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Eric Mill: The DC Register is not published in a form that can be easily searched or reused. For example, the August 30th issue of the DC Register is available as a mixture of PDFs and Word DOCs. Some of the PDFs have searchable text, and some do not. The issue is available as a single combined PDF, but it retains the searchability problem of its constituent parts. For example, I was able to use simple text extraction tools to extract this text from the Aug 30 DCR. It includes text from pages 19-20, but not pages 8-18. When the DC Register is distributed this way, it makes it impossible for citizens to perform basic oversight of the actions of the DC Government, or for developers to build tools that give citizens greater ability to perform this oversight. For example, a dccode.org-like project with the DC Register would be much more limited and incomplete than what was able to be done for the DC Code. By contrast, the Federal Register, as published at federalregister.gov publishes the activity of the federal government in a wonderful, open manner, for citizens and developers alike. This makes it possible for engaged citizens with specific interests to follow relevant activity in a reliable, timely manner.
Ben Klemens: Bids and solicitations are the bread and butter of open governance, because they are the focal point for corruption and allegations of corruption. For any bid or solicitation where the decision was made using confidential documents, there are jounralists and residents questioning whether the decision was honestly made.
The agencies that most directly affect residents on the consumer level are DDOT, DPW, and DCRA. Simple qualiyty-of-service metrics for all of their services would have a big impact. E.g., maps of trash collection quality of service, heat maps of parking ticket issuances, summary statistics of permit issuances. These are useful to consumers in their own right, and let the data-oriented public search for areas in need of improvement.
How might advisory committees, rulemaking, public hearings, social media, or emerging technology be better used to improve decision-making?
What alternative models exist to improve the quality of decision-making and increase opportunities for citizen participation?
Joshua Tauberer: Transparency is an ideal, like "good government." It guides a set of practices, including FOIA, pro-active disclosure, open meetings, plain language, access to and analysis of data, and so on that creates a more informed public. Transparency is not merely the making of a government record available to the public, even though that is often where it begins. As to the limits to what transparency can accomplish, what government program wouldn't be improved by a more informed public? But as with all government programs, not all transparency programs will create equal impact. The question is not what transparency can't do, but where to begin. What will have the most impact, at the least cost, for the District's policy goals (reducing corruption, increasing citizen trust, and so on)? As for the legal limitations of transparency, they are already set in law, e.g. in the FOIA exemptions in § 2-534. Limitations should be narrow, clearly defined, general in applicability across government agencies, and set by statute. What isn't clearly exempt from public disclosure is public and should be made available to the public in manners that promote access and reuse.
Joshua Tauberer: As with other government programs, the effectiveness of open government programs can be measured by looking to how the programs have improved the lives of DC residents. This has to be done on a case by case basis. For instance, with public transit data, it is possible to compare open data programs to other methods of reducing commute times, such as track work improvement, to see which is cheaper per minute reduced in aggregate commute time. For open meetings efforts, how many more residents are participating in meetings and how many new good ideas were incorporated into District policy because of greater openness at meetings?