Pioneer Institute Announces Winner of 2010 Ultimate Citizen Award

We've been working with John Michitson at MITRE Corporation as part of his "day job" for awhile now, but in addition have supported his efforts in some local community work he's passionate about. Well John's efforts were recently recognized by the Pioneer Institute and we'd like to congratulate him for his efforts.

Here's the text of the press release Pioneer issued:

Pioneer Institute Announces Winner of 2010 Ultimate Citizen Award

Pioneer Institute congratulates Mr. John A. Michitson of Haverhill, Massachusetts, winner of our 2010 Ultimate Citizen Award.

Mr. Michitson and his team developed the Haverhill Prediction Market, an online, information-gathering tool for citizens seeking useful and objective city data. Some possible uses for the site include: budget projections using real-time data, details about union contracts and salaries, restaurant ratings that include information on health code violations, interactive city-crime maps, and much more.

This annual competition is designed to encourage civic engagement. For this year’s theme, “Apps for Transparency,” Pioneer called for citizens' ideas about how to facilitate government transparency and accountability through technology. The competition was open to anyone who lives or works in Massachusetts. We were interested in hearing responses to three basic questions:

• What government information do you think people should have access to?


• In what format do you think this information should be delivered?


• How do you think technology can be used to make government more transparent and accountable to citizens?

Participants were asked to collect responses through blog posts, email surveys, video testimonials, phone calls, Twitter update submissions, and/or in-person focus groups. The individual/team that captured the deepest and broadest insights possible received a $1,000 "Ultimate Citizen Award" and public recognition.

Pioneer commends Mr. Michitson and his team for their thoughtful, innovative, and practical entry to this year’s Ultimate Citizen Competition, and wishes the team well in implementing the product.

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Pioneer Institute is an independent, non-partisan, privately funded research organization that seeks to improve the quality of life in Massachusetts through civic discourse and intellectually rigorous, data-driven public policy solutions based on free market principles, individual liberty and responsibility, and the ideal of effective, limited and accountable government.

www.pioneerinstitute.org

For additional information please contact: Micaela Dawson, Director of Communications
T: 617.723.2277 ext. 203 - e-mail: [email protected]