Last week there was a whole lot of chatter regarding the public policy, compliance and regulatory front. Which regulations go too far, which policies are too invasive and just when and how can we improve the chances that citizens voices be heard in health care and in the legislative processes? Here’s a summary of things OpenPlansers where chatting about last week:
+ This particular post was the first in a series about the ways that individual people experience various policies and planning decisions in their day-to-day lives. CoLab Radio has assembled about twenty of its most talented bloggers to profile people who are living policies every day. Introducing First Person Policy, with a Bang. via colabradio.mit.edu
+ Has too much regulation resulted in a serious paucity of private transit options? With the federal government shutting down 26 inter-city Chinatown buses last week, they are one of the few free market approaches to transit in the states. Could policy changes improve access, quality of service and increase the number of people who travel on trains and buses? viaamericancity.org
+ The NYCLU released a Stop and Frisk App ”a free and innovative smart phone application that will empower New Yorkers to monitor police activity and hold the NYPD accountable for unlawful stop-and-frisk encounters and other police misconduct.” via nyclu.org
+ Bus listen app Developers: Please Make Your Public Interest Apps Open Source! The NYCLU app, while great, is constrained and limited by it being proprietary, open it up and see what other developers can do with it. via rants.org aka Karl Fogel’s sounding board
+ In India access to the public health care system is a right, citizens have found themselves without access to care as absenteeism by medical professionals and staff produce long waits, unsatisfactory experiences and substandard care. A nonprofit group has produced an SMS-based system that allows patients to check up and report on absent medical professionals and the data is used to produce maps that are released to locals and policymakers. via mashable.com
+ Can the next NYC Charter include a direct democracy charter amendments? Should the ability for citizens to propose ballot measures be expanded for citizens of New York City? This paper explains. via lowercased.org
+ Stateside, the Census Bureau plans to launch an application programming interface in the next month that will stream its data straight to developers, Stephen Buckner, director of the bureau’s Center for New Media and Promotion, said Monday. via nextgov.com
+ The Journal of Community Informatics offers a chance for researchers to share their community research “towards the effective use of ICTs to improve their processes, achieve their objectives, overcome the “digital divides” that exist both within and between communities, and empower communities and citizens in the range of areas of ICT application including for health, cultural production, civic management, and e-governance, among others.” via CI Journal
+ PublicStuff is a CRM that tracks 311-type service requests that can be reported via mobile apps.
Start your week by getting some good conversation bits from the stories that circulated about the OpenPlans office during the prior week. The OpenPlans Watercooler will be going live each Monday afternoon.