Semantic web technologies now make it possible for just about anybody to monitor just about anybody. This monitoring has also become very cost-effective for affluent and average citizens. This is a switch, because these technologies have been widely used to monitor the weak; they have not been used to monitor the powerful.
We found this interesting view on Brookings in their article, “Government-wide Information Sharing for Democratic Accountability.” A paper has been submitted to the president of the United States requesting he use the new technologies so the American people can more easily monitor his public, official actions. The request cites that this would serve as a showcase, for Congress and the rest of the executive branch, of government-wide information sharing for democratic accountability.
Emerging technologies make searching across government databases and websites easier than ever before imaginable. So who knows, maybe soon we can log on and see what the president did that day.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in thesaurus, ontology, and taxonomy creation and metadata application.
