Sustainable Public Financial Management

Quoi de neuf à FreeBalance?

Ces dernières nouvelles hebdomadaires apportent à la communauté de la planification des ressources gouvernementales (GRP) une brève vue générale des récents développements de FreeBalance et des nouvelles pertinentes de l’industrie.

L’équipe de FreeBalance se dirige vers Londres pour une présentation des TCI canadiennes inspirée par les Jeux Olympiques

FreeBalance est heureux d’annoncer sa participation à la présentation des TCI canadiennes à la Canada House dans Trafalgar Square, le 6 août 2012 de 10h30 à 18h00. La présentation des TCI canadiennes est organisée par Investir Ottawa, en partenariat avec le Haut-commissariat du Canada à Londres. La présentation des TCI canadiennes offre l’opportunité de rencontrer et de se réseauter avec des entreprises canadiennes chefs de file à la recherche de partenariats avec des entreprises et des organisations du Royaume-Uni et internationales.
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Le logiciel de planification des ressources gouvernementales (PRG) de FreeBalance permet une réforme importante dans la gestion des finances publiques (GFP)

FreeBalance, un fabricant de logiciel à but lucratif (FOPSE) qui aide les gouvernements autour du monde à tirer un avantage solide de la technologie de planification des ressources gouvernementales (PRG) afin d’accélérer la croissance d’un pays, est heureux d’annoncer que les gouvernements de l’Afghanistan, du Kosovo, de la Sierra Leone et de la Cisjordanie ont récemment reçu une notation « importante » pour une réforme dans la gestion des finances publiques (GFP). Le rapport de la Banque mondiale, Réformes de la gestion des finances publiques dans les pays sortant de conflit : rapport de synthèse, publié au début du mois, a examiné la réforme GFP dans huit pays sortant de conflit.
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Les leçons de la planification des ressources gouvernementales dans les pays sortant de conflit

La Banque mondiale a publié un nouveau rapport Réformes de la gestion des finances publiques dans les pays sortant de conflit : rapport de synthèse qui étudie huit pays avec une vidéo intéressante. FreeBalance a contribué à amener des pratiques d’excellence dans la gestion des finances publiques à travers l’automatisation de la planification des ressources gouvernementales (PRG) dans des pays sortant de conflit et des pays du G8. Le rapport de synthèse fait suite à un postulat économique de la Banque mondiale de l’année dernière. Les deux indiquent que les pays ayant mis en œuvre l’Accountability Suite de FreeBalance ont montré des progrès importants dans la GFP. Ces études fournissent une certaine validation indiquant que nous sommes sur la bonne voie afin de permettre une réforme durable dans la gestion des finances publiques.
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Commencer par la base est toujours la meilleure pratique!

Ce billet compare deux stratégies pour moderniser la gestion du secteur public (GSP) dans les pays ayant d’importants déficits techniques dans l’élaboration des politiques, l’affectation des ressources publiques, la délivrance de services publics et le contrôle des résultats. Une stratégie, souvent favorisée par les spécialistes du développement, est d’essayer de moderniser rapidement la gestion publique en introduisant les pratiques perfectionnées des pays les plus développés. L’argument pour cette stratégie de « progression par dépassement » repose sur l’attente que les pays à faible revenu peuvent éviter la période d’essai et les tests sur les erreurs que les pays développés ont subi afin d’accélérer l’adoption directe des pratiques d’excellence.
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Doug Hadden, VP Products

The American television network, NBC, has exclusive broadcast rights to the 2012 London games. Broadcast coverage by NBC has generated the twitter hash tag of #NBCfail. The use of social media, including twitter has generated an undercurrent of satire and ridicule for:

• “tape” delaying opening ceremonies and events (creating parody account @NBCdelayed)
• preventing anyone in the US from “live” streaming NBC unless they can prove a cable or satellite subscription – even people who are prepared to pay for streaming
• numerous commentator gaffes like not knowing who Tim Berners-Lee is

Commentator Jeff Jarvis suggests:

The problem for NBC as for other media is that it is trying to preserve old business models in a new reality. To experiment with alternatives when billions are at stake is risky. But so is not experimenting and not learning when millions of your viewers can complain about you on Twitter.

From Broadcast to Always On

What’s changed from, say 1996? There was tape delays during the 1996 Atlanta games, in the United States, for events like the Men’s 100 Meter Dash [see below].

Broadcast electronic media enables control. Control of the message. Control of the advertising revenue. But, there is limited control in cyber space which is always on. Where people in stadiums and those watching in other countries can post results.

NBC executives seem to think that American citizens need the context presented. As if Americans are not bright enough to understand what is going on (or find out through a search on the Internet.) This is an patronizing attitude by elites is described in full by John Ralston Saul.

Lessons for Governments

1. Public servants need to consider that they do not have all of the answers or the best answers. Governments can leverage citizen cognitive surplus.
2. Citizens view delays of information as indicative of incompetence or hiding something so transparency can increase citizen trust.
3. Governments cannot stop information flow to citizens, so it’s better to be proactive with open data rather than wait for access to information requests.
4. Governments will be satirized and ridiculed – as they have been for centuries, just on cyberspace. Get used to it. Adjust.
5. Transparency will reveal incompetence, corruption and inefficiencies. Embrace these to improve government effectiveness.

1996 100 Meter Dash

I watched the event on CBC. There was a lot of tension given the strong field. After watching the stress of false starts and the eventual win by Donovan Bailey, I flipped to the American channel (we can do that in Canada, although there doesn’t seem to be much reciprocity) to find that the network was setting up the event. Providing context. Here’s British commentary from the event. Wasn’t this enough tension? Isn’t it better than reality television?

Leverage “cognitive surplus” to improve public policy

Doug Hadden, VP Products

This is Part 6 of 6 parts detailing the content in my Financial Management Institute of Canada lunch presentation What can we learn about Sustainability from Developing Nation Governments?

Developing countries are adopting processes and technology designed to increase citizen trust while leveraging citizen and civil society cognitive surplus to improve public policy. If the Arab Spring, Tea Party and the Occupy movement has taught governments anything it’s crowdsource to improve public policy – or be crowdsourced.

Many define “democracy” as representative democracy rather than participatory democracy.  Indian MP Ruhal Gandhi suggested that the Anna Hazare hunger strike undermined democracy in India. Yet, it is clear that representative democracy is a thin form because citizens exercise the franchise only during elections.

Transparent and open government data enables developing nations to harness the power of citizens for audit. As I described recently in citizen audit use cases for Public Financial Management (PFM), there are compliance, fraud and performance citizen audit dimensions. Citizen audit is enabled through open data (proactive disclosure of public financial management information on the Internet) and social media collaboration (Internet enabled feedback and discussion.) I further suggested that it is the duty of citizens to leverage open government.

Auditing is expensive. Very expensive in developing countries. That’s why citizens, civil society and businesses are encouraged to help governments. For example, there is nothing better to uncover procurement fraud or poor procurement decisions than competitors.

We have world class external audit in Canada and improving internal audit, as I described in a previous post. David M. Walker, the former U.S. Comptroller General has pointed out that the US Government Accountability Office has a proven return on investment though trapping fraud, improving controls, proposing performance improvements etc. Yet, even audit agencies with proven returns are being cut back.

The Performance Problem

As I’ve pointed out before, performance management in the public sector is more complex than in the private sector. Private sector organizations have a bottom line: profit. There are established measurements like market share, and return on assets. Output measurements like the number of customer complaints handled, and outcome measurements like customer satisfaction survey ratings are factors that influence financials – profitability. If all the KPIs are green and the company is not making a profit, than the indicators are likely incorrect.

There is no bottom line in government. Outputs and outcomes are the results. Financial – in this case, budgets, is the input. This makes it very difficult to determine whether the KPIs are correct. There could be false positives and false negatives.

Social media in government, or Government 2.0, can engage citizens and civil society to report on outputs or outcomes. For example, the Ushahidi platform is used to monitor elections, disaster response and corruption.

The next stage in citizen engagement is crowdsourcing through expert groups or the public. This shows promise when managed correctly. For example, an effort at the White House generated some unexpected ideas. The principle of using citizens to propose and vet solutions reduces the burden on governments and may generate ideas to solve important problems.

Participatory Budgeting to go virtual?

Participatory budgeting is a process originally developed in Brazil to engage citizens to improve budgets. Adoption of participatory budgeting has grown particularly at local government. My sense is that the immediacy of service delivery in local government can create a critical mass of participation. The use of neighbourhood and civil society meetings and government outreach may not be sustainable in large regional governments and many national governments.

My view is that participatory budgeting will become virtual in the future. We can learn from the lessons in participatory budgeting to improve outcomes.

There is some sensitivity in governments to crowdsource policy because policy is considered the purview of political wonks. There is a notion of budget confidentiality in Canada that may restrict the kind of openness enjoyed in developing countries.

Open Government Costs

Many argue that open government, social media, crowdsourcing etc. just costs money. I’ve summarized the business case for open government in a previous entry. A recent Transparency Camp Brainstorm identified the following benefit categories for open government:

• Revenue, primarily in the form of increased tax collection through increased economic activity
• Efficiency, effectiveness and productivity through reduced cost per unit of work including cost avoidance
• Outcome improvements such as achieving higher levels of service delivery or improved health statistics

David Eaves argued that open data can reduce the cost for reduce the costs of Freedom of Information processing

Social Media effects

The resistance to social media and open data in developed nation governments contrasts to the attitudes from many developing countries. I find a greater acceptance of the value proposition of open government in countries like Timor-Leste, whose transparency portal is an amazing achievement, than in G8 countries.  The commitments for the Open Government Partnership show that these countries are innovating beyond expectations. This could result in a more engaged population with a deeper form of democracy than we enjoy in Canada today.

As I’ve written before, social media will be transformational for Public Financial Management. The key driver in developing countries is the need to sustain reform. This doesn’t mean sustaining the PFM “status quo”. Or, tweaking processes. This means continuous modernization and reform. Catching up to developed countries. Leapfrogging developed countries. This effort requires citizen engagement.

Let’s hope that governments at all levels in Canada do not hold back and get leapfrogged.

Doug Hadden, VP Products

New technology is adopted asymmetrically. Some organizations adopt quickly, others lag. Geoffrey Moore has written the book (books) about the technology adoption curve, starting with the classic, Crossing the Chasm. Open government is crossing this chasm. The Open Government Partnership momentum validates the ‘vertical’ adoption characteristic of the ‘early majority’ stage.

What differs between the ‘early adopters’ and ‘early majority’? The ‘early majority’ needs proven business cases -intuition is not enough. This was the brainstorm subject I moderated on Saturday at Transparency Camp 2012: identify business case elements. This picks up from a blog post from earlier this month. Notes were taken by @JeanneHolm from NASA/JPL located at http://transparencycamp.org/sessions/161/

The business case problem

Business cases rely on well-known metrics like Return on Investment (ROI) and Economic Value Add (EVA). Measures are usually well understood – for the previous technology. Much of the positive impact of new technology cannot be calculated using the old measurements. And, we often forget the business case for existing technology because it has such widespread use that benefits are obvious. For example, It seems like nonsense to ask managers to justify the acquisition of telephones or fax machines today.

The ROI problem

Technology vendors produce ROI studies. Are these studies objective? Probably not. Some irony here: FreeBalance is a technology vendor with open government products. More on the business case problem in government at the end of the post.

Brainstormed Business Case Ideas

Return: The primary return factor identified were:

1. Revenue, primarily in the form of increased tax collection through increased economic activity
2. Efficiency, effectiveness and productivity through reduced cost per unit of work including cost avoidance
3. Outcome improvements such as achieving higher levels of service delivery or improved health statistics

1. Revenue

The use of, what Tim O’Reilly calls ‘government as platform‘, extends the notion of governments encouraging economic activity through infrastructure development to the digital word. The classic example is the economic activity generated through GPS. This seems to be the primary revenue use case for open government. I think that there could be a use case for increased sales of government products through open government. Perhaps even increased revenue for sales of government assets that are being disposed.
There are some special circumstances for developing nations. Improved transparency leads to improved governance scores (eg…) which leads to increased business confidence (increased investment leads to more tax collection), citizen confidence (higher tax compliance), donor confidence (more and better aid) and ex-pat confidence (reverse brain drain & increase remittances.)

2. Costs

• Lower procurement costs through increased completion and civil society oversight (example: open e-procurement systems)
• Lower transaction costs through open gov process integration with other tiers  of government and grants to NGOs, business etc. (example: aid transparency through IATI)
• Lower health care costs through preventative advice
• Lower costs to manage Freedom of Information requests through proactive disclosure, as pointed out by David Eaves
• Reduced corruption because information is open and under scrutiny
• Improved productivity because public servants will be aware that information is transparent – this can also lead to merit-based systems that improve government effectiveness

3. Outcomes

• All the cost elements above can lead to improved outcomes. Other outcomes include:
• Improved citizen service delivery
• Improved outcomes in sectors like education, health, industrial development (premise: If people knew what pesticides were being released, behaviour in food purchasing or food cleaning may change)
• More effective disaster response (example: Ushahidi in Haiti earthquake response)

Increasing Returns

ROI in the physical world is a diminishing returns calculation. Each new market for toothpaste increases costs. The virtual world is one of increasing returns. Each new chunk of open data adds value to previous chunks of open data. And the costs to collect and maintain open data goes down because the infrastructure scales. (That’s why Amazon can provide such value for the Elastic Cloud.) This is called the network effect.

Special Problems in Government Business Case development

• Government organizes who sell data to the private sector lose this revenue source if the data is free. The resulting economic development may increase taxes, but the organization does not benefit directly.
• Cost avoidance and cost improvements are difficult to justify in the public sector if the outlay for technology is high. That’s because the initial investment increases the budget.
• Many benefits are specific to types of government, so it is unlikely that business cases vary by context.
• Risk avoidance among many public sector organizations may attribute lower benefits and higher costs to open gov projects than they should.
• Benefits may only accrue if civil society, businesses and citizens are trained.

Conclusion

There seemed general agreement that small wins are required to generate momentum and to help justify future business cases. There also seemed to be agreement that the ROI benefits may take a long time to accrue but that these benefits will be long standing.

 

Doug Hadden, VP Products

Government Performance Management is considerably more difficult than Corporate Performance Management.  Does this mean that instituting performance management tools effectively is more difficult in developed or developing countries?

Technology Leapfrog

The notion of technology leapfrog is that developing countries can skip the incremental steps taken for developed countries to modernize.  Open systems and open standards can be used.  Client/server and wired internet stages can be avoided. The classic example of technology leapfrog is Estonia where the Internet “now tightly entwined with Estonia’s identity.”

The Government of Thailand demonstrates “technology leapfrog” in e-government with a roadmap that includes c-Government (Connected Government), m-Government (Mobile and Multichannel Government) and u-Government (Ubiquitous Government).

Yet, isn’t “government performance management” too complex for developing countries?  Not  necessarily – as we have seen in Timor-Leste where performance dashboards are used and government results provided to the public.

Advantages in Developing Countries

There may not be sufficient capacity in some governments to fully leverage budget-centric performance management tools.  But there are advantages:

• Centralized information: Developing countries tend to have fewer information systems with more centralized systems. Data from sub-national entities is more accessible. And, governments in developing countries are more likely to support public sector and information technology standards to facilitate data collection
• Holistic understanding: Managers in developing countries look at performance and the nature of government in a more holistic way that those in the “West”. Performance Management tools differ from traditional Business Intelligence through a holistic view of performance. In particular, Ministers and senior managers are attuned to macroeconomic effects like commodity prices.
• Development effects: The impact of improved performance is more significant in developing country. Government performance improvements positively affects development results, business confidence, investor Investment, aid effectiveness and remittances.
• Competitive differentiation Improving government performance has a more significant impact for developing countries in the global economy. Governments are more motivated to improve “doing business“, “revenue watch” or “open budget” indexes to create a better business and development environment.

Transparency is Aligned to Performance

The key first step to government performance management is transparency. Transparency is one of the measurements used in international government performance assessments like Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA):

 

B. KEY CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES: Comprehensiveness and Transparency
PI-5 Classification of the budget
PI-6 Comprehensiveness of information included in budget documentation
PI-7 Extent of unreported government operations
PI-8 Transparency of inter-governmental fiscal relations
PI-9 Oversight of aggregate fiscal risk from other public sector entities.
PI-10 Public access to key fiscal information

Transparency is more than a superficial step to government performance, as these videos from the Open Government and  International Budget Partnerships describe. Transparency motivates accountability which improves performance.

Doug Hadden, VP Products

As described in a post yesterday, I’ve been working on a paper for the Association of Budgeting and Financial Management (ABFM) conference in October. I’ll be on a panel discussion on October 15th on Online Expenditure & Performance Reporting.

The premise of the paper is that government budget management is modernizing to “Budget 2.0″ that leverages Web 2.0 technology and social media. The roadmap to Budget 2.0 includes:

• Budget Preparation including the process for creating and approving budgets
• Oversight including internal government and external stakeholders
• Citizen Engagement includes methods of communicating to external stakeholders
• Transparency Mechanisms leveraged by governments
• Budget Comprehensiveness including all government tiers, parastatal organizations and coverage of all revenue and expenditures
• Accounting Methods from cash through accrual accounting
• International Standards Support for public sector and transparency standards
• Policy Formulation including the process of building policy and aligning policy to budgets
• Budget execution including how execution is controlled to meet budget objectives
• Government Communications Medium from published documents through to open data
• Timeliness on information provided to parliaments and citizens

The following shows the work in progress.

Budget 2.0 Roadmap Interaction

 

Budget Preparation Modernization

Towards participatory budgeting

Oversight and Engagement Modernization

Towards citizen oversight

Transparency Mechanisms Modernization

Towards open data

Budget Comprehensiveness Modernization

Towards treating whole of government as an enterprise

Budget Execution and Accounting Method Modernization

Towards true value of government and government performance

International Public Sector and Technical Standards

Towards true financial comparison between governments

Timeliness

Towards timely data to enable timely decisions

Policy Management

Towards participatory policy

 

 

 

Doug Hadden, VP Products

I’ve been working on a paper for the Association of Budgeting and Financial Management (ABFM) conference in October. I’ll be on a panel discussion on October 15th on Online Expenditure & Performance Reporting. There is growing evidence that government budget management is maturing.

Budget preparation is transitioning from an internal expert/technocrat to a community model through the use of social media.  Government organizations have leveraged outside experts, civil society and businesses for input for many years. But, new technology tools and citizen demand is creating the demand for more open and transparent participatory budgeting. Hence: Budget 2.0.

Towards a Budget 2.0 Roadmap

The difficulty in mapping out this modernization because there are so many overlapping avenues. And, modernization is inconsistent among governments where some governments are showing significant reform on some budget avenues but not others. The modernization to Government performance management, open data, accrual accounting and participatory budgeting appear to be consistent – part of a virtuous circle. For example, accrual accounting enables government performance management. Open data enables participatory budgeting that can improve government performance. Performance information improves open data.

My preliminary work is shown as a mind map below. (The paper and accompanying presentation will be easier to consume. I’ll provide links when completed.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avenues of Budget Modernization

Some of these budget modernization avenues include:

• Budget Preparation including the process for creating and approving budgets
• Oversight including internal government and external stakeholders
• Citizen Engagement includes methods of communicating to external stakeholders
• Transparency Mechanisms leveraged by governments
• Budget Comprehensiveness including all government tiers, parastatal organizations and coverage of all revenue and expenditures
• Accounting Methods from cash through accrual accounting
• International Standards Support for public sector and transparency standards
• Policy Formulation including the process of building policy and aligning policy to budgets
• Budget execution including how execution is controlled to meet budget objectives
• Government Communications Medium from published documents through to open data
• Timeliness on information provided to parliaments and citizens

There are significant barriers to modernization including:

• Governments that operate on a federal model can be legally prevented from providing comprehensive budgets across all tiers of government
• Budget confidentiality embedded in law prevent open interaction and participatory budgeting
• Transparency generates political concerns as does forms of performance management and accrual accounting that show the “true value” of the government
• Data quality concerns can prevent the timeliness of information publication restricting the ability to support citizen participation
• Culture of experts in government restricts engagement with external stakeholders

From Budget 1.0 to Budget 2.0

My assessment is that the modernization avenues can be categorized as:

• Budget 1.0: Traditional mechanisms of budget management that are primarily internally focused where control and compliance are major concerns
• Transitional: Increase of externally focused budget management where holistic budget management, transparency and government performance are major concerns
• Budget 2.0: Social mechanisms that attempt to leverage the network effect to improve government performance and service delivery

 

Social Media Domino Effect?

Doug Hadden, VP Products

A prominent public financial management expert recently reflected on the unrest in the middle east as indicative of the danger of government transparency. Governments should be wary of social networks. Social media could disrupt government. Everywhere.

Yes, government transparency is dangerous. More specifically, the lack of government transparency is dangerous.

No question that social media turns non-transparent leaders into buffoons. Transparent governments, on the other hand, can get enter into dialog rather than ranting monologues.

Citizens suspect that non-transparent governments are hiding something. Daniel Kaufmann has pointed out the difference between the condition on the ground in Libya compared to the perception of the international community.  And, how the lack of relevant data plays into perceptions of risk. Social media exposes real conditions on the ground.

Transparency Sea Change?

FreeBalance is active in developing countries. Our government resource planning software helps improve governance and reduce corruption. The software is used for financial and budget transparency. And, our customers and prospective customers seem to have an increasing appetite for more transparency. Why are government leaders in developing countries embracing transparency?

• Improved development results: citizens analyzing government expenditures enhance government audit capabilities to improve government efficiency and effectiveness. And, identify graft.
• Improved social cohesion: citizens and civil society organization are able to follow funding for disadvantaged populations to reduce poverty and improve efficacy.
• Increased investment: transparent governments attract more donor funding and private sector investment. And, it attracts the highly skilled to return to their home country.
• Increased stability: citizen recognize the achievements of current governments. Data centres the political debate and moves it away from outrageous claims.

This is why so many developing nation governments are leaping ahead in transparency. Transparency has become political. Politicians prosper through transparency and by advocating open government. “Nothing to hide” has become political currency around the world.

From Transparency to Social Media Transparency

As mentioned in a previous posting, there are important social media lessons to learn from protests in the Middle East, s the Tea Party use of Twitter and the use of social media by the Obama campaign. Government transparency is migrating to a “2.0″ world:

1. Governments need to move in-network to use social media to improve policy formulation and policy execution. This will improve social cohesion and what we once called “efficacy”.
2. There is no stopping what Tapscott and Williams calls the “rise of the citizen regulator.” It is time for governments to recognize the participatory benefits of this trend to help improve performance and outcomes.
3. Traditional media does not have the impact it once did. Traditional media organizations are hierarchical in nature and suffer from the same inefficiencies as other “command-and-control” organizations. Therefore, transparency, even to the extent of “dis-intermediating” traditional organizations is becoming a competitive differentiator for governments.

Proper Government 1.0 Also Required

Doug Hadden, VP Products

Public sector unions have been demonstrating in Greece and Wisconsin because of public-sector austerity measures. The debate about these measures seem to rely more on dogma than fact. Unions and politicians leverage old media and industrial methods to present cases to the public. A so-called “court of public opinion.” And, not an open court.

So, it’s come to this….

The “winner” in these disputes might be the side that loses the least credibility. Losing trust in politicians or public employees results in losing trust in government across the board. The winner and loser both become losers. That’s why transparency and citizen engagement are cornerstones for 21st. century governance. Government 2.0 is needed to overcome this environment of political partisanship that turns citizens angry of apathetic.

A Government 2.0 Prescription

with a touch of back-office government financial systems

1. Are public employees properly compensated? Full salary spend information, including benefits and travel expenditures needs to be tracked in back-office systems and presented to the public. Are public employees properly compensated?That’s up to the public to decide.
2. Is public employee talent optimized? Training, performance appraisal and certification program information fro back-office civil service management information needs to be presented to the public. Merit systems must be transparent. The public service needs to be a career option for the very best in any country. Is public employee talent optimized. That’s up to the public to decide.
3. Is government effective? Government outputs and outcomes need to be tracked for efficiency and effectiveness. The political debate is often about inputs (the amount spent) rather than performance. Is government effective? Is it too big? That’s up to the public to decide.
4. Is government improving over time? Financial information collected from back-office systems needs to be presented in open data formats to citizens for visualization. Government financial management is complex. Government reports and documents make comparison difficult. Are governments improving over time? That’s up to the public to decide.
5. Is government focused on what is important? Government needs to engage citizens on a regular basis. As Umair Haque points out. “voting is the most brittle kind of democracy, built on the tiniest of conversation.” In particular, budget and policy processes need to be opened up. Participatory budgeting that engages experts and citizens beyond those who traditional wield influence is necessary to improve government trust. It will also improve government performance. Is government focused on what is important? That’s up to the public to decide.

But at What Cost?

Transparency isn’t free. Many question the return on investment of open data and Government 2.0. It can be considered a “nice to have”. Yet, Gartner analyst Andrea di Maio has pointed out that Government 2.0 could be effective should the US federal government funding end next month.

Labour disputes cost everyone. Lack of efficiency and effectiveness costs everyone. Should the public be prepared to fund these current costs through taxes? Or, is the public purse better served with transparency?

 

 

 

 

Doug Hadden, VP Products

I had a chance to attend the TechatState open source conference and unconference Friday and Saturday last week.  The Friday conference was held at the State Department in the Loy Henderson what is known internally as the “Dr. Strangelove” room. The unconference was held at the National Democratic Institute. (Which was somehow fitting because the room projector was not working right during my session on transparency leapfrogging in developing countries, so it was a bit of an unpresentation.)  

The move to open source and open systems is reinforcing the move to open data and Government 2.0. How?

• Open source operates on a community model with more decentalized governance much like Web 2.0 and social networking
• Open source and open data have network effects: the more there is the more valuable it is
• Open source is fueling a lot of open government (there was a lot of talk about uses of Drupal and the OpenAtrium distribution)
• Open source generally enables more effective security and provides higher quality middleware making the US Department of Defence as the largest user within the American government
• Open source provides the flexibility needed to adapt social media for government usage
• Open source provides the cost flexibility for governments to do more with less (with interesting case studies from California and New York)

Data visualization was another consistent topic. Geographic information, in particular, has become effective in assisting disaster recovery. The Ushahidi platform for disaster recovery was also a consistent topic.

The unconference (second picture) is more of a flexible networking event than the typical conference (first picture). Here are some of my tweets from the conference:

#techatstate takeaway use of #opensource to help countries leap ahead in gov #transparency #opendata #oss 2:08 PM Feb 12th via ÜberTwitter

@wmburke channeling bootcamp exercising while #unconference facilitating #techatstate #oss 1:54 PM Feb 12th via ÜberTwitter

Final unplenary about to unstart #techatstate #oss #unconference been rewarding non-linear experience so far 1:49 PM Feb 12th via ÜberTwitter

#opensource #transparency shows you quality+activity you don’t get with proprietary #techatstate #oss 1:27 PM Feb 12th via ÜberTwitter

Viewpoint that difficult to displace proprietary with #opensource #techatstate #oss easier to justify in greenfield situations

Made point that proprietary #erp with proprietary stack limits #extensibilty vs #opensource #techatstate #oss 4:23 PM Feb 12th via ÜberTwitter

RT @digiphile: Talking about crowdmapping #Egypt here at #TechAtState. @PatrickMeier explains more at @Ushahidi: http://bit.ly/dMI0bM 4:08 PM Feb 12th via ÜberTwitter

Wasserman: 14 different ways to make money on #opensource #techatstate #oss 4:07 PM Feb 12th via ÜberTwitter

On the internet no one know you’re using #opensource #techatstate #oss 3:56 PM Feb 12th via ÜberTwitter

Interesting #oss usage for video content infrastructure #techatstate 3:53 PM Feb 12th via ÜberTwitter

In building businesses on #oss #techatstate unconference 3:38 PM Feb 12th via ÜberTwitter

real need for non functional #nonfun from product managers in software development #techatstate #oss 3:12 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

benefits scenarios & personas in software development #techatstate #oss unconference 3:00 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

Tony Wasserman describing new agile processes in sw development #techatstate #oss 2:48 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss discussion swdevelopment problems where difference between problem and your position/solution, may be better way 2:44 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

digiphile New at @Govfresh: Developing open source and open government at #TechAtState [VIDEO] http://bit.ly/dRbpz2 #OSS #gov20 #opengov 2:07 PM Feb 12th via TweetDeck Retweeted by freebalance and 2 others

in communicating with developers session #techatstate #oss unconference 2:35 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

macon44 the @WhiteHouse just released our 2nd batch of contributions to the #opensource development community http://goo.gl/0Rf5u #drupal 12:47 PM Feb 12th via web from Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Washington   Retweeted by freebalance and 62 others

#techatstate #socialmedia #ITgovernance presentation mentioned:http://bit.ly/gWsJxG #opengov #gov20 #opendata 2:03 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss other presentation on technology leapfrog #developingnations http://bit.ly/hq521l 1:59 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss presentation referenced on open systems helping #developingcountries leapfrog #transparency http://bit.ly/guje8K 1:58 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

Observation from #transparency #techatstate session: #developingcountries less need to build complex #roi justifications for #opengov 1:54 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

Observation from #transparency #developingcountries #techatstate session: big difference between #policy making and execution #transparency 1:52 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

Observation from #transparency #developingcountries #techatstate session: 3rd world more likely to adopt international & #openstandards 1:51 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

Observation from #transparency #developingcountries #techatstate session: #oss ideal to build government tech capacity 1:51 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

Observation from #transparency #developingcountries #techatstate session: govs have less info silos & can have more effective #opendata 1:50 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

Observation from #transparency #developingcountries #techatstate session: people from outside gov don’t really know #transparency 1:50 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

Observation from #transparency #developingcountries #techatstate session: major motivation for govs: skilled #diaspora return 1:49 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

observation from #transparency #developingcountries #techatstate #oss: #wikileaks has given transparency a bad name 1:47 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

finished leapfrog government #transparency #opendata in #developingcountries session #techatstate #oss 1:47 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

made point earlier in #drupal #techatstate #oss session that traditional #cms often overly structured & inflexible for creative work 12:27 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

discussion of #accessibility often is a stumbling block for #transparency projects if can’t get out to 100% of citizens #techatstate #oss 12:25 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

@noneck: for all the #govloop awesomeness, doesn’t include all of the #drupal for government awesomeness available #techatstate #oss 12:22 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

discussion of translation management, localization in #drupal core software & content #techatstate #oss 12:17 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

digiphile VIDEO: @DebBryant on #opensource at the #TechAtState unconference http://bit.ly/i7dwm8 #opengov 12:10 PM Feb 12th via TweetDeck Retweeted by freebalance

noneck i’m sitting next to Doug Hadden. His company, FreeBalance, localized Drupal for Mongolian. #techatstate #oss #AWESOME!!! 11:53 AM Feb 12th via Echofon Retweeted by freebalance

more people squeezing into the popular #techatstate #drupal #oss session 12:10 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

@noneck talking about how leveraging #drupal for intranet including #mobile support #android #iphone #ipad #techatstate #oss 12:09 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

discussion of how #bpm #workflow comes up often in #drupal projects #techatstate #oss 12:07 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

delving into problems that #drupal helps solve, #politics policy management, #capacitybuildng #democracy programs #techatstate #oss 12:02 PM Feb 12th via CoTweet

interesting #drupal session #techatstate many in room looking at using #cms to enhance #transparency #oss 11:46 AM Feb 12th via CoTweet

FreeBalance leverages #drupal for help, capacity building, documentation and e-learning in #pfm #grp suite, also created #mongolia version 11:32 AM Feb 12th via CoTweet

at #drupal for government unconference session #techatstate #oss 11:31 AM Feb 12th via CoTweet

digiphile Brazil has done #opensource for a decade+ – “They’re really the Simon Bolivar of software down there”-@DebBryant #techatstate 10:44 AM Feb 12th via TweetDeck Retweeted by freebalance and 7 others

techATstate Follow #techatstate & #oss hashtags today, and thanks to @nditech for hosting the unconf! Evolving agenda at http://open4m.org/ndi/ 10:35 AM Feb 12th via web Retweeted by freebalance and 2 others

Deb Bryant discussing how international governments use #oss #techatstate through public policy 10:37 AM Feb 12th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss unconference notes.ndi.org agenda at open4m.org/ndi 10:30 AM Feb 12th via CoTweet

James Burke starting #techatstate #oss unconference opn4m.org sees tech as culture change agent 10:27 AM Feb 12th via CoTweet

does #radio access help hold governments accountable? View that i depends http://bit.ly/el4gel #accountability #transparency #oldmedia 10:07 AM Feb 12th via CoTweet

prioritizing & budgeting #socialnetworking in business http://bit.ly/i7LJK4 @charleneli 9:44 AM Feb 12th via CoTweet

apparently Loy Henderson conference room called the Dr. #strangelove room #techatstate #oss 9:33 AM Feb 12th via CoTweet

one topic missing yesterday #techatstate #oss was the network effect of openness: #opendata #oss open standards #socialmedia on #innovation 9:30 AM Feb 12th via CoTweet

at National Democratic Institute for #techatstate #oss unconference, will be untweeting all unday on this unweekend 9:29 AM Feb 12th via CoTweet

#Mubarak Shut Down The Internet, And The Internet Paid Him In Kind how #socialmedia defeated #oldmedia in #Egypt http://viigo.im/5YxR 7:46 AM Feb 12th via ViigoBB

Stuart Gill we don’t have a good understanding of the economics of data #opendata #techatstate #oss 4:38 PM Feb 11th via web

Stuart Gill often don’t see data as a fundamental high priority good, but should be #opendata #techatstate #oss 4:37 PM Feb 11th via web

interesting comment on how correct data can turn around incorrect aid assumptions #techatstate #oss #aideffectivess 4:36 PM Feb 11th via web

discussion of risk #innovation & correct reporting burden on #ngos for #aideffectiveness #techatstate #oss 4:32 PM Feb 11th via web

#aidtransparency will provide the aggregate data to improve performance rather than burden of rigid results-based methods #techatstate #oss 4:32 PM Feb 11th via web

made comment about #aidtransparency #IATI and reduction of transaction costs burden for #transparency techatstate #oss 4:31 PM Feb 11th via web

discussion of venturecapitalizing aid innovation #techatstate #aideffectiveness #oss 4:30 PM Feb 11th via web

Todd Huffman making analogy of how #oss gets many eyes to fix problems & could be leveraged in #foreignaid #techatstate 4:30 PM Feb 11th via web

discussion about whether fear of failure in aid programs legitimate reason to prevent #innovation #techatstate #oss 4:30 PM Feb 11th via web

Todd Huffman often main reason organizations don’t want to share data is embarrassment #techatstate #oss need to reduce stigma of failure 4:29 PM Feb 11th via web

Wayan Vota #inveneo says profit-model with local partners provides real feedback loop on effectiveness #csr #fopse #techatstate #oss 4:29 PM Feb 11th via web

Mari Kuraishi #globalgiving says strict #aideffectiveness evals don’t give you what you need, need open-ended questions #techatstate #oss 3:59 PM Feb 11th via web

comment about cult of results-based management in #afghanistan made for rigid #foreignaid low #aideffectiveness #techatstate #oss 3:57 PM Feb 11th via web

Stuart Gill #worldbank view on #opendata is motivated by desire to partner better #techatstate #oss 3:56 PM Feb 11th via web

Todd Huffman #techatstate #oss resistence to sharing data, #opendata doesn’t come from people in the field, comes from higher up 3:54 PM Feb 11th via web

Todd Huffman beer for data program in #afghanistan proven to be incredibly popular #techatstate #oss 3:50 PM Feb 11th via web

Todd Huffman as new people come into #afghanistan don’t know where data is located-is like having group front lobotomy 3:45 PM Feb 11th via web

Todd Huffman experience in #afghanistan where promoted health openness and #opendata #techatstate #oss 3:44 PM Feb 11th via web

Stuart Gill #worldbank pushing #opendev #opendata #RHOK models #techatstate #oss 3:44 PM Feb 11th via web

Stuart Gill #worldbank a lot of #innovation in #aid is bottom up #techatstate #oss 3:44 PM Feb 11th via web

Wayan Vota #inveneo doubling aid impact every year through openness, mentions ictworks.org #techatstate #oss 3:42 PM Feb 11th via web

Wayan Vota #inveneo in aid, pillars of excellence = silos #techatstate #oss 3:41 PM Feb 11th via web

Wayan Vota #inveneo suggesting that #innovation in past came thru open contact #techatstate #oss 3:41 PM Feb 11th via web

#techatstate #oss Mari Kuraishi #globalgiving found issue when at #worldbank with #development #aid was the top-down approach 3:41 PM Feb 11th via web

#obama giving historical and global impact of #egypt #jan25 #feb11 clearly new era in citizen power 3:12 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#obama conveniently waits for break in #techatstae #oss to speak on #egypt #mubarak impact of #socialmedia 3:09 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

digiphile “One of @TimOReilly‘s laws about data: don’t make people find data. Make data find the people.”-@Todd_Park #gov20 http://twitpic.com/3yq04h 2:45 PM Feb 11th via Twitter for iPhone Retweeted by freebalance and 33 others

discussion of #bestpractices and #sharedservices where these are sometimes more expensive than previous methods #techatstate #oss 2:42 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

speaker #civiccommons suggests best approach is to have configurable software not customization #techatstate #oss 2:37 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

Carolyn Lawson said best senior gov’t sales position for #oss #opendata is meeting mandate at lower cost #techatstate 2:34 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

techATstate “If you let your user innovate on your behalf, you get a better result on your platform” – @habibh #techatstate #oss 2:30 PM Feb 11th via web Retweeted by freebalance

@daeaves many gov’t IT depts focused on keeping network up, viruses out and hiring vendors rather than strategic planning #techatstate #oss 2:32 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

@daeaves once you give people the tools, won’t be able to switch them to old ways #techatstate #oss 2:32 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

@daeaves explained how small visible #opendata #oss wins worked in #vancouver, can’t sell based on abstract #techatstate 2:31 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

Carolyn Lawson easier to grow #internship than attract tech talent #techatstate #oss 2:29 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

discussion of recruitment trouble in state governments given #financialcrisis #techatstate #oss #internships strategy in #california 2:29 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

discussion: little or negative correlation between education & productivity in #opengov #oss development #techatstate 2:26 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

apparently room 1207 #statedepartment is where first vote & decision to use #oss in USgov #techatstate 2:24 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

@daeaves big governments are big enough to do dumb things, panel agrees that this is changing #techatstate #oss 2:23 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

blefurgy Can tech end poverty? RT @digiphile: Tech helps magnify human capacity & intent, says @jamesbt http://j.mp/eLPFip #techatstate 2:19 PM Feb 11th via HootSuite Retweeted by freebalance and 1 other

discussion of transition to new vendor business models in government for #opendata #oss #techatstate 2:22 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

Carolyn Lawson says vendor community should bring #innovation not just do what can be done #oss & internal #techatstate 2:21 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

jamiey Great CA success story of meeting a state-wide redesign mandate w/gov webmasters by connecting & training. Community empowers. #techATstate 2:16 PM Feb 11th via TweetDeck Retweeted by freebalance and 1 other

@daeaves says #opendata will only be sustainable when civil servants are pushing it, rather than just from top #techatstate #oss 2:18 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

@daeaves city of #vancouver essentially created vendor ecosystem #innovation out of thin air #techatstate #oss 2:17 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

@daeaves not sure current development of #opendata apps is fully sustainable because not treated by govs as application layer #techatstate 2:16 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

@daeaves #opengov #oss takeaway is not the apps, but #transparency & biggest users are civil servants #techatstate 2:14 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

techATstate Saad Khan:”Level of accessibility [internationally] that has never existed before” #techatstate #oss 2:07 PM Feb 11th via web Retweeted by freebalance

#vancouver 2nd city to publish #opendata after #DC in North America #techatstate #oss 2:11 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

wdeggers RT @digiphile: Cool display of the evolution of tech at @StateDept. From analog to digital diplomacy. #techAtState http://twitpic.com/3ypppr 2:09 PM Feb 11th via TweetDeck Retweeted by freebalance

@daeaves saw major change at city of #vancouver in procuring #oss & support of #opengov #techatstate 2:11 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

@daeaves talking about #opendata #opengov at City of #Vancouver #techatstate #oss 2:09 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Carolyn Lawson State of #california #oss year 1 savings $56M, stopped counting after that 2:03 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Carolyn Lawson State of #california built internal collaborative network among web masters first #oss then went external 2:03 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

interesting common problem at US State level on technology capacity building, training access #techatstate #oss 2:00 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Carolyn Lawson State of #california describing hard project management, communications and #oss use 1:57 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Carolyn Lawson, State of #california had to create modern web environment, consistent UI across all sites with no added budgets 1:56 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Carolyn Lawson State of #california has very long title,but is in charge of collaboration #oss 1:55 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Andrew Hoppin promotes #oss private/public #cloud to reduce switching costs, more affordable 1:54 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate huge deficits at State level making opportunity for #oss #sharedservices and #innovation 1:51 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Andrew Hoppin says US State gov’t the forgotten middle between federal and local apps #oss 1:50 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Andrew Hoppin use of #oss enabled reducing IT budget while doing more NY State Senate ~$1M of $8M budget 1:49 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Andrew Hopping former #CIO NY State Senate levered #oss to become more transparency #opensenate use of #drupal 1:46 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#visualization particularly mapping seems to be strength of many #opendata #opengov apps #techatstate #oss 1:45 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

other key #techatstate #oss takeaway is how #opensource components following standards can be assembled for such different needs 1:41 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

key #techatstate #oss takeaway: #opensource provides standards, #middleware foundation, openness, integration to enable #innovation 1:41 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Phil Ashlock #openplans #oss provides real-time bus information #nyc 1:37 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Phil Ashlock #openplans #oss #civicworks intersection of #gov20 participation,# opendata and livable cities 1:36 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Phil Ashlock #openplans uses #oss & journalism to engage citizens, open geo, civicworks, civicmedia 1:36 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate @daeaves already says sorry eh? #oss 1:34 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss conference, attending open cities and open states breakout #opengov #gov20 #opendata 1:29 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techaststate Jeremy Allison says that no one has been forced to release code to #opensource #oss 12:27 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Deb Bryant talking about #crisiscommons that is attempting to sustain disaster recovery including full #oss support 12:25 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Lin Weeks great enthusiasm for action in #haiti and tech #innovation at first was not sustained #oss 12:24 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

HeatherLaGarde RT @digiphile: If u ignore social nets you’re going 2 become irrelevant, “because that’s where action is happening”-Dr.Wells. #techatstate 12:22 PM Feb 11th via web Retweeted by freebalance and 1 other

#techatstate Lin Weeks on #oss and disaster assistance,” wrong time to exchange business cards is after natural disaster” 12:23 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

open_atrium Word got out today at #techatstate this am that the White House has gone Open Atrium, and they’re releasing code! We are very excited 12:18 PM Feb 11th via Tweetie for Mac Retweeted by freebalance and 24 others

#techatstate Greg Elin #fcc sees need for standards to interface and leverage legacy technology #oss 12:21 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

@digiphile #oss outcomes (cost savings, better health etc.) much more important than tech speak #techatstate 12:19 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

SabzBrach “If gov ignores social media’s role in events, it will become irrelevent.” #techAtState 12:12 PM Feb 11th via txt Retweeted by freebalance and 2 others

OReillyMedia Today’s fifth Tech@State Conf focuses on role of open source in government, industry + society. http://oreil.ly/esvnVf /gg 12:14 PM Feb 11th via web by gretchengiles Retweeted by freebalance

@digiphile using http://www.google.com/moderator/ when taking questions #oss #techatstate 12:14 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

HeatherLaGarde brain and tweet streams split in two columns #egypt #jan25 and #techatstate 12:11 PM Feb 11th via web Retweeted by freebalance and 1 other

#techatstate Lin Wells #oss mentions Nick Gowling’s book on #socialmedia #iran how no gov can keep up with the data 12:12 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Lin Wells sees #oss experiments at #ndu provides value-add opportunities 12:11 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Lin Wells #oss said #ngos critical of techguys patting selves on backs by exchanging electrons vs something that matters 12:09 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Lin Wells describing how #crowdsourcing & #ushahidi was giving #coastguard operationally important info #haiti 12:07 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

shervin On this day, Feb 11 1990, Mandela was released from jail after 27 years. Now, Egyptian people are free after 30 years of dictatorship. 2/11 12:02 PM Feb 11th via Twitter for iPhone Retweeted by freebalance and 30 others

#techatstate Greg Elin #fcc fcc.gov moving to #drupal #oss 12:06 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

ICT_Works with thumb drive, open source, and duct tape, I can fix anything – Greg Elin FCC #techATstate 12:03 PM Feb 11th via HootSuite Retweeted by freebalance and 1 other

#techatstate Greg Elin #fcc uses #oss development environment off a thumb drive 12:04 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Greg Elin #fcc #oss believes that small gov depts have no leverage with large vendors like #microsoft or #oracle to fix probs 12:02 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Greg Elin #fcc every MS-Access app he has seen has a custom UI 12:01 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Greg Elin #fcc can reliably prototype for free with #oss 12:00 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Greg Elin #fcc can buy support for mission critical #oss 12:00 PM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Greg Elin #fcc integration undermines support esp with proprietary software #oss 11:59 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Greg Elin #fcc has been able to solve scalability problems easier through #oss 11:59 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Greg Elin #fcc as easy to find on-line answers, solutions to problems in #oss as proprietary 11:58 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Greg Elin #fcc #oss security patches happen as fast as in proprietary software 11:57 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Greg Elin #fcc #oss in a candy store of software, hosting #licenses sees it as giving more flexibility 11:55 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Greg Elin #fcc sees #oss & #opendata initiatives going hand-in-hand 11:54 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Deb Bryant #osu #oss lab describing #firstresponder & security sw all #opensource 11:51 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Deb Bryant #osu #oss lab common misconception for proprietary software: company will always be in business with same bizmodel 11:50 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Deb Bryant #osu #oss lab common misconception for proprietary software: the person who wrote the code will always be with co 11:50 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Deb Bryant #osu #oss lab common misconception for proprietary software: will always fix bugs 11:50 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Deb Bryant #osu #oss lab common misconception for proprietary software; always have support when you need it 11:50 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Deb Bryant #osu #oss lab hosts #linux #drupal #apache projects 11:49 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

Alex Howard #oreilly media observes about the link between #opengov and #oss #techatstate 11:45 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

Alex Howard #oreilly media introducing #techatstate panel #oss what not to fear or zen and the art of #opensource 11:45 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate David Eaves @codeforamerica objectives reuse, light, usable with deeper goal of #culturevirus for long-term change 11:40 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate David Eaves @codeforamerica pointing out difference between experience as consumer & with government 11:37 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss conference abuzz with #innovation on one hand and #mubarak resignation on the other during break 11:31 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Jeremy Allison describing how #patents handcuff #entrepreneurs #innovation 10:51 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Chris DiBona points out that every proprietary software license different #oss #licensing 10:50 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate discussion of how lawyers take time to catch up on #oss #gpl #licensing 10:49 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Chris DiBona can always pay someone to support #oss so you have someone to blame 10:45 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #fud concerns of #oss in government question 10:45 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Chris DiBona lots of gov contracts now requiring contractors putting custom code into #oss 10:42 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate discussion of where #oss has higher quality 10:37 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Jeremy Allison #oss is the great software commoditizer 10:34 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Chris DiBona when requirements so specialized, need for #oss and standards 10:33 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

techATstate “You guys have to write all your own software?! Wow, that must take years!” Jeremy Allison at #techatstate #oss 10:31 AM Feb 11th via web Retweeted by freebalance and 1 other

#techatstate Chris DiBona & Jeremy Allison pointing out the productivity gains with #oss and less development cost for companies 10:32 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Chris DiBona & Jeremy Allison point out the value of using #oss #middleware to build proprietary products, generate value 10:30 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Chris DiBona says developers moved to #oss when proprietary software too slow to respond to needs 10:28 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate @dkrape asks whether #oss really #communism 10:27 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Chris DiBona #google sees #oss in operating systems, smartphones thought to be proprietary 10:23 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Jeremy Allison #oss is like open speech 10:21 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Chris DiBono #google says traditional software all about control, #oss has no barriers to usage 10:21 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Jeremy Allison #oss difference with proprietary is like science (with #transparency) vs. alchemy (some secret method) 10:20 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss panel @dkrape Chris DiBona #google Jeremy Allison co-creator of #samba 10:17 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Andrew McLaughlin #civiccommons sees applicability with city apps internationally #oss 10:14 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Andrew McLaughlin #civiccommons putting federal IT dashboard into #oss 10:11 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

TechChange #techatstate first prezi of the day very cool tool , we’ve been having lots of fun using it for courses 10:10 AM Feb 11th via Seesmic for Android Retweeted by freebalance

#techatstate Andrew McLaughlin #civiccommons expects to save $1B in city IT projects through pooling #oss & proprietary development 10:10 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Andrew McLaughlin #civiccommons designed to find commonalities across state and local government #oss 10:09 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Gunnar Hellekson #osfa most complex US gov agencies take #oss #opensource seriously 10:07 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Gunnar Hellekson #osfa #oss reporting card shows highest adoption at #dod (security #opensource) 10:06 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Gunnar Hellekson #osfa describing steps to #oss adoption in US gov, particularly with #DOD 10:02 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

HeatherLaGarde fav quote “OSS is free like a free puppy is free” RT @techATstate 1cearly theme emerging at #techatstate isreminder #oss isn’t simply free 9:57 AM Feb 11th via TweetDeck Retweeted by freebalance and 1 other

#techatstate #oss Gunnar Hellekson #osfa providing #opensource for America report card 10:00 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Aneesh Chopra US collaborating with #eu on #health #opendata #india on #opengov 9:58 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

techATstate Every single federal agency now has congressional authority to pursue prizes, challenges, and competitions – Aneesh Chopra #techatstate 9:41 AM Feb 11th via web Retweeted by freebalance and 3 others

#techatstate view that usability #ux is key issue to take advantage of #oss #opendata potential call out on usability.gov 9:53 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Aneesh Chopra government platforms spur #innovation #governmentasplatform #opendata #opengov 9:47 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Aneesh Chopra describing advantage of open industry specs vs. costs of many point-to-point interfaces 9:47 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate great strides and value for #opendata #opengov in US seems to have been missed by #oldmedia 9:44 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Aneesh Chopra funding apps through #opendata and providing forum for additional investment #innovation 9:43 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Aneesh Chopra describing use of new law that enables development challenges for any agency, dept #innovation #opendata 9:41 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Aneesh Chopra platforms+participation=#innovation ecosystems through #opendata R&D collaboration 9:39 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Aneesh Chopra connectivity is needed for competition (with other countries) and economic development 9:38 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Aneesh Chopra betting on #wireless as way for rural connectivity, #innovation – is 21stC infrastructure 9:37 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Aneesh Chopra connectivity gives students a window on the world 9:36 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Aneesh Chopra describing #obama national wireless initiative and how spark #innovation 9:34 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Todd Park #hhs says #opendata #innovation ecosystem should be decentralized “self-propelled” 9:32 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Todd Park #hhs 20 #opendata challenges at Health2Challenge.org so far, engages developers, journalists, academia 9:30 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Todd Park #hhs describing engagement to encourage the use #opendata ie: health data lollapalooza June 9 2011 9:29 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Todd Park #hhs doesn’t have enough eyes to monitor #health data, another advantage to #opendata 9:29 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Todd Park #hhs launching healthdata.gov, 1 stop #health #opendata and #apis across US gov next week 9:28 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Todd Park #hhs predicts that most usage of #healthcare #opendata will be outside core health apps 9:27 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Todd Park #hhs point is that all these apps #innovation resulted in basically no gov cost, just thru #opendata 9:24 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Todd Park #hhs predicts #gamification will do more to teach #health than a whole phalanx of health professionals 9:23 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Todd Park #hhs more examples of #innovation thru #opendata: iTriage, communityclash.com health game 9:21 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Todd Park #hhs examples: hospitalcompare.com, community health #dashboard websites 9:19 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Todd Park #hhs explosion of application through #opendata follows @timoreilly philosophy:data to change lives 9:18 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Todd Park #hhs: @timoreilly is the “Thomas Jefferson” of the web 9:15 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Todd Park #hhs used #noaa model of #opendata that provides weather information and helps #innovation 9:14 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Todd Park #hhs hugely enthusiastic about #opendata 9:13 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Todd Park #hhs on unleashing #opendata to improve health 9:11 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Macon Phillips #WH making case for #opensource as philosophy: collaborating with public to improve gov 9:11 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Macon Phillips #WH releasing second code contribution to #drupal & upgrades to #openatrium 9:09 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Macon Phillips #WH support for #html5 standard meant was one of first web video sites supporting #ipad 9:08 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Macon Phillips has become geek through knowledge of #WH developed “node embed” to achieve #508 accessibility 9:07 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Macon Phillips #WH describing how #oss infrastructure able to handle peak activity 9:05 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Macon Phillips #WH uses #drupal for #cms says many leading #opensource highly secure 9:02 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Macon Phillips #WH #socialmedia focused on openness, #transparency and participation 9:00 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss panel Macon Phillips #WH introducing #newmedia at white house 8:59 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Swart describing the #oss security balance, explaining case for both #opensource & proprietary security 8:55 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Swart #oss policy “merit-based”, describing #statedepartment use of #opensource 8:53 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate Swart making parallel #oss and 21st century #statecraft & cost impacts 8:52 AM Feb 11th via CoTweet

#techatstate #oss Susan Swart, CIO #statedepartment introduced by Suzanne Hall