Open Government - Keynote at DrupalCon, Munich 22.August 2012

Anke Domscheit-Berg

DrupalCon, München
22.08.2012

Digital Democracy – How Technology
helps Governments and Citizens to Open Up
Politics and Public Administration

Anke Domscheit-Berg, 22.08.2012, mailto: adb@opengov.me, DrupalCon, Munich

Agenda

!   Open
Government
1x1

!   Tech
enabled
top
down
Open
Gov

!   Tech
enabled
bo6om
up
Open
Gov

!   Take
away
summary


My
convic2on:

The
future
of
government
is
transparency.

Its
already
there.

Its
just
not
evenly
distributed
yet.

(free
a'er
William
Gibson)


Open Government builts on
Transparency

!   Open
Data
(raw
format)

Transparency !   Transparent
decisions,
processes,

consequences
(e.g.
how
laws
are
made)

!   „Crowdsourcing“

as
method
for
public

procurement
and
innovaIon

Collaboration ! CooperaIon
in
and
across
authoriIes,
with

Civil
Society

! eDemocracy/eParIcipaIon
(co-‐decide,

Participation consult,
discuss)

! Mobilise
ciIzens,
improve
service


Governments Followed the Trend
for More Transparency and Interaction

!   NaIonal
Open
data
portals

(2009/2010)

!   Open
Government
IniIaIves

!   Social
Media
used
to
listen

!   CollaboraIve
tools
to
harness

creaIvity
of
people


Now, Governments Network with Each
Other and NGOs to Speed Up Open Gov

www.opengovpartnership.org

!   55
countries

!   NaIonal
AcIon
Plans

with
transparent,

measurable

commitments

!   NGO
and
broad
public

involvement
mandatory

–
Community
Public

Partnerships

!   Sharing
knowledge,

experience,
tools


Open Data Portals Pop Up Everywhere

It is no longer a primarily
anglo american phenomenon.


Data.gov.uk – from Data for Experts to
Transparency Portal for Citizens


Official Data.gov.uk Portal Includes Data
from NGO Whoislobbying.com


New Open Data Portal Links to Political
Goals and Progress Achievement


Who Does What in Government?
How Much Are They Paid?

Typical Open
Government
Plattforms are:
•  modular
Mash ups
•  Combine
multiple
sources
•  Have
interactive
and
community
elements


Visualisations Make Complex Content
Understandable – Basis for Participation

WhereDoesMyMoneyGo.org (UK)

Built by Open Knowledge Foundation, UK,
with published government data


Open Data Unlashes Innovation Potential
for New Useful Services

Where is a free rental bike (or rack) in London?


EU: “Open Data – a Driver for Innovation,
Growth, and a Transparent Government”

!   EU
Commissioner
Neelie
Kroes
esImates
potenIal
value

creaIon
by
open
data
in
EU
at
app.
40bn€

!   EU
plans
to:

!   Go
live
with
EU
open
data
portal
in
2012

!   Deﬁne
rules
for
open
data
in
EU
member
states

!   Fund
100
mio
€
for
new
projects
and
research
on
open
data

!   Announced
“rules”:

!   Machine
readable

!   At
no
cost
for
users
–
with
few
excepIons

!   For
any
use


US and Indian Governments Cooperate
For Open Source Open Data Portal


Opengovplatform –
Developed on Github


Agenda

!   Open
Government
1x1

!   Tech
enabled
top
down
Open
Gov

!   Tech
enabled
bo<om
up
Open
Gov

!   Take
away
summary


Digital Citizens Take Initiative – when
They Don’t See Governmental Action

! Leaking
missing
documents
/
informaIon

! CreaIng
the
laws
they
miss

! Geang
rid
of
laws
(or
ministers)
they
dislike

! Monitoring
poliIcal
accountability

! FighIng
corrupIon
and
abuse
of
power

! Geang
organised
to
push
bo6om
up
open
government

! And
they
copy
what
they
see
somewhere
else


Leaking Now A Known Option for Opening
Governments Bottom Up

! CorrupIon

! Power
abuse

! Human
Rights

violaIon

! Environmental
crimes

! „Secret“
public

contracts

! Waste
of
public

budgets


Accountability - How Do German
Bundestag MPs Vote? Online TV tells us.

www.parlameter.zdf.de


NGOs Provide Access to Open Data
where National Portals Are Lacking

!   www.oﬀenedaten.de
German
naIonal
open
data
portal

subsItute
operated
by
Open
Knowledge
FoundaIon
Germany

for
naIonal
Apps
compeIIon

!   Supported
by
Federal
Ministry
of
Interior


Sometimes Community Takes the Lead in
Community Public Partnerships

!   Apps
for
Germany
was
organised
by
3
NGOs
(2011/2012)


Citizens Miss A Law?
They Now Write It Themselves!

•  Law to ensure transparency in government
incl. publication of lobby impact, contracts
•  Developed via Crowdsourcing in a public wiki!
•  Initiative of various NGOs and Pirate Party,
supported by 2 other political parties
•  Was to be decided via referendum (08/2012)
•  Adopted as law in June 2012 – 11 months
after initiative started

http://de.hamburgertransparenzgesetz.wikia.com

Plagiarism by a Federal Minister –
Collected in Public Wiki – Costs His Job


The Case of ACTA
ACTA Draft Published @ WikiLeaks in ‘08


FOI Portal Used to Gain Insights into
Core of Decision Making Processes

!   German
NGO

operated
FOI

portal
used
to

gain
insight
on

ACTA
negoIaIon

process

!   Response

declined
“would

endanger
public

safety”

!   7000€
collected

for
legal
defense


Digital Citizens Teach Each Other Whats
Going On – Using Viral Techniques


EU Parliament Listens to the People.
#NoActa Won.


The 99% of Digital Citizens Fought Back
– and Won (Not the War but the Battle)

Before – After Internet Blackout Day
!   Stop
Online
Piracy
Act
(US)
killed
by

Transparency
e.g.
through
SOPA

OPERA
and
mass
acIon

!   18.01.2012:
Internet
Blackout
Day

!   10
Mio
peIIon
signatures

!   8
Mio
calls
from
Wikipedia
tool

!   4
Mio
emails
via
3
websites

!   2.2
Mio
Imes
#sopa
@Twi6er
24hrs

!   115.000+
sites
turned
black

!   1.000.000.000
people
blocked
from

websites


Money Makes Laws – But Now We Can
See How and Take Targetted Action

•  If passed, Prop. 23
would suspend
Global Warming Act
(cut greenhouse gas
emissions in CA to
1990 levels by 2020)

•  Oil & Gas
companies paid
10+mioUS$ in CA to
MPs to make them
vote for Prop. 23


Fighting Corruption in India Via
Crowdsourced Transparency

! jhg

I am a Civil Contractor. I got a
contract as per giving bribe …
The Engineer in charge of the
site asked me to put less
cement than the desired and do
a 50/50 of the remaining.


Open Gov Copy Paste: MySociety.org
Tools are Open Source – and Replicated

Original:
WhatDoTheyKnow.org

Sites based on this page:
•  Brazil
•  EU
•  New Zealand
•  Kosovo
•  Spain
•  Germany


MySociety.org Added Service Tools to
Transparency. Again – Open Source

!   Transparency
on
MPs
(plus
easy
interacIon)

!   Helping
with
FOI
requests
or
peIIons
(local
and
naIonal)

!   Helping
with
issues
in
municipal
infrastructure/public
transport


Summary

1.  Secrecy
and
corrupIon
have
harder
Imes
in
digital

democracies.
Transparency
is
contagious.
Globally.

2.  Ordinary
people
digitally
join
forces,
become
powerful

counterparts
in
policy
making.

3.  Governments
which
don’t
open
will
be
made
transparent

bo6om
up.
It
is
WHEN
not
IF.

4.  Open
government
likes
open
source,
sharing,
collaboraIon.

5.  The
Tech
Community
is
a
key
enabler
of
this
(r)evoluIon.

Doing
business
in
open
gov
means
helping
our
democracies

get
be6er.


Contact

Anke
Domscheit-‐Berg

!   Journalist,
AcIvist,
Entrepreneur,
Member
of
the
Pirate
Party

! Founder
of
www.OpenGov.me

!   Co-‐founder
of
Government
2.0
Network
Germany

! Twi6er:
@anked,
@opengovme,
@fempowerme

! mailto:
adb@opengov.me


Open Government - Keynote at DrupalCon, Munich 22.August 2012

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