Today in OpenGov: Celebrating TransparencyCamp, Code.gov goes live, Election 2016 hits fever pitch

By The Sunlight Foundation

CELEBRATING TRANSPARENCY: In a wonderful Storify, Louis Serino wraps a narrative around dozens of photos and social media posts about TransparencyCamp. ”It’s been a little while since we’ve packed up Wallace the robot, dismantled The Wall and stowed every last bit of swag from our annual opengov unconference, TransparencyCamp — but we’re still feeling inspired by our community’s commitment, enthusiasm and drive for a more accountable democracy.” [READ MORE]

FINAL STRETCH: As Josh Stewart writes, spending in key U.S. Senate races now tops $800 million: “Though spending on the presidential race is actually down a little for the first time in years, competitive U.S. Senate races are raising and spending money at a record-breaking pace. According to a Sunlight Foundation analysis of campaign finance data from OpenSecrets and the Federal Election Commission, the top 10 races for the Senate have hit a combined $836 million in spending — with at least 67 percent of all spending coming from outside groups like party committees, super PACs or dark money 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.” [READ MORE]

TALKING IT OUT:  Listen in to Josh, Drew Doggett, Louis Serino and host Melissa Yeager discuss fundraising, Trump, Clinton and the numbers and parties to watch. [READ MORE]

CAMPAIGN 2016

• Politico continues to cover the opaque presidential transition teams, reporting policy proposals and personnel decisions that are not being proactively disclosed to the public nor confirmed. [Politico]
• A huge amount of independent money is pouring into the Senate race in North Carolina, which could decide which party controls the upper house. [McClatchy]

NATIONAL

• The US launched Code.gov at the Code for America Summit yesterday, with U.S. CIO Tony Scott introducing the nation’s new open source software repository in front of an enthusiastic crowd. The site launches with more than 50 repositories. Expect much more code to flow online over the next 60 days – and keep an eye on the enterprise software inventories that agencies are required to provide. [VentureBeat]
• This is the story of how a Freedom of Information Act request by Jason Leopold led to the disclosure of tens of thousands of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email at foia.state.gov. [Vice]

STATE AND LOCAL

• The Baltimore Police Department added a $50 fee for searches after it was embarrassed by a public records disclosure. [MuckRock]

INTERNATIONAL

• Professor Nigel Shadbolt suggested three ways to grow the open data economy: strengthen data infrastructure, use targeted challengs and invest in data literacy. These are ideas for the UK, but this is a good playbook for every country. [Guardian]

EVENTS.

• There will be a workshop on Data and Algorithmic Transparency at Columbia University on Nov. 19. [RSVP]
• The Open Government Partnership’s Global Summit will be Dec. 7-9 in Paris, France.
• What events will YOU be attending over the next six months? Write to [email protected].

The Sunlight Foundation is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that uses the power of the Internet to catalyze greater government openness and transparency, and provides new tools and resources for media and citizens, alike.