Tim O’Reilly often describes the government as a platform, John Geraci provided us with the The Four Pillars of an Open Civic System, and Micah Sifry offered the Three Branches of We.gov. Here I present The Root, Branches, and Fruit of Government as an Open Platform.

The recent Gov 2.0 Summit was primarily focused around “Government as a Platform” and this theme was interpreted in a variety of ways. Many of the talks at both the Expo and the Summit used terms like “2.0,” “platform,” and “open” ambiguously. I personally use the label “open government” interchangeably with what I understand to be “government 2.0,” but what does “open” really mean within the context of government and technology platforms?

The web and democracy as open platforms.

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Building on the work that has been taking place on the NY transit data wiki, we’ve just launched a new site, NYTransitData.org, which makes the case for improving New York’s transit system through open data.

Check out the introduction or browse the frequently asked questions. Then come back and share your thoughts in the comments. We know the site’s far from perfect, so help make it better by telling us what’s missing or needs updating.

Also, don’t forget that our next meetup is Tuesday, September 22 at 7pm. Free pizza, beer, and the opportunity to improve New York await you.

It’s an exciting time. The values that have been championed for decades by the free software movement — values of sharing, participation, and freedom — have over the past several years spread well beyond the confines of computer software and are permeating everything from the arts to government.

That’s why the Software Freedom Law Center, TOPP, LimeLabs and Open Kulture are joining together to celebrate Software Freedom Day in style with a roofdeck party. But unlike previous years, this celebration isn’t solely for free software hackers. It’s also for free culture supporters, new media activists, artists, musicians, government transparency advocates, and all others who are helping to spread the values of the free software movement.

And this isn’t just a one-time party. It’s also the start of something even more exciting. As James Vasile of SFLC writes,

In New York City, Software Freedom Day will mark the launch of a series of quarterly Open Source / Open Culture events designed to engage free software hackers, creative commons artists, open government activists, and open science innovators. We want to bring together the diverse members of free and open source culture and provide a platform and an audience with which to collaborate and create.

The event on September 19th will feature lightning talks by a range of speakers (including Debian Developer Micah Andersen, Bkrpr’s Ian Sullivan, Figment’s Kevin Balktick MakerBot’s Bre Pettis and Sita Sings the Blues auteur Nina Paley) designed to address the multifaceted efforts of open culture in New York. These speakers will cover a variety of topics, but all share one theme: currently active projects that are going to change the world. The idea is “From Software to Everywhere”. Each talk is an invitation to participate.

Here’s the scoop:

WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 19th from 6pm to 10pm
WHERE: The Open Planning Project, 148 Lafayette St, penthouse and roofdeck (map)

Please note that while all are welcome, an RSVP is required. If you’re coming to the event, make sure to RSVP to joshlevy.ny AT gmail.

Earlier this week, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer wrote a public letter to interim MTA CEO Helena Williams advocating for open public transit data. Though Councilwomen Brewer does not have direct political influence over the MTA as it’s a state-based agency, she makes a strong argument for open transit data. Indeed, Councilwoman Brewer, who chairs the Committee on Technology in Government, is no stranger to the issue and has been at the forefront of the movement for open data in New York for some time (most notably, earlier this year she introduced Int 991, which would require city agencies to make the data they produce publicly accessible in a raw format).

Councilwoman Brewer’s letter hits on several important aspects of the issue, but it sums up perhaps the most important point particularly nicely:

Opening transit data would require almost no capital investment by the MTA, while the application developers would return innovative tools of immense everyday value to the public at minimal expense.

That’s the key. At a time when budgets are tight and everyone is trying to figure out how to do more with less, open data is an essential tool that would provide tremendous value with little or no cost to the agency or taxpayers. With nothing more than a change in policy, the MTA could unleash the creative and entrepreneurial potential of thousands of New Yorkers and help make our subway and bus systems easier and more efficient to use and navigate.

Let’s hope Councilwoman Brewer’s call to action is given the fair consideration it deserves. And let’s hope that incoming MTA CEO Jay Walder — who is likely to be confirmed by the senate this week — takes this issue to heart and makes it a top priority.