3. TALK 3
IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES BY CHANGING HOW WE GOVERN
of U.S. adults have (a great
deal of confidence) in the
presidency in 2013
17%
Gallup Poll, “Confidence in Institutions.” June 2013
have a great deal of trust in
Congress in 2013
(the lowest level since first surveyed in 1973)
of general population across
25 countries that trust
government to always do
what is right in 2012
10% 43%
4. TALK 4
IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES BY CHANGING HOW WE GOVERN
“Every day in Washington is Election Day”
President Obama
5. TALK 5
IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES BY CHANGING HOW WE GOVERN
The “dysfunction gauge has
moved into the danger zone.”
Its Even Worse Than It Looks (2013)
Norman Ornstein and Michael Mann
7. TALK 7
IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES BY CHANGING HOW WE GOVERN
Rainie Lee, and Aaron Smith, Kay Lehman Schlozman,
Henry Brady, Sidney Verba, Social Media and Political Engagement.
Pew Internet & American Life Project. October 19, 2012.
of U.S. adult internet users
that have gone online for
raw data about government
spending and activities in
2010
40%
of U.S. adult internet users
go online to read the text of
legislation
22% 64.5m
Americans volunteered
through or for an
organization at least once
between September 2011
and September 2012
8. TALK 8
IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES BY CHANGING HOW WE GOVERN
A NEW APPROACH
TO GOVERNANCE
Reinventing
Democratic Institutions
9. TALK 9
IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES BY CHANGING HOW WE GOVERN
A New Approach to Governance
Complex problems, from climate change to poverty, will require
collaboration to tackle.
The last decade has seen remarkable advances in technology but our
democratic institutions have been slow to adopt.
Citizens have expertise, experience, talents, ideas and abilities that could
offer new insights and solutions.
A new vision of governance is emerging: one where leaders and citizens
work together – enabled by technology – to solve society’s biggest
problems and create a new form of democracy.
10. TALK 10
IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES BY CHANGING HOW WE GOVERN
New Approaches
Brazil – through participatory budgeting, more was spent on
education and sanitation, and infant mortality dropped by 20%
U.K. – “nudges” are helping citizens to make healthier choices
related to smoking, teenage pregnancy and more.
U.S. – EPA citizen science projects expose rampant air pollution
and push large polluters toward more environmentally friendly
practices.
11. TALK 11
IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES BY CHANGING HOW WE GOVERN
THE CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS
When governments and institutions use
technology to open themselves and partner
with citizens to make decisions, they are more
legitimate and effective.
12. TALK 12
IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES BY CHANGING HOW WE GOVERN
WHY THIS APPROACH TO GOVERNANCE IS COUNTERINTUITIVE
Many observers believe that opening up and increasing public engagement:
Does not lead to effective decision-making or problem-solving.
Doesn’t work because lack of time, education, and motivation can keep
people from engaging or can make their participation unhelpful.
Is a sham because decisions are ultimately made by government officials,
often in secret, and often in ways that are determined by party politics.
Will never work because government officials are not willing to admit they
need help formulating problems, fail to formulate them meaningfully, or are
not ready to adopt collaborative solutions.
Could even increase corruption, bias and regulatory capture.
15. TALK 15
IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES BY CHANGING HOW WE GOVERN
RESEARCH THAT MATTERS
Questforfundamentalunderstanding?
Consideration of use?
Pure basic research
High
High
Low
Low
Use-inspired basic research
Applied Research
Bohr Quadrant Pasteur Quadrant
Edison Quadrant
16. TALK 16
IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES BY CHANGING HOW WE GOVERN
Three Lines of Inquiry
Shared Governance:
Distributing Responsibility
Open Data Governance:
Pushing Data Out
Smarter Governance:
Getting Knowledge In
17. TALK 17
IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES BY CHANGING HOW WE GOVERN
http://vivo.ufl.edu/
If only we knew...
how to match citizens’ expertise with societal problems
22. TALK 22
IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES BY CHANGING HOW WE GOVERN
Data-providing agencies
New insights from data users
Impact
23. TALK 23
IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES BY CHANGING HOW WE GOVERN
Richard Price, “PulsePoint Citizen Responder CPR/AED Mobile App: When Minutes Matter,” September 6, 2013
If only we knew...
how to empower citizens to seek solutions themselves
25. TALK 25
IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES BY CHANGING HOW WE GOVERN
Incentives for Peer–to-Peer governance
Impact
26. TALK 26
IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES BY CHANGING HOW WE GOVERN
The GovLab
ACADEMY
mentoring, coaching, and
pedagogy to boost civic innovation
OBSERVATORY
curated knowledge from the
broad field of open governance
RESEARCH NETWORK
an interdisciplinary group
of experts addressing 21st
century problems
LIVING LABS
action-research projects with real-
world partners to address specific
governance challenges
27. TALK 27
IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES BY CHANGING HOW WE GOVERN
How We Work
Chair: Beth Simone Noveck (New York University/ Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Network Coordinator: Andrew Young (New York University)
Chief of Research: Stefaan G. Verhulst (New York University)
FACULTY MEMBERS:
Sir Tim Berners-Lee (Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)/University of Southampton, UK)
Deborah Estrin (Cornell Tech/Weill Cornell Medical College)
Erik Johnston (Arizona State University)
Henry Farrell (George Washington University)
Sheena S. Iyengar (Columbia Business School/ Jerome A. Chazen Institute of International Business)
Karim Lakhani (Harvard Business School)
Anita McGahan (University of Toronto)
Cosma Shalizi (Carnegie Mellon/Santa Fe Institute)
INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS:
Christian Bason and Jesper Christiansen (MindLab, Denmark)
Geoff Mulgan (National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts – NESTA (United Kingdom)
Lee Rainie (Pew Research Center)
opening-governance.org
