Department of Energy award to enable green energy research and pilot … Nanowerk LLC We are excited to continue to build this partnership to further advance green technologies and to spur vital economic impact throughout the region and state." Integrated into CNSE in a partnership of two of New York's Centers of Excellence following a … and more »

View full post on Green Technology – Google News

Environmental Leader

Consumer Interest in Green Products Expands Across Categories 3BL Media (press release) While personal care, grocery and household products are the industries with the greatest representation among the top ten brands list, consumers in the US indicate that they intend to spend more money on green technology, energy and automotive products … Demand Rising for High-Ticket Green ProductsSustainableBusiness.com Seventh Gen, Whole Foods Top Green Brands RankingEnvironmental Leader all 6 news articles »

View full post on Green Technology – Google News

Not long after we posted this:

elle_mccannLaurenellen McCann

Hey, @AdamGreenOnline! Are you moonlighting for @ThinkGeek? http://bit.ly/iMWBYh#monkeytamer cc @sunfoundation

Jun 09FavoriteRetweetReply

in reply to @elle_mccann?

@thinkgeek
thinkgeek @SunFoundation @elle_mccann @kerryrm @LuigiMontanez Am I allowed to answer that? Seems kinda like cheating. (He's flattered, btw.)
Jun 09 via webFavoriteRetweetReply

Know Your Acronyms & Hashtags - May 26, 2011

Status Updates with PixelPipe - May 13, 2011

A Look at #TCamp11 - May 5, 2011

Leveraging Game Mechanics with DailyFeats - April 28th, 2011

Google Reader is Still Relevant, Part II - April 22nd, 2011

Google Reader is Still Relevant, Part I - April 14th, 2011

Broadcastr – What’s your OpenGov story? - April 8th, 2011

Tell Your Story with Storify - March 24th, 2011

Sharing News on Tumblr - March 18th, 2011

Stay Educated through Foursquare - March 10, 2011

Build a Transparency Search Engine - March 3rd, 2011

Opening Up Data with Socrata - February 24th, 2011

Analyzing Engagement with PostRank Part 2 - February 17th, 2011

Analyzing Engagement with PostRank Part 1 - February 10th, 2011

Guest Blogger Roundup - February 3rd, 2011 (how meta, a round-up of round-ups)

As I continue writing about Tools for Transparency, do you have any thoughts on topics I should write about?

By the end of fall 2011, VTA expects to have installed Wi-Fi in all trains and buses, using the 4G network as backhaul. This is a significant achievement for Northern California’s public transport system as many people who work in Silicon Valley and commute, or people who go to Silicon Valley for meetings, need Wi-Fi to check email, upload and download documents, view websites, etc.

“We are continually looking for ways to enhance our customers’ travel experience. For years, free Wi-Fi has been the most requested amenity to make public transit a more appealing option to non-riders, as well as with our loyal customer base,” said Gary Miskell, VTA Chief Information Officer. “The advent of higher capacity 4G networks in the San Francisco Bay Area means that we can deliver Wi-Fi hotspots on our fleet, and in working with Xentrans, VTA has implemented a next-generation communications solution that fully benefits from the technical advances made possible by 4G.” VTA plans to secure corporate sponsorship to underwrite the costs; the onboard Wi-Fi system is capable of delivering advertising, conducting passenger surveys and collecting usage statistics.

Vehicles are equipped with a ruggedized mobile cellular router delivering wireless Internet connectivity over the Clearwire 4G network with an average download speed of over 6 Mbps at 55 MPH. “The VTA roll-out of 4G for trains and buses is a real landmark in the mass transit industry,” said Jim Baker, founder and CEO at Xentrans. “As demand increases for content-rich, real-time data communication to vehicles, so cellular networks must support significantly higher speeds and lower latency; we’ve shown that 4G delivers on both. We’re delighted to have designed and project managed this ground-breaking initiative.”

“What better place to launch the world’s first all-4G wireless system for mass transit than Silicon Valley, the heart of the high tech industry,” said Graham Wilde, CEO at BWCS, a transportation strategy company, and producer of the Train Communications Systems conference in London that coincides with the Xentrans announcement. “With the proliferation of Wi-Fi enabled portable devices such as smartphones and tablets, free on-board Wi-Fi is rapidly becoming expected by rail and bus passengers, especially on commuter routes such as those operated by VTA. But the robust, end-to-end IP connectivity offered by 4G facilitates additional applications including CCTV, passenger information systems (PIS), digital signage and infotainment. With this pioneering deployment, Xentrans has demonstrated how 4G is shaping the way transit operators can plan their communication networks in the future.”

© 2011 MuniWireless. All Rights Reserved.

Related posts:

1. IBM launches plug and play Smart City solution
2. AT&T’s Palo Alto Wireless Improvements Get Rocky Reception
3. AT&T launches free WiFi in New York City parks

The Intelligent Operations Center for Smarter Cities will allow cities to use information and analytics to make smarter and more timely decisions, helping local leaders manage a spectrum of events, both planned and unplanned, such as deploying water maintenance crews to repair pumps before they break, alerting fire crews to broken fire hydrants at an emergency scene, or anticipating traffic congestion and preparing redirection scenarios.

IDC Government Insights estimates the new Smarter Cities information technology market opportunity at $34 billion in 2011, increasing more than 18 percent per year to $57 billion by 2014.

“All cities are made up of a complex system of systems that are all inextricably linked.  The Intelligent Operations Center for Smarter Cities recognizes the behavior of the city as a whole, thus providing more coordinated and timely decision-making based on deep insights into how each city system will react to a given situation,” said Anne Altman, general manager, Global Public Sector, IBM. “With more than 2,000 smarter cities engagements worldwide, we are now applying best practices and solutions that can be scaled to cities of all sizes around the globe.”

As the majority of the world’s population moves to metropolitan areas, key city systems such as water, power and transportation are being strained to the breaking point. For citizens, a smarter city can mean automatically finding the fastest way to get to work, electricity and drinking water that can be counted on, and safer streets, to start. And today’s increasingly empowered consumer expects their standards for quality of life are met to support the urban influx and resulting economic growth of cities.

Through a unified operations center, cities will be able to:

• Accurately gather, analyze and act on information about city systems and services, including public safety, transportation, water, buildings, social services and agencies.
• Analyze real-time information to better model and anticipate problems to minimize the impact of disruptions to citizens.
• Integrate real-time information from across multiple city systems to enable collaborative decision making for rapid response to events and incidents.

The Intelligent Operations Center combines patented analytics technologies, created by IBM Research in collaboration with cities around the world, as well as leading edge technologies acquired in recent acquisitions. It is also designed to run on IBM workload-optimized systems.

The Intelligent Operations Center for Smarter Cities can be extended to help support a wide range of integration projects across the city or within agencies and departments. City leaders can adopt service solutions from IBM or IBM Partners that integrate city management of services such as public safety, transportation, water, building and energy management with the Intelligent Operation Center.  Examples of city-wide uses supported by the Intelligent Operations Center for Smarter Cities include the management of Public Safety, Transportation and Water.

Public Safety: IBM provides real-time analytical solutions that enable public safety professionals to reduce crime, protect first responders and improve citizen services while preserving government budget resources.  Local, state, federal and non-government authorities can harness the intelligence derived from sensors, crime data bases, cameras and integrated communications to make smarter, more timely decisions.   For example, IBM’s video analysis software working with the Intelligent Operations Center for Smarter Cities can instantly detect and respond to physical security threats.  When coupled with video systems from partners such as Cisco Systems, the IBM solution can manage and coordinate video events.

Transportation: Traffic is a crucial element of the daily operations of any city. Each year American drivers waste an estimated 3.7 billion hours, the equivalent of 5 days each, sitting in traffic burning 2.3 billion gallons of fuel. Current transportation systems and infrastructures are strained and continue to become even more burdened due to the growing population and increased demands for mobility. IBM uses analytics technologies to provide travelers with real-time traffic information across multiple modes of traffic so that they can choose the best route for their commute. For example, the Intelligent Operations Center allows analysts to anticipate traffic disruptions and model ‘what if” scenarios providing options to minimize traffic congestion.  Automated directives can trigger communication and collaboration across the city departments and out to citizen alerts.

Water: There are millions of miles of water pipes hidden beneath cities around the world, many of which are more than 100 years old. Today, up to up to 60 percent of water is lost due to leaky pipes, but with a thoughtful combination of planning and new technology, maintenance and repair of water infrastructure can take a quantum leap.  IBM’s near-real-time analytics can track and report on infrastructure conditions from filtration equipment, water pumps and valves to collection pipes, water storage basins and laboratory equipment.  The ability to monitor these systems in real-time means that potential problems such as a burst water main, a slow leak, a broken pump or a hazardous waste water overflow can be quickly identified and resolved – or even predicted and prevented.  The Intelligent Operations Center for Smarter Cities can also tap into geospatial data to pinpoint the exact location of problem areas.  Over time, increased awareness on water consumption can lead to changes in attitudes, behaviors, and habits that enhance sustainability.

The design of the Intelligent Operations Center for Smarter Cities makes it easy to build, reuse and add advanced capabilities that can provide the full breadth of citizen services to cities around the world.  Smarter Cities solutions created from existing assets provide customers with software with hardened components that have already proven themselves in the real world.  IBM is establishing a community of Business Partners committed to developing complementary solutions with expertise in areas such as architecture and water management, devices including video cameras and smart meters, and city services software. Among the Business Partners working with IBM are: AECOM, Badger Meter, Esri, Telvent, and VirtualAgililty.

For more information about IBM Smarter Cities, please visit www.ibm.com/smartercities.

© 2011 MuniWireless. All Rights Reserved.

Related posts:

1. AT&T launches free WiFi in New York City parks
2. Smart Grid security: trillion dollar boom or bust?
3. Houston moves city services to municipal wireless network based on WiMAX

Traffic from wireless devices will exceed traffic from wired devices by 2015. In 2015, wired devices will account for 46 percent of IP traffic, while Wi-Fi and mobile devices will account for 54 percent of IP traffic. In 2010, wired devices accounted for the majority of IP traffic at 63 percent.

A growing amount of Internet traffic is originating with non-PC devices. In 2010, only 3 percent of Internet traffic originated with non-PC devices, but by 2015 the non-PC share of Internet traffic will grow to 15 percent. PC-originated traffic will grow at a CAGR of 33 percent, while TVs, tablets, smartphones, and machine-to-machine (M2M) modules will have growth rates of 101 percent, 216 percent, 144 percent, and 258 percent, respectively.

Busy-hour traffic is growing more rapidly than average traffic. Busy-hour traffic will increase fivefold by 2015, while average traffic will increase fourfold. During an average hour in 2015, the traffic will be equivalent to 200 million people streaming high-definition video continuously. During the busy hour in 2015, the traffic will be equivalent to 500 million people streaming high-definition video continuously.

Global IP traffic has increased eightfold over the past 5 years, and will increase fourfold over the next 5 years. Overall, IP traffic will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32 percent from 2010 to 2015.

In 2015, the gigabyte equivalent of all movies ever made will cross global IP networks every 5 minutes. Global IP networks will deliver 7.3 petabytes every 5 minutes in 2015.

Video-on-demand traffic will triple by 2015. The amount of VoD traffic in 2015 will be equivalent to 3 billion DVDs per month.

Globally, mobile data traffic will increase 26 times between 2010 and 2015. Mobile data traffic will grow at a CAGR of 92 percent between 2010 and 2015, reaching 6.3 exabytes per month by 2015.

Global mobile data traffic will grow three times faster than fixed IP traffic from 2010 to 2015. Global mobile data traffic was 1 percent of total IP traffic in 2010, and will be 8 percent of total IP traffic in 2015.

IP traffic is growing fastest in Latin America, followed closely by the Middle East and Africa. Traffic in Latin America will grow at a CAGR of 50 percent between 2010 and 2015.

Because people are using mobile devices more than their wired devices, we will see even more applications for smartphones and tablets for mobile payments, shopping, gaming, and other ways that these devices use location and context.

© 2011 MuniWireless. All Rights Reserved.

Related posts:

1. Increased smartphone and tablet use drives strong Q1 sales of WiFi equipment
2. EU takes aim at outrageous data roaming charges
3. GOWEX’s intriguing multi-city Wireless Roaming Platform

Ruckus Wireless, one of the fastest growing suppliers of wireless products, today announced increased demand of its Smart Wi-Fi products and technologies and said it experienced the strongest quarter-on-quarter (Q/Q) growth within the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region in the company’s history.

In the first quarter of this year, Ruckus, one of the industry’s fastest growing wireless suppliers, grew by 34 percent overall in EMEA, with an 86 percent increase in outdoor and 27 percent increase in indoor Wi-Fi product shipments. The company attributes its success in this region to the influx of wireless-only smart devices hitting corporate networks, the previous investment in expanding its sales force, attracting new channel partners, and closing several strategic carrier deals.

“Wi-Fi demand and adoption has never been greater,” said James Calderbank, director of enterprise sales, EMEA at Ruckus Wireless. “And it’s never been greater throughout the EMEA region.” Gartner estimates the European wireless LAN market will more than double from 2010 sales of €478 million to €980 million by 2014.

Driving Ruckus’ growth is the increased demand for mobility, the use of media-rich applications and the exploding number of users armed with new Wi-Fi-enabled devices such as tablets and smart phones.

Industry analysts estimate that in central and western Europe as well as the Middle East and Africa, the install base of smart phones (over all mobile handsets) will double between now and 2014. In addition, mobile data traffic within each of these European regions is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 105% over the next four years.

Notable Q1 customer wins in the EMEA region included:

Accor hotels (Czech Republic)

Chaucer Foods (France)

Hotel Golf Peralada (Spain)

Local government in Mragowo (North East of Poland)

Medical Faculty of Charles University in Prague (Czech republic)

Peermont Hotel (South Africa)

SHT Haustechnik AG (Austria)

St Josef-Stitf Sendenhorst Hospital (Germany)

Ville de Chatelaillon (France)

Wallingford (UK)

Wireless Suisse (Switzerland)

Leveraging the Channel to Scale

“One of the keys to our growth has been successfully scaling the channel,” said Calderbank. “As one of the only pure-play wireless companies with a Wi-Fi system purpose-built for the channel, we’ve been able to exploit the middle of the wireless LAN market which is almost exclusively serviced by solution partners.”

Year to date, Ruckus added over 250 solutions partners within EMEA, bringing the total number of VARs in the region to over 750. The company also signed eight new distributors in France, North Africa, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Cyprus and Israel, and has plans to continue the aggressive expansion of its partner base throughout EMEA and the rest if the world in 2011. “We’ve only really scratched the surface in this market with respect to our European channel network,” said Calderbank.

Much of the Q1 growth came from traditional verticals such as education, hospitality and healthcare as they work to address the influx of new Wi-Fi devices, more users wanting to connect wirelessly and the increased expectations for a more reliable wireless experience. Beyond the enterprise, carriers showed a strong and renewed interest in Wi-Fi as they look to build affordable capacity and coverage to augment their cellular networks, offer mobile data offload services and deliver faster and more reliable Wi-Fi access.

Calderbank noted that with the continued growth of internal and field sales along with signing more partners, the company is set to build on this success and gain a strong foothold in both the carrier and enterprise markets.

To help drive sales in this region, Ruckus has recently appointed eight industry executives to its European team. The expanded European team will not only help to boost Ruckus’ sales, but also enable the team to deliver a higher level of support to enterprises and service providers across EMEA, helping them build ubiquitous high-performance, reliable and easy-to-deploy wireless networks that specifically cater to their business needs.

© 2011 MuniWireless. All Rights Reserved.

Related posts:

1. Sprint jumps to 4G tablet lead with HTC EVO View 4G announcement
2. Verizon LTE Smartphone Data Pricing: $30 for Unlimited 4G/3G Data
3. Hotels have not yet given up ripping off guests with high WiFi charges

This comparison of different platforms is aims to assist public managers early in the planning process of such an initiative by comparing the purposes and functionalities of different ideation tools. It is part of a series of resources based on our experience conducting online stakeholder consultations with government (see also the Online Dialogue Brainstorm Guide).

View the document below, or download the PDF.

Note: The information in this document is compiled from information publicly available on the vendors’ websites, supplemented by the National Academy of Public Administration’s fi¬rst-hand experience with several of the tools. The Academy and the Collaboration Project are technology-neutral: this document is not intended as an endorsement of any particular technology or vendor.

I had the pleasure yesterday of sitting down with nearly 100 leading entrepreneurs, investors, underwriters, academics, and fund managers—including Chuck Newhall, the legendary co-Founder of one of the Nation’s most prestigious venture capital firms, New Enterprise Associates—at the Treasury Department’s Access to Capital Conference.  The event was one of a number of creative forums the Administration has held to generate new, actionable ideas to ensure that small businesses have the resources to achieve high growth.

The event built on President Obama’s January launch of Startup America, an initiative to celebrate, inspire, and accelerate high-growth American entrepreneurship that includes a number of commitments to expand access to capital for entrepreneurs. Capital, invested by the private sector, is what helps entrepreneurs realize their dreams and turn ideas into startups, and it’s what turns small businesses into fast-growing companies that create jobs and fuel sustainable economic growth.    

At yesterday’s conference, we took an important step forward in that mission with an open and honest dialogue about how best to cultivate investment and growth.  And we made real progress. 

read more

We are focused on three trends that are fostering government innovation: 

1. The Rise of a New Information Intermediary Industry: The release of government data has contributed to a new category of products and services designed to make information more relevant and useful to a variety of audiences. Reflecting the market potential, venture capitalists have backed firms like Socrata and Infochimps that repurpose open data sets for developers and others to quickly and easily put them to good use. Think of this industry as competing to provide the “last-mile” of information service to help consumers, companies, and stakeholders keenly interested in effective, efficient government.
2. The Incorporation of Data in New Products and Services: An emerging trend aligned with the President’s strategy to “out-innovate” our economic competitors is the incorporation of open data into new products and services. We’ve previously written about Brightscope, which has now grown into a multi-million-dollar information business supporting over 30 employees. This past weekend, at the Startup America session at SXSW, noted early-stage investor Vinod Khosla shared the story of his participation in a $42 million investment in Weatherbill, an insurance company helping farmers to adapt to climate change, powered by real-time information freely available through the National Weather Service.
3. The Extension of Government Platforms: Agencies are increasingly inviting third party developers to extend the value of government websites or to solve specific problems through platforms like Challenge.gov, which as of March 2011 showcased 75 prizes, including the SMART Apps for Health. The Commerce Department, in collaboration with the FCC, recently launched The National Broadband Map to shine light on coverage gaps, including developer tools to extend the value of the platform. An early adopter – the Department of Education – published a “mashup” incorporating school data so communities are empowered to ensure that their children are equipped for the jobs of the future.

These trends reflect great promise for open government as a catalyst for productivity growth. But they also point to a new phenomenon – the rise of citizen developers. At a recent “Transportation Camp” in New York City, concerned citizens met with government transportation leaders to discuss transportation issues at the Federal and local level.  We learned an alarming statistic: almost 3 out of 4 parents improperly install their child safety seat.   Others at the Camp were concerned too, so much so that one member of the audience created a mobile app that now allows parents to find the nearest inspection stationwhere professionals can install their child seatsecurely, improving access to an existing government website.

President Obama is committed to ensuring that the 21st century does not leave the Federal government behind.  We’re  using technology to save money, create a more participatory government, and to make a real different in the lives of all Americans, from informing your family about recalls to finding new and fun ways to get the whole family to eat healthy and stay active.  Stay tuned for more.

Aneesh Chopra is the U.S. Chief Technology Officer

Chris Vein is the Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer for Government Innovation

On my first day on the job, at the beginning of the Obama Administration, I was handed a portfolio that included $27 Billion in IT projects that were years behind schedule, and over budget. I quickly found that the sheer size of the portfolio often led to a sense of faceless accountability and quickly set out to fix that. That’s why just months after President Obama took office, we launched the IT Dashboard (June, 2009) – which provides a clear window into Federal IT projects, bolstering transparency and accountability.  The IT Dashboard shines a light on these projects, including if they are on schedule and within budget — and posting the photo and name of the official responsible — and agencies continue to increase transparency and improve data quality.

read more

The SMArt Prize competition could speed innovation in any number of areas. Developers might build a medication manager, a health risk detector, a laboratory visualization tool, or an app that integrates, in real time, patient data with external data sources—such as publication data in PubMed, CDC statistics, environmental data, financial data available at http://www.data.gov/health. In doing so, SMArt promises to help patients, doctors, and others realize the full potential of information technology to help transform how we manage health and healthcare.

The best app developed for the SMArt API by May 31 will win a $5,000 prize, as determined by an all-star panel of judges including:

• Susannah Fox (Director of Health Research, Pew Internet & American Life Project)
• Regina Herzlinger (Nancy R. McPherson Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School)
• David C. Kibbe (Chair, ASTM International E31 Technical Committee on Healthcare Informatics; Principal, The Kibbe Group LLC; Senior Advisor, American Academy of Family Physicians)
• Ben Shneiderman (Professor of Computer Science at the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory, University of Maryland, College Park)
• Doug Solomon (Chief Technology Officer, IDEO)
• Edward Tufte (Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Statistics, and Computer Science, Yale University)
• Jim Walker (Chief Health Information Officer, Geisinger Health Systems)

This endeavor is an example of why I share Bryan Roberts’ view that the stage is now set for dramatic jumps in healthcare innovation.  The evolving ecosystem of health IT will be further expanded by modular architectures, open APIs and the applications that can engage them.  This development will dramatically expand the market for health IT by offering applications that can meet any niche and any need – from individual consumers to small practices to large organizations—thereby  making the transformative power of health IT felt more fully and broadly. 

We look forward to celebrating all those who compete! 

Aneesh Chopra is the U.S. Chief Technology Officer

The newly launched Pavilion already features more than $100,000 in prizes for novel solutions to four tough challenges facing the U.S. Air Force:

• The Design and Simulation of an Accurate Shooter-Locator competition challenges innovators to develop a method to detect small arms fire within a fraction of a second and accurately pinpoint its source;
• The Humanitarian Air Drop challenge seeks novel ways to drop humanitarian supplies into populated areas without danger of falling debris to the people below;
• The Vehicle Stopper challenge seeks a viable, sustainable, and affordable means of stopping an uncooperative fleeing vehicle without permanent damage to the vehicle or harm to any of its passengers; and
• The Remote Human Demographic Characterization challenge seeks a system that can determine the approximate age and gender of small groups of people at a distance.

The Air Force Open Innovation Pavilion is just the latest milestone in the Obama Administration’s efforts to increase the use of prizes and challenges to spur innovation and solve tough problems.  In March 2010, the Office of Management and Budget issued a formal policy framework to guide agency leadership in using prizes to advance their core mission.  In September 2010, the Administration launched Challenge.gov, a one-stop shop where entrepreneurs and citizen solvers can find public-sector prizes. And in January, the President signed the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, providing all agencies with broad authority to conduct prize competitions. As a result, in the first six months alone, Challenge.gov has featured more than 70 challenges from more than 25 agencies across the Executive Branch.

For example, in 2010 NASA piloted a series of science and technical challenges core to its mission in the NASA Innovation Pavilion.  One of the challenges sought a forecasting algorithm to protect America’s astronauts from radiation exposure in space.  Over 500 problem solvers from 53 countries answered NASA’s call.  Expecting no solutions for this long intractable problem, NASA received a solution that exceeded their requirements from a retired radio-frequency engineer in rural New Hampshire.  The winner had never before responded to a government request for proposals, let alone worked with NASA. Yet his winning approach forecast solar proton events with 85 percent accuracy, a result NASA dubbed “outstanding.”

Who will be the next unexpected solver? To share your expertise and compete for cash prizes visit www.Challenge.gov.

Robynn Sturm is Advisor for Open Innovation to the Deputy Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

1. Increasing data transparency: publishing relevant, high-value data for public use
2. Improving open participation: soliciting and using input from stakeholders to inform government decisions
3. Enhancing open collaboration: public engagement in producing outputs and co-creating value
4. Realizing ubiquitous engagement: the “next level” of seamless integration of public engagement into how government does its work

The report observes–and is right about this–that the value and benefits of engagement increase as you progress through these stages. But so does the complexity of work and the challenges and risks inherent in greater engagement.

Overall, this is a welcome model for expanding engagement in government. Stage 4′s “realizing ubiquitous engagement” is an enlightening description of what the ultimate outcome of open government is: that stakeholder input is baked into how government does its work, both online and offline. This is essentially about creating a self-perpetuating cycle in which engagement doesn’t happen in “events” or “projects,” but is simply how decisions are informed and value delivered on a routine basis. In addition, the report provides a well thought-out categorization of the different challenges confronting openness at each of these stages.

However, this model essentially argues that these stages are sequential, with the next building off the last. In practice this might not necessarily be true. For example, many agencies are currently publishing new data sets, offering opportunities for public input, and launching collaborative initiatives–all at the same time. Improving open participation doesn’t necessarily rely on the publishing of high-value data. Take the multitude of strategic planning processes that agencies are soliciting public input for (e.g., the National Dialogue on the QHSR): these initiatives are distinct efforts from data transparency, and with completely different internal players, though they are connected in their common goal.

The reason the sequence (or lack thereof) of implementing open government matters is because there are plenty of opportunities at any given time for government to publish new data, solicit input, and build collaborative relationships. The need to tackle these stages sequentially shouldn’t be a barrier to engagement. Further, these stages/groupings might not all equal for all agencies. An intelligence agency might need to focus on internal and cross-governmental collaboration as opposed to data transparency, while a bureau focused on community service may need to devote resources to building opportunities for participation. When resources are scarce (and they are!), agencies should focus on the engagement opportunities that will deliver the most value for achieving their mission.

What are your thoughts on this approach? Should open government be implemented in these stages? Or is there another set of implementation stages that should be considered in the dialogue?

Since its founding in 2008, the Collaboration Project has been a leading online hub for resources on collaboration and web 2.0 in government. This re-launch aims to improve how we connect public managers with the information they need to drive change within their agencies.

There are several features I’d like to highlight:

• A new blog where we’ll share insights and perspectives on developments in the field of government collaboration
• Profiles of our current work as well as after-action reports from previous projects
• A repository of resources compiled from our original research, including white papers and guides (and our archived case studies, too), as well as links to external work
• Social media integration, including a news feed and updates from Facebook and Twitter

We want this site to be a continuously-evolving resource for public managers so we would like your feedback, whether on this site, in the social media universe, or by contacting us directly.

Because the online consultation has been so informative, we are extending the comment period by two weeks until January 23, 2011 and encourage you to participate and to invite others. Keep in mind you can follow additions and changes to the consultation by going to expertnet.wikispaces.com and clicking on Notify Me.

In the next two weeks, we hope that you will continue to inform our thinking by helping us clarify proposed processes, provide additional information on similar platforms, or propose new ways of accomplishing the goal for each step.  Together we will work towards creating a next generation citizen engagement platform that enables participatory government in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

Even during the busy holiday season, the feedback that we’ve seen has been plentiful and helpful.  We hope that an extra two weeks will give everyone who wants the opportunity to give feedback the opportunity to do so. 

Since we launched the wiki four weeks ago, hundreds of users from over 70 countries have visited the site, engaging in an interesting dialogue on how to improve ExpertNet.  So far, over 500 messages have been posted to the discussion forums. In addition, people have begun to edit our draft description of ExpertNet directly. For example, wiki edits have included “drkarger” adding a reference section at the end of each editable page for the community to contribute resource examples that relate to that process step. Here’s an example of references contributed for the final step in the process.  “TimHuegerich” added links to clarify and provide examples of lesser known topics on the Background and Principles wiki page, among other edits, and “kfogel” updated the government feedback section suggesting that a final step be added to close the loop. 

There’s even a wiki page where you can suggest an alternative name to ExpertNet.  More than a dozen names have been contributed, including AmericaKnows.gov, SynergyNet, OpenGovWiki, CitizensNet, WiththePeople, and UnitedNet.  One commenter even suggested using an online poll to decide which name the public likes the best.  In the spirit of true collaboration, one commenter even set up a forum to allow the public to discuss their favorite name. 

We hope to foster innovation by asking for feedback on the ExpertNet design concept in a new way and hope you will continue to share your best thinking about the future of citizen engagement through January 23, 2011. If you prefer not to access the wiki, you can email your comments to us at expertnet@ostp.gov.

David McClure is Associate Administrator for the Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies at the U.S. General Services Administration

First, public officials use ExpertNet to pose questions to the public about any topic we're working on — from creating new jobs to preventing homelessness among Veterans or developing next-gen transportation systems. A simple, online "wizard" will help them make their questions clear. There's an active discussion on the ExpertNet wiki about how to design constraints into questions to improve the quality of responses. One user, GovLoop, writes  "it is really hard to write great questions. In survey research, a lot of time and effort is spent on the question formation." Another user, AngieChock, points to the Delphi Approach of posing questions to encourage an interchange of views. Check out "Defining the Topic and Asking Questions" for more.  

Second, we want to make sure that the questions reach people with the greatest expertise or enthusiasm for a topic.  We imagine distributing questions to professional, online communities; user MDickey1 suggests simply using RSS feeds. Mixtmedia, another wiki user, also adds that better distribution of news about public participation opportunities will attract citizens serving their democracy, entrepreneurs wishing to impress government and others with their marketable know how. Check out Distributing Questions to Professional Networks for more about whether to enable people to rate and rank one another's submissions – in the way we now rate movies or books. Check out Facilitating Structured Responses for more.

Finally, we know that no system will work unless public officials participate actively and explain how the agency uses public's ideas. For example, David Stern1 offers a detailed design  for a feedback template. Check out "Synthesizing Public Input and Returning Feedback" for more.

What We Want to Hear More Of

Submissions that have been helpful include those that offer suggestions or solutions to queries or offer a new way of thinking about an aspect of the platform.  We are eager to hear about specific examples of tools that will achieve goals outlined here (or something different and why that's preferable).  We'd like specific examples of people using such practices, what works well, and what doesn't.  We want prototypes, wireframes, and designs.  Our goal is to implement a new system for citizen participation as quickly and cost effectively as possible.

Expertise Understood Broadly

We chose "ExpertNet" as the working title (we have a page where you can suggest an alternative) because we believe that everyone has expertise, experience and enthusiasm which, if shared in manageable ways, will help us make smarter decisions together.  We aren't just looking for participation from people with the highest professional qualifications. We want to make sure that everyone who is interested and has something relevant and useful to share has an opportunity to participate. This is a government "of the people, by the people, for the people" and we have the technology to collaborate on solving the major issues that confront us.

Aneesh Chopra is U.S. Chief Technology Officer

Shelley Metzenbaum is Associate Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for Performance and Personnel Management

Endowed with a $5M grant from famed entrepreneur Desh Deshpande (who also serves as Co-Chair of the National Council for Innovation & Entrepreneurship), the Sandbox will provide leadership training, seed funding and capacity-building support to organizations and individuals in the region.

We will post video from the town hall soon, but here are a few highlights:

Clean Tech Entrepreneurs Commercialize Federal Research:  I heard from Peter Vandermeulen, CEO of the local startup 7AC Technologies, who shared his favorable experience working with the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab. Although it took nearly a year to finalize, Peter was pleased to have had the opportunity to commercialize technology that he posits could cut in half the use of energy for heating and cooling of buildings. His advice on how we might improve our commercialization efforts was to evaluate the process of determining when an exclusive license might be granted to “kick-start” an entrepreneurial venture. I’ve taken that message back to our team for consideration.

Open Government Fuels Entrepreneurship:  One of the highlights of my trip was hearing from Conor White-Sullivan, CEO of Localocracy. A graduate of UMass-Amherst, this charismatic entrepreneur talked about his startup’s recent partnership with the Boston Globe to link open government platforms with local media. His idea is a new model of civic engagement—one in which identified members of the community express their views and invite public participation on key issues facing the neighborhood, came to him during a 1-credit course in school, he said.  His approach was, of course, music to my ears, as it has been a high Obama Administration priority to step up efforts to leverage technology for citizen participation. His request was to simplify access to voter registration data, as that is the “fuel” for his identity system. I’ve tasked our open government team to conduct due diligence on this matter.

Importance of SBIR as a Vehicle for Early Stage Capital:  Several entrepreneurs at the forum spoke of the advantages of the Small Business Investment Research program as a source of capital at the stage of business maturation when it is difficult to gain access to capital. Thaddeus Fulford-Jones, CEO of Locately, spoke of the ease with which he won a National Science Foundation SBIR grant within 5-6 months of applying. But it was a story told by Robert Goldberg—a Partner at Neumitra—that commanded my most immediate attention.

Robert expressed concern that his primary information source on SBIR grant opportunities, SBIR.gov, was down for maintenance with a message alerting visitors that it would be months before the site could be re-launched. This was unfortunate as it meant he had to sift through each Federal agency’s solicitations page to learn of opportunities.

Thanks to the leadership of NSF’s new Director, Dr. Subra Suresh, and his terrific team, including Tom Peterson, Kesh Narayanan, and Cheryl Albus, the site went live last week.

I was encouraged by the degree to which our Nation’s entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in the Merrimack Valley—a great reminder that innovation flourishes in all corners of our country if we nurture the right components of the ecosystem—and I am keen to address the myriad concerns that emerged throughout the discussion. In that spirit, I wish to extend my deepest thanks to the Deshpande Foundation, which helped arrange for our town hall, and to the entrepreneurs and ecosystem partners who participated. Happy holidays to all, and here is to an innovative and entrepreneurial New Year!

Aneesh Chopra is U.S. Chief Technology Officer