The document discusses how the privileged are able to overlook problems with government services that the poor struggle with daily. It notes that government bureaucracies often deliver terrible quality services to the poor, and the press tends to ignore or be unaware of the pain this causes. It argues that if a government cannot effectively implement its policies, then it cannot properly govern. The document promotes the idea that interfaces to government can and should be simple, beautiful, and easy to use for all citizens.
This talk was given as part of the DD Network day, in June 2017, exploring the relationship between disability, citizenship and wider social movements to advance a richer and more welcoming community life.
As the country gears up for a year of intensified advocacy for the resolution of the many issues left incomplete by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on the eve of the 20th Anniversary of the commencement of the TRC's work in 2016, the continuing challenges that have resulted from the failure to complete the work initiated by the country's TRC, were presented to the UCT Medical Class of 1975 at its reunion on Saturday 21 November 2015 in Cape Town.
The document discusses Amnesty International's new worldwide campaign called #StopTorture, which aims to raise awareness about torture. It proposes localized demonstration actions in Greece, such as using virtual reality to simulate torture or street theater portraying torture scenes, to shock the public and increase understanding of the widespread use of torture. The document requests help from PR agencies to support these proposed demonstration activities pro bono to promote justice and positive social change.
An Unresolved Struggle for Reparations, Redress & Restitution in South Africa Khulumani Support Group
This document summarizes perspectives on reparations and redress for racial injustices in South Africa. It discusses the views of thinkers like Bryan Stevenson, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Hillary Beckles who argue that countries must address the lasting impacts of policies like slavery, segregation, and colonialism. It notes that resistance to reparations in South Africa reflects a failure to understand how these historical actions have harmed people and that reckoning with moral debts is needed for true peace and healing. The document advocates for a 10-point plan of reparatory justice, including apologies, cultural programs, and debt cancellation to address inequalities and move towards repairing damage from the past.
Tshepo Madlingozi: 20 Years of TRC - TAKING STOCK OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN TRUTH ...Khulumani Support Group
by Tshepo Madlingozi, Chairperson of Khulumani Support Group at the 3rd INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM OF THE INSTTUTO HUMANITAS at UNISINOS, Brazil 16 September 2015
The document provides background information on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa. It discusses the TRC's formation in 1995 to promote reconciliation after apartheid and its three main tasks: to investigate human rights violations between 1960-1994, identify victims for reparations, and grant amnesty to perpetrators who fully disclosed their crimes. Archbishop Desmond Tutu chaired the TRC. Its goals were to acknowledge and record victims' experiences, hold some parties accountable to prevent future abuses, and foster a culture of tolerance rather than covering up past violations.
This short document promotes creating presentations using Haiku Deck, a tool for making slideshows. It encourages the reader to get started making their own Haiku Deck presentation and sharing it on SlideShare. In a single sentence, it pitches the idea of using Haiku Deck to easily design presentations.
1) The document discusses conceptualizing a retail solution for competitive pricing. It aims to design a prototype that can help clients price their own products to gain an advantage.
2) The retail industry is the fifth largest sector globally and expected to grow significantly with emerging markets seeing 20-25% growth. Pricing is a central concern for many retail problems.
3) The proposed solution, Intello-Price, would collect and aggregate POS transaction data, analyze pricing and competitor data, and provide recommendations on pricing points to help maximize sales and profits.
This talk was given as part of the DD Network day, in June 2017, exploring the relationship between disability, citizenship and wider social movements to advance a richer and more welcoming community life.
As the country gears up for a year of intensified advocacy for the resolution of the many issues left incomplete by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on the eve of the 20th Anniversary of the commencement of the TRC's work in 2016, the continuing challenges that have resulted from the failure to complete the work initiated by the country's TRC, were presented to the UCT Medical Class of 1975 at its reunion on Saturday 21 November 2015 in Cape Town.
The document discusses Amnesty International's new worldwide campaign called #StopTorture, which aims to raise awareness about torture. It proposes localized demonstration actions in Greece, such as using virtual reality to simulate torture or street theater portraying torture scenes, to shock the public and increase understanding of the widespread use of torture. The document requests help from PR agencies to support these proposed demonstration activities pro bono to promote justice and positive social change.
An Unresolved Struggle for Reparations, Redress & Restitution in South Africa Khulumani Support Group
This document summarizes perspectives on reparations and redress for racial injustices in South Africa. It discusses the views of thinkers like Bryan Stevenson, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Hillary Beckles who argue that countries must address the lasting impacts of policies like slavery, segregation, and colonialism. It notes that resistance to reparations in South Africa reflects a failure to understand how these historical actions have harmed people and that reckoning with moral debts is needed for true peace and healing. The document advocates for a 10-point plan of reparatory justice, including apologies, cultural programs, and debt cancellation to address inequalities and move towards repairing damage from the past.
Tshepo Madlingozi: 20 Years of TRC - TAKING STOCK OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN TRUTH ...Khulumani Support Group
by Tshepo Madlingozi, Chairperson of Khulumani Support Group at the 3rd INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM OF THE INSTTUTO HUMANITAS at UNISINOS, Brazil 16 September 2015
The document provides background information on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa. It discusses the TRC's formation in 1995 to promote reconciliation after apartheid and its three main tasks: to investigate human rights violations between 1960-1994, identify victims for reparations, and grant amnesty to perpetrators who fully disclosed their crimes. Archbishop Desmond Tutu chaired the TRC. Its goals were to acknowledge and record victims' experiences, hold some parties accountable to prevent future abuses, and foster a culture of tolerance rather than covering up past violations.
This short document promotes creating presentations using Haiku Deck, a tool for making slideshows. It encourages the reader to get started making their own Haiku Deck presentation and sharing it on SlideShare. In a single sentence, it pitches the idea of using Haiku Deck to easily design presentations.
1) The document discusses conceptualizing a retail solution for competitive pricing. It aims to design a prototype that can help clients price their own products to gain an advantage.
2) The retail industry is the fifth largest sector globally and expected to grow significantly with emerging markets seeing 20-25% growth. Pricing is a central concern for many retail problems.
3) The proposed solution, Intello-Price, would collect and aggregate POS transaction data, analyze pricing and competitor data, and provide recommendations on pricing points to help maximize sales and profits.
This document summarizes a student's career project on designing a framework for a SaaS delivery platform. The project objectives are to design the platform framework, list features for each component, design a subscription/billing process, analyze competitors using Gartner's Magic Quadrant, and develop promotional strategies. Key points include a proposed framework with components like tenant enrollment and billing, positioning competitors on the Magic Quadrant, and a 6-step promotional strategy framework. The platform aims to help software companies shift to SaaS and generate constant revenue through a pay-per-use model.
Puerto Rico has experienced growth in its film industry in recent years. The Puerto Rico Film Commission estimates that the film industry contributed $74 million to Puerto Rico's economy in 2014 and an estimated $78 million in 2015. These estimates are pending the commission's annual reports for those years.
Nmv innovation fund deck tools shootoutkhadarahmed
The document discusses the New Tools Shootout 2014 Innovation Fund and the need for seed stage capital financing for startups. It outlines various award categories for the shootout and provides statistics on New Media Ventures' past investments. It also describes the gap in early stage funding between NMV's angel investments and seed capital, proposing a $1 million NMV Innovation Fund to provide seed financing for both non-profit and for-profit startups.
Microsoft has embraced open source software and collaborates openly on GitHub. Open source allows software to be developed and improved through collaboration and sharing of code. Microsoft sees open source as a way to enhance its products and services by integrating open technologies and contributing to open projects. Customers have responded positively to Microsoft's increased involvement in open source.
3.2.merawat perlengkapan dan mengadakan pengecekan keamananAndre Dirgahayu
Rencana pelaksanaan pembelajaran ini membahas tentang merawat peralatan multimedia di SMK Negeri 6 Jakarta. Materi ajar meliputi perawatan peralatan produksi multimedia. Siswa akan belajar cara merawat peralatan secara berkala, membersihkan dan memperbaiki perlengkapan sesuai instruksi, serta mendokumentasikan proses perawatan. Penilaian dilakukan melalui tes tertulis dan praktik merawat peralatan multimedia.
The document summarizes post-launch research conducted on the Mahindra Bolero Maxi Truck Plus (BMT Plus) small pickup truck. The research found that BMT Plus was able to increase Mahindra's market share in the small pickup segment to 48% within one year due to perceptions of it being a strong, dependable, and stylish vehicle suitable for business needs. However, captive users viewed it slightly less favorably than MLO (fleet operator) users. To strengthen brand perception and recall, especially among captive users, the research proposes a marketing campaign focused on emotional connectivity, testimonials, rational benefits, loyalty programs, and below-the-line activations.
The document profiles various communities on Twitter across different cities and regions. It analyzes aspects like demographics, languages used, hashtags, and types of users in each location's Twitter cohort. Key details are provided on topics like students, media, entertainment, religion, and subcultures in places like Puerto Rico, St. Louis, Baltimore, Istanbul, Barcelona, Saudi Arabia, and more.
Este documento explica cómo calcular el perímetro y área de diferentes figuras geométricas. Define el perímetro y área, y proporciona las fórmulas para calcularlos en triángulos, cuadrados, círculos y otras figuras. Incluye ejemplos numéricos para practicar el cálculo del perímetro y área.
Tim O'Reilly discusses the concept of "Government as a Platform" where government provides core services and data through APIs that can then be built upon by both government agencies and private developers. This allows for modular development and innovation. Specific examples discussed include open data platforms, building reusable services for tasks like identity verification that can be used across agencies, and writing RFPs that require vendors to expose APIs so their systems can integrate with others. The goal is to leverage technology and private sector innovation to more efficiently deliver government services to citizens.
Tirupati Group are the best builders in pune and they provides 2 bhk flats in pune and Buy Flats in Pune Low Budget Flats in Pune,long-term and strong relationships with our clients.
Labanees Food from Swosti is a premium food company. They specialize in creating high quality foods. Their products are known for using only the finest ingredients sourced from local farms.
A document discusses problems related to time and work in quantitative aptitude. It provides important concepts like if A takes n days to complete a work, A's daily work is 1/n. It also discusses ratios when multiple workers are involved and the concept of direct and inverse variations between variables. Several example problems are solved related to determining the time taken by single or multiple workers to complete a given work. Key formulas discussed include relating the work completed to time taken and daily work of individuals.
Citizen experience como servir mejor al ciudadanoPPDPR
El documento describe cómo los gobiernos pueden mejorar la experiencia de los ciudadanos al acceder a los servicios gubernamentales. Actualmente, los ciudadanos enfrentan interacciones engorrosas, falta de visibilidad y demoras frustrantes. Los gobiernos deben enfocarse en proveer interacciones efectivas, visibilidad completa y servicios en línea para mejorar la experiencia ciudadana. También deben adaptarse a los cambios en las expectativas y comportamientos de los ciudadanos, quienes ahora demandan mejores servicios a través de
The document summarizes an agenda for a meeting focused on executing a framework for better digital services in Puerto Rico. The agenda includes discussions on: 1) Creating an innovation-driven tech hub in Puerto Rico; 2) Transforming Puerto Rico through open data initiatives and building relationships with communities; 3) Highlighting the work already done in Puerto Rico and next steps. Several speakers are also listed to discuss lessons from other jurisdictions, the importance of culture change, and identifying leaders supporting startups and entrepreneurs.
Este documento describe los esfuerzos del Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico para digitalizar sus registros, desarrollar infraestructura tecnológica y establecer conexiones con otras agencias gubernamentales. El objetivo es mejorar la eficiencia de los procesos, aumentar la transparencia y brindar servicios en línea a ciudadanos, notarios y estudiantes las 24 horas del día los 7 días de la semana.
Microsoft fy15 city next puerto rico may 2015PPDPR
El documento habla sobre CityNext de Microsoft, una iniciativa para ayudar a las ciudades a ser más competitivas, prósperas y sostenibles mediante el uso de tecnologías como la nube, big data, movilidad, redes sociales e Internet de las cosas. Microsoft y sus socios están ayudando a las ciudades a transformar sus operaciones e infraestructura, conectar a ciudadanos y empresas, y acelerar el desarrollo económico e innovación. Se presentan ejemplos de cómo CityNext ha ayudado a ciudades como São Paulo,
El documento presenta estadísticas sobre los casos abiertos, recaudos, desembolsos y certificaciones del Departamento del Trabajo y Recursos Humanos de Puerto Rico para los años fiscales 2012-2013 y 2013-2014. Los recaudos totales se mantuvieron estables, mientras que los casos abiertos disminuyeron ligeramente. La mayoría de los desembolsos se realizaron a través de tarjetas únicas y depósitos directos. El uso de Internet en Puerto Rico aumentó de 58% en 2014 a 69% en 2015 según datos presentados.
This document summarizes a student's career project on designing a framework for a SaaS delivery platform. The project objectives are to design the platform framework, list features for each component, design a subscription/billing process, analyze competitors using Gartner's Magic Quadrant, and develop promotional strategies. Key points include a proposed framework with components like tenant enrollment and billing, positioning competitors on the Magic Quadrant, and a 6-step promotional strategy framework. The platform aims to help software companies shift to SaaS and generate constant revenue through a pay-per-use model.
Puerto Rico has experienced growth in its film industry in recent years. The Puerto Rico Film Commission estimates that the film industry contributed $74 million to Puerto Rico's economy in 2014 and an estimated $78 million in 2015. These estimates are pending the commission's annual reports for those years.
Nmv innovation fund deck tools shootoutkhadarahmed
The document discusses the New Tools Shootout 2014 Innovation Fund and the need for seed stage capital financing for startups. It outlines various award categories for the shootout and provides statistics on New Media Ventures' past investments. It also describes the gap in early stage funding between NMV's angel investments and seed capital, proposing a $1 million NMV Innovation Fund to provide seed financing for both non-profit and for-profit startups.
Microsoft has embraced open source software and collaborates openly on GitHub. Open source allows software to be developed and improved through collaboration and sharing of code. Microsoft sees open source as a way to enhance its products and services by integrating open technologies and contributing to open projects. Customers have responded positively to Microsoft's increased involvement in open source.
3.2.merawat perlengkapan dan mengadakan pengecekan keamananAndre Dirgahayu
Rencana pelaksanaan pembelajaran ini membahas tentang merawat peralatan multimedia di SMK Negeri 6 Jakarta. Materi ajar meliputi perawatan peralatan produksi multimedia. Siswa akan belajar cara merawat peralatan secara berkala, membersihkan dan memperbaiki perlengkapan sesuai instruksi, serta mendokumentasikan proses perawatan. Penilaian dilakukan melalui tes tertulis dan praktik merawat peralatan multimedia.
The document summarizes post-launch research conducted on the Mahindra Bolero Maxi Truck Plus (BMT Plus) small pickup truck. The research found that BMT Plus was able to increase Mahindra's market share in the small pickup segment to 48% within one year due to perceptions of it being a strong, dependable, and stylish vehicle suitable for business needs. However, captive users viewed it slightly less favorably than MLO (fleet operator) users. To strengthen brand perception and recall, especially among captive users, the research proposes a marketing campaign focused on emotional connectivity, testimonials, rational benefits, loyalty programs, and below-the-line activations.
The document profiles various communities on Twitter across different cities and regions. It analyzes aspects like demographics, languages used, hashtags, and types of users in each location's Twitter cohort. Key details are provided on topics like students, media, entertainment, religion, and subcultures in places like Puerto Rico, St. Louis, Baltimore, Istanbul, Barcelona, Saudi Arabia, and more.
Este documento explica cómo calcular el perímetro y área de diferentes figuras geométricas. Define el perímetro y área, y proporciona las fórmulas para calcularlos en triángulos, cuadrados, círculos y otras figuras. Incluye ejemplos numéricos para practicar el cálculo del perímetro y área.
Tim O'Reilly discusses the concept of "Government as a Platform" where government provides core services and data through APIs that can then be built upon by both government agencies and private developers. This allows for modular development and innovation. Specific examples discussed include open data platforms, building reusable services for tasks like identity verification that can be used across agencies, and writing RFPs that require vendors to expose APIs so their systems can integrate with others. The goal is to leverage technology and private sector innovation to more efficiently deliver government services to citizens.
Tirupati Group are the best builders in pune and they provides 2 bhk flats in pune and Buy Flats in Pune Low Budget Flats in Pune,long-term and strong relationships with our clients.
Labanees Food from Swosti is a premium food company. They specialize in creating high quality foods. Their products are known for using only the finest ingredients sourced from local farms.
A document discusses problems related to time and work in quantitative aptitude. It provides important concepts like if A takes n days to complete a work, A's daily work is 1/n. It also discusses ratios when multiple workers are involved and the concept of direct and inverse variations between variables. Several example problems are solved related to determining the time taken by single or multiple workers to complete a given work. Key formulas discussed include relating the work completed to time taken and daily work of individuals.
Citizen experience como servir mejor al ciudadanoPPDPR
El documento describe cómo los gobiernos pueden mejorar la experiencia de los ciudadanos al acceder a los servicios gubernamentales. Actualmente, los ciudadanos enfrentan interacciones engorrosas, falta de visibilidad y demoras frustrantes. Los gobiernos deben enfocarse en proveer interacciones efectivas, visibilidad completa y servicios en línea para mejorar la experiencia ciudadana. También deben adaptarse a los cambios en las expectativas y comportamientos de los ciudadanos, quienes ahora demandan mejores servicios a través de
The document summarizes an agenda for a meeting focused on executing a framework for better digital services in Puerto Rico. The agenda includes discussions on: 1) Creating an innovation-driven tech hub in Puerto Rico; 2) Transforming Puerto Rico through open data initiatives and building relationships with communities; 3) Highlighting the work already done in Puerto Rico and next steps. Several speakers are also listed to discuss lessons from other jurisdictions, the importance of culture change, and identifying leaders supporting startups and entrepreneurs.
Este documento describe los esfuerzos del Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico para digitalizar sus registros, desarrollar infraestructura tecnológica y establecer conexiones con otras agencias gubernamentales. El objetivo es mejorar la eficiencia de los procesos, aumentar la transparencia y brindar servicios en línea a ciudadanos, notarios y estudiantes las 24 horas del día los 7 días de la semana.
Microsoft fy15 city next puerto rico may 2015PPDPR
El documento habla sobre CityNext de Microsoft, una iniciativa para ayudar a las ciudades a ser más competitivas, prósperas y sostenibles mediante el uso de tecnologías como la nube, big data, movilidad, redes sociales e Internet de las cosas. Microsoft y sus socios están ayudando a las ciudades a transformar sus operaciones e infraestructura, conectar a ciudadanos y empresas, y acelerar el desarrollo económico e innovación. Se presentan ejemplos de cómo CityNext ha ayudado a ciudades como São Paulo,
El documento presenta estadísticas sobre los casos abiertos, recaudos, desembolsos y certificaciones del Departamento del Trabajo y Recursos Humanos de Puerto Rico para los años fiscales 2012-2013 y 2013-2014. Los recaudos totales se mantuvieron estables, mientras que los casos abiertos disminuyeron ligeramente. La mayoría de los desembolsos se realizaron a través de tarjetas únicas y depósitos directos. El uso de Internet en Puerto Rico aumentó de 58% en 2014 a 69% en 2015 según datos presentados.
The document outlines the mission and pillars of advancing research and innovation in Puerto Rico. The pillars include science and research, commercialization and entrepreneurship, human capital, and infrastructure. It provides details on grant programs, tax benefits, collaboration initiatives, and strategic initiatives to support science and research. It also discusses programs and services to support human capital development, commercialization of research, and major infrastructure projects like the Bioprocess Development and Training Complex.
Este documento define una ciudad inteligente como una entidad orgánica que mejora la calidad de vida de los ciudadanos a través del intercambio de información entre sectores. Las ciudades inteligentes buscan lograr trabajo digno, seguridad, participación ciudadana y sostenibilidad mediante el uso de tecnologías que permitan servicios más eficientes e interconectados. Aunque existen desafíos como asegurar la privacidad y la interoperabilidad, las ciudades pueden volverse más inteligentes a través de enfoques de gobierno ab
The Indiana Office of Technology was established in 2005 to standardize the technology infrastructure of the state. It focuses on improving technology services for citizens while lowering costs. Some key benefits of centralizing services include a single helpdesk number, regional desktop support technicians, consolidated email systems, and a single data center, saving millions per year. The office also bills agencies for IT services using standardized rates, provides transparency in costs, and allows federal funds to pay for services. It has created a centralized solution platform integrating data from multiple agencies to help analyze issues like infant mortality and recidivism.
18. 39
“One privilege the insured and well-off have is to
excuse the terrible quality of services the
government routinely delivers to the poor. Too
often, the press ignores — or simply never knows
— the pain and trouble of interfacing with
government bureaucracies that the poor struggle
with daily.”
Ezra Klein, Washington Post
This is where I work now, and it’s where I’ve worked for the past few years, except that in June 2013, I left and worked….
Here. The EEOB.
I said yes to something totally crazy, to spending a year in DC as the Deputy Chief Technology officer of the US. Todd Park, the US CTO, had created a program modeled after CfA and wanted me to help run it, but I reversed pitched him; I told him what we really needed in the federal government was an American version of the Government Digital Service. I took a year leave of absence from CfA, my amazing board of directors rallied to keep the organization moving in the right direction while I was away. And last June, I showed up in DC and got to work. But a few months in, something even crazier happened.
So we’re out of Savagely and depressingly accurate territory now, but this is one out of literally tens of thousands of IT investments our federal government makes every year that total $80B just in contracting fees (Many people think this number is actually much higher) and as we know, a shockingly high percentage of them fail, and don’t get rescued. We are still far from government interfaces that work for the people. Is this a happy story yet?
So we’re out of Savagely and depressingly accurate territory now, but this is one out of literally tens of thousands of IT investments our federal government makes every year that total $80B just in contracting fees (Many people think this number is actually much higher) and as we know, a shockingly high percentage of them fail, and don’t get rescued. We are still far from government interfaces that work for the people. Is this a happy story yet?
Gov.uk is the work of the truly breakthrough Government Digital Service, a part of the Cabinet office, so positioned at the very center of the UK government. The GDS was formed after a $10B IT failure in the National Health Service. Essentially they got fed up and decided there had to be a better way of doing digital for the British people, so they hired the head of Digital from the Guardian and gave him complete authority and control over how the UK government spent money on IT.
Gov.Uk basically reorganizes government information around what users need, instead of what government wants to say, On the surface, this doesn’t look like a revolution, but neither did google when it started. Now it is also where citizens go to transact with the government, whether its paying taxes or doing a lasting power of attorney. They do the hard work to make complicated processes easy.
The most important outcome of the GDS in London has been showing the world that government services can be as easy and intuitive as Amazon or Uber, but its worth noting that this kind of quality is actually far less expensive. They are spending about a SIXTH of what they were before to have far more users, and happier users. And they’re inspiring the rest of the world.
This happened.
Todd pulled together an amazing team of people and they got to work on fixing the site. Some worked 20 hours a day for 100 days straight. One team duct taped the current site to make it through open enrollment; the other team rebuilt it from the ground up. Both are heroes. But why they did that gets back to why I asked about health insurance. One time we were in the office reading letters from folks who had had to choose between healthcare for themselves and healthcare for their kids.
There was a time late at night at the office when I found out about traffic to the site late at night.
LESSON HERE IS if you want the most talented technologist in the country to come work for you, ask them to do something that really matters and they will not fail. The second lesson is a grim one:
It’s not just
This is what it takes to apply to the food stamps program
The messages are confusing, and result in people being dropped from the rolls.
The messages are confusing, and result in people being dropped from the rolls.
Promptly fixes that.
But then they didn’t stop there.
This is what it takes to apply to the food stamps program
There are three things you can do today:
Balance in your state [GO TO XYZ]
SNAP Census - Join us in showing how our own government services work (citizenonboard.com)
Share your ideas. RIGHT NOW. c4a.me/ideas (Problems and Partners)
Not just the poor. Enterpreneurs too.
Really much less dire day to day frustrations with govt that led me to start CfA but also put me on a path to learning about what’s really at stake when govt fails that brought my work at the federal level and the local level together.
One of the things Code for America does is run a program that allows mid-career developers and designers from companies like Apple and Google to do a year of service with local governments. In 2012, we had the great pleasure of working with the city and county of Honolulu, and so we sent a team of three really remarkable folks, one of whom was from a tech start up in Boulder, to work with the IT department on how it communicates with its citizens. With only three people and a little less than a year to do the work, we insisted up front that we would not be able to tackle a redesign of their many thousand page website. But when the Code for America fellows arrived, they heard over and over again that that was what was most needed, both from inside and outside government.
So they started by looking at the current website. You can see the navigation at the top, starting with Government, and Agencies and Departments, and the big block of news releases in the middle. But they wanted to know what the people of Honolulu were trying to find out or do when they went to the site.
So the team analyzed the search logs of honoulu.gov to see what citizens were searching for, and surprising to anyone in govt who knows that states handle motor vehicles, top search was for drivers licenses.
So they did that search on the current site.
There are over a dozen pages ABOUT drivers licenses, but nowhere does it clearly tell you how to get one.
So they built a clean, simple interface just answer to that question and the nine other top searches on the site. They modeled it after gov.uk, a hugely successful effort of a new unit in UK government called the Government Digital Service, which I’ll talk about later.
When you type DL into this search, this is what you get back.
But back to Honolulu, where our team of three didn’t have the resources of the UK cabinet office, at that point they only had answers to the top 10 questions. And they knew that among the three of them they could not write the rest of this content. So they held a WriteAThon.
Through civic groups and the network they’d built, they invited the people of Honolulu to come to a coworking space near City Hall on a Saturday, and they put the next 60 questions that they’d identified as needs on this window.
And people spend the day researching, writing and editing answers to those questions, and putting them in Honolulu Answers. The mayor spent some of the day there, people bonded,
And they had a fantastic time together. City government websites and joy are not two thoughts that often go together, but there was a lot of joy in both the making and using of this resource for the citizens of Honolulu. The volunteers felt really good about their work. They’d shown two important things: that they could make interfaces to government that are simple, beautiful and easy to use, and that they didn’t just have to go to City Hall to complain about what didn’t work, they could fix it themselves.
So that’s two of our lessons. SBETU & hands. The next step happens in my own town. Forrest Frizzell in IT department in Honolulu had already made my favorite people in the world list by finding an application that a team of fellows in the first year of Code for America had made, and redeploying it in Honolulu., which sparked about a dozen other cities to do the same. When he worked with the fellows on Honolulu Answers, he made his own contribution to the library of open source applications that cities can stand up without going through a long, complicated procurement process. And largely independently of me, my own city of Oakland, CA picked up the ball. A civic group called Open Oakland which is part of the Code for America Brigade program of tech volunteers who help their cities around the country, worked with the staff in Oakland City Hall, invited the community, and held its own Write—A-Thon.
I’m particularly proud because I contributed. This is one of a few hundred answers that Oakland residents can count on being accurate (the city staff checks them) but also simple, clear and understandable. Those of you who know a bit about government procurement processes know that this kind of speed and low cost are not typical for government programs, but this spread frictionlessly, through the CfA network, not formally.
Brigades: not open government activists, really. They’re doers and helpers.
Savagely and depressingly accurate. Well yes and no. First it got better.
We pulled this one out. How?
Well its getting a lot happier. Less than 2 weeks ago, we got our own GDS. The USDS, the agency I went to DC to start, was finally announced, and Mikey is leading it. My year sabattical had to end in June, so I’ve been cheering from the west coast, but I’m thrilled its finally public, and that
Not only that, but the team launched a playbook derived from the prinicples of the GDS.
I’m not trying to convince you that government can be innovative soo that you can think good thoughts about it.
I’m trying to convince you that government innovation is YOUR JOB, whether you work in government or not. If you live in this country and you care about a functioning democracy, then you have a role to play. Because that’s how it works here, govt for the people, by the people, innovation for the people, by the people. And for our kids.
That iterative approaches means it works FOR PEOPLE>