Monday, February 2, 2009

Federal gov’t audit website Daylight Networks launches

By Galen Moore

Amateur political pundits: Aaron Day has got $100 cash for you.

The CEO of Tangerine Wellness Inc., a Boston company that provides corporate weight management programs online, has co-founded Daylight Network. Its site, daylightnetwork.com, launches today with a $5,000 Obama Prediction Market, and a suite of tools designed to help citizens audit the federal government.

The Obama Prediction Market treats predictions about President Barack Obama’s first 100 days like publicly traded stocks. Each member gets $5,000 in online “currency” to invest in – or short sell against – predictions. Stocks rise in value as more people buy in, and at the end of the president’s first 100 days, the top 50 traders split a $5,000 pot.

The site is free. Day said he is placing ads on the site, but for now he is not running it on a for-profit model. He is accepting donations he said.

“I’ve always been strongly interested in politics,” said Day. He came up with the idea for Daylight Network about two years ago, but left it alone because he didn’t think anyone would be interested. “Now, we’re in extremely difficult times and people are looking for answers.”

In addition to the prediction market, the site provides calculators that show how federal dollars are spent. An individual taxpayer can find out exactly how the government is spending each dollar of his or her tax money. Home pages for each government organization give an overview, a news feed and a list of non-government alternatives.

“What I wanted to do is provide some transparency so that people can appreciate what the government does and audit the government independently,” he said. His hope is that an online community will grow up around discussions of possible solutions.

To solve the country’s financial problems, “It is going to take not just government,” Day said. “It’s going to take the private sector, non-government organizations, everything is going to have to be motivated.”

Day began working on the site two months ago with his wife, Irina Ostrovsky-Day and his brother-in-law, Daniel Ostrovsky. For the past two months, he said he’s been spending all his free time on the project. So far, the $5,000 prize pot has been the biggest expense, he said.