New Dem Chairman Calls for “Yelp for Government”
New Dem Chairman Calls for “Yelp for Government”
Chairman Kind Urges Transparency and Accountability in Letter to GSA
Washington, DC – Earlier this week New Democrat Coalition Chairman Ron Kind sent a letter to the General Services Administration urging it to come to an agreement with Yelp to integrate user reviews of government agencies.
In the Coalition’s American Prosperity Agenda, announced earlier in the year, the group of 46 pro-innovation lawmakers called for a Yelp for Government to boost transparency and accountability. While typical businesses can claim Yelp pages created by users, the federal government faces restrictions on its ability to directly interact with the Yelp platform.
“In order to make government work better, we need to make it easier for people to say what’s working – and what isn’t,” said Kind after sending the letter. “With modern innovations in social media, we have an opportunity to harness tremendous technological progress to improve government accountability and transparency.”
Citing the success of government collaboration with other social media applications, the letter calls for GSA to swiftly come to an agreement with Yelp to enable the federal government to fully utilize the application. For the full text of the letter, see below or click here.
Dear Administrator Roth,
As Chairman of the New Democrat Coalition, I write to encourage you and the General Services Administration (GSA) to facilitate a swift and effective process for U.S. government agencies to more effectively integrate Yelp with their operations to further transparency and better respond to public feedback.
As a New Democrat, I believe that government needs to work better for everyday Americans. Now more than ever, we have the technological capacity to hold our government accountable and ensure it is responsive to the people it’s meant to serve. Earlier this year, the New Democrat Coalition released our American Prosperity Agenda, which called for greater government accountability. If we want to make government work better, we should make it easier for people to say what’s working – and what isn’t. That is why we believe we need a Yelp for government – a modern method of allowing those who interact with and rely on government agencies to provide feedback and more directly influence the process of government reform.
As you know, over the past year Yelp and GSA have been working to allow government agencies to officially claim their Yelp pages and use these as a tool to better interact with the people the agencies serve. Currently, there are many unclaimed government pages with multiple reviews of government services. Allowing agencies and departments to claim and curate these pages would foster a greater level of feedback from those who interact with agencies and enable government personnel to more effectively address citizen concerns.
Especially given successful agreements between the federal government and social media companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, I am confident that you can come to an agreement that works for all sides. I encourage you to continue to work with Yelp to reach an agreement quickly to allow the federal government to fully utilize the Yelp platform. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
The New Democrat Coalition is dedicated to maintaining America’s standing as the world’s strongest, most successful nation. Founded in 1997, the New Dems believe firmly in the power of American ingenuity and innovation, and are focused on finding ways to foster and harness this creativity to grow our economy, create new American jobs, and ensure a safer and more secure future for our country.
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