Re: Congressional Websites Innovations 2015

Dear Adam,

Although your heart is in the right place, I am not sure this is the 
right approach to improving member office web sites. I am saying this 
based on having been one of the main innovators of hill web sites, from 
creating one of the first, from being the first to bring RSS to sites, 
to pushing to automate getting CRS reports onto member sites (failed), 
to ....

First, you should know the legal rules about how website technology can 
be applied on the hill (different for House and Senate, from hosting 
issues to gift ban to ethics rules). Then you should learn what office 
resources are in terms of staff and money. Perhaps learning what Members 
of Congress and Senators roles and requirements prior to this. Also, 
there is an ongoing revolution in XML document and data standards that 
would allow for amazing new possibilities you and other should be aware 
of (see the yearly Legislative Document Transparency Conference: 
https://cha.house.gov/2014-legislative-data-and-transparency-conference ).

And I say this as someone who would love to see more and better 
technology use, and is working on this issue. Perhaps putting together a 
contest for using Congressional data or making apps for them. Or a 
contest for best ideas for congressional sites.

But building CMS systems for the Hill from a technical standpoint is 
fifteen years old (helped build the first one). And without knowing the 
rules or requirements this might not be the best use of outsiders time.

But I do hope that anybody that wants to help, let us know and if you 
have any questions about how hill offices work with technology (worked 
in this area since 1993) feel free to ask.

Good luck,
Daniel Bennett

On 1/20/2015 10:26 AM, Adam Sobieski wrote:
> Open Government Community Group,
>
> Greetings.  I would like to describe to you a new idea for 
> congress.gov, *.senate.gov and *.house.gov, pertaining to contest(s) 
> for web software, web designs of use to up to all of the 535 
> congressional teams.  The ideas presented could be of use for peoples 
> in other democracies as well.
>
> The idea is for nationwide contest(s), with prizes, to percolate 
> innovations in the areas of: (a) modular, configurable, themeable, web 
> platforms 
> (_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_content_management_systems_), 
> (b) plugins, (c) features, such that contestants’ entries, utilizing 
> combinations of existing or new such components (a, b, c), would be 
> website options for senators and representatives, their 
> websites at: *.senate.gov and *.house.gov .
>
> Though newly elected congresspeople and their teams could opt to make 
> use of other, custom, software, the contest would be for the software 
> offered as option to newly elected congresspeople, their teams, by 
> congress.gov .  Envisioned is that the websites’ features would 
> include interoperability with mobile apps (e.g. mailing lists, RSS, 
> forums, opinion polls, et al).
>
> The broad, inclusive, contest(s) would be in the spirit of 
> challenge.gov (_http://www.challenge.gov/list/_), however the 
> contest(s) are envisioned as hosted at congress.gov and with a much 
> larger prize budget for top-ranking entries.  The prizes, acclaim, as 
> well as opportunities to advance democracy, e-democracy, the winning 
> entries available to up to all 535 congressional teams, are expected 
> to entice a large number of Americans to participate in the contest(s).
>
> The web design community could be notified of the event(s) 
> including by web design magazines, web design websites and web design 
> awards websites (e.g. _http://www.awwwards.com/_).  Software vendors, 
> Web platform vendors desiring for contestants to make use of their 
> software, in particular with the visibility of winning contest(s) 
> entries, could be of use to disseminating information about the 
> existence of contest(s) to teams, broadening the number of 
> participating contestants.
>
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Adam Sobieski
>
> _http://phoster.com_
>