Local government and community democracy online presentation to national League of Women Voters convention.

1. Sunshine 2.0:Open and Interactive Steven Clift Executive Director E-Democracy.org

2. Government by Day, Citizen by Night

3. Sunshine 2.0 Vision. Demand. Goals. Measures. …for Local Democracy Online

4. Government Online – PewInternet.org April 2010 report brings fresh data: 48% of internet users have looked for information about a public policy or issue online with their local, state or federal government 46% have looked up what services a government agency provides 41% have downloaded government forms 35% have researched official government documents or statistics 33% have renewed a driver’s license or auto registration 31% use online platforms such as blogs, social networking sites, email, online video or text messaging to get government information 23% participate in the online debate around government policies or issues, with much of this discussion occurring outside of official government channels.

5. Framing Indicators(with examples) Help us shape them. Early “big ten” draft available.

6. 1. What government wants to tell us.

7. A home page says 1,000 words. Minneapolis wants so: Share news it has decided is important Highlight “results” Use social media Provide non-English information Promote services strongly Minneapolis must: Post salaries of top three paid employees for 90 days on home page

8. 2. What government must tell us. What we feel we need to know. “public=online”? – Transparency campaign by the Sunlight Foundation Accountability information.

9. Timely Access to Information Key e-service –e-alerts so you can ACT on information before it is too late!

10. Public Meetings On-Demand Linked video, documents Also see PublicMeetings.Info

11. Reusing Data – Personalized to You

12. Budgets and Spending South Carolina state agencies must put spending information online Comptroller promoting local government efforts

13. 3. What we want to tell government Communication. Understanding the “will of the people” in government.

14. Contact Me! Old and new clash online – “Current agendas are posted in front of City Hall in King Plaza on the elevator walls …”

15. Sorting Policy Input from Service Queries Menlo Park, CA “Community Engagement Feedback” Both citizen and government can track responses

16. 4. What we need to “hear” from each other publicly in the context of government decisions Imagining online public spaces and hearings?

17. Great Councilmember Page, But Disconnected from Two-way

18. Tip Toe in the Facebook Real-names giving some governments confidence to create Facebook Pages with open comments Why not elsewhere?

19. 5. Community collaboration, problem-solving, and inclusive engagement

20. This page left intentionally blank. Let’s make this happen.

21. Democracy Home Page Let’s be citizen-centric online in government.

22. Democracy Home Page How process works, effective participation Decision-making information Who represents you? Good tools for elected officials Local laws and rules Local elections Budgets, spending, and taxes Accountability Ethics, Freedom of Information, Transparency data, your rights, etc.

23. Democracy “Home” AskBristol.org – A world leading local e-democracy city (UK)

24. Democracy “Home” Palo Alto giving it a try with “Know Zone” Secrecy image?

25. Next Generation Local Democracy Features More examples!

26. Gathering Public Input Santa Cruz – UserVoice Amherst – Localocracy Manor “Labs” Texas

27. Freedom of Information Requests UK WhatDoTheyKnow.com shares results online

28. Deep Transparency E-mail sent to all Palo Alto City Council members before meetings Data sets in Washington DC

29. Really Deep Transparency Post-Communist Estonia appreciates “public=online” Tallinn’s Document Register, National X-Road provides secure access to private data held on you

30. Community-wide Support for Democracy Online Webinar preview: http://e-democracy.org/webinars

31. Locals Online What are the media, community groups, active citizens and others doing to foster and support local democracy online? What can “communities” themselves do to address public challenges and address social needs if they have the online tools? See recent “Neighbors Online” report from PewInternet.org and Locals Online community.

32. The “default” local online news commenting experience is … Most people see, expect public conflict.Sharp contrast with private social networking.

33. “The most democratizing aspect of the Internet is the ability of people to organize and communicate in groups.”- Steven Clift in “Democracy is Online” article published by Internet Society, 1998

34. Neighbors Online – PewInternet.org 27% of American adult Internet users (or 20% of adults overall) use “digital tools to talk to their neighbors and keep informed about community issues.” 14% read a blog dealing with community issues at least once in the last year 13% exchanged emails with neighbors about community issues 7% say they belong to a community e-mail list (more women) 6% communicated with neighbors by text messaging on cell phones 5% joined a social network site group connected to community issues 3% followed neighbors using Twitter Read full report Lower income, Latino, rural need to be included Analysis on E-Democracy.org blog.

35. CC:, E-Lists, Placeblogs, Social Nets CC: E-mail The simple sheet of paper passed around at National Night Out … E-mail Discussion Lists E-Democracy.org, Google/YahooGroups, DC nhoods, Brooklyn parents Placeblogs Cornerstone of “citizen journalism” online, sometimes “watch dog” protest sites Local Social Networks Facebook Pages/Groups, Ning Sites, etc.

36. City Hall Local Media Coverage Personal Networks “Secondary Networks”e-mail forwards Civil Society Creating Public Space - Issues Forums Ctizen #1 Arts Group City Councilor Mayor Reporter Candidate New Resident Issues Forum GroupServer e-mails posts web view Citizens Local Biz Subscribe once Commitment secured Post via e-mail/web Librarian Citizen 500 Advocacy Group Neighborhood Leader Police Forum Manager

37. Neighbor Issues Forums Stories Somali community – 20 missing youth to crosswalks “Little Mekong” and BoaLee’s lessons Powderhorn Cinco de Mayoviolence Community garden Chickens in Bemidji Leech Lake Native American majority rural forum Inclusion evaluation in progress:http://e-democracy.org/inclusion

38. Many Purposes Meet Communicate Socialize Share Information, Contacts, Advice Support Neighbors Exchange Opinions Media Accountability Community News Announce/Invite Organize Collaborate Problem-solving Build bridges/Inclusion Influence Government

39. Conclusion The real e-revolution starts with your small group exercise.

40. Further Information As part of Participation 3.0 we are: Convening and working to “move the field” Plotting a “Locals Online” roll call webinar Working with League of Women Voters on “Sunshine 2.0” guide for local evaluation of govs online support for democracy Working with OpenPlans.org on “DemocracyMap” Really pushing inclusion in online civic engagement Developing next generation partnership proposals by 4Q Steven Clift clift@e-democracy.org @democracy on Twitter 612-234-7072 Links http://blog.e-democracy.org http://e-democracy.org/p3 http://stevenclift.com Slides also available from: http://www.slideshare.net/netclift