Mr Hacker
goes to
Washington
Produced by: Sunlight Foundation
Chief Evangelist: Greg Elin
Starring: Hackers

Orientation

• Our nation’s fore hackers

“Information is the currency of
democracy.” Thomas Jefferson

• p2p = press + parliament

• 1939

2009

“Sunlight is the best of
disinfectants.” Louis Brandeis

“Given enough eyeballs, all
bugs are shallow.”
Linus Torvald
Linus Torvalds via Eric Raymond
Linus Torvald Eric Raymond

11

Transparency breeds trust.

Seize New Opportunities

Washington, DC

Majority Rules

Internet is Ethernet...
• Listen first
• Just say it
• Public Commons
• No prioritization
• No permission required
• Use NOT defined

but, Congress is Token Ring
• “Talking Stick”
• Who has the Floor?
• Everyone waits
• Wait your turn
• Prioritization built-in

“YouTube sunlight versioning bailout legislation”

GovTrack.us

Legal Code != Software Code
• Rigorous Logic
• Fuzzy Rhetoric
• Binary
• Inconsistent Processors
• Procedural Blocks
• Slow iteration
• Encapsulation
• Tightly coupled
• Overrides
• No compiling requreid
• Digital Life Cycle
• Must Compile

“YouTube sunlight versioning bailout legislation”

is
Govt has legacy systems

Government institutions
assume one mouse
Adding more mice requires
major application changes

29

1300+ Agencies (some “independent”)
Every agency is its own enterprise.
Consolidate accounting efforts started under Nixon.
Total annual IT budget of $71B.
2.75M civilian staff (not outsourced)

Bailout

rs
yea
t5
Bailoutx ne
ver
go
irin
et
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30
>

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wisdoc/1903044321

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpmartineau/502316919

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bikesontransit/109781608

Procurement DoD
Bailout

Think Tanks
Non Profits
Lobbyists
FACA (75,000
advisors)

1999 - Gramm-Leach-Bliley
Repeals Glass-Steagall Act
opensecrets.org

“YouTube rollercoaster housing”

“YouTube rollercoaster housing”

Consensus Building &
Participation

Government Works

1970s - Nixon / Carter
External Financial Reports accounting
OMB Reorg • Congressional Budget Office
1980s - Reagan / Bush Sr
Federal Managers Financial Integrity Act
Panels • Standards • Consolidated Reporting
1990s - Clinton
Chief Financial Officer Act (CFOA) 1990
Government Management Reform Act (GMRA)
FAADS 1992 • FPDS 1992?
2000s - Bush Jr / Obama
9/11 & Wars • E-Gov Act 2002 (Enterprise)
FFATA 2006 (USAspending.gov)
Recovery.gov • Open Government Directive

Webcontent.gov

GPS.gov

CDC.gov Redesign

XML arriving

DC’s Data Catalog

Why Mr Hacker
went to Washington

78,000,000
2,000,000
53

September 11
78,000,000
2,000,000
US invades Iraq
Howard Dean
2004 Elections
2006 Elections
54
2008 Elections

September 11
78,000,000
2,000,000
US invades Iraq
Howard Dean
2004 Elections
Ajax
Housingmaps.com
2006 Elections 2006 Elections
55
Open Data
8 Principles
2008 Elections

sunlightlabs.com - Earmarks - 2006
Similar - legislative earmark data placed on a map.
But, individuals making data parse-able where authorities did not.
Group used email to find 1,753 earmarks in one 60 page spending bill!

Techpresident.com - 2007
Web opens up new ways to follow elections

Eventful.com/politics
Events + demand for events.

Mass Participation - 2008

Seize New Opportunities
Federal CIO - Vivek Kundra

Example Hacks
&
Opportunities

SEC & Edgar

Transparency
XBRL - 2010, 2011

USASpending.gov

1990s - Clinton
Chief Financial Officer Act (CFOA) 1990
Government Management Reform Act (GMRA)
FAADS 1992 • FPDS 1992?
2000s - Bush Jr / Obama
9/11 & Wars • E-Gov Act 2002 (Enterprise)
FFATA 2006 (USAspending.gov)
Recovery.gov • Open Government Directive

Email List

L!
XM
DF! ata
R
en D
d Op
inke
L

ork
Netw
ocial
S

Recovery.gov
+
Agency.gov/recovery

74

Open Government Directive

Sunlight OOGL

GOP.com RFP

Mobile HUGE in 2010 elections

Sunlight’s Three-Year Plan
• Build the Data Commons
• Continue Making Powerful Tools (and
conquer new platforms, like mobile)
• Serve Key Constituencies (journalists,
issue groups)
• Press for Real-time Across-the-Board
Disclosure

Apps for America
rize !
Kp
$15 Mar 31
dline
Dea

Hackathons
82

Show Us the Data

Important Dates
• Feb 28 - March 1: TransparencyCamp.org
• March 11: Gov Open Data Meetup, San
Francisco
• March 20: Open Gov Data Event, DC
• March 27-28: Gov 2.0 Barcamp, DC
• May: Open Government Directive
• ?: Data.gov
• September 9-10: O’Reilly Gov 2.0, DC
• 2010: Next Elections

Mr Hacker
Tips & Resources

4 Patterns
1. Model alternatives
2. Aggregate information
3. Hosted Discussion
4. Distributed Projects

Challenges

Philosophy
Public means Online
Human + Machine Friendly
8 Principles of Open Data
Interactive / Participatory
Timely
Virtuous Cycle of Innovation
Sharing adds value

Where to Start
Sunlight Labs API
Email Lists - Poliparse
Apps for America - $15K
50 State Project
GovTrack.us
public.resource.org
mysociety
watchdog.net
data.gov
we’re hiring and fed govt is hiring