Open the Government Podcasts Available

On May 15, the LBJ Library and the LBJ School of Public Affairs co-hosted a summit on Open Government. If you weren’t able to join us in person or virtually, worry not. The entire fascinating day is available online for your viewing pleasure. It will be time well spent!

Commencement 2009		05/23/09
Speaker: Bill Bradley Read More
Open Government on the Internet: A New Era of Transparency		05/15/09
Speaker: Bill Bradley Read More
Open Government on the Internet – Panel Discussion: Texas and Transparency		05/15/09
Speaker: Panel Discussion Panel on Texas and Transparency: The Hon. former State Representative Sherri Greenberg, LBJ School of Public Affairs; The Hon. former State Representative Talmadge Heflin, Texas Public Policy Foundation; Fred Zipp, editor, Austin American-Statesman Read More
Open Government on the Internet – Panel Discussion: Transparency and Application Development		05/15/09
Speaker: Panel Discussion Panel discussion on Transparency and Application Development: Conor Kenny, OpenCongress/Sunlight Foundation; Damien Brockmann, billhop.com; Eric Gundersen, President of Development Seed Read More
Open Government on the Internet – Panel Discussion: Technology and Transparency in the Federal Government		05/15/09
Speaker: Panel Discussion Panel discussion Technology and Transparency in the Federal Government: Kshemendra Paul, Federal Chief Architect, Office of Management and Budget; Clay Johnson, Sunlight Labs; John Wonderlich, Director of Policy, The Sunlight Foundation Read More
Open Government on the Internet: A New Era of Transparency		05/15/09
Speaker: Susan Combs Texas State Comptroller Susan Combs talked about efforts in Texas to increase transparency and the challenges the state faces. Introduction by LBJ School Professor and former State Representative Sherri Greenberg.Read More
Open Government on the Internet: A New Era of Transparency		05/15/09
Speaker: Silona Bonewald Silona Bonewald, founder and director of the League of Technical Voters, discusses her work with government transparency and the challenges and benefits of an archive of all federal web site content. Read More
Open Government on the Internet: A New Era of Transparency		05/15/09
Speaker: Vivek Kundra Federal Chief Information Office (CIO) Vivek Kundra speaks to the Conference from The Archer Center, a part of the University of Texas System, from Washington D.C. on the work the Obama administration is doing to use technology to increase government transparency. Read More
Open Government on the Internet: A New Era of Transparency: Introduction		05/15/09
Speaker: Gary Chapman LBJ School Professor Chapman, organizer of the Open Government Conference, talks about government transparency and the role the Internet will play in the future. Read More
LBJ Students Discuss Open Government		05/08/09
Speaker: LBJ Students Four students from Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs Professor Gary Chapman’s policy research project (PRP) on government transparency on the Internet discuss the Open Government on the Internet conference taking place May 15, the issue of government transparency, and the LBJ PRP experience… Read More

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Open the Government Webcast

JOIN OUR WEBCAST AT:

http://www.utexas.edu/lbj/webcasts/

The Hon. Former SenatorBill Bradley	White House CIOVivek Kundra	Texas ComptrollerSusan Combs	LBJ SchoolGary Chapman

In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Freedom of Information
Act, a landmark law that has ever since changed how citizens can learn about their government.

President Barack Obama’s “Day One” action, on January 21, 2009, emphasized his commitment to open and free government information, spelled out in his Freedom of Information Act Memorandum, the very first order the new President issued from the White House.

The one-day conference, “Open Government on the Internet: A New Era of Transparency,” will look at these developments through the eyes of nationally prominent speakers and the participation of the audience. On May 15, 2009, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, and the LBJ School of Public Affairs of the University of Texas at Austin, in co-sponsorship with the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, will co-host this one-day conference with speakers and panelists interacting simultaneously, through videoconferencing, in Austin, Texas and Washington, D.C.

The conference is sold out, but we are offering this opportunity for you to watch the webcast from the comfort of your own home or office!

Watch this video produced by students from the LBJ School of Public Affairs for an overview of the day.

Co-sponsors

LBJ Presidential Libraryand Museum	LBJ School ofPublic Affairs	Freedom of InformationFoundation of Texas

The topics to be covered will include:

• Innovations in fiscal transparency online
• Technologies for monitoring legislation and spending
• The “right-to-know” agenda for the 21st century
• Innovation in the states
• The future of “i-government”
• Citizen participation online
• How technologists can help

This event is meant for public sector managers and leaders, elected officials, nonprofit advocates, technologists and developers, and citizens interested in transforming government with new online tools.

The Day’s Program

8:30-8:45: The Hon. Former Senator Bill Bradley

8:45 – 9:30: Vivek Kundra, Chief Information Officer, White House Office of Management and Budget

9:30-10:15: Susan Combs, Comptroller of Public Accounts, State of Texas

10:15-10:45: Coffee break

10:45-12:00: Panel on Texas and transparency: The Hon. State Senator Kirk Watson (invited); The Hon. State Representative Mark Strama (invited); The Hon. former State Representative Sherri Greenberg, LBJ School of Public Affairs; The Hon. former State Senator Talmadge Heflin, Texas Public Policy Foundation; Fred Zipp, editor, Austin American-Statesman

12:00 to 12:30: Gary Chapman, LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin

12:30-1:30: Lunch Break

1:30-2:30: Panel discussion technology and transparency in the federal government: Kshmendra Paul, Manager, Federal Enterprise Architecture, Office of Management and Budget; Clay Johnson, Sunlight Labs; John Wonderlich,
Director of Policy, The Sunlight Foundation

2:30-3:15 Panel discussion on transparency and application development: Conor Kenny, OpenCongress/Sunlight Foundation; Damien Brockmann, billhop.com; Eric Gundersen, President of Development Seed

3:15-3:30: Break – Refreshments provided

3:30-4:15: Silona Bonewald, founder and director of the League of Technical Voters

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Thanks to Our Partners

Over the past six years, Texas Forums has partnered with a number of organizations around Central Texas and across the country. We have had students from Universities do research with and about us. We have worked with organizations to frame issues for public deliberation and to train their members to be moderators. We have co-hosted events like the Tavis Smiley Presidential Forums Watch party and the Presidential Health Care forums. Through our partnership with E3 Alliance, we have been in nine school districts conducting forms on closing the achievement gaps and preparing our youth for tomorrow’s jobs. It’s an amazing list of partnerships and I even know of one that we inadvertently left off – the Community Action Network. I’m sure there are more ommissions, but it’s still an impressive list.

This is the lovely document that Balmore prepared for our Six Year Celebration event and I’ve listed the partners below since the print is so small. I hope you’ll forgive me for not linking each of the partners names to their home page. Clearly that would be a big job!

Austin Area Urban League
Austin ISD
Austin Listen
Austin Public Library
Austin Public Library Carver Branch
Austin Voices for Education and Youth
Bastrop ISD
BrightSpot Information Design
Capitol Area United Way
Center for Public Policy & Political Studies at ACC
Center for Public Policy Priorities
Central Texas World Future Society
Champion Austin
Christian Life Commission
Civic Engagement Initiative of the UT Center for Sustainable Development
Collaborative Communications Group
E3 Alliance
Eanes ISD
Envision Central Texas
Fielding Graduate University
George Washington Carver Museum & Cultural Center
Huston-Tillotson
Hutto ISD
KERA
Kettering Foundation
KLRU
LBJ School of Public Affairs – Center for Health and Social Policy
League of Technical Voters
Leander ISD
Manor ISD
Media Bloggers Association
National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation
National Issues Forums Institute
Pflugervile ISD
ProArts Collective
Project on Civic Reflection
Round Rock ISD
San Marcos ISD
St. Edwards University
Study Circles Resource Center
Texas Health Institute
Texas Impact
Texas State Library
The Harwood Institute
University of Houston Downtown Center for Public Deliberation
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
University of Michigan Graduate Library School
University of Texas Center for African and African-America Studies
World Preparatory

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BlogTalkRadio Lightning Strikes

From BlogTalk Radio Lightning Strikes…

Rod Amis, a well-known blogger, social media pundit and Christina Shideler talk with Silona Bonewald of the League of Technical Voters and Taylor Willingham of Texas Forums (an initiative of the LBJ Library) about building an online transparent federal budget. Former Senator and Presidential candidate Bill Bradley who promotes this idea in his book, The New American Story, is involved, and we’ll find out why.

Listen Here! 

Learn more about Silona and Taylor here.

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Silona Bonewald to Blog All-American Presidential Forums

Silona is currently focused on creating the League of Technical Voters and the Transparent
Federal Project Project. Before this she started her own company, ElecTech that created specialized software for political campaigns, and ran a web consulting business where she was one of the first people to create websites for hire, and to successfully optimize her clients’ websites for usability and top search engine ranking. She has also worked in the gaming industry, creating high visibility web presences, content management systems, and large database back-end integrations. Silona volunteers for the ACLU and EFF on technology-based civil liberties issues, and has lobbied on various issues. The combination of her involvement in political activism, educational activism, psychometrics for gaming communities, lobbyist work, netizen activities and web design make her uniquely suited to envision the framework that will make the LoTV system all possible.

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