Personal Democracy Forum 2008
Note by David GalielDavid_Galiel:
Sheila Campbell. usa.gov
Review of governmen presence online. usa.gov central portal, been evolving since 2000. Looking to the future, want to provide ways for individuals to personalize information from government, so individuals aren't forced to click through endless links to dig down to the information of interest to them.
Close to 24,000 government websites, some with over 1 mil webpages each, of varying quality and value.
What do people want - to get something done
get a passport, apply for a business loan, find affordable housing, reduce energy costs, get a government job (notice that these all fit into the model Dough Rushkoff warned about, catering to individual needs not empowering collective participation).
Shows policy changes in response to passengers feedback in airport security policy. TSA staff twitters, agencies on YouTube, using widgets on their sites, webcontent.gov, guide to managing us gov't websites for sharing web best practices (I checked, it is a public website).
(My notes: She should have showed some examples from HHS, particularly AIDS.gov portal, they use podcasts, have a technology blog with comments enabled, conduct webinars with bloggers and public officials, use texting apps (ex., show location of nearest HIV testing facility), use wikis for internal content management and collaborative content creation, conduct training for state and local agencies on using new media in the fight against AIDS, have active Facebook and MySpace groups and YouTube channel, etc. - disclaimer: I consult with them on new media strategies.
Gov't has a long, long way to go and is still focused on the asymmetric, "Information SuperHighway" model of delivering services, rather than the "Participatory SuperCommons" model of empowering citizen self-governance. They are beginning to provide opportunities for citizens to talk back - town halls, etc - but still not opportunities for citizens to participate in the actual process of government.)
Panel asked about examples of tapping into wisdom of crowds, provided a few examples, mostly geared around "allowing" citizens to provide feedback to government - which is valuable, part of the "listening" affordance Esther Dyson talked about providing to government with new technologies (not listening in the surveillance sense, but rather in the being responsive to citizens sense), but not sufficient IMO.
Review of governmen presence online. usa.gov central portal, been evolving since 2000. Looking to the future, want to provide ways for individuals to personalize information from government, so individuals aren't forced to click through endless links to dig down to the information of interest to them.
Close to 24,000 government websites, some with over 1 mil webpages each, of varying quality and value.
What do people want - to get something done
get a passport, apply for a business loan, find affordable housing, reduce energy costs, get a government job (notice that these all fit into the model Dough Rushkoff warned about, catering to individual needs not empowering collective participation).
Shows policy changes in response to passengers feedback in airport security policy. TSA staff twitters, agencies on YouTube, using widgets on their sites, webcontent.gov, guide to managing us gov't websites for sharing web best practices (I checked, it is a public website).
(My notes: She should have showed some examples from HHS, particularly AIDS.gov portal, they use podcasts, have a technology blog with comments enabled, conduct webinars with bloggers and public officials, use texting apps (ex., show location of nearest HIV testing facility), use wikis for internal content management and collaborative content creation, conduct training for state and local agencies on using new media in the fight against AIDS, have active Facebook and MySpace groups and YouTube channel, etc. - disclaimer: I consult with them on new media strategies.
Gov't has a long, long way to go and is still focused on the asymmetric, "Information SuperHighway" model of delivering services, rather than the "Participatory SuperCommons" model of empowering citizen self-governance. They are beginning to provide opportunities for citizens to talk back - town halls, etc - but still not opportunities for citizens to participate in the actual process of government.)
Panel asked about examples of tapping into wisdom of crowds, provided a few examples, mostly geared around "allowing" citizens to provide feedback to government - which is valuable, part of the "listening" affordance Esther Dyson talked about providing to government with new technologies (not listening in the surveillance sense, but rather in the being responsive to citizens sense), but not sufficient IMO.
