TechCrunch: Transparency-seeking OPEN Government Data Act signed into law . “The federal government produces one hell of a lot of data, but despite desultory lurches toward usability, there’s little guarantee that it’s available in a way that makes it useful to anyone. That may change for the better with the OPEN Government Data Act, which the president signed into law last night. The act essentially requires federal agencies to default when possible to making data (and metadata) public, to publish that public data in a machine-readable format and catalog it online. It also mandates that chief data officers be appointed at those agencies to handle the process.”
government records
Georgetown Public Policy Review: Rethinking Public Records In The Digital Age
Georgetown Public Policy Review: Rethinking Public Records In The Digital Age. “If an online equivalent of the pre-digital age White Pages existed, would it be available to anyone who wanted to access it? A controversial policy of the D.C. Board of Elections may give us an answer — or, at least, a similar debate.”
The Quint: This Govt-Owned Search Website Fetches Data from ‘Sarkari’ Portals
The Quint: This Govt-Owned Search Website Fetches Data from ‘Sarkari’ Portals. Government of India. I think in this case Sarkari means “official,” so it’s a search for official government information. “Currently, most of your online searches are directed towards Google which is universally known to fetch information on anything and everything you’d want to know. But, what if you were looking for stuff a bit closer to home and something much intricate and detailed?”
E Pluribus Unum: Congress votes to make open government data the default in the United States
E Pluribus Unum: Congress votes to make open government data the default in the United States. “On December 21, 2018, the United States House of Representatives voted to enact H.R. 4174, the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2017, in a historic win for open government in the United States of America. The Open, Public, Electronic, and Necessary Government Data Act (AKA the OPEN Government Data Act) is about to become law as a result. “
Public Broadcasting of Latvia: First batch of Latvia’s KGB archives published online
Public Broadcasting of Latvia: First batch of Latvia’s KGB archives published online. “Accessible by providing the Latvian equivalent of a social security number, it seems that in reality only the email address has to be a valid one to register for access as LSM was able to register with fake credentials. According to Latvia’s state bulletin, the index spans some 4,300 out of about 25,000 KGB agents active in the period from 1953 to 1991, but it mostly concerns agents active in the late 1980s.”
Quartz: The FBI needs to burn 53 tons of classified material
Quartz: The FBI needs to burn 53 tons of classified material. “The FBI announced its files were going digital in 2012. Nevertheless, the bureau will need to destroy an estimated 53 tons of ‘classified and sensitive’ material in the coming year to ensure the FBI’s secrets stay secret. A government contracting document issued late last month by the FBI’s Information Management Division describes exactly how this will happen.”
US Department of State: Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs Releases Fourteen Newly Digitized Foreign Relations of the United States Volumes
US Department of State: Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs Releases Fourteen Newly Digitized Foreign Relations of the United States Volumes . “The Department of State today announces the release of newly digitized versions of fourteen volumes from the Foreign Relations of the United States series, the official documentary record of U.S. foreign relations. These volumes cover events that took place between 1861 and 1866 and were originally published in print between 1861 and 1867.”
