Your Laws, Your Data: Making Government More Open
Two decades ago, Congress began publishing some of its activities online, revolutionizing access to essential public information. The system was called THOMAS, after our third president. Managed by the Library of Congress, it aimed to serve as a central hub to find bills and resolutions, the Congressional Record, committee reports, treaties and so on. States and municipalities followed suit, building out data sets that are essential to a large variety of applications and services.
While technology has changed a lot since the mid 1990s, the quality of data coming from Congress and other branches of government has not kept up.
Creating a more open and comprehensive system of public data -- not only from Congress, but throughout government -- would make a variety of powerful new applications possible.
Join us for a discussion of how better data can empower citizen activists and public interest groups to make government more accountable, and more responsive.
Presenters
Daniel Schuman
Policy Dir
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
Daniel Schuman serves as Policy Director for CREW. He previously worked as Policy Counsel and Director of the Advisory Committee on Transparency for the Sunlight Foundation, where he testified befo...
Show the restMolly Schwartz
Assoc Fellow
R Street Institute
Molly Schwartz is an associate fellow at the R Street Institute, a member of the steering committee for the Congressional Data Coalition, and currently pursuing a Fulbright scholarship project in F...
Show the restMolly Bohmer
Data Curator
Cato Institute
Molly Bohmer is the Data Curator at the Cato Institute where she manages the Deepbills Project and researches policy issues surrounding government transparency and data. She also works with the Con...
Show the restRebecca Williams
Policy Analyst
Data.gov
Rebecca Williams is a Policy Analyst for the Municipal Transparency Program at the Sunlight Foundation conducting research on open data policy and data release best practices. She holds a J.D. from...
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