Trent Sherrell's List: Knight Foundation Open Gov

• Ranging from projects that turn no-frills mobile phones into radio stations to applications that help newsrooms manage a deluge of incoming mobile content, eight media innovation ventures received a total of $2.4 million today as winners of the Knight News Challenge: Mobile.
• “In 2013 the number of Internet-enabled mobile devices is expected to be greater than the number of computers for the first time. These eight Knight News Challenge projects, and the innovators behind them, are helping to stretch the ways people around the world are engaging with information and using it to shape their communities,” Michael Maness, VP for journalism and media innovation at Knight Foundation.
• The challenge, one of three launched in 2012 by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, accelerates projects with funding and advice from Knight’s network of media innovators.
• Textizen: Expanding the ways governments can collect citizen input by enabling it through text. Piloted through Code for America, Textizen works by placing survey questions in physical places like parks and bus stops where residents will encounter them and can text in their opinion.

  • This seems like something that isn't beyond our department.
• Founded by newsmen John S. and James L. Knight, the foundation launched the Knight News Challenge in 2007 to find the next generation of innovations that help communities get the information they need.
• In 2013, Knight Foundation will hold two challenges. The first, on tools for open government, will open in February.

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• The Knight News Challenge on open government will run from Feb. 12 to March 18. It’s an opportunity to win part of the $5 million we’ll use this year to support innovative projects.
• We expect the News Challenge to generate proposals to improve the way citizens and governments interact. Projects could help parents evaluate schools,  make weather data more usable, identify best routes from one town to another, or identify pork in the federal budget.
• Just as we do with “news,” we’re defining “open government” broadly.
• The OpenGov Foundation says it’s about “making it easier for people to access and use as much government information as possible.”
• One of our goals for the News Challenge is to involve more people in the use of technology to solve community problems. “Dozens of developers looking at each other in conference rooms over pizza is never going to lead to making lives better…without the active involvement of real residents expressing real needs and advocating for software that makes sense to them,” wrote Daniel O’Neil of the Smart Chicago Collaborative recently.

  • Sounds like a call for input from target users.
• We are looking for more than just applicants for this challenge; we’re looking for participants.
• We hope they’ll continue to participate with their comments as applicants start submitting project entries on Feb. 19. We’ll announce the winners in June.
• And projects built on open data are among the most popular at leading news organizations like the Texas Tribune and ProPublica.
• We’ll have more details when we launch on Feb. 12 and will also hold open office hours at 1:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, Feb. 7. Stay tuned to @knightfdn and #newschallenge for more details.

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• Open, participatory and accountable government is what every citizen deserves.  Delivering that is why we exist.
• Securing informed and engaged communities is a goal shared by the Knight Foundation.  To advance that goal, they’ve announced open government as the theme of the 2013 News Challenge, with a share of $5,000,000 going “to support the most innovative projects.”
• February 12 with an “inspiration period”
• February 19 to March 18, applicants can submit their project proposals.

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