SI-ASB-2009: OpenTheGovernment.org


OpenTheGovernment.org 1742 Connecticut Ave NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, DC 20009 www.openthegovernment.org	Projects 1
OpenTheGovernment.org is a coalition of journalists, consumer and good government groups, environmentalists, library groups, labor, and others united to make the federal government a more open place in order to make us safer, strengthen public trust in government, and support our democratic principles. Our coalition transcends partisan lines and includes progressives, libertarians, and conservatives.
Photos and Comments

I created a resource list to help select a panel for a webcast on using government data. Secondly, I went through coalition partner sites and summarized tools, reports and etc. dealing with the bailout. The staff were nice and understanding. They did things like recommend I use some of the time to go to a senate committee meeting, even though it had nothing to do with their project.

Projects

Sunshine Week Webcast and 10 Most Wanted Report Release

Intern: Jonathan Shiffner

Code: OTG-01

Interns
1

During the week an ASB participant would assist OpenTheGovernment.org in preparations for the 4th annual Sunshine Week National Dialogue webcast and for the release of a report on the public's most wanted government information. Each year, OpenTheGovernment.org and a number of other organizations sponsor a webcast on topics of openness, accountability, and secrecy. As with past events, this year we will feature two panels: the goal of the first panel will be to build on the growing public concern about openness and accountability generated during the 2008 elections by bringing in administration officials to discuss the new President's policies on and plans for openness and accountability in the executive branch; the focus of the second panel will be on initiatives to improve citizens' access to government information by getting digital government records available and usable online. Primary duties for the webcast preparations include: Preparing a webpage of resources, including links to books, articles and web-based projects that promote citizen access for the 2009 webcast; and Assist coalition staff as necessary with webcast logistics.

In collaboration with the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and with assistance from the Sunlight Foundation's Sunlight Labs, OpenTheGovernment.org is preparing a report that identifies the 10 most wanted databases/data sets. OpenTheGovernment.org and CDT will analyze results collected by a website/ survey created by Sunlight Labs to gather public input on the list and by expert interviews. The report will be aggressively distributed to engender discussion of the list and of the larger problems with public access to government information. Primary duties for the report release preparation include: Perform outreach to organizations working on issues related to the report; Identify and catalogue blogs that cover government secrecy and information access; and Assist in planning a news conference announcing the report's release.

The SI Alternative Spring Break is open to graduate students of the University of Michigan's School of Information. Undergraduates looking for Alternative Spring Break opportunities should look into the University of Michigan Alternative Spring Break program administered by U-M's Ginsberg Center.