I just got an invitation from NCDD member Lucas Cioffi for July’s Open Government Community Summit (July 16 from 9-12 EST, location in D.C. TBD).  Previous summits and workshops have been hosted by the Department of Transportation, the General Services Administration, the US Department of Agriculture, and the US Department of Treasury.

Who: This workshop is open to federal, state, and local officials involved in restoring our nation’s Gulf Coast.  Members of the Open Gov Community from the private sector and non-profit organizations are also welcome to participate. RSVP here by July 14th: http://gulf-coast-restoration.eventbrite.com/

What: The summit will focus on the intersection of open government and the Gulf Coast Restoration Plan which President Obama assigned to the Secretary of the Navy on June 15th.

Where: Due to the urgency of the Gulf oil spill crisis, we are convening this workshop while the location is still TBD.  Several agencies have already expressed interest, and the first agency to have space available will be the host.

When: Friday, July 16, 2010 from 9am-12:10pm EST.  This 3 hour workshop will allow us to roll our sleeves up and jump-start a powerful and ongoing conversation about the Gulf Coast Restoration Plan.  Next steps will emerge from the ideas of the participants.

Remote Participation begins after the in-person workshop ends and lasts from 1pm-2:30pm EST.  Remote participation consists of an innovative technology called Maestro Conference which enables us to separate a large conference call into small-group breakout sessions.

Online Discussions: Between now and July 16th, we’ll be using GovLoop discussion forums to put some ideas on the table.  (GovLoop is a popular social network for people who work in or with government.) Here is the list of questions so far:

• How can the opengov ethos of transparency improve the Gulf Coast Restoration Plan?
• How can the opengov ethos of participation improve the Gulf Coast Restoration Plan?
• How can the opengov ethos of collaboration improve the Gulf Coast Restoration Plan?
• Propose another question for the online discussion to

Lucas Cioffi
OGD Workshop Co-Organizer

Note: NCDD is a partner for the Open Government Workshops.