Gov2.0 Expo, Part 5: Government as Partner

Updates: oldest first | newest first

• 3:23 p.m. #

  First up, Claire Bailey (Arkansas Department of Information Systems):

  The State of Arkansas Recovery Portal, mobile and iPhone applications provide transparency into the allocation and expenditure of funds received under the American Recovery and Re-investment Act. The Arkansas Recovery search applications are the most comprehensive in the nation.

• 3:24 p.m. #

  Every state receiving stimulus money was required to create an official Recovery site. Here's the Arkansas version: http://recovery.arkansas.gov/

  It charts spending by county and lets citizens see how money is spent, and report abuse.

• 3:27 p.m. #

  Arkansas is "device independent," but the iPhone is definitely still dominant. That's been a big theme today.

• 3:28 p.m. #

  Now, Joseph Porcelli (Neighbors for Neighbors, Inc.)

  Neighbors for Neighbors, Inc., a Boston based volunteer run 501c3, in partnership with the City of Boston has created neighborhood-centric community generated social networks for Boston Neighborhoods. See how the Neighborhood Services, The Boston Police Department, and Office Emergency Preparedness have leveraged the networks to increase awareness, participation and trust.

• 3:29 p.m. #

  Pop quiz: Can you name five of your neighbors, a police officer and a city council member who can get a light fixed?

  I can't.

• 3:29 p.m. #

  "It's in your neighborhood, and it connects you to people who can actually solve your problems."

• 3:31 p.m. #

  Neighbors for Neighbors is built on Ning. That keeps them from having to be a technology company.

• 3:32 p.m. #

  "We're only limited by our capacity. If I could clone myself, I'd be in every neighborhood in the country."

• 3:34 p.m. #

  Philip Ashlock (The Open Planning Project) is up next:

  Open311 is one effort to establish a standardized open platform for a more participatory and responsive civic infrastructure. By providing a consistent model as a foundation for municipal service requests, citizens, government workers, and private companies can all contribute to the upkeep and well being of our communities.

• 3:35 p.m. #

  311 is a non-emergency access point for municipal service requests. It's in a lot of cities, but not all.

• 3:35 p.m. #

  In New York, Open311 data was used to create an app that plots safe bike routes through the city, based on pot hole and other roadwork reports.

• 3:37 p.m. #

  "Service requests can be new solutions, not just fixing what's broken." That's a good way to explain a lot of what's been said today.

• 3:38 p.m. #

  One thing being talked about is using PubSubHubbub with GeoRSS to create live maps.

• 3:39 p.m. #

  Next, Ben Berkowitz of SeeClickFix:

  SeeClickFix is a website that allows citizens to report and document non-emergency issues to communicate them to those accountable for the public space. Issues that are reported are recorded on a map for everyone to see, vote on, discuss and resolve. We allow citizens to adopt web technology for their town immediately: collaboration and transparency in a box. Don't wait for others - get started.

  Telling us how we can create local transparency and fix problems with his site.

• 3:41 p.m. #

  So, how it works: Someone hits a pothole, fills out a form, the city gets an email. Lots of people notice the same pothole. It floats to the top of known issues. Others add detail. Sooner or later, the problem gets fixed.

• 3:43 p.m. #

  To get it started in your city, find an email for a responsible public official, add it to the site and define a watch area. This is all public.

  You now have a homepage to watch issues in this area.

• 3:44 p.m. #

  "It could be potholes. It could be graffiti. But it could be more serious quality of life issues like prostitution or drug dealing."

• 3:44 p.m. #

  The site gives users tools to create buzz, including getting press attention.

• 3:45 p.m. #

  The Oakland "We hella hate potholes" bike ride that Spot.us was part of got a mention. Nice to see.

• 3:46 p.m. #

  Melissa Jordan of Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is up now:

  Bay Area Rapid Transit is using the web in innovative ways to promote openness, transparency and interactivity with public transit riders. From opening up live data to developers, to connecting in real time with customers on Twitter, Facebook and an open-comment blog, BART is changing the model of a government agency from faceless bureaucracy to approachable, tech-savvy dot-gov.

• 3:46 p.m. #

  First lesson of BART: They are paying attention to your tweets.

• 3:47 p.m. #

  BART's homepage pulls in Flickr photos. Data is open so third parties can build apps.

• 3:48 p.m. #

  "No matter how great the website is, we know not everyone will go there."

• 3:48 p.m. #

  BART's web team is two people. There is no pretense of being able to do everything, so they partner with anyone they can.

• 3:49 p.m. #

  "Isn't it hard to innovate in government? Yes." No excuse.

• 3:50 p.m. #

  "Find a voice that's genuine and welcoming and inclusive. I think we should use [the web] to bring people in and serve them better."

• 3:52 p.m. #

  Hillary Hartley of NIC Inc. is leading today's last panel discussion. "Why has it taken us so long to get here in terms of e-government?"

• 3:54 p.m. #

  SeeClickFix goes about getting government to go 2.0 by getting citizens engaged and helping them find relevant officials.

• 3:56 p.m. #

  "Open government is another way to say 'read/write government,'" says Philip Ashlock of Open311.

• 3:56 p.m. #

  Joseph Porcelli of Neighbors for Neighbors says there's a skill gap: A lot of older government workers just aren't that computer literate and don't use social media, which is inherently public, on their own. Many need to be shown the way, gently.

• 3:57 p.m. #

  "My summary of what it takes is 'leadership,'" says Claire Bailey, echoing another prominent theme today. Someone has to know what it means to effectively use technology.

• 3:58 p.m. #

  On Neighbors for Neighbors: "We chose Ning because it did 80% of what we wanted, and it costs almost nothing."

• 4:01 p.m. #

  Here's another side to much of today's discussion: Should civic sites, like SeeClickFix, be open platforms for government to build on? Yes, says Philip Ashlock.

• 4:02 p.m. #

  Q: Where are the hottest ideas coming from now? Public? Private? Civic groups?

• 4:03 p.m. #

  A: It's coming from Utah, says Claire Bailey, who is from Arkansas.

• 4:03 p.m. #

  Joseph Porcelli: People are the platform. "By providing a civic infrastructure, people can step forward" and make things better.

• 4:05 p.m. #

  In transit, the best ideas come from people. "We have our hands full running the trains," say Melissa Jordan of BART.

• 4:06 p.m. #

  Q: "How do you find your champion?" Who gives you cover to innovate?

• 4:15 p.m. #

  Melissa Jordon: "Our champion is the rider. If we're keeping the public happy, it makes everyone's life better." Echoes from other panelists on that.

• 4:16 p.m. #

  In Arkansas, "it was a key group of people who got together on a Saturday" and figured out how to build the site the state needed. "We all had the same vision of serving the end citizen."

• 4:18 p.m. #

  Question about scaling Neighbors for Neighbors: "Is there a blueprint for expanding to other cities?"

  There are a couple point people for each neighborhood in Boston. Joseph Porcelli admits he's not sure how to scale, but is open to ideas.

• 4:20 p.m. #

  Question from Micah Sifry: Are you treating the public as a junior partner? Are you enabling people to connect with each other?

  Claire Bailey, from Arkansas: We'll get there.

  Melissa Jordan, of BART: It's in the works. "It costs a lot of money that we don't have for the technology to get there."

  That's the panel, folks.