Tag Archives: Open government

Book Chapter 1: What is open source?

If you’re curious about open source, here is an excerpt describing what open source is in plain English from The Foundation for an Open Source City, a book that explores the five elements of an open source city. If you missed the introduction, be sure to check that out too. There is also a great resource on opensource.com that answers What is open source software?

Chapter 1: Defining an open source city

Before we define the elements of an open source city, it’s important to establish a baseline of knowledge. The concepts of open source, open government, and open data are new to many citizens. In order to make our government more transparent, participatory, and collaborative, we’ll need to start by exploring these definitions. Continue reading

Highlights from CityCamp Colorado: Opengov techies give back with apps and expertise

Originally posted on opensource.com.

Smaller governments, typically those in rural towns, don’t have the IT capacity to foster serious innovation in citizen participation like governments in larger cities do. Two groups decided it was time to give back and have come together to share their technical knowledge and expertise: OpenColorado and Colorado Code for Communities will combine community, platform, and digital literacy to create a hosted service platform that includes open data with different web and mobile applications. Continue reading