DC's Apps for Democracy
Matthew Burton
while aimlessly browsing the DC CTO's Web site just now, I stumbled across this:
http://www.appsfordemocracy.org/
$20k for mashups using the DC data catalog:
http://data.octo.dc.gov/
matt
--
http://MatthewBurton.org
Martin Bosworth
DC, like many other big cities, is suffering a big cash crunch due to lack of available credit and unsteady property tax revenues (though we're better off than most). Crowdsourcing tasks like data management and innovative mashups is a smart way to go.
I can also tell you that 1) Our data was an absolute mess when I worked there, so they need all the help they can get, and 2) I completely believe they put that entire project together in less than a week. When I was there, we regularly had to turn around entire Web sites from stem to stern in a single workday. Don't ever let anyone tell you that all employees for the District gov't are lazy.
Martin
P.S. Hey, John! :)
Martin H. Bosworth
Managing Editor, ConsumerAffairs.Com
(http://www.consumeraffairs.com)
Boztopia.com blog:
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Matthew Burton
www.impublished.org/wordpress/appsfordemocracy/
There is one criticism that might be worth discussing here, so here it
is, in a slightly modified form:
I love this project, but I think it will mainly end up generating
public-facing tools. Public-facing tools are great, and the project is
accepting them, but is that really the spirit of this project? I see
it differently. The goal here is to help government, and I imagine
Kundra is hoping people will create tools that do that. As the CTO,
his job is to "develop and implement the District's IT infrastructure"
and provide "technology solutions to improve services." What he really
wants are tools that help the DC Government do its job better. This
project can yield a slew of neat-o iPhone apps, but remember: projects
like Apps for Democracy ultimately happen because of potential budget
savings, and if the project doesn't deliver on that front by cutting
internal IT costs, there may not be an Apps for Democracy '09. So he
has to deliver at least one great new tool for the inside.
There are surely countless opportunities for improving DC's systems
and data management. The problem is, indy developers don't have the
good ideas, because we don't experience the day-to-day frustrations of
the problems we'd be fixing. We don't understand the environment. We
don't know what's lacking.
The most beneficial tools will probably never be thought of by the
general public. People with no understanding of municipal water
systems can't (or don't) ponder ways to revolutionize the DC Water
Authority. Even more important, even if I did have the idea, I would
have little incentive to build it on my own. Unless I understand the
good that will come from creating that tool, I'm not going to spend
time on it. Someone at the Water Authority needs to say, "We need a
tool that will do X, Y, and Z, and it would help us because _____."
The _____ is the most important part. I'd love to help DC, but only if
I know I'm helping. That's why there needs to be a way for DC
employees to share ideas with developers. Has this project been
promoted to District employees? The project site is not targeted at
them: it grabs the attention of tech firms and indy developers, but
there's no mention of the end user. Why not let employees team up with
developers to create something that really helps DC, or at least give
those employees the ability to submit ideas.
J.H. Snider
Congress to be held November 14-15, 2008 at Boston University, The
conference, "The Most Disparaged Branch: The Role of Congress in the 21st
Century," features some of the most distinguished Congressional scholars.
Although the conference is primarily geared to academics, the lunchtime
speech by Larry Lessig is a nod to the activist community.
--Jim Snider
J.H. Snider, MBA, Ph.D.
President
iSolon.org