The D.C. Pro Chapter and the D.C. Open Government Coalition will hold the third annual D.C. Open Government Summit March 19 at the National Press Club to focus on transparency in neighborhoods and communities in the District of Columbia.
The "D.C. Open Government Summit: Street View," is a Sunshine Week event featuring remarks by:
- Traci Hughes, the first director of the D.C. Office of Open Government
- Adam Tope, an advisory neighborhood commissioner, who will share the steps his ANC has taken to be more open and accessible to residents by live-streaming meetings and by putting its checkbook online so the public can see in real time how and when money is spent;
- Debbie Cenziper, a Washington Post reporter who used District records to uncover examples of residents losing their homes to foreclosure because of unpaid property taxes they may not have known about;
- Marie Drissel, a D.C. resident who regularly files FOIA requests and whose requests led to an investigation into possible corruption in awarding D.C.'s lottery contract; and
- Code for DC innovators who have used open government data and information to create useful tools for our daily lives, such as mapping restaurant health code violations, and tracking the District's emergency response times.
The Summit in the Holeman Lounge from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. is co-sponsored by the Press Club's Freedom of the Press Committee and the American University School of Communication. A reception will follow the program.
Sunshine Week, celebrated annually in mid-March, near James Madison's birthday, spotlights the importance of transparency and press freedom.
Space is limited so please be sure to register here for this free event in advance to ensure you can join us.