Open Governenment: A Case Study Overview
- 1. Government 2.0How Social Media is Changing the Way We Participate
- 2. A Few Roles of GovernmentNational DefensePublic ServicesCollect TaxesEnforce LawsSet RegulationsEnsure Order (and Democracy)
- 3. Problems With GovernmentCountries face different challenges depending on the political, social, and economic conditions
- 4. E-Government: 21st Century Democracy“To promote more efficient and cost-effective government, facilitate more convenient government services, allow greater public access to information, and make government more accountable to citizens.”
- 5. Models for E-GovernmentCommon themes: Open, Transparent, Accountable
- 6. UN E-Readiness RankingsTop 4: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, United StatesBottom 4: Central African Republic, Guinea, Niger, ChadStill Connected – 189 Countries Online
- 7. UN Benchmark for Web ReadinessDifferent countries and cities are in different stages of readiness
- 10. India: Enhanced
- 15. E-Participation“E-Participation has the potential to establish more transparency in government by allowing citizens to use new channels of influence which reduces barriers to public participation in policymaking.”
- 16. E-Participation: Harnessing the Social WebSocial Media Tools and NetworksParticipatory PlatformsOpen DataCrowdsourcing
- 17. Levels 1&2: Social Media ToolsTwitter, Blogs, Wikis, PodcastsWidely employed by Western European and the United States. Easy, cheap and can be effective
- 18. Level 3: Participatory PlatformsEngages citizens in policy debates and voluntary service at all levels of the government.
- 19. Europa DebateActive community, monitored by EU officials but not a 2-way conversation
- 20. TellBarroso.euPlatforms combine interactive features and visualizations; primarily a one-way conversation
- 21. Level 4: Open DataMash-ups translate RSS, OXML and other data feeds into visual applications and for mobile devices
- 22. Case Study: Stimulus SpendingHow can citizens, non-profits and the government collaborate to monitor spending of the stimulus package?Open-Data and Mash-upsGovernment engagement
- 23. Stimulus Watchdog GroupsVisualizations help us to understand complex and abstract ideas
- 24. Level 5:Connected and CollaborativeHow can citizens engage directly with the policy making process?Combine social media tools with public-private partnerships, and reach target audiencesNot there yet, but promising case studies
- 26. AmericaSpeaks: Multi-DimensionalOnline and offline data gathering; public-private partnerships; institutional support
- 27. Whitehouse2.Org: Direct DemocracyHyopothethical future; Crowdsourcing and Collective Intelligence Gathering
- 28. A Globally (Dis)Connected GovernmentStill a long way to goThe total bandwidth of Africa is equal to the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo The total bandwidth in Latin America is equal to that in Seoul, Repbulic of KoreaIn the United States 54.3 per cent of citizens use the Internet, compared to a global average of 6.7 per cent, and 0.4 per cent in the Indian subcontinet.
- 29. Openness, Transparency, AccountabilityICT + Transformational change in government == 21st century democracy
Editor's Notes
- #2: Welcome. My topic is Gov 2.0 and the changes brought about by social media on the democratic process. Combines a lot of the topics and themes we’ve discussed throurought this semester. If you have any questions you can jump in or wait until the end
- #3: Governments come in different styles and exist under different conditions. There are freely elected democratic states, monarchies, religious and military regimes.But the fundamental themes are common: protection, order, providing services, and represent the people and culture of a given state.Just be mindful that countries are not as open and freely debated as the US, but government as a institution have things in common. Like problems
- #4: Of course governemtns do not always provide enough money for schools, the poor, the unhealthy, or even find effiecient ways to execute basic services. Inefficient, poor access to services, little debate, dialogue and conversation among elected officials and citizens is still a theme found even in the most advanced democracies. Countries are unique and the problems can vary tremendously. Latin America faces widespread poverty while China struggles with opennennes, and Mexico battles drug lords. Government is often entrusted with the power to solve big challenges, and make the small ones easier. And E-government, is one set of tools sweeping across the world to make things easier
- #5: To solve problems entruested by thgovt, ICT solutions are increasingly behing usedBroadband access, computers, literacy rates and a globalization are all factors that are allowing ICT to be a viable solution tool.Like in the private industry, governments can benefit from technological solutions. Both backend (invisible work) and highly visible (online)Practitioners have come-up with mdoels to measure Egovet and describ its features
- #6: The graphic is from Todd Ramsey from IBM has one model (as you can see here)Prof nelson presented a smiliar model: Brochureware, transactions, portals, Web 2.0, seamless collaboration. Mishra’s Model based on social media tools, most applicable to countries that are in the connected/collaobrtive stages of governmentThe frameworks are a way for academics and practitioners to measure and evaluate e-government projects, and to track the progress of countries and local governments. Certain projects do not need to be collaboraitve, like car registration or tax filing, but policy debate might benefit from the right conditions and programs. E-government is about fostering an environment where governement works better for the people and is in itself more efficiientMost countries, accorindg to the survey 189 are online and connected in some wayThe takeway is that information delivery is first, jumping off points, transactions, social media tools, and collaboration
- #7: The UN Survey had a goal: to measure states ability to use ICT and help citizensComparative assessment of the Member States’ ability to transform their governments by using information and communication technologies to deliver online services and products to their citizens. Methodology: Checked the countries websites, multiple times, used the web-measure index, telecom infrastructure: phones, pcs, broadband. Human capital, which looks at literacy and gross enrollment ratios. Not surprisingly scandanivian countries where the top and african nations were the bottom.
- #8: This is the UN model that served a major basis for their resultsMultiple models exist to represent e-govA model to measure effectivenessStage I - Emerging: A government’s online presence is mainly comprised of a web page and/or an official website; links to ministries or departments of education, health, social welfare, labour and finance may/may not exist. Much of the information is static and there is little interaction with citizens. Stage II - Enhanced: Governments provide more information on public policy and governance. They have created links to archived information that is easily accessible to citizens, as for instance, documents, forms, reports, laws and regulations, and newsletters. Stage III - Interactive: Governments deliver online services such as downloadable forms for tax payments and applications for license renewals. In addition, the beginnings of an interactive portal or website with services to enhance the convenience of citizens are evident. Stage IV - Transactional: Governments begin to transform themselves by introducing two-way interactions between ‘citizen and government’. It includes options for paying taxes, applying for ID cards, birth certificates, passports and license renewals, as well as other similar G to C interactions, and allows the citizen to access these services online 24/7. All transactions are conducted online. Stage V - Connected: Governments transform themselves into a connected entity that responds to the needs of its citizens by developing an integrated back office infrastructure. This is the most sophisticated level of online e-government initiatives and is characterized by: 1. Horizontal connections (among government agencies) 2. Vertical connections (central and local government agencies) 3. Infrastructure connections (interoperability issues) 4. Connections between governments and citizens 5. Connections among stakeholders (government, private sector, academic institutions, NGOs and civil society)
- #9: Mainly a web presence that advertises Botswana as a viable investment for outside capital.
- #10: Despite being listed as the 4th worst, still has a presense online. Website for the president. Likely lacks the other conditions, broadband access, pcs, telephones, human capital
- #11: India’s website is more complex than the previous. Place to find forms, links. Not sure if they have liscence renewal, transactional based serivces
- #12: Similar state as India
- #13: Portal, information delivery
- #14: Places to renew things, etc.
- #15: And sweden. As you can see, visually not many differences from a coutnry like botswana or even chad to sweden. But the readiness index measures more than the look and feel. Backend support, ministiry websites, services provided online. But the next component of e-govt is participating with the process online
- #16: For e-participation to be successful and to become the norm, governments need to create an environment that allows citizens to voice their views online and more importantly, to create a feedback mechanism which shows citizens that their views are taken seriously.In the west this is happening, more frequently in the US and european union countriesThe Three Phases e-info, e-decision, e-consultationE-Information are services list government officials, budgets, laws, and other forms of public interest. Web 2.0 tools disseminate the information. E-Consultation ensures that elected officials are listening to their constituents, through blogs, petitions, and other social media tools. Finally, E-Decision-Making is the willingness of government to consider the e-constituency in the decision making process. UN Survey, 18.
- #17: The top 3 countries in US, Korea, Denmark are the top 3. Mishra’s FrameworkNot surprising based on the index used. How connected the govt is, and how frequenrtly political groups use these tools as a way to debate, connectHere are a few ways in which political process is using participatory mediaE-Information The government website offers information on the list of elected officials, government structure, policies and programmes, points of contact, budget, laws and regulations and other information of public interest. Information is disseminated through a number of online tools such as: community networks, blogs, web forums, text messages (micro democracy), newsgroups and e-mail lists. E-Consultation The government website provides the tools necessary for e-consultation. It allows citizens to set the agenda for the debate through e-petitioning. The government ensures that its elected officials have a website to communicate directly with their constituents. It maintains an archive of their discussions and provides feedback to citizens. E-Decision-Making The government is willing to take into account the e-inputs of citizens into the decision- making process. The government informs its citizens on what decisions have been taken based on the consultation process.
- #18: Claire McCaskill, one of the early twitter adopters. Has over 20,000 followers but is following no oneTSA Blog, famous for its speedy responses and had a pioneering leader who wanted a blog. “After leaving your feedback, it will be emailed directly to the person in charge of TSA customer service at the airport for which you are commenting.” https://contact.tsa.dhs.gov/gotfeedback/GotFeedback.aspxOther departments and organizations have blogs, from the EPA to the DOD (Pbasewiki website)Basic, information delivery stage
- #19: Europa DebateA place, a highly connected website that integrates social media functioning into its presenceForums are the main tool used to engage in dialogue. EU people read the blogs and monitorBut a healthy debate has come about among the users. Climate change, water fueld cars, Poland, turkey in the eu, changes to currencyAlso has video and polls, links to other eu resources
- #20: Not exactly a conversation with staff or direct MPs, but a vibrant online space for political participaiton, sponsored directly by the governing body
- #21: Similar to Europa Debate is tellbarroso.eu, a place to engage with the president of the EU. Users submit responsence, like a virtual suggestion box.You can see other users and comment direclty on their stuffIt would be good for these sites to be linked and more highly connected.DebatPublic was a website where people could comment direclty on a public works project outside of paris
- #22: Big push with cities like DC and now the US federal govt opening their data streams to the publicCoders can make mash-ups, like the ones you see here. Apps for democracy. Setup a contest, winning apps won moneyMash-ups are web-based applications that combines multiple data sources into one tool, made possible by open programming standards and open dataPark-it-dc. Linked to meteres in DC neighboords, crime statisticsEveryblock pulls multiple feeds, from news, to crime reports, public works projects, housing sales, etc., and centralizes the dataI believe we will be seeing a lot more mashps with local data coming out as more people use mobile phones
- #23: Major political movement. Stimulus spending. An opportunity for opennes, transparency and accountabilty to be tested.Several nonprofit watchdog groups are using the open data provided by the government and turning them into servicesShovelwatch: tracking building projects state to state, building to buildingSubsidyscope, launched by The Pew Charitable Trusts, aims to raise public awareness about the role of federal subsidies in the economy. Over the next two years, the project will build this subsidy database industry sector by industry sector. Partnership between institutionsRecovery.gov. The official website run by the government. Education, accountabilty, opennes.There are more sites. Open data is the focus, but still disparate
- #25: Final challenge is taking all these elements, information, transactions, social media tools, and creating platforms that are engaging and have feedback loops that reach change agents. Europe could do a better job of consolidationg and building partnerships
- #26: Similar to tellbarroso. An experiment by the whitehouse. Users submit questions to wh officials, users got to vote on them and obama responded in a video address. Great example of combining social media, collective intelligence gathering and a direct link to the president92,937 people have submitted 103,978 questions and cast 1,782,650 votes