Project Introduction

(formed from notes by Dr. Bonewald)

Statement of the Problem

It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to track federal spending. Information is either not available or it is so buried that even full time professionals have a difficult time finding what they need. The current process of finding information is extremely daunting, even to the professional.

Goal

We want to make the federal budget accessible, so that American citizens can gather all of the necessary information needed to determine how much money was spent, how it was determined such funds would be spent, and who was involved in these determinations in any particular area or field.

Vision

The ability for anyone to track federal spending would lead to reduction in waste, reduction in misdirection of funds, and improved use of taxes.

How We Will Do This

1). Bring together concerned individuals who are willing to commit to the project.

2). Coordinate the functions of diverse individuals such as legislators, journalists, politicians, computer technologists, business owners, academicians, scientists, students, social activists, etc.

3). Compose a detailed plan/document regarding the function and participation required to implement this project.

4). Create an online tool that is accurate, easily searchable, efficient, rapid, etc.

5). Allow and enable information gathering from multiple sources:

    a). Annotated, referenced, cited, statistically analyzed data

    b). Personal, anecdotal, opinion used to consolidate and drive public opinion towards consensus.

6). Provide this tool freely to the public, for use by anyone. Commercial, custom, applications of the site could be developed to support and sustain our work.

First steps

1). Start with one project that will validate success. This will convince stakeholders of the feasibility of the project as a whole.

2). Tackle a second, harder problem. If successful, this can convince even the skeptical to support the project.

Potential Uses

Concerned groups could track funding in education, agriculture, medical spending, research, military spending, etc. The tool set could be applied to any other form of complex, embedded data besides the federal budget.

Potential Outcomes

A more efficient and effective government process.

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