Alissa Black

Alissa Black is principal of investments at Omidyar Network. At the Omidyar Network, she is working to improve the relationship between citizens and government through driving sector-level change in government and the emerging civic technology ecosystem. Prior to joining Omidyar Network, Black was director of the California Civic Innovation Project (CCIP) at New America Foundation, where she was responsible for developing the project’s strategy and managing the research portfolio.

Rachel Burstein and Alissa Black

Rachel Burstein is Academic Director at Books@Work, a public humanities nonprofit organization. Dr. Burstein previously served as a Research Associate at the New America Foundation’s California Civic Innovation Project. In her role at the New America Foundation, she studied perceptions of innovation among government staffers, knowledge and innovation diffusion, and civic innovation theory and practice at the local level.

Leveraging Your Community to Innovate Service Delivery

A new report by the University of Texas' Sherri Greenberg for the IBM Center for The Business of Government observes: "Increasingly, cities are the public sector delivery engines in the United States." She says that "City governments, residents, and interest groups are actively seeking methods for better service delivery" and that this often involves the use of technology. But technology by itself won't work.

Government on the Go

In 2012, President Obama’s digital government plan ordered federal agencies to create at least two mobile apps.  A lot has happened since then, and at all levels of government.

Ten Actions to Implement Big Data Initiatives: A Study of 65 Cities

Professor Ho conducted a survey and phone interviews with city officials responsible for Big Data initiatives. Based on his research, the report presents a framework for Big Data initiatives which consists of two major cycles: the data cycle and the decision-making cycle. Each cycle is described in the report.

Engaging Citizens in Co-Creation in Public Services

Professors Nambisan and Nambisan present an innovative framework from which to view citizen “co-creation,” which refers to the development of new public services by citizens in partnership with governments. The authors present four roles that citizens can play in the co-creation of public services: explorer, ideator, designer, and diffuser, with examples of citizens playing each of these roles.