News for Digital Journalists

February 25, 2011

White papers push broadband, local online hubs as key to government transparency

Better broadband access for core community institutions and smarter models for local online information hubs - those are among the keys to greater government transparency and accountability, according to two new white papers released today by the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy.

The white papers, fourth and fifth in a series from Knight and the Aspen Institute, are designed to help implement recommendations made by the commission in its “Informed Communities” report issued in 2009.

In Six Strategies for More Open and Participatory Government, the authors call for expanding efforts to support greater adoption of broadband Internet access services and devices, creating opportunities for developing public goods apps, and educating citizens about e-government tools, among other proposals.

Another white paper, Creating Local Online Hubs: Three Models for Action, explores an array of successful existing online hubs and suggests three general approaches to such services that best offer citizen access to government and community information.

A three-hour roundtable discussion with the authors and two-dozen high-level participants accompanied the release of the report; an archived video of the roundtable is to be made available. You can also follow discussion on Twitter via hashtag #knightcomm.

For more insight on the Knight Foundation “Informed Communities” report, also check out a special series on civic engagement by Amy Gahran in our News Leadership 3.0 blog.

The News for Digital Journalists blog is made possible by a grant to USC Annenberg from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.