Case Summary

OhioSunshine.org is a wiki (a publicly edited Web site) that is one of several initiatives by the Center for Transparent and Accountable Government at the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions in Columbus, Ohio. The mission of OhioSunshine.org is "to serve as a convenient place where Ohio citizens and others with an interest in ensuring that government is open, honest and accountable may join together and work to ensure that government data is available to everyone. This includes government officials and offices at all levels that might find OhioSunshine.org a convenient place to post information that is commonly requested, thereby reducing their own burden while simultaneously easing the burden of citizens seeking information."

Business Challenge

Assuming that the three dimensions of a successful initiative include mission, awareness and technology, the salient dimension of OhioSunshine.org is awareness. That is to say, wiki technology is readily available, and the transparency and accountability mission is widespread. The challenge, then, for OhioSunshine.org is to be both effective, which is to say valuable to users, and known, which is to say within the horizon of user activity and consciousness.

Approach Taken

With help from many sources, CTAG established the wiki platform and has dedicated staff effort to regular "priming" of the wiki pump. Related CTAG projects, including describing and circumscribing the boundaries of "transparency," collecting relevant government information, spurring government entities to provide essential data, and promoting CTAG efforts and transparency concepts in relevant media and other support centers, will be related to OhioSunshine.org by providing content and also promoting the site to a wide audience of citizens and government officials.

Results Achieved

CTAG has committed to supporting OhioSunshine.org for a minimum of one year, both by contributing original content and collected government data, and by working to engage citizen sectors, including both activists such as school district residents supporting or opposing property tax levies, and governments that find a public site such as a wiki is a convenient and credible way to serve a sometimes-demanding public.