The Better Government Competition is an annual idea contest that attracts the interest of experts and citizens across the United States.

The goals of citizen engagement should be much deeper than what a local government can get through a simple public hearing.

In this article, let’s traverse memory lane to look at the innovations that have been pursued by local governments during the TLG’s 20-year journey.

The city of Garden Grove, CA, began using open source technology in 1995 and is saving more than $70,000 annually because of it! In addition, open source software has provided Garden Grove with stable performance, advanced features, and an ease of implementation that would not be possible with other types of software.

If so you should participate in Gov 3.0! This free online program beginning on January 29, 2014 is a 14 week long experimental course brought to you by Gov Lab Academy, New York University’s Governance Lab. This program was created specifically for “purpose driven learners” so that you can implement the programs in your community that change how citizens and governments interact.