PolityDB: SQL Server Community Project to Improve Politics

There's exciting innovations going on where technology meets politics. The Sunlight Foundation has been building a gallery of widgets to improve political transparency. Maplight.org and NetSquared.org are also great examples. New data sources are being built. New visualizers of the data are being created.

In the latest US Presidential election cycle, candidates encouraged creation of new databases of political activity to be made available on the Web to promote accountability and transparency. I reported on some of these comments in an article called Databases for Change published on SQLServerCentral.com and called for the database community to engage in volunteerism and activism. It's nice to make a living using technology--but it would also be nice to help make the world a better place.

The editorial received an encouraging amount of positive responses. Community members reached out to me and pledged to support me for a community-led project. I'm of the opinion that there's a wealth of talent, leadership and creativity within the SQL Server Community waiting to weigh in. That's how the SQL Server community project called PolityDB at CodePlex started.

Initial steps include recruiting. I'm doing that through Twitter and personal invitations. I hope to publish a follow-up article soon in a conspicuous place to spread the word to the greater SQL Server community.

What does the project entail exactly? I expect we'll set up a web site to showcase a suite of tools to consume public data sources to make information accessible and promote political accountability and transparency. In addition, I envision tools to enhance collaboration between political officials and the public. If we think in terms of a suite of tools, then this can be an ongoing project for many community members to participate on.

An area I'm researching right now is congressional communication. This is an area characterized by exponentially-growing demands putting pressure on scarce resources. There have been reports made on volume and type of communication indicating trends in email and postal mail letters to congress as well as problems of quality vs. quantity. I look forward to perhaps offering some thought leadership and technological solutions to some of the problems in this area.

If you're interested in joining me, offering support, following the saga or contributing resources, please contact me at bill@caliberwebgroup.com.