The Coding Analysis Toolkit (CAT) is a free, Web-based, open source, research university-hosted, FISMA compliant service (http://cat.ucsur.pitt.edu/). The software is specifically engineered to support the measurement of reliability and validity in multi-coder annotation projects. The validation module in CAT makes it easier to adjudicate, track, and report validity scores for an overall project, and by individual code or coder. Please try it out and let us know what you think. I see many uses for this in a democratic society, as the tool is architected for transparency.
OK, thank you for your feedback. Hearing no one opposed, going once, going twice, ... I''ll create a consolidated member list from everyone on the consult@ code@ us@ ukie@ research@ europe@ groups and combine them with the sub-groups we never opened for discussion. Then we will have one big giant opt-out call for the mega-group before the Exchange@ opens. That's where you can vote with your feet so to speak. Cheers, Steven Clift P.S. Digest mode or the full text web feed will definitely be something for those who want to move beyond separate e-mails. More later.
The other week a round of introductions on the research@ forum at DoWire.Org brought out a number of very interesting practitioners who had joined that forum. Combine this with the fact that the e-democracy world has moved beyond "Consultation" which represented the roots of the consult@ group and the huge diffusion of online groups/blogs/twitter hash tags/Facebook groups etc. outside DoWire and we have a real challenge... Too many online spaces diffusing attention such that it is difficult to host a critical mass international discussion on e-democracy ANYWHERE. I still find the more democratic two-way nature of e-lists/forums to be far superior for exchange than more elite expert blogs (where the topics are chosen typically by one person and only those who have the time to maintain blogs have contributions which are easy to access) and most groups/sub-groups on social networking sites are not much more than a nice collection of people's pictures in our niche. So here is my proposal: 1. Open a catch-all simple *international* <email obscured> forum. Definitely merge the existing consult@ and code@ groups there. Close consult@ and code@ to new postings. This will be *the* place for exchange on an international level on e-democracy and related topics. 2. Give existing members on the proposed online groups that I *never opened* a chance to opt-out of joining the merged super discussion group. 3. Ask existing members on ukie@ europe@ and us@ if they object to being moved over while at the same time keeping there existing groups for at least a year to see if they remain useful. I've done opt-out moves before and rarely get more than a few "not me" please requests ... as long as I am clear about what is happening. If folks object, I'll leave that group out. 4. Use exchange@ as a place to extend remarks from the very useful link exchanging we see on Twitter. Declare #edem the official Twitter hashtag of the e-democracy world (inclusive of those involved with e-participation, e-transparency, e-advocacy, e-campaigning, etc.) and post new topic alerts from the exchange@ into Twitter (now working with New-Online - http://twitter.com/newsonlineposts ) tagged #edem. Figure out a way to post a daily digest of #edem Twitter posts to exchange@ creating a historical archive and access to non-Twitter users. 5. Recruit new members to the exchange@ from the many relatively dead post-Barcamp e-mail lists across the Net and reduce my own cross-posting on those forums to save many of you from multiple postings. 6. Encourage e-democracy related blog, newsletters, social nets, etc. to display discussion feed to their sites. 7. So DoWire would promote the following core exchange options: A. Newswire - Moderated announcements w/2500 members B. Exchange - International knowledge exchange on e-democracy w/1000? members C. Research - Focused research exchange w/400 members E. News-Online - Special group about online news and journalism - w/300 members D. Consider relaunching the DoWire Feeds aggregator to highlight the best blog, twitter tags, etc. resources in this space. Baseline to update from: http://politicalbs.com/DoWireFeeds/ So any feedback, comments? Send them to: <email obscured> Cheers, Steven Clift
The other week Jake Brewer of the Sunlight Foundation answered a question about state e-transparency efforts at the National Civic Summit. He rattled off a number of fledgling state-level websites ... many I had never heard about. The problem - vertical awareness with limited capacity, horizontal obliviousness. The Sunlight Foundation, MySociety, and other national projects are sparking a movement around technology and democracy that is firing up "local" people who unfortunately have now way to "meet-up" in a critical mass way. While I suppose you could all use MeetUp in a coordinated way ( http://edemocracy.meetup.com ), at Participation Camp I sketched out a simple idea to essentially foster organic Twitter connections and awareness of national/local online e-lists/projects with a geographic element among those ready to join the e-democracy (e-participation + e-transparency) movement. Here it is for someone interested in putting together some code: http://pages.e-democracy.org/Participation_squared Participation squared Here is a rough idea shared at Participation Camp. * Context: Democracy is based on geography. * Problem: It is difficult to quickly identify and connect with other people interested in the "e-participation" movement particularly at a sub-national level. * Goal: Accelerate the movement of those who want to use the Internet/social media/mobile technology to improve civic participation/government transparency/community building in their neighborhood, city, state and/or country. * Solution: Encourage people to simply list themselves on a map and list (placing those providing links to their Twitter/Facebook/Blog/etc. at the top) to enable organic city by city, state by state, and country by country (will work well in small countries) "who's who" lists and related e-participation links by geography. This will encourage organic peer to peer connections across the movement. Solution? Participation Squared - A simple pledge with results displayed. 1. Home * (Google) Map of People So Far * Link to public listing of people having pledged sorted by geographic hierarchy/placename - number of pledges displayed next to "folder" to show areas with result more easily. * Within public listing, a link to a #p-XX (country code) twitter search will promote organic connections among those signing up. * Multi-lingual options 2. Pledge: I believe in participation(1) online. From my local community to my country, let's build a movement. (Or something sexier.) * Name: * City: (required) * State/Province: * Country: (required) * E-mail: (required) (will not be displayed)** * Postal/Zipcode: (will not be displayed) Add links to your listing: * Twitter handle: * Facebook profile: * Your blog/website: * Friend Feed: (1) By participation online we mean those who want to use the Internet, social media, or mobile technology to increase citizen participation, improve public engagement, and promote government transparency and accountability. 3. Use MySociety Gaze's tool to verify the geographic placename. Based on the place name, place a peg on the city (not someone's address) for the world map of who has signed up. 4. Tell A Friend - Tweet a Friend * Invite up to five people to sign the pledge. (Would be nice in later version to give people points for those who they have recruited as display a list of recruiters by positive results.) * Invite more people by pasting this message into your e-mail with a unique URL to track your results. * Tweet #participation that you signed up and #p-US too with unique link to recruit others, link to potential Twitter conversation 5. Relevant Links - Allow people to add links to place-based connecting points - online groups, Twitter hash tags, barcamps, local/national efforts or organizations promoting these goals. 6. Connect Organically Based on Place - Encourage people to browse fellow pledges by place and join various linked to projects Draft E-mail Use Text * o E-Democracy.Org will not publicly post nor share your e-mail address publicly. Once 25 people in your local city sign the pledge, you will be notified via e-mail and given the opportunity to use various online tools to further connect. Announcements about upcoming participation/transparency/e-democracy "unconferences" and other online groups hosted by partnering organizations will be shared by state or country when possible.
From: Deborah Bryant <email obscured>> Date: Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 5:02 PM Subject: [#TCAMP09] Government Open Source Conference - GOSCON DC To: TransparencyCamp <email obscured>> Hi all, If you work for or with the government and would like a deeper look at how the government is using open source software - the great enabler of open data and transparency - please consider attending or spreading the word of the non-profit Many thanks to those I met at TCamp who provided ideas and insight to help us develop a program for D.C. Coming up: we will be webcasting (live) the entire event as a public service, will post when that info becomes available. The nutshell blurb: GOSCON DC Now in its fifth year of production, the Government Open Source Conference (GOSCON) has created a special one day event designed to meet the needs of IT management in federal agencies and regional state and local government. Outstanding opportunity to meet and hear from agency and industry experts on experience, best practices, challenges with use and adoption of open source software and collaborative development models. Program targeted for management with responsible for strategy, planning, acquisition and operational execution of information technology as well industry engaged in providing related services. The conference will include one day of intense GOSCON program content, exciting keynotes, lightening-round sessions, rich opportunities to network with peers. The format will include general sessions and exhibits. Event: Government Open Source Conference - GOSCON DC Date: June 23, 2009 - 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. (conference + reception) Location: Reagan Building and International Trade Center - Atrium Ballroom Cost: Public Sector (includes government, non-profits and education) - $195 early, $250 regular registration; Corporate - $295 early, $350 regular registration Conference Web Site: www.goscon.org Organized by Oregon State University Open Source Lab, home to global non-profit open source projects. Contact: Deborah Bryant, Public Sector Communities Program Manager 971.533.8050 or <email obscured> More information including registration at www.goscon.org
This does not look good to me. I see very little information about what their product is and what it does. Without any acknowledgment I can see, they have thinly rebranded Joomla 1.5, added a few basic (not teribly good) extensions, and .... that's it? Their own site is built in Joomla and is not very impressive. They have not taken some basic security precautions, and this also indicates lack of technical and professional competence. Maybe they may consider this a custom distribution of Joomla, but what is the value added? More importantly, Joomla is a poor platform for robust content, document, and user management needs unless you have (or can buy) the skill needed to develop your own custom extensions and/or integrate with additional platforms like Alfresco, vBulletin or phpBB, etc. Permissioning and user management is Joomla's major failing. It is slated for major improvement in the next big release, but there is no ETA on it and no alpha release yet. The best open source platform for the features Gov2u is advertising is probably Drupal, which has its own drawbacks and is not cheap to build out properly. (Relative to Joomla and other FOSS options that is.) But Drupal has better bones in these fundamental areas, it has the Acquia option, and some of its big (UI/usability) failings are close to being substantially improved. I say that as someone who usually (for the past 2 years) has done web development with Joomla but also Drupal, Wordpress, and others.
Subject: [#TCAMP09] #transparency channel on IRC Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2009 06:30:15 -0800 (PST) From: Luigi Montanez <email obscured>> To: TransparencyCamp <email obscured>> For the nerds in the group who know what IRC is, we're congregating in #transparency on irc.freenode.net. The channel is focused on the development and implementation of transparency-related apps. - Luigi
From: http://sunlightlabs.com/appsforamerica/ What it Is Apps for America is Sunlight's annual development contest! Prizes go to developers who can use data from Sunlight and our partners that makes Congress more accountable, interactive and transparent. How to Compete 1. Contestants must join the Sunlight Labs Google Group <http://groups.google.com/group/sunlightlabs> 2. Entries must be applications that use one of the following APIs or Datasets in their mashup: * Sunlight Labs API <http://services.sunlightlabs.com/api/> * OpenSecrets.org API <http://www.opensecrets.org/action/apis.php> * FollowTheMoney.org API <http://www.followthemoney.org/services/> * Capitol Words API <http://www.capitolwords.org/api/> * Sunlight Labs API Lawmaker Dataset <http://services.sunlightlabs.com/api/media/apidump.csv.gz> * Sunlight Labs API Lobbyist Dataset <http://data.sunlightlabs.com/sunlightapi/api_lobbyists.sql.gz> * Sunlight Partytime Database Dump <http://data.sunlightlabs.com/partytime/partytime.2008-12-18.sql.gz> Entries can be client applications, web based applications, applications that use the Adobe AIR platform, Java applications or whatever other kind of platform you'd like to write it in. We use Django for most of ours. 1. While not required, bonus points go to using one of Sunlight's open source libraries <http://sunlightlabs.com/projects/> 2. All software you write has to be licensed under the MIT, New BSD or the GPL family of licenses. Criteria Awards will be judged based on the following criteria: 1. Usefulness to constituents for watching over and communicating with their members of Congress 2. Potential impact of ethical standards on Congress 3. Originality of the application 4. Potential usability of the application 5. Code quality of application Prizes: * First Place (1): $15,000 * Second Place (1): $5,000 * Third Place (4): $1,000 * Honorable Mention (10): $100 An individual can have as many entries as they'd like, and an individual can win one prize per entry they provide, however one entry cannot win more than one prize. Judges: * Adrian Holovaty - Founder, Everyblock.com, Django Project * Aaron Swartz - Director, Watchdog.net * Peter Corbett - iStrategyLabs * Xeni Jardin - BoingBoing.net * Clay Johnson - Director, Sunlight Labs Submission Submit your application using our app submission form <http://sunlightlabs.com/appsforamerica/submit/>. After approval your app will be added to our contest entry gallery <http://sunlightlabs.com/appsforamerica/apps/>. Remember to sign up for the Sunlight Labs Google Group <http://groups.google.com/group/sunlightlabs> too, so you can keep up to date with recent announcements /and/ participate with the community. * All submissions will be posted online as soon as they are sent in. Please only send in complete entries. * Deadline Submissions are due on March 31st. Winners will be announced on April 7th.
Clive Holtham at City University Business School has had good results with Adobe Connect (what used to be Macromedia Breeze).
I do blog development and maintenance for a living, but I would be willing to consider doing some free blog maintenance in exchange for a "Maintained by..." link back to my company somewhere on the blog. Steve Magruder WebCommons :: Web Programming Services - http://www.webcommons.biz
E-Democracy.Org is looking for a lead WordPress volunteer to help us keep the blog up-to-date version wise and install/test misc. plug-ins. The blog: http://blog.e-democracy.org Also, we are testing a javascript tool for a pull-down menu we've put a top most of pages except the forum site. For some reason the blog version only with Firefox is messed up. Any idea why or how to fix it? If you are interested in helping us, drop us a note: <email obscured> Also, those with 10 hours in 2009 to donate toward our mission, should join us here: http://forums.e-democracy.org/forums/projects Cheers, Steven Clift E-Democracy.Org
I'm not sure if this exactly satisfies the requirements, but my local social media club has been going wild over ooVoo - http://www.oovoo.com Steve Magruder Louisville History & Issues - www.historyandissues.org
So what are the latest and greatest Webinar tools? Or should I say cheapest that: 1. Allow people to call in via telephone (and perhaps net) 2. Allows the presentor to share slides and their web browser. (and optionally basic quality video of the speaker) 3. Records the whole experience in video with audio (and either doesn't charge an arm and leg for on-demand viewing or allows us to download). 4. Or what tool does a good job of capturing the webinar to video locally? I have an older version of Camtasia. I suppose one could get the audio via Skype-out. We are plotting our final Rural Voices session on citizen media/online engagement for early next year - http://e-democracy.org/rv and expect a go turn-out based on interest in the new Minnesota Voices Online community of practice we are promoting - http://e-democracy.org/mnvoices Steven Clift E-Democracy.Org
While I don't know the details, what I like conceptually about this effort is that their tool is building off the open source Joomla platform. This seems like a much more sustainable route than building stand alone software in the e-democracy space. - Steven Clift Subject: free eParticipation software Gov2u Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:18:42 +0300 From: Evika Karamagioli <email obscured>> *Dear Steven, * *Following the discussion we had in Krems I am sending you a small description of the free eParticipation software we are providing.* *It could be great if you could distribute it further* *Gov2u is happy to present Gov2DemOSS light, which is a new version of the award- winning Gov2DemOSS platform. Gov2DemOSS light is a much simpler version and can be downloaded for free. It can prove to be useful for municipalities and public authorities as it provides an efficient channel for them to keep their communities informed, manage their information repositories, interact directly with their citizens and involve them in the decision making process. Gov2DemOSS platform serves as a proof of concept of how ICT can facilitate communication, knowledge sharing and modernization of government services. It is an open source, customizable, informative and collaborative e-participation platform. The Gov2DemOSS platform is now the most advanced platform of its kind, awarded with the European Good practice Label in 2006, and already being provided to local and regional authorities all over Europe and North America.* *For more information please refer to the Gov2u website http://www.gov2u.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86&Itemid=96 ... clip ... *Kind Regards* *Evika* **Evika Karamagioli** <email obscured> **Á**: Anavriton 20, Marousi 15124, Athens, Greece **T**: +30-210-6121340 **F**: +30-210-6121332 **www.gov2u.org **
From: http://groups.nten.org/vb/showthread.php?p=677#post677 Make History! Seeking a Developer to Build the E-Democracy Time Capsule #1 Old Yesterday, 08:04 AM Do you believe in the power of the Web to give ordinary people better access to the political process? Can you develop a smart-looking blog using WordPress? Would you like to make some history? If so, please read on... The DC OneWebDay Planning Committee is seeking a savvy developer to build and launch a new initiative -- the E-Democracy Time Capsule. OneWebDay OWD) is a global event held September 22 celebrating the Web and highlighting key issues about the future of the Internet. The theme for this year’s event is online political participation with a focus on what we have called a new “town square.” In line with this theme, the DC OWD Planning Committee is creating an E-Democracy Time Capsule that will go live online on August 22, one month before OWD. We envision a site where anyone, from all corners of the United States and the world, can make history by contributing text, images, sound, and video to a WordPress blog describing their favorite E-Democracy tools, letters to the future about their hopes for Web-powered politics, and profiles of E-Democracy Heroes. On One Web Day, we will "close" the virtual Time Capsule. We are working to find a partner, such as the National Archives, who will receive and archive the Capsule until it is opened again on OWD 2020. If all goes according to plan, thousands of people will visit the site while it is open, hundreds will make deposits, and the closing ceremony will draw wide local and national press and blog coverage. We stand at a crossroad in the history of online political participation. The future is uncertain. Policy decisions concerning digital inclusion, net neutrality, and online privacy and security will be made in the coming months and years. We would like to ensure that when the virtual Time Capsule is reopened on OWD in 2020, the new town square delivers on its promise to become a thriving marketplace of ideas where anyone can participate unhindered by a lack of access to the tools and skills they need to add their voice to the political dialog. What we need to make this happen: 1-2 WordPress developers to build the Time Capsule by August 22. We believe this will take less than 20 hours. Currently, we have a modest but growing budget to compensate our developers, who will enjoy wide exposure as we promote the initiative, including a full page on the Time Capsule site to showcase their work. What we have: a domain and server space; a fully developed marketing and outreach plan, requirements list, and wireframe; and a dedicated planning committee of 14 individuals representing organizations including BroadbanCensus.com, Center for Democracy and Technology, COmmon Cause, Media and Democracy Coalition, New America Foundation, Public Knowledge, and Sunlight Foundation, dedicated to making OWD a big event, supporting and promoting our developer. To learn more, contact Vicky Pinpin-Feinstein at 301 404-8570 or <email obscured>.
Help Redesign Democracy - Join E-Democracy.Org's Design Sprint July 29th, 2008 Over the coming months I hope to engage designers in an effort to vastly improve the look and feel of E-Democracy.Org starting with our forums - http://forums.e-democracy.org . E-Democracy.Org has a small grant that we using to support new features on GroupServer - http://groupserver.org , the awesome GPL open source platform we use for our Issues Forums. Some of that budget will be used to implement a new look and feel that will then spread across our site. However, the more we engage our supporters and volunteers to articulate a design vision, create some story boards and actual art/design templates the more we can do with our limited resources (like make it easy to embed YouTube videos in GroupServer! - Example - http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/post/eL1LKPDptZl2eIfHUJFzo ). To this end, we propose a design sprint (in-person in Minneapolis and virtual) sometime in the next few months to see what kind of talent we can bring to bear. Indicate you interest, RSVP via our wiki and drop us an e-mail: <email obscured> http://pages.e-democracy.org/design_sprint We won’t consider a meeting until at least five people agree to get involved. To assist, or perhaps confuse :-) the process, I’ve created two video screencasts that share some of my hopes and dreams for the new site. One of my main goals is to ensure that our forums remain competitive in the “minds eye” with citizen media and blog sites in terms of first impressions without losing the barebone usability that people really need. The screencasts are available from: http://pages.e-democracy.org/design_sprint As a “virtual” participant, you can feel free to see what you can whip up anytime or ask us questions now to guide your contribution. Feel free to leave comments on the blog about the site redesign. Steven Clift E-Democracy.Org P.S. If you are a developer, check our GroupServer's Development online group and chip in some code: http://groupserver.org/groups/development
Our friends with GroupServer/Online Groups.Net have released an alpha version of GroupServer for download. This is the tool used to host this exchange as well as forums.e-democracy.org. I'd like the more technical among us to kick the tires and offer me very frank feedback. E-Democracy.Org has stuck with GroupServer in the face of the giant Drupal sucking sound. Key to our decision is our absolute insistence on a tool that provide equitable and robust e-mail participation. E-Democracy.Org is about to invest in an updated look and feel and a some features including integrating photos and YouTube videos into posts when viewed on the web. Users only need to know how to attach a photo to an e-mail or paste in a link to a YouTube video and GroupServer will do the rest. Very simple. Strategically, we want to connect with others willing to shape open source tools for democratic civic engagement purposes. We also want to encourage more developers to add code to a tool which works very well (if you've wanted to host your own Google/YahooGroup style groups on your own domain without ads and include some basic social networking this tool is for you ... if you do not imagine hosting this oun your own box, see the hosting options from http://onlinegroups.net ) for two-way online participation and community building. Anyway, read on below and pass this on to the more technical in your organization. Send any feedback to my request to: <email obscured> OR http://e-democracy.org/contact Steven Clift E-Democracy.Org
http://www.alwayswebhosting.com/ has been very good to me the past year and a half. They are *very* responsive to my technical support requests, and the performance is very good too.
E-Democracy.Org is looking for a good webhost for our http://www.e-democracy.org where we run our wiki and blog and archives of older static pages. We really like the CPanel package for e-mail accts, short referring urls, e-mail aliases etc., but our current host isn't that great when things go wrong. Note: We run our forums.e-democracy.org completely separately at the current time. Any suggestions? Steven Clift E-Democracy.Org