Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Daily Archives: March 22, 2017

Organization & Structure of Open Source Software Development Initiatives

Berkman Klein Center – Development Initiatives – Challenges & Opportunities Concerning Corporate Formation, Nonprofit Status, & Governance for Open Source Projects. March 22, 2017

“Freely available and open to anyone to contribute to or use, open source software is regularly at the heart of exciting and impactful innovation. Much of this innovation is a result of the ethos of the open source community and its dispersed structure. At the same time, some of the attributes that give open source projects their flexibility and spark passion in open source development communities can hinder a project’s success in the long term. To help open source projects navigate these foundational questions, this report addresses a number of key considerations that those managing open source software development initiatives should take into account when thinking about structure, organization, and governance. The guide elucidates reasons why institutional structure and internal governance processes are important and walks the reader through several models of each, explaining how they might benefit or impact the open source development initiative, and is also replete with case studies and diagrams to illustrate these ideas in practice. More than prescribing one solution to answer open source projects’ questions or treating the “open source community” as a monolithic whole, the authors seek to offer a range of possibilities and encourage those who manage and participate in open source development initiatives to actively think about available models and consciously adopt approaches that the work support they work they aim to do and the communities they hope to create.”

Brief – Who Gains and Who Loses under the American Health Care Act

Brief – Who Gains and Who Loses under the American Health Care Act, Linda J. Blumberg, Matthew Buettgens, John Holahan, Gordon B. Mermin, Frank Sammartino. March 22, 2017. “Congress is currently considering passage of the American Health Care Act (AHCA). This bill would repeal large portions of the Affordable Care Act, including most of its… Continue Reading

Share your trips and real-time location from Google Maps

Google Blog: ““Where are you now?” and “What’s your ETA?” Whether you’re heading to a party or meeting up for dinner, you probably hear questions like this pretty often from family and friends. Soon Google Maps users worldwide will be able to answer those questions in just a few taps, without ever leaving the app.… Continue Reading

Politico – Federal staffers panicked by conservative media attacks

Politico – A spate of stories in Breitbart and other outlets have singled out individual career employees, questioning their loyalty to Trump – “Conservative news outlets, including one with links to a top White House official, are singling out individual career government employees for criticism, suggesting in articles that certain staffers will not be sufficiently… Continue Reading

Innovations in Federal Statistics: Combining Data Sources While Protecting Privacy

“Federal government statistics provide critical information to the country and serve a key role in a democracy. For decades, sample surveys with instruments carefully designed for particular data needs have been one of the primary methods for collecting data for federal statistics. However, the costs of conducting such surveys have been increasing while response rates… Continue Reading

House GOP amended health care bill, but CBO estimates of coverage losses are not likely to meaningfully improve

Follow up to previous postings included in CBO Health Score – 14 million more uninsured next year under GOP plan – via Brookings – “Late Monday night (March 20, 2017) Republican leaders unveiled a “manager’s amendment” that makes several changes to the American Health Care Act (AHCA). The House is currently scheduled to vote on… Continue Reading

The 2017 Brown Center Report on American Education

Brookings: “This Brown Center Report (BCR) on American Education is the sixth and final edition in the third volume and the 16th issue overall. The series began in 2000. As in the past, the report comprises three studies. Also in keeping with tradition, the first section features recent results from state, national, or international assessments;… Continue Reading

Official Corruption Prosecutions Decline: February 2017

“The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2017, the first complete month under the new Trump Administration, there were only 24 new official corruption prosecutions filed by federal prosecutors. During the last two fiscal years of the Obama Administration, federal prosecutors filed an average of 43 official corruption cases each… Continue Reading

Research – bioengineers detect early signs of damage in connective tissues

Newswire – “By the time someone realizes they damaged a ligament, tendon or cartilage from too much exercise or other types of physical activity, it’s too late. The tissue is stretched and torn and the person is writhing in pain. But a team of researchers led by University of Utah bioengineering professors Jeffrey Weiss and… Continue Reading