SFOpen 2011: SF Mayoral Open Government Forum

SFOpen 2011 brings together the 2011 San Francisco Mayoral candidates for a discussion on open government, civic engagement, technology and innovation.

When/Where

• June 16, 5-7:30 p.m., Automattic / WordPress *

*Because of space limitations, this is invite only. We will broadcast this via livestream.

Participating candidates

• Michela Alioto-Pier
• John Avalos
• David Chiu
• Bevan Dufty
• Tony Hall
• Dennis Herrera
• Joanna Rees
• Phil Ting
• Leland Yee

Moderator

Mitchell Kapor is a pioneer of the personal computing revolution and has been at the forefront of information technology for 30 years as an entrepreneur, software designer, angel investor, and activist. He is widely known as founder of Lotus Development Corporation and the designer of Lotus 1-2-3, the “killer application” which made the personal computer ubiquitous in the business world in the 1980s.

Other organizations in which Mr. Kapor has played an important role include UUNET (founding investor), the first successful independent commercial Internet Service Provider; the Electronic Frontier Foundation (co-founder), which protects freedom and privacy on the Internet; Real Networks (founding investor), which pioneered the use of streaming media over the Internet; the Mozilla Foundation (founding Chair), maker of the open source web browser Firefox; and Linden Research (founding investor, Board Chair), the creator of the first successful open virtual world, Second Life.

In the news

Politico:

OPEN GOVERNMENT MOVEMENT GOES LOCAL — Seven candidates for San Francisco mayor have pledged to follow a new Local Open Government Initiative modeled after the one put forth by President Obama. The initiative is part of a global effort on the part of GovFresh and others to get political candidates to commit to make open government, technology and civic engagement central to their campaign. In June, Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus Development Corporation, will moderate a SFOpen 2011 forum on open government for political candidates.

San Francisco Chronicle:

“We want to make sure that the next mayor makes open government front and center,” said Brian Purchia, former Mayor Gavin Newsom’s tech-savvy former press aide, who is helping to organize the forum.

TechPresident:

Fretwell says he’s trying to educate the candidates about open government initiatives more than anything else. He’s got quite an opportunity: San Francisco already has open-government cred, and the race features a very crowded field with no incumbent. To top it off, a new ranked-choice voting system could make the race a “free-for-all.” No one in a race like that is likely to ignore an issue out of hand.

Sponsors

Press

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Contact: Brian Purchia, 202-253-4330

*** PRESS RELEASE ***

SAN FRANCISCO MAYORAL CANDIDATES TO PARTICIPATE IN FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND MAYORAL FORUM ON OPEN GOVERNMENT

CANDIDATES TO SHARE GOV 2.0 PLATFORMS FOR TRANSPARENCY, CIVIC PARTICIPATION AND INNOVATION, TECH VISIONARY MITCH KAPOR TO MODERATE
San Francisco, CA — Nearly two years after city leaders and the technology community came together to launch DataSF.org, the city’s one stop shop for government data — candidates for Mayor of San Francisco are coming back to the birthplace of Gov 2.0 in the City by the Bay to announce their platforms for open government. Former Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, Board President David Chiu, Former Supervisor Bevan Dufty, Former Supervisor Tony Hall, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Venture Capitalist Joanna Rees, Assessor Phil Ting, and State. Sen. Leland Yee have all agreed to participate in the San Francisco Mayoral Open Government Forum on June 16 at WordPress (Automattic).

“San Francisco is home to many of the brightest minds and innovative technology companies,” said Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus and Gov 2.0 champion. “The Newsom administration did a remarkable job opening up city government and empowering the tech community to make city services more accessible. But, that was just the beginning — I look forward to hearing the candidates’ vision.”

More than 60 applications (http://datasf.org/showcase/) have been developed from crime, transportation, recycling and other city data available on DataSF.org. San Francisco passed the first municipal open data law, open source software policy, and led the way on the first API for government, Open311.

“Automattic is a company that embodies openness,” said Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress and Automattic. “We are honored to be hosting the first ever mayoral forum on open government and encourage other cities to follow San Francisco’s lead.”

At the forum candidates will be asked a series of questions about their plans to transform San Francisco government using technology.

“This is an unprecedented opportunity for candidates to not just discuss their ideas and opinions on specific issues, but share how they’re going to leverage technology and increase engagement with citizens,” said Luke Fretwell, founder of GovFresh and SFOpen 2011 co-chair.

The public can submit questions for the candidates on sf.govfresh.com/sfopen2011 or by tweeting and including the hashtag #sfmayor.

“The next administration should tap into the tech community to revolutionize San Francisco government into a model for civic engagement, transparency and innovation,” said Brian Purchia, former Newsom technology advisor and SFOpen 2011 co-chair.

The SF Mayoral Open Government Forum is sponsored by Change.org, GovFresh, WordPress, CityCampSF, Gov 2.0 Radio, Third Thursdays SF, and a collection of concerned citizens. For more information on the forum, please visit sf.govfresh.com/sfopen2011.

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