accountability

See the following -

The Uganda Open Development And Open Data Process: Is The Tide About To Change?

Charles Lwanga-Ntale | Development Initiatives | October 1, 2012

There is currently a sea change in the East African governance landscape and you only need to go back to just over a year ago – to Kenya – to understand this. On 8 July 2011, President Mwai Kibaki launched the Kenya Open Data Initiative (KODI), making Kenya the first developing country to have an open government data portal, and second only to Morocco on the African continent. Those who crafted KODI did not mince their words. They wanted to see Kenya take steps to improve governance, and they saw availability and access to data and vital development information as one way of achieving this.
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The White House Comedy Club

Kathleen Parker | Washington Post | October 25, 2013

While the nation’s attention has been riveted on the Keystone Congress, the executive branch was busy developing its own comedy routine. Picture the cast (you know the characters) shrugging their shoulders in unison: “Who, me?” Read More »

The Wrongheaded Law That's Making Your Food Less Safe

Andrew Cohen | The Week | March 12, 2014

If the cows providing your milk were being drugged up and abused, you'd want to know, right? Late last month, Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter signed into law a measure that makes it a crime, punishable by up to a year in prison, for someone not authorized to be in an "agricultural production facility" to "make audio or video recordings of the conduct" inside that facility. [...] Read More »

Two Bills Aim To Expedite Benefits For Veterans

Susan D. Hall | FierceEMR | November 12, 2013

Citing frustration that veterans in New York wait on average 400 days for the start of benefits, Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) is pushing two bills to speed things up. Read More »

Uganda: Embrace Open Data for Development

Bernard Sabiti | allAfrica | August 24, 2012

...this entire problem could be avoided if all the stakeholders involved embraced open data, a new phenomenon that is increasingly becoming the new normal in development. Open data, or open development, as some are calling it, in a more comprehensive sense, is where organisations are using Information technologies to provide and share information using simple computer applications.

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Unleashing The Power Of Data And Technology To Rebalance The World

Caroline Anstey | The Atlantic | November 19, 2012

Developing countries have moved from being the site of development initiatives to the transmitter of development innovation. Read More »

VA And DoD’s Reversal On Electronic Health Records Criticized

Steve Vogel | The Washington Post | February 27, 2013

The decision this month by the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to scrap plans to create a single electronic health record came under renewed attack Wednesday on Capitol Hill as the Government Accountability Office questioned the departments’ assertion that the action will enable them to deliver improved health care more quickly and for less money. Read More »

VA and VistA: Can They Be Fixed?

Aisha Chowdry | FCW | July 27, 2016

The Department of Veterans Affairs is rushing to make changes to its IT infrastructure and systems before the next administration enters the White House. And skeptical lawmakers, oversight bodies and outside experts are cautiously optimistic about the eventual outcomes. The key words, though, are "cautiously" and "eventual"...

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Veterans Still In Fight – With VA

Kathleen Miller | The Journal Gazette | November 13, 2012

With as many as 1 million troops due to become veterans in the next five years, on top of the 22.3 million already in the system, the agency is staggering under backlogs in disability compensation claims, bottlenecks in mental health care and criticism over a general lack of accountability.

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Watchdog Finds More Than $1T In Misreported Federal Spending

Camille Tuutti | FCW | February 6, 2013

The Department of Health and Human Services tops the list of the agencies most delinquent in reporting spending on USASpending.gov, with nearly $800 billion in unreported funds, according to a watchdog group. Read More »

What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success

Anu Partanen | The Atlantic | December 29, 2011

The Scandinavian country is an education superpower because it values equality more than excellence. Read More »

What Does Screening Your Phone Records Have To Do With Health Care?

Joseph Kvedar | The cHealth Blog | June 25, 2013

I have been following  the news about the National Security Agency (NSA) access to our phone records with great interest.  If we as a society don’t sort some of this out, we’ll see a repeat in the health sector a few years from now. Read More »

What Does Singapore Know About Selling Healthcare Products?

Jacqueline Fellows | HealthLeaders Media | July 3, 2013

Buying health insurance in the U.S. is not yet as straightforward as other consumer purchases, but that is changing. Health systems in Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand are far ahead of us in offering consumer choice and addressing health disparities. Read More »

What Does ‘Open Knowledge’ Have To Do With ‘Open Development’?

Linda Raftree | lindaraftree.com | June 29, 2012

The Open Knowledge Festival (OKFest) happens this September 17-22 in Helsinki, Finland with the theme Open Knowledge in Action. OKFest will explore the benefits of opening up knowledge and information, look at the ecosystems of organisations that can benefit from openness, and discuss the impact that more transparency can have in our societies. Read More »

Why Are America's CEOs So Afraid Of A Little Sunlight On Their Political Causes?

Andrew Cohen | The Atlantic | April 26, 2013

The Supreme Court said limits on political donations weren't necessary with adequate disclosure. Now big companies are fighting even that. Read More »