Government 2.0 - Open and Participatory Government

No notes for slide

Introduction Government 2.0 - How we can use technology to deliver a more open and transparent government In this presentation I will cover – What is Government 2.0? Enabling open government Encouraging public participation in government policy Government as a Platform

The full movie is 1 hour long and free to view online. http://watch.usnowfilm.com/

What is Government 2.0? The use of technology in and by Government has developed over the years similar to developments in other sectors There are a number of developments that either act as a basis for or complement Government 2.0

eGovernment is the use of Technology to improve or enhance the efficiency or effectiveness of service delivery in the public sector The Irish Government’s current eGovernment Action Plan runs from 2012-2015 and contains 44 actions

SoLoMo is a term that has come from the marketing world It refers to the convergence of Social, Local and Mobile marketing enabled by technology developments These areas are equally relevant to Government – citizens expect to be able to interact with Government through social technologies, using mobile devices and customised to their location

Smart City /Smart Planet refers to the coordinated development and application of Technologies, Environmental Capital, Social Capital and Human Capital to improve the cities and world in which we live Local Government plays a key role in leading and enabling Smart City initiatives

Digital Strategy aim to maximise the benefits of Digital initiatives to the organisation – in the commercial world they are often driven by a marketing approach In Government, Digital Strategies aim to harness technology to improve services to citizens Government Digital Strategies generally cover some or all of five different areas - Industry Digital Industry, Technology Companies, Innovation, Digital TestBed, Smart Cities, Incubator Programmes, Incentives, Analytics, Open Data, Corporate Social Responsibility Digital Infrastructure Broadband, WiFi, Public Libraries, Schools Digital Inclusion Digital Divide, Schools Programmes, Youth Programmes, 3rd Level, Public Libraries, Age Friendly Initiatives, Disadvantaged Digital Community eEngagement, eCommunities, Digital Co-Design, Digital Culture Digital Government eGovernment, Online Services, CRM/FixYourStreet, Mobile Working, Knowledge Management, Social Business, Open Data, Open Government, eParticipation, Social Media, Shared Services, Cloud

There are many other developments in technology that are impacting on Government and will impact in the future This is illustrated in this eGovernance Hype Cycle by Yannis Charalabidis Ultimately, regardless of the terminology used to describe these trends, the common factor is the use of digital technologies to improve or transform Government services and Government itself

Government 2.0 is to Government what Web 2.0 is to the Internet Web 2.0 harnessed the power of users to collaborate and create content and enabled the creation of a new dynamic Internet Government 2.0 is the use of technology – especially collaborative technologies – to solve collective problems in cities, counties, countries and internationally

Open Government is a key feature of Government 2.0

In May 2013 the Irish Government sent a letter of intent to join the Open Government Partnership

The Open Government Partnership sets out four Open Government principles – Transparency: information on government activities and decisions is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the public and meets basic open data standards (e.g. raw data, machine readability) Citizen Participation: governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to more responsive, innovative and effective governance. Accountability: there are rules, regulations and mechanisms in place that call upon government actors to justify their actions, act upon criticisms or requirements made of them, and accept responsibility for failure to perform with respect to laws or commitments. Technology and Innovation: governments embrace the importance of providing citizens with open access to technology, the role of new technologies in driving innovation, and the importance of increasing the capacity of citizens to use technology.

Open Data is a both a principle of Open Government and an enabler for Government 2.0

Open Data is … Public data Which is not subject to data protection or other limitations Open Formats Available in non-proprietary formats e.g. CSV, XML, KML, RDF, open APIs Machine Readable In a format that computers can process Accessible Available to the widest range of people for the widest range of uses

Why Open Data? Transparency To Open up Government and enable the Public to see the underlying information. What is the actual evidence-based reality as opposed to the perceived reality Participation To increase citizen engagement with Government. If Government and Citizens are to cooperate, then Government can’t be the only ones with the information Collaboration In addition to Citizen-Government collaboration outlined earlier, also - To enable the combination of data from different public sector agencies To enable other sectors to collaborate with Government. Economic Opportunities Public sector data can be used as the basis for online services, mobile applications, analytics, etc.

Fingal County Council launched the first Open Data website in the country in November 2010 Fingal Open Data evolved from the principles of the Fingal Data Hub and the Open Data movement. In Summer 2010 we were preparing a report with data about all Local Authorities which was difficult to find and only available in PDF We discovered the Open Data movement and felt that this was a better way We decided to take the initiative with the backing of the County Manager and Fingal Open Data was born It is available at data.fingal.ie The website, which you can see on screen, provides public access to source data from Council systems.

In October 2011, the 4 Dublin Authorities and NUI Maynooth laucnhed the Dublinked website Dublinked is a Network for Sharing Data to facilitate innovation in the urban environment through collaboration between private, public and research partners with the Dublin city region as a proving ground The aim is to enable innovators to collaborate on tackling challenges facing the Dublin city region using public sector data as the basis. www.dublinked.ie

www.dublinked.ie

Datastore 200 datasets (557 files) Data from 4 Dublin Councils and OSI data in research zone (thanks to OSI for being the first) National datasets (Hazardous & Transfrontier Waste Shipments; National Public Transport Nodes; NIAH) Regional Datasets Themes focussed for first release of data were Land Use, Transport & Environmental Zones – Open and Research (Members) – O & M Data criteria for Members zone – Legal issues, Technical (e.g. streaming/live data (samples); binary (Traffic)), Commercial (high-value) Formats – open & non-proprietary where possible; can be onerous to convert – working towards this goal; go ugly early; respond to feedback Metadata for each dataset – Dublinked ‘lite’ standard developed in partnership with Dept. Environment, NUI Galway, Dept. Marine & Natural Resources; compliant with international standards

Dublinked is first and foremost an Innovation Network Dublinked organises regular themed events to facilitate networking and re-use of data

The eGovernment Action plan contains 3 specific actions relating to Open Data All public bodies will publish Open Data Data published in reports should also be published in parallel in open formats Public bodies will identify data holdings and release by default

The Open Knowledge Foundation has identified 10 national datasets that should be released by Governments which have been chosen for their breadth and relevance

Transparency is one of the principles of the Open Government Partnership Open Data can help enable Transparency The following are some examples of technology being used to enable transparency in Government

Fingal County Council was the first Local Authority in Ireland to webcast Council meetings

Fingal County council publishes its Annual Budgets in open formats

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform publishes details of Government Budgets and Spending

The Houses of the Oireachtas webcasts and publishes proceedings of the Oireachtas

KildareStreet.com is a not for profit website that takes Oireachtas proceedings from the Oireachtas website and repurposes them in an easy to use format and also enables comments on proceedings

Who is my TD is another website created and maintained by a volunteer This provides contact details for politicial representatives – Councillors, TDs and MEPs – through an ease to use location based search interface This information is not readily available anywhere else

Government 2.0 is all about using collaborative technology to enable citizens and government to engage and solve collective problems Participation is also one of the principles of the Open Government Partnership Open Data can also help enable Participation

Fingal County Council used technology to enable online submissions in respect of Development Plans including drawing of site locations online

Kilkenny County Council uses Blogs to enable citizens to provide feedback on proposed Plans for their area

In Melbourne, Australia the draft City Development Plan is published as a Wiki and the public can directly edit the Plan There is also a discussion page relating to each section of the plan where suggestions can be outlined or changes justified All versions are retained to enable comparison between versions of the Plan Once the public consultation phase is complete, the Council deliberates on the contributions to organise, refine and incorporate ideas in the most practical way

The Civiq platform developed by researchers from UCC, TCD, Kilkenny County Council in partnership with Fingal County Council will provide an online environment for citizen discussions, citizen participation in consultations and online submissions

The Oireachtas provides a facility for online submission and viewing of Petitions to Government

In North Sydney Council, Australia citizens can participate in determining budget priorities The citizen can choose to increase, decrease or not alter spending under the budget headings Their selections are totalled interactively so that they can see whether they are over or under budget and if over budget what the implications are for rates Citizens inputs are compiled into a report which feeds into the Councils decision-making process

FixYourStreet is an open transparent tool for reporting problems to Local Government It also has an Open Data dimension, as the data is exposed through an API for developers to write programs that consume the data behind the site – location, details and resolution of Reported issues

These programs could be Apps, Visualisations, alternative interfaces, etc HeyGov! is an example of the type of development that could be done with FixYourStreet data

The FixYourStreet approach has been taken a step further As well as allowing people to let you know where there are problems, why not let them suggest where services should be located Fixcity.org Bike Racks website evolved from New York City looking at how it could maximise the value of its CRM investment The website enables citizens to identify a location where they believe bike racks should be provided, to include a photo of the location and to outline their reasons for the suggested location Other citizens can vote on the suggestions Citizens can also check whether their suggested location meets Bike Rack Location Guidelines to see racks provided sooner

Open Data is nothing new in the G.I.S. world One of the best examples of Open Data is OpenStreetMap This is collaborative spatial data made openly available

The U.K. Department of Transport made NAPTAN bus stop dataset available to OpenStreetMap OpenStreetMap volunteers check, edit and verify the data via the NOVAM viewer Improved data quality of public dataset Potential for the same approach to be used here with Government datasets

Hyperlocal is concerned with the provision of information for a community with a focus on the concerns of the residents of the community Hyperlocal website normally use Blog technologies

Hyperlocal.ie aims to promote and support Hyperlocal sites in Ireland

CityCamp is an Unconference model and Online Community which focusses on innovation for Local Government and Community organisations

In Holland, the Government is focussing on Social Challenges and how Open Data might be used to help address those challenges

What is Government as a Platform?

In 2007, Tim O’Reilly co-hosted a meeting of 30 people which developed a set of principles for Open Data He coined the phrase Government as a Platform which is outlined in the book Open Government Government As A Platform is the concept of enabling innovation in Government by people inside and outside Government Open Standards Simplicity Design for Participation Open Data Open APIs Learn from Hackers Share

As part of Innovation Dublin, ScraperWiki organised a Hacks and Hackers Day in October 2010 We set this event as a target for the launch of Fingal Open Data

On the 4 th & 5 th July, the NDRC ran Ireland’s first Open Data Challenge In partnership with Fingal County Council, Dublin City Council, Microsoft and the Irish Internet Association Participants developed ideas and business propositions based on Fingal Open Data and Dublin City data

In order to encourage the reuse of data published on Fingal Open Data and Dublinked, Fingal County Council organised the Apps4Fingal competition The competition ran from 9 th November 2011 to 9 th January 2012 There was a prize fund of €11,500 thanks to the generosity of our sponsors 22 Apps were submitted 36 Ideas were entered

All winners and runners up of the Apps4Fingal competition

The Irish Open Data Community has existed online since October 2010 In October 2012 it organised its first real-world meetup 7 meetups to date Next one is on Thursday 20th June on the theme of Open Government Partnership

Open Data Day took place in 102 cities worldwide on 23 rd February 2013 The Irish Open Data community organised an Open Data hackathon in Dublin Participants worked on 10 different projects Some of these are being further developed – in particular a group has been working on advancing Health related Open Data

Winner of the Overall & Tourism Apps Categories was Discover Fingal Discover Fingal is a Mobile Web App in which users are encouraged to discover historical and cultural sites in Fingal through a Find and Reward Facebook App and Mobile Website. Detailed information is provided about each site. If a user checks into three cultural sites they are rewarded with a voucher for a free cup of tea or coffee which can be redeemed at Skerries Mills.

Winner of the Enterprise Apps Category was mypp.ie Mypp.ie is a Web App which uses Planning Application data from all 4 Dublin local authorities. These are displayed on a map allowing users to easily check planning applications in an area. Features include a notification service, a 3D interactive house showing what works need planning permission, a professional directory and planning-related news feed. Planning applications are colour coded by status and more info can be displayed.

Hit The Road is a startup using Public Transport data as the basis for its journey planner app

Parkya is a startup which has created an app to help people with finding and paying for parking

FixMyArea is a commercial website which utilises the FixYourStreet interface to submit reports to those Local Authorities using the system

FixMyStreet is a voluntary website which utilises the FixYourStreet interface to submit reports to those Local Authorities using the system

Dublin City Community Maps has an API

Iarnrod Eireann API

Real Time Passenger Information API

Companies Registration Office API

Data.gov.uk – the UK Government Open Data site – is built on CKAN which has a built-in API meaning that all published datasets are available via an API

Code for America is a not-for-profit organisation that brings web-industry professionals to work with city Governments in the United States in order to promote openness, participation and efficiency in municipal governments. 3 programmes – Fellowship connects developers with Local Government Accelerator provides seed funding, office space and mentoring to civic startups Brigade helps community groups reuse civic software

In summary, Government 2.0 is about using open and collaborative approaches and technologies to transform Government It is enabled by Web 2.0 technologies and Open Data It shares many of the features of Open Government It advocates and enables increased participation by citizens in Government

In line with the theme, this presentation is licenced for sharing under a Creative Commons licence It is available for viewing and downloading on slideshare Thank you.