Existing Open Projects for Digital Public Spaces -
January 9, 2021This coming week, the New Public Festival will kick off with a phenomenal group of participants examining better, less commercialized, public spaces on the internet. “We believe that the reckless design of our current, privately-owned digital spaces is tearing at … Continue reading
Civic Features to Unwind the Facebook Monopoly -
November 11, 2019Facebook has become an active threat, its massive profits and user growth driven by the inexorable forces of centralization. With U.S. regulators gutted by decades of bipartisan consensus, Facebook grew unchecked monopoly power through its ad targeting. The company has … Continue reading
AskThem Is Being Redesigned -
June 3, 2018The open-source, open-data, non-profit AskThem Q&A platform is undergoing a volunteer redesign (!) for public accountability ahead of the 2020 elections. The website is offline as we seek to develop it fully again. Same with PPF’s deprecated website OpenGovernment.org, whose … Continue reading
Question on Trump Administration’s Immigration Policy -
January 26, 2018With immigration in the news, here’s a sample question-asking widget for members of Congress about the Trump Administration’s policy on legal immigration: Media partners and political bloggers, contact us for custom versions, … Continue reading
Question for 2018 Candidates on President Trump’s Mental Fitness -
December 29, 2017Based on President Trump’s incoherent and saturated-with-willfully-incorrect-statements Dec. 28th NYT impromptu interview, a public question from political writer Mobute: Representatives whose thoughts are as impossible to engage as quicksand shouldn’t be able to escape scrutiny via incompetence and mendacity just because … Continue reading
NYC Councilmatic Has Been Adopted By NYC Council -
December 21, 2017We’re excited to announce that the NYC Council has officially adopted Councilmatic. More info about yesterday’s announcement, made by Speaker Mark-Viverito, with special recognitions of supportive NYC Council members Kallos, Vacca and Lander. … we’ve decided to retire the previous NYC … Continue reading
Value of Non-Profit #OpenGov Projects -
November 20, 2017Building off the exciting announcement last week of a new API for NYC Council legislative info, here’s a look back at what the non-profit field has done over the past eleven years, and what we can still do. (Another version.) … Continue reading
Trump, Mueller, and Russia Investigation -
October 30, 2017This morning, Vox’s Matt Yglesias writes of President Trump and special counsel Robert Mueller: “The fate of the [Russia] investigation — and of the integrity of the American political process — will thus rest on the often frail shoulders of the … Continue reading
Pharma Lobbying and Opioid Crisis -
October 23, 2017Following up on OTM segment recently, sign on to our public question to your members of Congress on AskThem – and share free embeddable HTML widgets with your regional newspaper and political blogs: … Continue reading
Trust, Media, and Democracy In 2018 -
October 9, 2017The Knight Foundation recently announced a Commission on Trust, Media and Democracy, to be run by the Aspen Institute. Ask every federal & state 2018 candidate – as well as major U.S. cities and more Knight Foundation communities – this public … Continue reading
FEMA and Puerto Rico Recovery Statistics -
October 6, 2017Public question for Rep. McMorris Rodgers, Chair of House GOP – as you support tech & open data for responsive government, will you stand up to the Trump Administration’s scrubbing of statistics from federal websites? … Continue reading
Ask 2018 Candidates About Firearms Control -
October 2, 2017In wake of Las Vegas mass shooting, ask all of your candidates for Congress a public question about firearms control – and petition for an official response, on AskThem. Share this free embeddable widget with regional media and political blogs, … Continue reading
In Wake of Hurricane Irma, Public Pledge on Racial Diversity and Dialogue -
September 30, 2017In wake of recent WaPo expose on Trump Administration’s delayed response to Hurricane Irma recovery in Puerto Rico, it seems that U.S. federal government leadership needs to publicly re-embrace the fundamental moral principles of valuing racial diversity in America. Because … Continue reading
Proposal for NYC Office of Civic Engagement -
September 29, 2017Today, NYC Council member Brad Lander of Brooklyn – a longtime leader in open, responsive and ethical city government – took to the Daily News to propose an NYC Office of Civic Engagement.
Ask Wisconsin Legislators about Voting Rights Access -
September 27, 2017A recent study by University of Wisconsin researchers, commissioned by Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell, found that “between roughly 9,000 and 23,000 registered voters in the reliably Democratic counties were deterred from voting by the ID law.” Ask Wisconsin state legislators … Continue reading
Ask House Oversight Committee about Digital Records -
September 25, 2017Ask a public question to Rep. Trey Gowdy (R, SC-04) – then get signups, to petition for an official response. Sharing widget below with Greenville Online, regional news outlet.
Ask Members of Congress about Graham-Cassidy -
September 20, 2017Today, Vox Media’s Sarah Kliff writes: “I’ve covered the GOP repeal plans since day one. Graham-Cassidy is the most radical.” … ask your members of Congress about this rushed, closed health care reform process – in our open public forum, … Continue reading
NYC housing crisis – sample AskThem widget for media partners -
September 18, 2017Help our non-profit AskThem bring free question widgets like the one below to Western New York media – such as the Observer Today and Olean Times Herald, whose readers and political journalists can engage in public dialogue with NY Senator … Continue reading
NYC Policy on Supporting Small Businesses -
April 7, 2017Rising rents are a constant topic in NYC – every day, we walk past vacant storefronts left empty, awaiting a drug store or major bank chain that can afford the pricey space. On his weekly #askthemayor segment on the Brian Lehrer show, … Continue reading
Tools for a Networked Public Sphere -
January 3, 2017Just now, House GOP reversed its course to kneecap the Office of Congressional Ethics. Lots of background on my Twitter lists for #opengov and #political-science. Since last night, this was all-hands on deck for #opengov & #goodgov non-profits, Congressional watchdogs, and … Continue reading
Protected: Sustainability of Open-Gov Tech -
October 24, 2016There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
On Participatory Politics and Austerity Government -
June 24, 2016We founded PPF in 2004 with the instinct that tech could radically increase trust in the political process – the kind of trust & feedback loops just found lacking by British voters in the E.U. government. Lots of food for … Continue reading
Example of Civic Features for Public Priorities -
June 16, 2016Background: three federal reform election initiatives, towards mitigating the lobbying & political influence of the NRA on firearms policy. This post seeks to touch on how social media isn’t affecting the Senate on gun control, and how open data standards … Continue reading
PPF Projects at PDF16 -
June 9, 2016We have three non-profit projects that help “interested bystanders” become civic actors. Get in touch to support our work in 2016, free & open-source & open-data as always. NYC Councilmatic – track and share everything in the NYC Council. Impact: new public comments for local … Continue reading
Proposal for Contemporary Participation Knowledge Base -
April 1, 2016Please find below a quick-fast public proposal for an updated knowledge base on “what really works” for civic engagement and democratic participation. Offered in a spirit of community-building. Currently, research & apps & findings are spread between a variety of projects, … Continue reading
NewsChallenge on Libraries – Three Partnership Proposals -
March 21, 2016The librarian community have been strong evangelists of PPF’s open-data tools for civic engagement since the earliest OpenCongress days of 2007. Librarians and educators helped us get our non-profit resources off the ground, linked to them, and suggested improvements. And … Continue reading
Councilmatic Momentum in 2016 -
March 4, 2016Tomorrow is #codeacross America 2016, so I wanted to update the CFA community and #opengov hackers on gathering momentum with Councilmatic. Excited that Councilmatic is one of the challenge projects in Toronto: “David Hains of Torontoist wants to build a Toronto version … Continue reading
Ask Candidates About SCOTUS & Citizens United -
February 17, 20162016 election season is heating up; it’s prime AskThem time. Catch up with links from @EveryVoice on Twttr. See HuffPost, Sept. 2015: “In a recent Bloomberg poll of 1,001 adults, Citizens United — which paved the way for the rise of super PACs … Continue reading
Farewell, OpenCongress; Hello, OpenGovernment -
February 12, 2016What a surprise to write this post this afternoon. If I hadn’t done my mindfulness practice this morning, I’d be tempted to post the cheesy Jerry Maguire “flip out” clip on a social media service, you know, as a lighthearted joke. … Continue reading
New York Tech MeetUp + NYC Councilmatic -
February 9, 2016After nine years of non-profit web development*, it’s my first time demo’ing on stage at NY Tech MeetUp tonight, the nation’s largest with nearly 50,000 members – some 750 RSVP’d, full up. Cool. Here’s the Freelancers Union bill, Intro 1017Â on … Continue reading
Open Data Infrastructure for Civic Engagement -
January 27, 2016It’s 2016, and we’re still missing a huge amount of open infrastructure for civic engagement. In my nine years of experience, here are the three major areas of need in the U.S. #opengov space. Below I’ll make the argument why … Continue reading
Councilmatic a Finalist in Knight Cities Challenge -
January 12, 2016We’re pleased that Councilmatic has been named a finalist in the Knight Cities Challenge, to expand and deepen our non-profit work on civic engagement in Philadelphia. Councilmatic is one of 158 entries to advance out of over 4,500 submissions, 20 of … Continue reading
Keep AskThem Online for the 2016 Elections -
December 30, 20152016 is an election year, so it’s AskThem time. AskThem works as a uniquely open Q&A platform for all the Presidential campaigns, every Congressional race, and more contests in your state. Make a tax-exempt donation today to support our (free & open-source) work on … Continue reading
Three Federal Electoral Reform Initiatives -
December 8, 2015Please find below a public legislative roadmap for three major federal legislative initiatives for electoral reforms. That is, bills in Congress for a stronger U.S. representative democracy. Each of these three legislative initiatives are composed of several bills, some active … Continue reading
Comment on NYC Councilmatic -
December 2, 2015NYC residents and community groups: we’re excited to feature your comments on NYC Councilmatic pages, and deliver your group’s feedback to city council offices for a public response. Here’s how to comment on legislative items on Councilmatic, such as on the 2015 … Continue reading
AirBNB bills on NYC Councilmatic -
December 2, 2015NYC Councilmatic is live, as a non-profit public resource on everything that’s happening in NYC government. Our site includes every committee’s activity and public events, creating unique open data for civic engagement. To highlight issues in the news and priorities in NYC communities, … Continue reading
Bring Councilmatic To Your City -
November 23, 2015We’re working to roll out Councilmatic to cities nationwide as an open-data public resource. Contact us to talk about Councilmatic in your area: info@councilmatic.org, and we’ll get back to you right away to connect voice. Get in touch! More info: … Continue reading
Become “Verified” on NYC Councilmatic -
November 9, 2015NYC Councilmatic is live, and ready for public discussion about local issues. Starting December 1st, we’ll bring together a monthly public comment program on community issues in NYC and how they relate to legislative activity. All NYC Council offices, neighborhood groups, issue organizations … Continue reading
Ask Questions to Democratic Presidential Candidates -
October 12, 2015The first #DemDebate of 2015 was Oct. 13th, at 9pm ET on CNN. Ask your questions to the candidates on AskThem, the only non-profit question-and-answer platform for every U.S. elected official (& politician & media company & political pundit & more). Previously, see my … Continue reading
Announcing Councilmatic and NYC Councilmatic -
September 30, 2015Today from the Code For America Summit, we’re excited to launch our new non-profit project Councilmatic. Finally, a version of OpenCongress for cities is here. Our new version of the site is first launching for our beloved home base of New York City: NYC … Continue reading
Ask Questions to 2016 GOP Presidential Candidates -
August 5, 2015Fire up the question machine. It’s 2016 elections time, which means it’s AskThem time. Next debate Tuesday Nov. 10th in Milwaukee, #GOPdebates appears to be the hashtags on micropublishing. (Ask questions to all the Democratic candidates too, linked handily from this … Continue reading
Announcing NYC Councilmatic -
June 24, 2015Our non-profit organization is excited for today’s announcement by the Rita Allen Foundation, that they’re supporting our forthcoming project NYC Councilmatic – a free & open-source website for engaging with NYC government. Head over to Rita Allen’s blog post today, where Councilmatic is announced … Continue reading
Vote for AskThem in the Participatory Budgeting Process -
June 16, 2015Unsurprisingly, given the name of our organization, I’m very bullish on participatory budgeting programs, specifically the excellent national PB Project based in the Bay Area. The research – especially internationally – on PB’s increase in community equity is robust (thanks Tiago & … Continue reading
Digital Legislatures, ahead of our #PDF15 Panel -
June 3, 2015Towards closing the feedback loop with local governments, and writing & introducing your own city’s laws. Faced with gigantic problems (catastrophic climate degradation, local election disenfranchisement, police militarization, lobbyist influence on policymakers, more) – why aren’t more popular policies (carbon … Continue reading
Ask Questions to #PDF15 Speakers on AskThem -
June 3, 2015Ahhh tech-politics conference time again, my 11th consecutive PdF of 12, I believe my fifth time participating on a panel (grateful). Along w/ T-Camp (usually spring, unfort. relatively poor dining in D.C.) and CFA Summit (usually Fall, fortunately consistently amazing food … Continue reading
“Explore Campaign Finance” demo at Civic Hall – Thursday, May 28th -
May 26, 2015Our non-profit has worked with money-in-politics researchers since we ran OpenCongress from 2006 through 2013 – including OpenSecrets, Sunlight, FollowTheMoney, MapLight, LittleSis and others. Even with the progress of digital #opengov & #opendata movements since 2007 or so, there’s tons more work to do in … Continue reading
Sunset The PATRIOT Act – protest photos & legislative update -
May 22, 2015Couple of photos from tonight’s ‪#‎SunsetThePatriotAct‬ protest outside of Sen. Schumer’s offices in Midtown East. Go team Fight For The Future, amazing organizing this week – here’s the main campaign site with lots of helpful info & tools to share: … Continue reading
State Department – International Visitors to Civic Hall -
April 22, 2015This week Friday April 24th, from 11am- 12pm at Civic Hall, I’m pleased to be leading a discussion for 26 international visitors, organized through the U.S. State Department. Civic Hall members are invited to join, and I hope they’ll have … Continue reading
AskThem Widget – User Testing -
April 17, 2015Please find below one version of AskThem widgets, free & open-source, supported by a charitable grant from the Knight Foundation Prototype Fund. Images, for demo day in Miami today, thank you Chris Barr & team Knight for this user-testing & … Continue reading
Unpacking Civic Tech – Inside and Outside of Government -
April 14, 2015It can sometimes seem, or be conflated, that “civic tech†is the same in its incorporation, business & sustainability strategy, and product priorities. “Oh, it’s all online civic action, whether it happens on Facebook or PopVox or NextDoor or myMadison … Continue reading
PPF at SxSWi 2015 -
March 12, 2015Check out our two NewsChallenge applications, now live for your applause (button on right-hand side) & comments: AskThem – crowdsourced questions-and-answers for candidates around debates, elections, and ongoing public dialogue. Councilmatic – versions of OpenCongress for city governments & local … Continue reading
Fight For the Future profile in Boston Globe -
February 19, 2015The moment the net neutrality vote was announced, I shouted-out the crew Fight For the Future and popped a bottle at Civic Hall:
#Hack4Congress event this weekend -
January 30, 2015Today, I’m excited to be heading up to Harvard University to be one of ten judges at the inaugural Hack 4 Congress event – “A Not-Just-for-Technologists Event to Fix Congress, with the OpenGov Foundation”. Shout-outs to my fellow judges and the five … Continue reading
OpenPlans Paved the Way; Shareabouts Moves Forward -
January 21, 2015Last month, the team at OpenPlans in NYC announced organizational changes for 2015 – they’ll be cycling down core operations, handing off projects to good homes and keeping Shareabouts mapping tool moving forward. For the past two and a half … Continue reading
Donate to AskThem, Open-Source Infrastructure for Civic Engagement -
December 30, 2014Hi everyone, please find below a version of our year-end fundraising email for AskThem. Charitable foundations and philanthropists, please get in touch to hear more about our unique value as open-source web tools, AskThem’s impact on civic engagement in 2014 and our … Continue reading
The Importance of Accurate Headlines on Incomplete FCC Data -
December 18, 2014The net neutrality battle is as massive as anything happening in tech-regulation now, and recently the coalition of public-interest groups has been gathering much-needed momentum for real Title II reclassification. Historical stakes. That’s why, with our sibling non-profit Fight For … Continue reading
Web Tools to Reform Police Militarization & Criminal Justice -
December 8, 2014In the wake of the most-recent terrible news from Ferguson and NYC, the criminal justice system and government oversight have failed the families of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and the public so devastatingly. My thoughts are with the families of those affected … Continue reading
Micah Sifry on Growing Digital & Civic Engagement -
December 2, 2014I’ve recommended Micah Sifry‘s latest book – The Big Disconnect – enthusiastically, ever since I devoured it after this year’s Personal Democracy Forum conference. Micah is one of ten AskThem advisors, the true founding supporter of OpenCongress, and a friend – … Continue reading
Bring AskThem to your Campus -
December 1, 2014Following the powerful student organizing movements across the country- from Divestment Student Network‘s collective action for climate change to Student Net Alliance‘s cross-campus campaign against institutional surveillance- AskThem’s Q+A tool is primed to support activist efforts across the country. Using … Continue reading
Police Body Cameras as networked-public policy initiative -
November 25, 2014From terrible news from Ferguson last night – my thoughts are with the families of those affected and I’m inspired by the protesters. Michael Brown’s family wrote, in part, “Join us in our campaign to ensure that every police officer working … Continue reading
X11: channeling #Ferguson actions from social media into open data -
November 18, 2014tl;dr: an open data standard for political information, “X11”, could channel public sentiment out of closed social media and into open structured data for policymakers. We have proven data standards and ready partnerships, but we need charitable funding support to develop … Continue reading
Follow-up Thoughts on “What’s Needed for Civic Engagement” -
November 14, 2014Last week, I published a long-simmering blog post on the open-source infrastructure we’re missing for greater civic engagement in the U.S. online political space. I was pleased to have a solid conversation about these ideas on Wed. on the micropublishing service with Alex … Continue reading
Get the latest on Plastic Bag Regulation -
November 13, 2014The popular movement for paper bag legislation picking up steam across the country has ignited contentious debate between environmental advocates, industry manufacturers, and consumer right champions. With broad support, California became the first state legislature to impose a statewide ban … Continue reading
What’s Needed for Civic Engagement -
November 5, 2014Our open-government community’s efforts are over eight years old now, by my count, and the term #opengov itself seems to be waning in use against the still-interrogated latest big-tent descriptor, “civic tech”. I’m dashing this off ahead of a terrific Knight … Continue reading
AskThem Question Campaign RoundUp -
October 29, 2014We’re rounding up recent question campaigns to showcase the promising breadth of issues users can surface on AskThem. AskThem isn’t just for elected officials- users can access a wide range of verified Twitter targets- including whole governance bodies, prominent public … Continue reading
Trending Questions for 2014 Midterm Candidates -
October 28, 2014We’re sharing favorite recent questions to 2014 candidates in competitive congressional and gubernatorial races. Browse to find questions that raise your important issues and then take a couple of minutes to sign-on & share! Vote up asks to candidates vying … Continue reading
Crowdsource Questions to Midterm Candidates -
October 16, 2014As election season kicks into high gear, AskThem supports questions-and-answers with political candidates in hot races across the nation. Push incumbents on their tenure in office, vet newcomer campaign issues and weigh in on ballot proposals. Enter your ZIP code … Continue reading
Testimony to NYC Technology Committee on #PetitioNYC -
October 1, 2014(As of 9-30-14, 9pm ET – ahead of NYC Council Tech Cmte. event tmw morning, 10am ET, livestream link TK here. Comments welcome on the below, shouts BetaNYC community: david at ppolitics.org, @ppolitics on Twttr.) To: NYC Council – Committee on … Continue reading
Campaign for State Intervention in the Comcast Merger -
September 18, 2014Amidst the uproar surrounding the federal review of the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger involving the House Judiciary Committee and the Federal Communications Commission, what influence do local regulating bodies exercise over the proposed acquisition? As it stands, approval from powerful … Continue reading
Crowdsource questions to candidates during election season -
September 12, 2014We’re pleased to announce that AskThem and HonestAds– the non-profit organization for campaign ad transparency- are working together to connect you to candidates in time for the midterm elections! Browse below to see the 75 candidates you can reach for competitive … Continue reading
“We The People for NYC” is coming, with potential -
September 11, 2014Today, the NYT reported that NYC Council Member James Vacca will introduce legislation to develop online petitions to NYC city council – in short, a version of the White House’s “We the People” for NYC municipal government. Well golly – sounds good … Continue reading
Participatory Budgeting Campaign on AskThem -
August 28, 2014Announcing our extensive question campaign for Participatory Budgeting in New York City! We’ve worked closely with the Participatory Budgeting Project and the grass-roots organizing group, Community Voices Heard, to build awareness for the budgeting process, encourage district adoption, and increase … Continue reading
Unique Features for Good Q&A on AskThem -
July 15, 2014We’re proud of some of the unique features on AskThem, to support good questions of people in power. When developing AskThem, we didn’t just create another online petition site. For one thing, we offer AskThem as a free & open-source … Continue reading
Announcing NYC policy answer from Council Member Ben Kallos -
June 25, 2014Excited to share our latest NYC policy answer from Council Member Ben Kallos presiding over District 5. Kallos, who represents the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island, addressed the controversial Marine Transfer Station planned for East 91st street in Manhattan. … Continue reading
AskThem buttons – HMTL for images linking to our homepage -
June 19, 2014Button w/ tagline, links to homepage of our flagship project AskThem, 220 px wide :: Ask questions & get answers Every elected official nationwide & any verified Twitter account … second variant :: … grab the HTML here on our … Continue reading
Launch your own “Define American” campaign -
June 17, 2014As the U.S. Congress continues to stifle comprehensive immigration reform, we’re promoting questions to municipalities, governors and state agencies in how to pave the way for citizenship. We’re following the work of award-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, who bravely outed his status as … Continue reading
#SaveTheInternet Campaign for Municipal Broadband -
June 5, 2014Today, for #ResetTheNet, we’ve partnered with our friends at Fight for the Future to unveil our #SaveTheInternet question push. It’s a grassroots campaign to advance net neutrality state-by-state, from the bottom-up. On AskThem, we’re promoting specific policy questions towards city adoption of broadband technology. … Continue reading
PPF Projects In Play at PdF 2014 -
June 4, 2014David & Maryam from PPF will be at PdF 2014 this week – my tenth year at this leading tech-politics conference, how about that. We’re actively seeking charitable funding support for our non-profit work – here are some of our current projects: AskThem.io … Continue reading
AskThem at Personal Democracy Forum 2014 -
June 4, 2014We’ve been looking forward to the annual Personal Democracy Forum, and are proud to promote this year’s impressive two day lineup (June 5th-June 6th), which brings high-profile veterans together to explore emerging changes in the landscape of technology and governance. … Continue reading
AskThem Experiment 8: split-test of email subject headings -
May 29, 2014This is the writeup of Experiment Eight of our open-analytics experiments on AskThem, conducted with support from Google Civic Innovation. Background on this project. Previous tests have been run on Optimizely and Google Analytics – this focuses on Action Network, an organizing platform that … Continue reading