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Last 100 BillsLooking at the last 100 bills in the US <a href="https://stefanbohacek.online/tags/government" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#government</a>. <a href="https://stefanbohacek.online/tags/dataviz" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dataviz</a> <a href="https://stefanbohacek.online/tags/civictech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#civictech</a>

Open Source San JoséHey folks, it's that time again for another <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/HackNight" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#HackNight</a>, this time at Mountain Mike’s Pizza on 3rd Street in <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/DTSJ" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#DTSJ</a>. This Thursday at 6:30pm, BRING YOUR COMPUTER and your drive to help your local community!<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1330501960179" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1330501960179</a><a href="https://sfba.social/tags/SanJose" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SanJose</a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/CivicTech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#CivicTech</a>

air tweets - cannstattDAILY AIR QUALITY UPDATE <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Feinstaub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Feinstaub</a> in <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Cannstatt" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Cannstatt</a> / <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Stuttgart" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Stuttgart</a> (23.04.2025 20:06 CET) PM10: 2.1 µg/m³ PM2.5: 1.4 µg/m³ Details: <a href="https://maps.sensor.community/#15/48.8040/9.2280" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://maps.sensor.community/#15/48.8040/9.2280</a> This is a bot. Code is available on github aschuma/air_tweets. <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Luftverschmutzung" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Luftverschmutzung</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Particulatematter" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Particulatematter</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Opendata" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Opendata</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Civictech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Civictech</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Airrohr" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Airrohr</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Airpollution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Airpollution</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Airquality" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Airquality</a>

Gordon InggsCome work with me in the City of <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/CapeTown" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#CapeTown</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/DataScience" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#DataScience</a> branch! We do cool things in the name of science and our residents: <a href="http://www.capetown.gov.za/careers" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no">http://www.capetown.gov.za/careers</a>Feel free to @ me with any questions. Would appreciate boosts for reach.<a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/CivicTech" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#CivicTech</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/CapeTown" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#CapeTown</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/SouthAfrica" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#SouthAfrica</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/Data" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Data</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/Jobs" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Jobs</a>

Mark HeaddThe concept of an “accountability sink” can help us understand why some government processes move so slowly and what steps we can take to change them. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/CivicTech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#CivicTech</a> <a href="https://civic.io/2025/04/22/accountability-and-the-challenge-of-government-technology-reform/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://civic.io/2025/04/22/accountability-and-the-challenge-of-government-technology-reform/</a>

HughHi folks! It’s time for me to find a new job. I’m excited about things like “making (or improving) your websites and web apps”, “collaborating on your developer relations strategy” and “building fun and engaging prototypes and demos”. I’m particularly interested in <a href="https://mastodon.xyz/tags/civictech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#civictech</a> and <a href="https://mastodon.xyz/tags/musictech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#musictech</a>. I live in rural NL, so remote is strongly preferred. I have about 10 YOE at some recognizable companies, and am excited about building strong positive teams <a href="https://mastodon.xyz/tags/getfedihired" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#getfedihired</a>

Civic InnovationsAccountability and the Challenge of Government Technology ReformIn his book “<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/197716282-the-unaccountability-machine" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Unaccountability Machine</a>”, author Dan Davies introduces the idea of an “accountability sink” — a construct where responsibility is deliberately diluted or dispersed so that no single person can easily be blamed for a decision that gets made. This concept can be a useful lens for understanding some of the biggest challenges facing government reform efforts advocated for by those in civic tech – changes that will enable governments to adopt new technologies more quickly and more efficiently.Intuitively, we understand that accountability is an essential concept for how governments works. But It’s also sometimes why governments can not work so well. A number of key government processes are deliberately engineered to distribute or insulate accountability, as an attempt to protect against bias, favoritism, or potential corruption. But in doing so, these same processes can also create barriers to speed, flexibility, and innovation.Government procurement processes are often criticized for being labyrinthine, cumbersome, and poorly suited to selecting the best technology partners. And this is fair criticism—these processes often result in outcomes that seem arbitrary or unreasonable. But that’s largely by design. The procurement process is an accountability sink—intentionally so. Its structure is meant to minimize the role of individual discretion in awarding contracts, ensuring selection through formal evaluations of documented past performance, capabilities statements, and structured steps like coding challenges. People often rightly point out that government procurement processes are not set up well to identify talented vendor partners to support government agencies. But they often miss that they are intentionally set up in a way that is meant to be fair and even handed – a structure that reduces individual accountability, and also individual discretion.Another favorite whipping boy of the civic tech community is the <a href="https://atos.open-control.org/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Authority to Operate (ATO) process</a>. This process is structured the way it is for the exact opposite reason—not to dilute accountability, but to pinpoint it. ATO’s ensure that there is a clearly identified individual (the authorizing official) who formally accepts the risk of launching a new system into production. It’s precisely because the ATO process concentrates accountability so sharply that it tends to move so slowly. Authorizing officials have strong incentives to demand detailed documentation of new systems, thorough (sometimes lengthy) reviews, and careful assurances from system owners before signing off. They know that if something goes wrong, they are the ones that will be held accountable.Both of these examples show how the idea of an accountability sink can help explain why some government processes often seem illogical (or broken, to use a common refrain from the world of civic tech) when viewed purely through the lens of efficiency or innovation. These processes weren’t designed to move fast. They were designed to manage risk, to try and ensure fairness, and provide clear lines of responsibility — critical values in delivering public services.That’s why reforming these processes can be so hard. It’s not enough to simply make them faster or more streamlined. Any effort to reform these processes must grapple with the fact that these systems are designed intentionally to dilute or concentrate accountability. The difficult, often overlooked part of any reform effort isn’t just simplifying the process. It’s building new processes that maintain the balance of accountability that the old processes were designed with.Government processes often move slowly, and this can often impact the way in which new digital solutions are adopted by government agencies. However, understanding why processes are structured the way they are is critical if we are going to reform them.  It isn’t accurate to view these processes as “broken,“ they were <a href="https://civic.io/2014/06/18/built-to-fail/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">designed with intention and they work largely as designed</a>.<a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://civic.io/tag/ai/" target="_blank">#AI</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://civic.io/tag/civic-tech/" target="_blank">#CivicTech</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://civic.io/tag/government/" target="_blank">#government</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://civic.io/tag/politics/" target="_blank">#politics</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://civic.io/tag/reform/" target="_blank">#reform</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://civic.io/tag/technology/" target="_blank">#technology</a>

Last 100 BillsAnalyzing the last 100 bills in the US <a href="https://stefanbohacek.online/tags/government" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#government</a>. <a href="https://stefanbohacek.online/tags/dataviz" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dataviz</a> <a href="https://stefanbohacek.online/tags/civictech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#civictech</a>

air tweets - cannstattDAILY AIR QUALITY UPDATE <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Feinstaub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Feinstaub</a> in <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Cannstatt" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Cannstatt</a> / <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Stuttgart" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Stuttgart</a> (21.04.2025 20:06 CET) PM10: 2.0 µg/m³ PM2.5: 1.4 µg/m³ Details: <a href="https://maps.sensor.community/#15/48.8040/9.2280" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://maps.sensor.community/#15/48.8040/9.2280</a> This is a bot. Code is available on github aschuma/air_tweets. <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Luftverschmutzung" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Luftverschmutzung</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Particulatematter" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Particulatematter</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Opendata" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Opendata</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Civictech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Civictech</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Airrohr" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Airrohr</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Airpollution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Airpollution</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Airquality" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Airquality</a>

air tweets - cannstattDAILY AIR QUALITY UPDATE <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Feinstaub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Feinstaub</a> in <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Cannstatt" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Cannstatt</a> / <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Stuttgart" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Stuttgart</a> (20.04.2025 20:06 CET) PM10: 2.2 µg/m³ PM2.5: 1.5 µg/m³ Details: <a href="https://maps.sensor.community/#15/48.8040/9.2280" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://maps.sensor.community/#15/48.8040/9.2280</a> This is a bot. Code is available on github aschuma/air_tweets. <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Luftverschmutzung" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Luftverschmutzung</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Particulatematter" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Particulatematter</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Opendata" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Opendata</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Civictech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Civictech</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Airrohr" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Airrohr</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Airpollution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Airpollution</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Airquality" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Airquality</a>

Open Source San JoséJoin us for <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/HackNight" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#HackNight</a> April 27th at a new location:<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hack-night-open-source-san-jose-tickets-1330501960179" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hack-night-open-source-san-jose-tickets-1330501960179</a>Whether you’re an experienced contributor, just starting out, or have an idea for your community, everyone is welcome!<a href="https://sfba.social/tags/SanJose" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SanJose</a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/CivicTech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#CivicTech</a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/DTSJ" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#DTSJ</a>

Shaun (he/ him)Technologists for the Public Good (TPG) is collecting stories from the <a href="https://theatl.social/tags/civicTech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#civicTech</a> community on how federal government actions have impacted them."How have federal actions affected you and those around you? And, how might this have affected your opinion of working in public interest tech or career advice you give to others? Let us know: <a href="https://forms.gle/3zdeBiQwyCBiAxng8" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://forms.gle/3zdeBiQwyCBiAxng8</a> We'd love to hear from if you're a current or former federal employee, family member, caretaker, were affected by federal funding or hiring freezes, lost a grant or contract or your role because of this, or any other situation.”<a href="https://theatl.social/tags/govTech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#govTech</a> <a href="https://theatl.social/tags/publicInterestTech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#publicInterestTech</a>

air tweets - cannstattDAILY AIR QUALITY UPDATE <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Feinstaub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Feinstaub</a> in <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Cannstatt" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Cannstatt</a> / <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Stuttgart" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Stuttgart</a> (17.04.2025 20:06 CET) PM10: 5.7 µg/m³ PM2.5: 5.2 µg/m³ Details: <a href="https://maps.sensor.community/#15/48.8040/9.2280" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://maps.sensor.community/#15/48.8040/9.2280</a> This is a bot. Code is available on github aschuma/air_tweets. <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Luftverschmutzung" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Luftverschmutzung</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Particulatematter" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Particulatematter</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Opendata" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Opendata</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Civictech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Civictech</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Airrohr" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Airrohr</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Airpollution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Airpollution</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Airquality" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Airquality</a>

Last 100 BillsBreaking down the last 100 bills in the US <a href="https://stefanbohacek.online/tags/government" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#government</a>. <a href="https://stefanbohacek.online/tags/dataviz" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dataviz</a> <a href="https://stefanbohacek.online/tags/civictech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#civictech</a>

air tweets - cannstattDAILY AIR QUALITY UPDATE <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Feinstaub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Feinstaub</a> in <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Cannstatt" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Cannstatt</a> / <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Stuttgart" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Stuttgart</a> (16.04.2025 20:06 CET) PM10: 1.6 µg/m³ PM2.5: 1.1 µg/m³ Details: <a href="https://maps.sensor.community/#15/48.8040/9.2280" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://maps.sensor.community/#15/48.8040/9.2280</a> This is a bot. Code is available on github aschuma/air_tweets. <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Luftverschmutzung" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Luftverschmutzung</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Particulatematter" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Particulatematter</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Opendata" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Opendata</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Civictech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Civictech</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Airrohr" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Airrohr</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Airpollution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Airpollution</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Airquality" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Airquality</a>

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