NYS Assembly Hearing on the “Information Revolution”

Hats off to Queens Assembly member Andy Hevesi and his colleagues at the NY Assembly for holding the first legislative hearing in New York State history on the “implications of the information revolution for state government.” The hearing will be webcast, and feature a star studded list of top technologists and govtech thinkers from in and outside of government, including international open government guru Beth Noveck,  and NYC Chief Digital Officer Rachel Sterne.  New York based, NGO technology powerhouses,  Open Plans and Civic Commons will bring news from the cutting edge of civic technology.  They will be joined by more NY talent from the SUNY Center for Technology in Government, NY Technology Forum and a who’s who of New York State civic groups including NYPIRG, Citizens Union, Common Cause and the League of Women Voters.

The hearing starts at 11am this Friday, November 18. We will post the webcast link here when it becomes available.  Don’t miss it. The hearing will be centered around eight excellent questions, which any government could ask itself.

1. How are New York State agencies, other states, and municipalities currently using information technology to make government more transparent and accountable to the public? Is it working? Does it save tax dollars? What difficulties and barriers have such adaptations encountered?
2. Does New York have a plan, such as an “open data” plan, to make government data more readily available?
3. What steps can New York State take to become a national leader in using information technology to promote transparent and accountable government?
4. Are there simple and affordable data standards or practices that New York should adopt?
5. What basic package of feedback and outreach tools do you think New York State needs to be considered a leader? What would the cost be to acquire such tools?
6. What are New York State agencies, other states, and municipalities doing to stay abreast of the rapid changes in information technology? Are there barriers or difficulties unique to governmental bodies that affect their ability to adopt new technology to governmental purposes?
7. Is there an optimum point in the development and refinement of new technologies at which it is both efficient and practical for government to adopt such technologies? To what extent is it valuable for the private sector to experiment with a technology before a governmental entity invests in it?
8. How should government introduce new technologies to ensure that all its residents across the entire spectrums of age, income, education, and technological sophistication and in rural, urban, and suburban communities are well served?