Today I did a deep dive into transparent.utah.gov and discovered that Utah State University paid Elsevier $1.1 million in 2022, probably for all the subscriptions to content for their library. I found dozens of state funded transactions to Ancestry.com. I found every local government in Utah that is a customer of Granicus. In just ten minutes of searching I realized what a powerfully valuable database a US government spending database could be if made available to citizens, leaders, and businesses — and even more so, if spending could be correlated with outcomes hoped for and promised by elected officials.
Can you imagine how this data can be used for good, in our new era of AI?
I can! It’s such an exciting time.
Wasteful spenders, beware!
Soon citizens will know which leaders are wise and which are foolish in how they spend taxpayer dollars.
It’s very possible that a new era of transparent, efficient and effective government is around the corner — at least where leaders don’t resist it.
