October 10, 2011. GAO Report: Agency Approaches to Validation and Statistical Analyses Could be Improved, Government Accountability Office, December 2014. Article: FBI's 2001 Anthrax Attack Probe Was Seriously Flawed by Rebecca Trager, Scientific American, December 29, 2014. Article: Anthrax Fast Facts, CNN, May 23, 2015. The Patriot Act Article: Anti-Terrorism Bill Hits Snag on the Hill by John Lancaster, The Washington Post, October 3, 2001. Article: Congress Had No Time to Read the USA Patriot Act by Paul Blumenthal, Sunlight Foundation, March 2, 2009. Live Anthrax Shipments Article: Our Bad: Pentagon Mails Live Anthrax in Error by Paul Shinkman, US News & World Report, May 27, 2015. Article: Pentagon Now Says Army Mistakenly Sent Live Anthrax to All 50 States by Richard Sisk, Military.com, September 1, 2015. Audio/Video Sources Press Conference: Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program, Department of Defense, (broadcast on C-SPAN), June 28, 2002. Press Conference with Dr. Steven Hatfill: Anthrax Investigation, C-SPAN, August 25, 2002. United Nations Security Council Meeting: Iraqi Weapons Compliance Debate, United Nations Security Council (broadcast on C-SPAN), February 5, 2003. Hearing: Federal Bureau of Investigation Oversight, House Judiciary Committee (broadcast on C-SPAN), September 16, 2008. Hearing: Federal Bureau of Investigation Oversight, Senate Judiciary Committee (broadcast on C-SPAN), September 17, 2008. YouTube: Ron Paul Patriot Act NOBODY READ IT!, uploaded July 7, 2009. Press Conference: Report on 2001 Anthrax Letters, National Academy of Sciences (broadcast on C-SPAN), February 15, 2011. Television Episode: The Anthrax Files by PBS Frontline, October 11, 2011. Hearing: Defense Department Anthrax Shipments, House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (broadcast on C-SPAN), July 28, 2015. Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)

10-13 9A Sunlight Foundation, Anchorage Parks

Corporate lobbyists are everywhere in Washington. Of the 100 organizations that spend the most on lobbying, 95 represent business. The largest companies now have upwards of 100 lobbyists representing them. How did American businesses become so invested in politics? And what does all their money buy? Drawing on extensive data and original interviews with corporate lobbyists, The Business of America is Lobbying provides a fascinating and detailed picture of what corporations do in Washington, why they do it, and why it matters. Prior to the 1970s, very few corporations had Washington offices. But a wave of new government regulations and declining economic conditions mobilized business leaders. Companies developed new political capacities, and managers soon began to see public policy as an opportunity, not just a threat. Ever since, corporate lobbying has become increasingly more pervasive, more proactive, and more particularistic. Lee Drutman argues that lobbyists drove this development, helping managers to see why politics mattered, and how proactive and aggressive engagement could help companies' bottom lines. All this lobbying doesn't guarantee influence. Politics is a messy and unpredictable bazaar, and it is more competitive than ever. But the growth of lobbying has driven several important changes that make business more powerful. The status quo is harder to dislodge; policy is more complex; and, as Congress increasingly becomes a farm league for K Street, more and more of Washington's policy expertise now resides in the private sector. These and other changes increasingly raise the costs of effective lobbying to a level only businesses can typically afford. Lively and engaging, rigorous and nuanced, The Business of America is Lobbying will change how we think about lobbying-and how we might reform it.About the AuthorLee Drutman is a senior fellow in the program on political reform at New America. An expert on lobbying, influence, and money in politics, he has been quoted and/or cited in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, Slate, Mother Jones, Vox, Politico, and many other publications, and on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Planet Money, This American Life, Marketplace, Washington Journal, and The Colbert Report, among other programs. Drutman also teaches in the Center for Advanced Governmental Studies at The John Hopkins University. Prior to coming to New America, Drutman was a senior fellow at the Sunlight Foundation. He has also worked in the U.S. Senate and at the Brookings Institution. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.A. from Brown University.

On this episode of the Blacks In Technology #BITTechTalk podcast we are joined by LaVita Tuff, Policy Analyst for the Sunlight Foundation and we’ll be talking about Open Data and Civic Engagement through technology.

The nonprofit organization Sunlight Foundation has been keeping track of the tweets politicians didn't want you to see anymore. The site, called Politwoops, saved the tweets deleted by lawmakers. For the past three years, it tracked thousands of blunders and position changes. It also helped track how Twitter was being used for political discourse. But last week, Twitter suspended Sunlight's access to its information, shutting down Politwoops. The move raises questions about how the social network balances privacy with the public's right to know what their politicians are up to online. WBEZ web producer Chris Hagan tells us more.

On this episode of the Blacks In Technology #BITTechTalk podcast we are joined by LaVita Tuff, Policy Analyst for the Sunlight Foundation and we’ll be talking about Open Data and Civic Engagement through technology.

The federal government has agreed to release one of the largest indexes of government data in the world. The Office of Management and Budget will fulfill a Freedom of Information Act request filed last December by the Sunlight Foundation. Sean Vitka, a federal policy manager at the Sunlight Foundation, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to explain what that data will cover..

People act better when everyone is watching. Someone needs to keep an eye on the government. That may sound crazy but by working with journalists and the media, it is possible. Gabriela Schneider is the Communications Director of the Sunlight Foundation, and is responsible for leading Sunlight's Communications team and external affairs. Gabriela came to Washington, D.C. in the late 1990s determined to work in public policy serving the public interest, but shifted her career to focus in communications so she could help translate policy issues into something more publicly accessible. The Sunlight Foundation is a nonpartisan nonprofit that advocates for open government globally and uses technology to make government more accountable to all.

This week Ben talks with former thoughtbotter, and creator of Is It Christmas, Eric Mill about the power of blogging, the personal empowerment offered by the internet and the role of government in the digital age. Is It Christmas? The Door to the FISA Court Switch to HTTPS Now, For Free Civic Hacking Weekly 2,000-Year Problems Blue State Digital The Sunlight Foundation Scout Search Engine 18f United States Project Eric on Twitter

There’s a quiet movement afoot in Washington; one you won’t hear about on cable news or flashy political blogs. It is the 21st century iteration of a classic American ideal: radical transparency in government. The modern pursuers of this goal include non-profits and business titans, hobbyists and hackers. They have formed a kind of nerd-corps of cyber-civics - designers, computer programmers, hackers and political activists - all working to build technology that makes government more accessible to people. Every year, a non-partisan, open-government group called The Sunlight Foundation hosts a kind of conference for this nerd-corps, it’s called Transparency Camp, or T-Camp among its faithful. Sound obscure? You might be surprised to hear that T-Camp is sponsored by the likes of Google and Microsoft. Many of the attendees are rock stars in their fields, with experience developing some of the most lucrative sites and apps of recent years. They’re now turning their significant brains toward a less sexy, but in many ways much more challenging problem: Putting every citizen’s government right on their phone. DecodeDC visited this year’s Transparency Camp to bring you stories from the front lines of the fight to crack open government.

Facebook is developing ways to open up the site to kids. A comic book that helps immigrants avoid scams. Two new tools from the Sunlight Foundation promote political transparency. Emily Books, a subscription service that sends you an ebook monthly.

Dylan Ratigan and Paul Blumenthal of The Huffington Post continue our "Auction 2012" series with a discussion on the bought nature of our health care system in America. Paul Blumenthal is a reporter for the Huffington Post covering money and influence in politics. He previously worked as the Senior Writer for the Sunlight Foundation covering influence, lobbying, and transparency issues. His work has been featured in many different outlets including PBS' Frontline, CNN, the New York Review of Books, the New York Times, and National Journal. He can be reached at paulblumenthal@huffingtonpost.com or you can follow him on Twitter @PaulBlu.

As part of our Auction 2012 series with The Huffington Post, Dylan talks to Paul Blumenthal about "Bought Banking." Paul is a reporter covering money in politics the editor of the HuffPost Fundrace newsletter, a daily newsletter about campaign fundraising and advertising. He previously worked as the Senior Writer for the Sunlight Foundation covering influence, lobbying, and transparency issues.

Audio File:  Download MP3Transcript: An Interview with Jennifer Pahlka Founder and Executive Director, Code for America Date: January 2, 2012 [intro music] Lucy Sanders: Hello, this is Lucy Sanders, CEO and Co-Founder of NCWIT, the National Center for Woman and Information Technology and with me today, Larry Nelson from w3w3.com. Larry, what's going on with old w3w3.com? Larry Nelson: Oh my goodness. We have so much fun, we interview so many people. We've even been doing it for 12 years now. I must say that this series is extraordinary for us, because what it does for young women, bosses, parents and the like, it's very good. So thank you. Lucy: Well, listeners will know, we ask women who have started tech companies as part of the series, pretty much the same eight questions and the richness of the answers never ceases to amaze me. Larry: Oh yeah. Lucy: I think today we are talking to yet another great entrepreneur in the technology sector, Jennifer Pahlka, who is the Founder and Executive Director of Code for America. Now, this is an awesome effort and I am going to describe it the way that Jennifer did in a recent talk. She says, "It's like a Teach for America or a Peace Corps for Geeks." Larry: Yes. Lucy: I just think that's so cool that people in government and city managers for example, who have projects that they think could benefit from web-based solutions and you can make an appeal to Code for America and get volunteer help to help build these projects out, really in some sense making government more open and giving citizens easier access to data. So, I think we are going to hear more about that. Welcome, Jennifer. We are so happy to have you here. Jennifer Pahlka: Thank you. I am very glad to be here. Lucy: This is not the first thing Jennifer has been. She is also a serial entrepreneur and has some extensive experience in gaming and media. Before we get off on your entrepreneurship discussion, Jennifer, why don't you tell us a little bit about the latest Code for America? Maybe you can tell us what projects like, "Adopt-a-Fire- Hydrant" are like? [laughs] Larry: Yeah. Jennifer: Sure, I'd be happy to. We are a pretty new organization, and we just finished up our very first fellowship year. We had 19 fellows work with us all year along and work with the cities, doing great projects. One of them is Adopt-a-Fire-Hydrant app, which came out of the fact the fellows go visit the cities for Fire Weeks in February and when they were there, our Boston team was treated to a massive Snow Apocalypse and one of the things they saw is that, the city is struggling just to clear the streets. They never really get to digging out the fire hydrant. But that the citizens were right in front of them and they could dig them out. So we created a little web app that allows citizens to claim a fire hydrant and agree to dig it out when it snows and the game dynamics on top of it that make it pretty fun. What's cool about that is that other cities who've seen this and adopted it as well. You wouldn't think that Honolulu has anything to do with Boston in terms of something like snow, but they have a similar problem. They need people to check the batteries in the tsunami sirens on the beach. Lucy: Oh my God. Jennifer: Too expensive for them to send crews around, checking them every week. So let citizens do that. Now it's also become Adopt-a-Siren and in Buenos Aires it's becoming Adopt-a-Park Bench and in other cities they are using it for other assets that are important to them. Lucy: Oh, it's so cool, because people who really care about being a good citizen are plugged in, in ways that they know they can make a difference and be helpful. Larry: Yes. Jennifer: Exactly, yeah. Lucy: Awesome. So, Jennifer, tell us a little bit about how you got into starting a technology company, like what got you into doing that? Jennifer: I wasn't a technical person. My first exposure to technology was actually in the video game industry, which is an incredibly dynamic interesting group to be in, because they are so creative and yet so at the cutting edge of technology. Video games are often breaking grounds in terms of graphics and sound, business models. It was a wonderful introduction not just to technology but community that's so creative and that made me really love technology. But doing conferences both in video game world and in the Web 2.0 world you are constantly talking to some of the smartest, brightest, most passionate people. You see that all of their efforts go towards building products or building services for companies that create a lot of value in our lives. But they don't really go toward building the public institutions that we all pay into and that we all believe should represent us. And so, as a result, without that talent, the public sector is really falling behind. I founded Code for America because I want some of the talent that I have seen over the course of my career in technology, think about building platforms for the public sector as well as the private sector. Start to close that gap between the innovation curve that we're all benefiting from in our personal lives and the way that government works. Lucy: How big do you think that gap is for the public institutions, just out of curiosity? How far behind are they? Jennifer: Well, there's that phrase, the future is already here, it's just unevenly distributed. Lucy: Yes. Jennifer: That's very true in city government. You've got some incredibly innovative projects. You've got a lot of very innovative people doing wonderful stuff. For example, here in San Francisco, they put sensors in the curbs so they know what parking spaces are taken and what aren't and they've got some complex algorithms that change the pricing of parking in real time in order to optimize to have just one space open per block in San Francisco. If you live in San Francisco, you know how important that is. There's never any parking in San Francisco. But if you do that, you reduce the number, you reduce congestion, you reduce people driving around the block, it had some environmental effects. That's an example of people. There's many others like that. They're doing really great cutting edge stuff, but then you've also got tons of departments and, even within the same city, you'll have different departments that are still running their technology on Coball databases, stuff that's extremely outdated. Not with just bad technology or outdated technology that doesn't have modern develop per community around it, but also with just very outdated approaches about how to provide services to citizens that's stuck in an 80s and 90s model. So, it really varies. I don't want to discount how great some of the government technology leaders are these days, but there's a very long tail behind that that we need to catch up. Lucy: Well, and for all you listeners out there with Coball skills. [laughs] Larry: Yes, Lucy, are you talking about yourself? Lucy: Actually, I took Coball in college. [laughs] I'm thinking I could probably make more money doing that than what I'm doing. Jennifer: You've got some cities that are going to their local community colleges asking them to teach Coball now so that they can fill those slots, which I'm not sure is really the way to go, buy hey. [laughs] Lucy: [laughs] Now look, you've got to go after the age people who are thinking about retiring and lure them out you know, for sure. Larry: I'm thinking when they have to and then deter from that a little bit to get to our next question. Lucy: OK. Larry: Jennifer, why are you an entrepreneur and what is it about you that entrepreneurship makes you tick? Jennifer: I don't think I thought of myself as an entrepreneur, really, until I came up with the idea for Code for America. I think what's important about that to young women who are thinking about this is that you don't have to feel like you're branded an entrepreneur from the time you're 18. I came up with this idea when I was 39, and I suddenly felt that I could be incredibly useful to the world if I made this happen. It was really the power of the idea and the notion that no one else was going to do it, that made me start this organization. It certainly took some risk. I'm not a particularly risk adverse person and that's probably one quality that's important. But it was really feeling like this needed to happen and that no one else was going to do it, that made me start Code for America. Lucy: I love that answer. Larry: Yes. Lucy: I think it's great. Along that path when you started Code for America, did you have people influence you, or did you have mentors, or role models, or who shaped your thinking, if anybody? Jennifer: Well, early in my career I worked for a number of very strong, powerful but also so caring and nurturing women at the upper levels as media companies that I worked for. Actually, mostly one media company that went through a number of mergers and acquisitions. The president of our group when I was at the game that all the press conference is a woman named Regina Redly. I think the way that connect with technology, the way that she took care of her people all the way that she made the work environment as important as the work outcome, very much influenced me. Later on, when I was starting the idea of Code for America, I was very much inspired by Tim O'Reilly, the guy who's credit with the Web 2.0 and who's been a big thinker in open source. He continues now to be one of my mentors. I was also very inspired by Gwen Mellor who own the Sunlight Foundation D.C. She is a little bit more on the politics side. But someone who's very clear about the effects she wants to have in the world, very engaging, very kind and supportive person. Sunlight Foundation was initially the physical sponsor for Code for America because she actually very concretely helped Code for America get started and I'm very grateful to her. Larry: Good, wow, with all the things you've done. Lucy: So far. Larry: So far, that's right. I can't help but wonder what is one of the toughest things or the toughest thing that you ever had to do in your career? Jennifer: It's a difficult question. There's a lot of testing with the bum and bust cycles in technology. Certainly, when you have to lay people off, it's very painful because it's easy for them to take it personally. I've seen all this people well, moving on in so I'm less afraid of it than I used to be but it's hard to see people feel demoralized. I would have to say that now the hardest thing with Code for America is with very competitive process. We can only take 25 people a year right now to do our fellowship. We have 550 people apply. So when someone standing up and raising their hand and saying I want a Code for America, I'm going to move across the country work for some soft stipend, work long hours, and do this crazy thing. They're saying they want to do that and we say sorry you're not chosen. That's probably the hardest thing because you want to honor that instinct and that commitment and that generosity saying they are willing to do it. Lucy: Interesting, so as a side question, are you funded through donations then? Jennifer: Primarily, yes, from foundations, from corporations, from individuals. We also charge the cities that get a fellow team for the year a small participation fee so that it is not all on a charitable community. Lucy: It's a great effort. For all you listeners out there with big wallets... [laughter] Jennifer: Please. Lucy: Please yes. Jennifer: In your holiday giving. Lucy: Absolutely, so if you were sitting here with a young person and giving them advice about entrepreneurship, what would you tell them? Jennifer: I think the biggest thing I would share with an entrepreneur about an entrepreneur is to really care. You have to care about what you're doing. You have to deeply care about the problem you are trying to solve and think it's an important problem, and care about the people that you work with. If you don't really care deeply about your work other people won't and you won't be successful. That's the heart I think of this notion that we want to inspire the tech community, men and women to work on stuff that matters. If you really care you are much more likely to be successful. Larry: That's wonderful. Once again, all the things you've done and you did you start out to be an entrepreneur and now you've become one. What are the personal characteristics do you think that are giving you the advantage of being an entrepreneur? Jennifer: A lot of people would talk about risk think that's an important when you do have to be able to take risk. I turned this organization with $10,000 in the bank for the Sunlight Foundation. That was it. When there was a lot more than was needed I quit my job, I didn't have any income for a while, that was important. I think personally for me I would have to say that my focus on a network in a community around what we do is probably in the most important. Somebody once said and I wish I knew who it was, "The time to build your network is before you need it." Lucy: Exactly. Larry: Yeah. Jennifer: I work in the conference industry. So my job was to know a lot of people and to have them care about the work we did and have them invest in the events that we did, in the content, in the ideas that we are promoting. I was lucky, and lucky that was what I was focused on for the first part of my career, because I did build a big network and I valued the people in my network very, very much. I am aware every day of how much the people who support our work and I am not just talking about our donors, though they are very important. I am talking about the people who come in and work, the fellows, the people who share our message on Twitter, whatever little thing people do because they care about our work. We exist because of them and I never want to take our network for granted. I think that's really helped build Code for America. Larry: Great. Lucy: Well, then that's so true about your network. You build networks, not necessarily with the intention that you are going to get something back from them, but because it's the right thing to do, to build those networks and to be in service to others and that's how the system works. I have seen so many people who really don't quite understand that. [laughs] Larry: Yeah. Jennifer: I think that's exactly why you need to build a network because you care about other people not because you want them to do things for you. Lucy: I know it's a little backwards just looking. Jennifer: No, I totally agree. Lucy: You're totally self-absorbed. So your starting Code for America, obviously you care very deeply about it. You are very busy with the getting a non-profit off the ground. I know it's really hard work. What is it that you do or what sort of tips can you pass along for balance between all the hard work and passion for Code for America and then your side life? Jennifer: That's an important topic for welfare for women, in particular, though I don't think should be for women in particular, I think it should be men and women. But it's always a challenge. It's been challenge for me before I started Code for America as well. There is a woman named Charlene Li, who runs Altimeter Group. She quit Forrester Group, but when she did, she blog something along the lines that's there is no such thing as work-life balances, its only disappointing and each party last which is a testament that you can see that that it is very difficult. I think I've seen this most effective for me is I have an eight-year-old daughter and my time with her is incredibly precious. I have her half time. When I am with her, I have the personal will, the power in me to actually turn off the vices, or if I have to respond to something else or tell her what it is and say, I am doing this. I am texting so and so for this reason and then I am going to turn my phone off. Knowing that that person needs me and that when I am paying attention to her, I get so much delight out of that interaction. It helps me create some boundaries between the work and home that I probably wouldn't have it, if I didn't have her. I am so grateful for my daughter in my life. Larry: I can relate to that. I have four daughters. Jennifer: Oh, you are very blessed. Larry: Yes. We certainly are. Jennifer, let me ask this. You've already achieved a great deal and we really appreciate and have a great deal of respect for the track you are on, but what's coming up next for you? Jennifer: It's funny, I don't think of myself as an ambitious person, but I do have some goals for Code for America that I would like us to see work not just in government technology at some point, but I think some of the approaches that we are taking to rebooting government should also be applied in education and that would be interesting for me. I don't know when or if it will happen, but I care a lot about education and I think that we could be putting more money into teachers and less money into administration if we find committees, principals that work, ++who you think was government. So that would be exciting for me, but beyond that I think hopefully what's next for me is more of work-life balance and I think that's really important. Larry: There you go. Lucy: Amen. Larry: Excellent. Lucy: And a great answer. Well, thank you so much for talking to us. Code for America, a great, great organization, growing and hopefully all you citizens, coders out there maybe can get involved. Thanks very much, I want to remind listeners that this interview can be found at w3w3.com and also at ncwit.org. Larry: You bet. Jennifer, thank you so much. Jennifer: Thank you very much for having me. Larry: Yes. [music] Series: Entrepreneurial HeroesInterviewee: Jennifer PahlkaInterview Summary: Code for America’s Founder and Executive Director, Jennifer Pahlka describes her company as “Teach for America or Peace Corps for geeks.” Working in cities across the United States, Code for America is building a network of civic leaders who believe that there is a better way of doing things and want to make a difference using web-based solutions. Release Date: January 2, 2012Interview Subject: Jennifer PahlkaInterviewer(s): Lucy Sanders, Larry NelsonDuration: 17:31

The keynote speaker at this event was Ellen Miller, founder and executive director of the Sunlight Foundation, who focused on the theme “Turning Data into Action.” Speakers: Ellen Miller, Janet Haven, Goran Buldioski. (Recorded: March 17, 2011)

Luigi Montanez is an open source developer at the Sunlight Foundation.  For the past two years he has focused on opening up government data and making it readily available for developers. We talk about open government, open source, software philosophy, HTML 5 and thinking beyond Ruby on Rails. Subscribe via iTunes and RSS.

What do citizens need to know when they publicly address legally challenging or dangerous topics? Journalists have always had the privilege, protected by statute, of not having to reveal their sources. But as more investigative journalism is conducted by so-called amateurs and posted on blogs or websites such as Wikileaks, what are the legal dangers for publishing secrets in the crowdsourced era? We convene an engaging group law scholars to help outline the legal challenges ahead, suggest policies that might help to protect citizens, and describe what steps every civic media practitioner should take to protect themselves and their users. David Ardia is director of the Citizen Media Law Project which provides legal resources for those involved in online journalism and citizen media. Daniel Schuman is the policy counsel at the Sunlight Foundation, where he helps develop policies that further Sunlight’s mission of catalyzing greater government openness and transparency. Moderator: Micah Sifry is a co-founder and editor of the Personal Democracy Forum. Co-sponsor: The MIT Center for Future Civic Media

Sunlight Foundation’s Jake Brewer shows us simple tools to illustrate the government’s effectiveness. Plus: publicly available DNA test kits, and new approaches to congestion pricing in Manhattan.