At the start of the summer, you may recall Project Harmony causing a certain amount of controversy on the subject of contributor agreements in open source communities. Read More »

The Open311 platform is one of Civic Commons’ core initiatives; it’s an Application Programming Interface (API) and a growing set of software tools that help cities manage service and information requests from citizens. We see it as a core element of an “open” city IT backbone. Read More »

As I indicated yesterday, I have serious doubts about the UK government's policy on copyright. Read More »

The next time a hospital official asks to look into your eyes, it might not be your health he's checking. In South Florida and across the nation, hospitals are implementing high tech biometrics technology to speed up the admission process, reduce errors and add a layer of security in an age where insurance fraud and identity theft is a serious problem. Read More »

As the 2011-2012 academic year rolls in, we're starting something new: a podcast series titled, Those who can, teach and do. Over the past several months, I've been interviewing people who find themselves playing the role of both educator and practitioner. Read More »

Attendees of the recent Government Open Source Conference (GOSCON) were privy to some of the most thoughtful conversations about open source in government I've heard this year. Read More »

HP's attempt to kill the TouchPad proved two things: the appeal of a $99 tablet and the power of open source communities. The first is clear--even if you hadn't decided how a tablet would fit into your life, it's a lot easier to figure it out for $99 than for $500. Too bad the BOM to build the TouchPad was more than $300. Read More »

The premise of a feedback loop is simple: Give people real-time information about their actions, and they're more likely to change those actions for the better...The largest problem in medicine is noncompliance, the term for patients who don’t follow their doctor's prescribed orders. Read More »

At Code for America, we’re encouraged to release work product often – what the techy entrepreneur crowd terms an iterative, lean, agile development process. The net result forces you to embrace mistakes, rather than be in denial about them. In this way, work product is available, even if it is in an imperfect state, to begin leveraging community around the project. Read More »

Over the past two weeks, I've been reading the book Power and Love by Adam Kahane (thanks to Eugene Eric Kim for the recommendation). After working with Eugene on th Read More »