Back in 2003 at the 1st Word Summit for the Information Society I made this call:
"1. The Rule of Law - Mandate the democratic evolution! By making exceptional and essential e-democracy best practices universal through the rule of law. We know most of what works, the technology exists, and great examples abound. Nothing optional in government will become universal or wide spread if it remains unfunded or a choice." ... Remember, we must develop and pass laws that require these things to happen. I see no short cut without resources and legal mandates from our elected officials." So, over 11 years later we are finally getting to making open government/e-democracy part of law. While it is great the President Obama has signed Executive Orders building the base for open government at the Federal level, this new law passed by Congress (and perhaps new laws at the state-level that might follow) puts open government on a more solid footing beyond who gets elected and their current priorities. - Steven Clift Links from the Data Transparency Coalition: http://us5.campaign-archive1.com/?u=1fe27980fc8b5dda1bc362b91&id=5e1167e725&e=3c9e491612 DATA Act Becomes Nation's First Open Data Law President's Signature Seals Unanimous Passage President Barack Obama signed the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act into law last week. Known as the DATA Act, the federal spending transparency legislation has been hailed as the nation's first open data law. First introduced in 2011, the final version of the DATA Act accomplishes the Data Transparency Coalition's two main goals of standardizing and publishing the federal government's spending information as open data. "The DATA Act will unlock a new public resource that innovators, watchdogs, and citizens can mine for valuable and unprecedented insight into federal spending," said Hudson Hollister, the Coalition's Executive Director, reacting to news of the President's signature. "America's tech sector already has the tools to deliver reliable, standardized, open data. Today's historic victory will put our nation's open data pioneers to work for the common good." The DATA Act's enactment has been the Data Transparency Coalition's highest legislative priority since the trade association was founded in February 2012. The new law also provides a congressional mandate for many of the objectives contained in President Obama's Open Data Policy. Hours before signing the DATA Act, the White House separately issued an Open Data Action Plan. Aneesh Chopra, who served as U.S. Chief Technology Officer during President Obama's first term, praised Congress for unifying around the message that "we need to open up our government's data to allow both accountability and transparency and economic growth." The DATA Act (S. 994) passed the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously on April 28, after securing unanimous consent from the U.S. Senate on April 10. Three of the main legislative sponsors -- Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) -- gathered with administration officials, business leaders and open data advocates to celebrate the DATA Act's passage on April 29 at the Data Transparency Summit. During the Summit, the White House confirmed to press that the President intended to sign the bill. "That we were able to see the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act) break through partisan gridlock and become law speaks to what this legislation can accomplish for the American people," remarked Sen. Portman in a statement welcoming the law's enactment. Steven Clift - http://stevenclift.com Executive Director - http://E-Democracy.org Twitter: http://twitter.com/democracy Tel/Text: +1.612.234.7072 ᐧ ----------------------------------------- Group home for Newswire - Steven Clift's Democracies Online Newswire: http://groups.dowire.org/groups/newswire Replies go to members of Newswire - Steven Clift's Democracies Online Newswire with all posts on this topic here: http://groups.dowire.org/r/topic/7wrmVFQk6LTSwwdJqk0bBF For digest version or to leave Newswire - Steven Clift's Democracies Online Newswire, email [email protected] with "digest on" or "unsubscribe" in the *subject*. Newswire - Steven Clift's Democracies Online Newswire is hosted by Democracies Online - http://dowire.org.
