The shadow of the Watergate scandal looms large. From burglary to resignation, it was two years. It led to the “Saturday Night Massacre”, a constitutional crisis, and the US military was prepared for an immediate Soviet attack on the day of the resignation (or so my father was put on alert for). Congress concretely changed campaign financing laws, strengthened the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), passed the Ethics in Government Act, and created a network of independent councils to implement federal programs appropriately. At state houses nationwide, laws on ethics and access to information were created or strengthened. (By the way, here is a 2-hour history of NY’s Freedom of Information Law – FOIL!)
Watergate’s shadow boils down to accountability. Do we want our democracy and government accountable to the many or the few?
Fifty-one years later, we find ourselves in a fundamentally different world. Last weekend’s 60 Minutes showcased how independent investigators and agency watchdogs held the government accountable. Frequently, their reports become the foundation of open data. Now, they are all “fired.” This week, the Washington Post had a good opinion on how data deletion affects the truth. Today, we all woke up to the news that the EPA (another thing we can thank Nixon for) is rolling back environmental regulations.
While things seem grim, the fight does not stop!
This week, we are joining 18 other groups to urge the state legislature to strengthen the State’s Freedom of Information Law. Additionally, City Council budget hearings kicked off. THIS week is the FIRST time the Technology Committee had an independent hearing on OTI’s budget. I highly recommend reading Chair Gutiérrez’s opening remarks. She asks the two fundamental questions our community asks: “Are we building a [government] that is entirely dependent on contracts that funnel public dollars to private companies…” and “Are we outsourcing our tech expertise at an unsustainable scale?”
This is why NYC Open Data Week is unique and special. Many of us who have sworn an oath to uphold and defend our Federal and State constitutions and the City Charter are unbelievably passionate about our work. I love Open Data Week because it demystifies the people, programs, and processes that make open data happen. We celebrate our work and democracy while believing that government should be accountable to the people!
If you care about democracy, data, design, and technology, YOU NEED TO ATTEND OPEN DATA WEEK and SCHOOL OF DATA!
We just published our Open Data Week schedule and School of Data’s conference schedule, and here are a few good government events that overlap with open data:
We will kick off virtual morning coffee with government officials and start on Monday with NYC Chief Analytics Officer Martha Norrick. New York City Council’s data team will host a virtual session on open data dashboards they use to increase local impact. Our Open Data Ambassadors will teach multiple virtual introduction to NYC open data classes. By the way, Cornell Tech is hosting an in-person Open Data Ambassadors class on Wednesday, March 26! And many agencies will unpack how they build maps or tools, including City Planning, The Office of Enviromeal Remediation, Emergency Management, NYC Parks, US Census, and more.
We will have a full day of sessions on Saturday, March 29, at NYC School of Data. Some highlighted sessions include the MTA talking about congestion pricing, the NYC Campaign Finance Board talking about Rank Choice Voting, and the City Council and NYC Sanitation talking about their data practices. Hope to see you there!
With love and light,
— Noel Hidalgo
Community Resources 📚
- Fighting For My Voice LLC Instagram Page – fightingformyvoicellc
- How to Protest Safely: What to Bring, What to Do, and What to Avoid – Louryn Strampe and Lauren Goode
- Judith Butler, philosopher: ‘If you sacrifice a minority like trans people, you are operating within a fascist logic’ – Iker Seisdedos
- Opinion: Letitia James remembers the life of Hazel Dukes – New York State Attorney General Letitia James
- Selma is Stronger than MAGA: On Loving Your Country – Sherrilyn Ifill
- 100 Years of 100 Things: Birth Control – The Brian Lehrer Show
- 50 Reasons Why Everyone Should Want More Walkable Streets – Adele Peters
- How we raised $8,100 for a New York political campaign — from our living room – Sebastian Hallum Clarke
- At SXSW, Bluesky CEO Jay Graber pokes fun at Mark Zuckerberg with Latin phrase T-shirt – Amanda Silberling
- New Zealand’s $16 Billion Public Health System Runs on a Single Excel Sheet – BeauHD through Slashdot Media
- Pursuit’s next stage and new CEO search – Pursuit
- Reflections for Hard Times – devthepineapple
This Week in NYC Civic Tech 🗽
- Divided Electorate Tells Tale of Two Cities Ahead of Mayoral Election – Mia Hollie
- The New York City Digital Equity Roadmap and Digital Equity – NYC Office of Technology and Innovation
- $2.4 Million Investment To Advance Digital Equity In Disadvantaged NYC Communities – Jonas Bronck
- Honking Complaints Plunge 69% Inside Congestion Pricing Zone – Jose Martinez and Mia Hollie
- Congestion pricing gains support among city residents – Michelle Kaske
- Siena Poll: Support for Congestion Pricing Keeps Rising – Dave Colon
- Chinatown Business Owners Who Drive to Work Say That Congestion Pricing is Bad – Sophia Lebowitz
This Week in Gov Watch 🏛️
- What America is losing as President Trump fires independent government watchdogs – 60 Minutes
- A top economics reporter goes off script on national TV: “I am going to say this at risk of my job, but what President Trump is doing is insane.” – CNBC reporter
- US GDP is likely to be negative in 2025Q1 but is it an artifact of how GDP is calculated as opposed to an actual slowdown? – vada_buffet through Reddit’s r/AskEconomics
- Trump’s Crazed Midnight Tirade Over Musk’s Unpopularity Shows Weakness – Greg Sargent
- Scoop: State Dept. to use AI to revoke visas of foreign students who appear “pro-Hamas” – Marc Caputo
- OPM Watchdog Says Review of DOGE Work Is Underway – Dell Cameron
- Ice accessed car trackers in sanctuary cities that could help in raids, files show – Johana Bhuiyan
Jobs Alert and Announcements 💼
- Dream.Org’s applications for the Dream Justice Cohort are open until March 16.
- Girl Scouts of the USA is hiring a Manager, Data Storytelling.
- New York Edge is seeking an Assistant Data Manager.
Upcoming Events 📅
Note: All times are listed in EDT
- March 19 at 9 am Beyond Numbers: Navigating NYC’s Budget in Times of Uncertainty
- March 21 to April 6 Data Through Design’s Corpus: Bodies of Data
- March 22 to 30 NYC Open Data Week
- March 24 at 6 pm 2025 Mayoral Candidates Forum with Preservation Organizations
- March 29 NYC School of Data (General admission and scholarship tickets now available!)
- April 23 at 1:30 pm CS3 VALIDATE Accelerator Demo Day
- June 19 to 21 State of the Map US, Boston
- June 10 to 11 TICTeC 2025, Mechelen, Belgium and Online
- November 12 to 14 2025 Women in Statistics and Data Science Conference
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