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Re:Request For Research: Basic Income by astrocat on Wednesday January 27, 2016 @03:15PM (#10982856)
on your last point, I've wondered if it would be within the scope of 18F or the US Digital Service to create a local.gov site/platform that is a repository for all local government information and vector for engagement. Figuring out who all the locally elected officials are and what they are supposed to do is nearly an impossible task.
Re:Request For Research: Basic Income by andrefrancisco on Wednesday January 27, 2016 @04:19PM (#10983482)
That's probably outside 18F's scope, as they are cost recoverable and must be hired by a federal agency. So getting that done would require convincing a federal agency to spend the money to hire 18F to build the platform. USDS could do it if it were a presidential priority, but while creating a one-time snapshot of that list would already be an incredibly huge task, actually keeping it updated would be very difficult just because of all the points of contact involved. Especially if it went down to the city council and school board level, which would certainly be useful to local communities, but really difficult to keep track of on a national level.

*I'm an 18F employee speaking in a personal capacity.

Re:Request For Research: Basic Income by astrocat on Wednesday January 27, 2016 @11:23PM (#10986258)
Absolutely - it is certainly a HUGE undertaking. Though the value to the society/community/voters would be equally enormous it's unlikely we'll ever find the resources to have such a thing executed in a thorough, responsible (unbiased) manner. I suppose this is the part where I motivate myself to design and build it because nobody else will...

Sidenote - high-five for the stuff going on at 18F :)

Re:Request For Research: Basic Income by andrefrancisco on Thursday January 28, 2016 @12:01PM (#10989395)
Thanks! It's an exciting place to be.