San Francisco’s government spends millions of dollars annually on technology.

In 2009, President Obama rolled out the IT Dashboard to shed light on $80 billion in federal IT expenditures. The Dashboard tracks government technology spending -- allowing the public to monitor how money is being spent. Earlier this year, it was estimated that the IT Dashboard had saved the federal government $3 billion.

In March 2011, the White House working with Code for America and Civic Commons made the technology behind the Dashboard freely available for any government to use. Now, any city or state can implement the IT Dashboard in their community, but nobody has yet.

A new report on technology’s role in civic engagement and local government in California from the New America Foundation, Zócalo, Stanford University's Bill Lane Center for the American West and the James Irvine Foundation stresses the need for innovations like the Dashboard, saying “while cost savings are critical, tools and standards for measuring communities’ information needs — and the inclusivity and effectiveness of the projects being proposed — are needed as well.”

Take action now: tell San Francisco city leaders to bring the IT Dashboard to City Hall. San Francisco has led the nation with Gov 2.0 innovations like DataSF.org, Twitter311 and the first API in government. San Francisco should lead by example and implement the IT Dashboard to save money and improve civic engagement.

The report’s findings and recommendations will be the focus of an Oct. 26 event at Stanford University, if you would like to attend RSVP here.