Optimism and Abundance

Optimism and Abundance

When I worked at Open Society Foundations, we had a focus on defending rights, which derived from a worldview that assumes there are large institutions (mostly corporations and governments) that encroach upon our individual freedoms and our ability to live a...
On Moving to Seattle and the Gates Foundation

On Moving to Seattle and the Gates Foundation

After nearly four years of living in Mexico City and working on issues related to open government, first at Open Society Foundations and then at Omidyar Network, Iris and I are in the process of moving to Seattle where I have taken a job with the Gates Foundation to...
[Strategy] Open Cities

[Strategy] Open Cities

I’d be a fool to think that I know best how my employer, Omidyar Network, should most effectively employ its resources to promote open government in Latin America. There are dozens if not hundreds of specialists who have much more experience and expertise than I...
El Coco is Gonna Get You

El Coco is Gonna Get You

My problem is the following: I get to a point where I have 7 or 8 drafts of ambitious yet incomplete blog posts that, if my to-do list is to be believed, will ‘soon’ be published. But my to-do list is not to be believed, not ever. And so these drafts sit...
Too Much Information – Week Ending September 23

Too Much Information – Week Ending September 23

What follows is a hyperlinked version of the weekly newsletter of the Information Program of Open Society Foundations. Next week Becky Hogge will take up the newsletter one again. You can continue to follow new editions at her blog. News Global Open Government...