The Sunlight Foundation is is trying to achieve the ultimate in government transparency, real-time government data on the web.

Thursday the Sunlight Foundation will launch a campaign to get governments to do just that. “We seek to create a transparent government built on open data and information,” the the group says on its campaign web site.

To foster government more deserving of citizens’ trust the campaign hopes to achieve three goals:

1. Transparency Laws requiring public government data to be published online and in real time – accessible to any citizen, at any time from any location.
2. Transparency tools harnessing the latest online and mobile technology, allowing citizens, journalists and bloggers to search, sort, mash and make use of government data.
3. A Transparency Movement of citizens advocating for online, real-time access to public government data, and engaging with government in new ways to hold government accountable and make it work better for them.

The campaign hopes to connect, “hackers, bloggers, journalists and citizens across the country” in order to create a voting bloc strong enough to pressure government into passing laws that make transparency a reality.

The foundation summarizes its beliefs in nine points.

1. An open, transparent Government is something we create when public government data and information about government activity is made easily accessible to us – online and in real-time – and we use it effectively.
2. Government has a responsibility to be open and transparent, but it will not become so on its own.
3. We would rather use positive incentives (the “carrot”) than negative incentives (the “stick”) to make government transparent, but we will use whichever is most effective.
4. Changing the way government thinks and behaves is as important as changing government rules.
5. Technology isn’t part of the open government “pie.” It’s the pan.
6. Changing the way the public thinks about government and how they engage with it, is as important as making government data and information accessible.
7. Effective and responsible engagement with government will make it work better for all Americans.
8. Achieving our vision of a transparent government will require the ongoing commitment of citizens in every district across the United States to make it possible.
9. We will sacrifice “perfect” in order to take action and make progress today.

Kansas’ own transparency website, KanView, was created in 2007 by the Kansas Taxpayer Transparency Program and went live in the spring of 2009. The 2008 Legislature passed and the governor signed the Kansas Taxpayer Transparency Act extending the legislation until June 30, 2014. According to the site, KanView is “the online solution that brings better visibility, openness, and accessibility to state government financial activity for Kansas taxpayers.

The site added salaries in September 2009 but they’re hard to find. This KansasWatchdog article provides some help.

Financial activity shown on KanView includes:

• Annual expenditures, including:
  • Agency disbursements
  • Bond debt payments
  • Salary and wages
  • Contractual services
  • Commodities
  • Capital Outlay
  • Debt service
  • Aid to local units of government
  • Assistance and benefits
  • Capital improvements
• Annual Revenues representing agency receipts and deposits into funds established within the state treasury, including:
  • Taxes
  • Agency earnings
  • Revenue from the use of money and property
  • Gifts, donations, and federal grants
  • Other revenues
• Annual bond indebtedness
• Any other relevant information specified by the Secretary of Administration with consultation and advice from the Public Finance Transparency Board.