Max Borders says government has no incentive to be transparent.
In a post on Red Clay Citizen, the libertarian blogger writes that government, unlike the private sector, does not benefit from making life simpler for users.
"Unlike Google—which profits from its usability—the government has only a minimal incentive to comply. If there is no statutory directive to be transparent or user-friendly, then they have even fewer incentives," he writes.
(Dome would argue that government actually has a disincentive, since transparency exposes problems.)
Here are a few of his ideas to promote transparency:
* Start a wiki-based open-source platform for state government.
* Contract with a tech company to unify state government Web sites.
* Form a nonprofit to promote transparency.
* Use college students as volunteers to collaborate on software.
* Hold a contest for the best ways to make government more open.
* Donate to Civitas' Citizen Legislature project.
Dome doesn't actually have $2,000 to promote a contest, but we do have some swag. So here's the deal: The best idea for a cheap, easy and effective improvement to a state government Web site gets you a free N&O hat. Post your ideas below.
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