Let my data go! the case for transparent government

Transparent government: a revolution in the making

This provocative blog post describes the concept of transparent government:

"Transparent government combines Web 2.0 tools and citizens’ passions, making the public potential partners in government. In an age of limited resources, making government data available on a real-time basis stretches those resources and creates benefits ranging from more informed debate on policy issues to improved service delivery."

W. David Stephenson is described on his blog as "a leading homeland security, e-government (especially “transparent government“), and crisis management strategist and theorist."

He uses an example related to crime analysis to highlight a move toward transparent government:

"History may record transparency began with the award-winning Chicago Crime site.It is a mashup creating a searchable and visual report of what crimes happen and where in the city, displayed on a Google Map.A Web developer with a background in journalism and databases — not a police employee — created it.Since Chicago only releases crime data a week after it occurs, Chicago Crime has to do a screen scrape of data from an official site."

The government can't seem to analyze what it has - so maybe it will be the public who starts the path toward greater widespread analysis. When I was a working crime analyst, having access to a variety of government databases would have helped me tremendously - but because of issues of territoriality, technical interoperability, inadequate human capital and lack of vision, it was impossible.

I agree with Stephenson's assertion that more data analysis through a more transparent government can create "new insights into issues (especially complex ones where a variety of factors may be involved and multi-faceted solutions required)." But I would like to see government become more transparent to itself - by sharing its resources to strengthen its utility.