Press
Cal Poly researchers believe AI could help improve news coverage of state government
What if artificial intelligence could report the news, or at least help journalists report the news? Cal Poly Computer Science Professo Foaad Khosmood is investigating that very question as the lead researcher on a new project at the Cal Poly Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy to "develop an artificial intelligence system that will strengthen coverage of state and local governments," according to a press release.
Cal Poly and the University of Miami Team Up to Help Newspapers — Using AI
Researchers aim to build a prototype news wire service — called AI For Reporters — in which narrative content covering state legislatures is automatically generated from primary data sources and can be distributed to local and regional news organizations for publication.
Digital Democracy video platform expands to New York
State legislators in New York are likely to come under greater scrutiny with the expansion of Digital Democracy, a video transparency platform that helps citizens and advocacy groups track bills, hearings and political influencers.
The platform — first rolled out in California — functions like a YouTube for state Assembly and state Senate meetings, complete with shareable and searchable transcriptions and tags. California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and former California state Sen. Sam Blakeslee joined Hazel Dukes, former president of the NAACP, in launching an update of the platform Tuesday. It’s also scheduled to arrive in Texas and Florida by January 2018.
Digital Democracy Project Unleashes Oversight and Accountability on CA Legislature
KATY GRIMES
"Now Digital Democracy Platform has launched new interactive features for 2016 to their open government platform including legislative floor sessions to the searchable archive, an email alert system, organization profiles, and custom video storing and editing capabilities, enhancing and expanding Digital Democracy’s efficacy."
Click here to view the full article.
Bringing California’s Government Up To Speed on Digital Technology
THE TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD
"A new online initiative, DigitalDemocracy.org, shows Californians exactly what they are missing and provides a blueprint for how to build it…and even in an unfinished state it's light years ahead of the state's online offerings."
Click here to view the full article.
Making Government More Like Google
TIMM HERDT
"The concept is inspiring, potentially revolutionary: Make Access to government as convenient as scouting out homes on Zillow, or shopping on Amazon."
Click here to view the full article.
Digital Transparency Finally Comes to California’s Capitol
EDITORIAL
"Called Digital Democracy, the nonprofit project and its website promise to do wonders to promote citizen access to government and the legislative process."
Click here to view the full article.
Returning Power to the People Through Technology
CARL GUARDINO
"Now, for the first time, Californians can instantly access this information. Thanks to the ingenuity of some of our state's brightest students and passionate civic leaders, a revolutionary new project launched earlier this week."
Click here to view the full article.
New Digital Platform for California Legislature
ADAM SNEED
"The ambition is to peel back the curtain on that state legislature’s often opaque operations — including through facial and voice recognition of lobbyists and others trying to shape bills."
Click here to view the full article.
Making Democracy More Accessible to Millennials and Everyone Else
MARIEL GARZA
"You’d think some of the innovation that spews daily from Silicon Valley would have spilled over into the state’s capital. That’s why digitaldemocracy.org... is so very welcome. The site opened officially to the public this week. And, for those of us interested in the goings on in the Capitol, it’s pretty fabulous."
Click here to view the full article.
Gavin Newsom Launches Google-like Engine for Lawmaking
MARCO DELLA CAVA
"Technology has brought enormous changes to the way we shop and socialize. Now it may begin to have an impact on something far more fundamental: the way we govern."
Click here to view the full article.
Transparency at the Capitol, online at last
EDITORIAL
"...the public often is in the dark, and until now, people outside the inner circle of government have had few tools to help shine light on the process."
Click here to view the full article.
Gavin Newsom Launches a Site for State Legislative Videos
JOSH RICHMAN
"A new website combining legislative hearing videos and transcripts, information on bills, and data on contributions and gifts to lawmakers in an easy-to-use way was rolled out Wednesday."
Click here to view the full article.
Closing the Gap Between Us and Sacramento
EDITORIAL
"We lament at times the amount of trivial information and entertainment that dominates the Internet these days. But DigitalDemocracy.org is just the opposite — a powerful tool that brings the distant world of state government right into our homes. We hope that the citizenry makes use of it."
Click here to view the full article.
California Launches Digital Democracy Project
BAILEY MCCANN
"Digital Democracy uses voice and facial recognition, data mining and natural language processing to offer Californians access to state legislative hearings with a Google-like search."
Click here to view the full article.
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Former Sen. Sam Blakeslee Launch 'Digital Democracy'
NEWS STAFF
"In what could be a glimpse into the future of transparency technology, California Lt. Gov. Newsom and former Sen. Blakeslee on May 6 launched “Digital Democracy,” an interactive platform that enables users to conduct detailed searches of legislative video footage."
Click here to view the full article.
Newsom, Blakeslee Unveil Digital Tool on Government Meetings
JUDY LIN
"Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and former state Sen. Sam Blakeslee have teamed up with computer scientists to create a video search engine that they say will lift the shroud on government by allowing people to see, read and share what their representatives are doing in the state Capitol."
Click here to view the full article.
New Technology Facilitates Transparency, Openness in CA State Govt.
KATY GRIMES
"‘Transparency’ is probably the most overused word in political speech, while at the same time, the most underutilized in practice. In a free society, transparency in government means openness, accountability, and honesty. It is the obligation of government to share information with citizens, yet is increasingly difficult to access – even in California, home to Silicon Valley."
Click here to view the full article.
New Online Tool Will Help Public Easily See Lobbyist Connections to Bills
MELODY GUTIERREZ
"Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and former state Sen. Sam Blakeslee have teamed up with computer scientists to create a video search engine that they say will lift the shroud on government by allowing people to see, read and share what their representatives are doing in the state Capitol."
Click here to view the full article.
Hacking a 21st Century Government
OP ED BY BLAKESLEE AND NEWSOM
"The way citizens interact with their government needs an update for the 21st century. This is exactly why this new advocacy tool is so important."
Click here to view the full article.
Digital Democracy will Empower Californians
OP ED BY BLAKESLEE AND NEWSOM
"This first-of-its-kind, online tool harnesses the power of video and social media to open up the halls of government and empower everyday citizens like never before."
Click here to view the full article.
New Technology Makes Sacramento Politics More Transparent
JOE GAROGOLI
"Blakeslee and a team of scientists at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo have created a way to track lobbyists, what they say, and how they influence the political process in Sacramento."
Click here to view the full article.
Institute of Advanced Technology and Public Policy receives $1.2 million grant to ‘open government’ program
LINDSY MOBLY
Want to keep tabs on what your legislature is doing about funding bus transportation or implementing a carbon tax but you can’t afford to hire someone to go to committee hearings? If you’re in California, you’re in luck. Or at least you will be soon.
Click here to view the full article.
Sam Blakeslee Think Tank Yields Solutions
NICK WILSON
Two years since its founding, a civic-minded think tank started by former state Sen. Sam Blakeslee has raised millions of dollars for its ventures and plans to produce tangible results on three major projects this year. The nonpartisan Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy housed at Cal Poly is in the midst of implementing the first phases of three programs that aim to tackle large problems facing society.
Click here to view the full article.
Promising new tool will allow public to easily search the dealings of Sacramento lawmakers
RANDOL WHITE
This first-in-the-nation system will work by using voice and face recognition software to convert video files of state government meetings into searchable text-based documents. The Institute's founder and former San Luis Obispo County legislator Dr. Sam Blakeslee will oversee the project. He says it will help California citizens become and stay better informed.
Click here to view the full article.
Project to make searchable database of California legislative hearings
JIM MILLER
There are thousands of hours’ worth of California legislative committee hearings available for viewing – if someone knows where to look. By next spring, though, it could get a lot easier to track down the quotation needle in the testimony haystack. The Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy, a California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, think tank headed by former Republican lawmaker Sam Blakeslee, has received $1.2 million for its Digital Democracy project from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation.
Click here to view the full article.
Searchable Legislative Video Archive Gets Funded in California
BRIAN HEATON
Two years since its founding, a civic-minded think tank started by former state Sen. Sam Blakeslee has raised millions of dollars for its ventures and plans to produce tangible results on three major projects this year. The nonpartisan Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy housed at Cal Poly is in the midst of implementing the first phases of three programs that aim to tackle large problems facing society.
Click here to view the full article.
Tech Startup Hopes to Make Government More Transparent
RICKY CAMILLERI
Laura Gómez and Sam Blakeslee talk with Ricky about how they hope to make government more transparent.
Click here to view the full interview.
Meet Sam Blakeslee: The Policy Entrepreneur
ANTHONY BYRNE
As a person with a keen interest in politics, I recently read about the Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy (IATPP). George Will Cal poly This non-profit organization, civic-orientated think tank seems to be unique in its purpose: harnessing the power of modern technologies to disrupt the obstacles facing legislators and policy-makers to fundamentally reinvent a civic marketplace of solutions. But with no shortage of university public policy programs or nonprofit think tanks churning out commentary, reports and analysis, why does this organization hold any more promise than others out there? The answer, I believe, is in their founder.
Click here to view the full article.
Technology Pulls Back the Political Curtain
SAM BLAKESLEE
When I left the legislature 18 months ago, I confess I left feeling unsatisfied. I felt this way for conflicting reasons. On one hand, my experience behind the curtain gave me such insight, clarity and passion about where I wanted to focus my policy and reform efforts. But at the same time, the pointless institutional and partisan barriers to getting things done continually frustrated me.
Click here to view the full article.
Technology Disrupts the Political Status Quo
SAM BLAKESLEE
Politicians talking about reforming themselves is like the fox promising to do a better job of guarding the henhouse. This year, the Legislature was hit with a string of scandals. In response, legislators moved to introduce a package of reforms. Unfortunately, these proposals do little more than fine-tune the status quo.
Click here to view the full article.
Blue is the New Green: How Oceans Could Power the Future
ARI PHILLIPS
Blakeslee wants to help develop and spread the potential transformative benefits of emerging technologies rather than get bogged down by laws, regulations, and standards that can actually impede the application of such innovations. And after signaling its interest in giving up to $40 million to the expansion of wave energy technologies — pending Congressional approval — its seems DOE is pursuing the same type of paradigm-shifting innovation.
Click here to view the full article.
Former State Sen. Sam Blakeslee Founds Technology Policy Institute
LLOYD LEVINE
I served with Senator Blakeslee when we were both in the Assembly, and worked closely with him when I chaired the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce, a subject matter that was of keen interest to both of us. Recently I interviewed the Senator about his decision to step away, why he founded the institute, and what he hopes to accomplish.
Click here to view the full article.
Cal Poly Institute to Explore Sites for Wave Energy Testing
NICK WILSON
A Cal Poly-related study that could help shape the future of wave energy will explore two possible test sites over the next year. The institute, established by former Sen. Sam Blakeslee, has been awarded a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to assess the feasibility of a grid-connected wave energy test site.
Click here to view the full article.
California Seeks Wave-Energy Facility
MORGAN LEE
As a person with a keen interest in politics, I recently read about the Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy (IATPP). This non-profit organization, civic-orientated think tank seems to be unique in its purpose: harnessing the power of modern technologies to disrupt the obstacles facing legislators and policy-makers to fundamentally reinvent a civic marketplace of solutions. But with no shortage of university public policy programs or nonprofit think tanks churning out commentary, reports and analysis, why does this organization hold any more promise than others out there? The answer, I believe, is in their founder.
Click here to view the full article.
California Waves Could Be Turned into Electricity
CAMERON POLSON
As a person with a keen interest in politics, I recently read about the Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy (IATPP). This non-profit organization, civic-orientated think tank seems to be unique in its purpose: harnessing the power of modern technologies to disrupt the obstacles facing legislators and policy-makers to fundamentally reinvent a civic marketplace of solutions. But with no shortage of university public policy programs or nonprofit think tanks churning out commentary, reports and analysis, why does this organization hold any more promise than others out there? The answer, I believe, is in their founder.
Click here to view the full article.
Cal Poly Gets Grant to Study Putting Wave Energy Facility in California
DAVID SNEED
Cal Poly will receive a grant of up to $750,000 from the federal Department of Energy to assess the feasibility of locating a wave energy facility in California.
Click here to view the full article.
Cal Poly Wins Dept. of Energy Grant, Will Research Ocean Wave Power
SHAUN KAHMANN
The race is on to see which state can prove it is the ideal testing ground for a new Department of Energy (DoE) initiative to harness the power of ocean waves to produce a green source of renewable energy, and Cal Poly has put California in the running.
Click here to view the full article.
Cal Poly Snags $750,000 Grant to Blaze New Frontier in Wave Energy
DEBRA GRUSZECKI
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo’s Institute for Advanced Technology & Public Policy was chosen by the U.S. Department of Energy to receive a grant of up to $750,000 to study the prospects of locating a national wave energy test facility in California.
Click here to view the full article.
Cal Poly Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy's Wave Energy Project Nets $750,000 Dept. of Energy Research Grant
PRESS RELEASE
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo’s Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy has been selected to receive a grant of up to $750,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to assess the feasibility of locating a National Wave Energy Test Facility in California (CalWave).
Click here to view full press release.
New Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy at Cal Poly
CHRISTINA FAVUZZI
Former State Senator Sam Blakeslee is looking to Cal Poly students for solutions to statewide public policy issues. Blakeslee is the founder of the Institute of Advanced Technology and Public Policy. This new institute uses student and faculty ideas to find new ways to improve public policy through advanced technology.
Click here to view the full interview.
Cal Poly Unveils a Blakeslee Public Policy Institute
MATT FOUNTAIN
Cal Poly’s latest undertaking pledges to bridge the gap between technology wonks and often-myopic legislators, founded and led by the Central Coast’s former state senator, Sam Blakeslee. University President Jeffrey Armstrong announced on Oct. 9 the official unveiling of the new Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy, which Cal Poly promises will be multidisciplinary and—importantly—nonpartisan.
Click here to view the full article.
Bridging the Gap between Academia and Sacramento
COUNCIL ON OCEAN AFFAIRS, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
COAST collaborated with State Senator Sam Blakeslee and his staff at the Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy at Cal Poly SLO, the Center for Coastal Marine Sciences at Cal Poly SLO and the Institute for Applied Marine Ecology at CSU Monterey Bay to bring the “Connecting Science to Sacramento: The Role of Science in Policymaking” event to fruition.
Click here to view the full article.
Tech, Public Policy Unite at Cal poly
TRIBUNE STAFF
Cal Poly is creating an Institute for Advanced Technology & Public Policy to develop practical solutions to social issues through the use of advanced technology, President Jeffrey Armstrong announced Wednesday. The interdisciplinary institute, founded and led by former state Sen. Sam Blakeslee, has received a $1 million gift from an unnamed donor to help fund applied research and to create new teaching and learning opportunities.
Click here to view the full article.
Cal Poly Taps Sam Blakeslee to Launch New Multidisciplinary Institute for Advanced Technology & Public Policy
PRESS RELEASE
The interdisciplinary institute, which already has three projects up and running, aims to develop practical solutions to societal issues by informing statewide public policy through advanced technology. The institute has already received a generous gift of $1 million that will help enable applied research and create new teaching and learning opportunities for faculty and students
Click here to view the press release.