Transparency through Open Data and Open Source - Essay on Scribd
0 views
Skip to first unread message
Jennifer Bell
Jan 13, 2009, 1:06:14 PM1/13/09
to VisibleGovernment Discuss
Earlier this year, Christine suggested that VisibleGovernment.ca
produce some position papers to communicate what the organization is
about. I had a good excuse to put something down on paper this month
-- I was asked to write an article for Open Source Business Resource,
which I started over Christmas and finished on the weekend. It ended
up as a summary of much of the research I've been doing.
It's open for comment on scribd here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/10254460/Transparency-Through-Open-Data-and-Open-SourceScribd
My dad thinks it's quite good, but he may be biased.
A quote:
Open Systems Make Failure Less Costly
Finding the best ways to analyze government information and collect
value from public feedback is going to take a lot of
experimentation. The probability of a successful solution is what
author Clay Shirkey might qualify as a scalar distribution pattern:
one where there’s a very large number of failures, some modest
successes, and a few solutions that will do amazingly well. Being
prepared to accept a lot of failures is the key to finding the
successes.
Government bureaucracies are failure-averse for very good reasons.
Public scrutiny and the spectre of being accused wasting of tax payer
funds make for a cautious environment, where money is only spent on
guaranteed successes. By publishing data in open, standardized
formats, governments can off-load the costs and stigma of failure to
external organizations. Like Goldcorps, governments can take the open
approach to innovation by challenging advocacy groups, the nascent
community of armchair egovernment-geeks, and the for-profit market to
‘build a better way’. The government can then take advantage of the
value created by the best solutions. Solutions that don’t work can
die quietly, without any tax dollars having been spent.
Jennifer
produce some position papers to communicate what the organization is
about. I had a good excuse to put something down on paper this month
-- I was asked to write an article for Open Source Business Resource,
which I started over Christmas and finished on the weekend. It ended
up as a summary of much of the research I've been doing.
It's open for comment on scribd here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/10254460/Transparency-Through-Open-Data-and-Open-SourceScribd
My dad thinks it's quite good, but he may be biased.
A quote:
Open Systems Make Failure Less Costly
Finding the best ways to analyze government information and collect
value from public feedback is going to take a lot of
experimentation. The probability of a successful solution is what
author Clay Shirkey might qualify as a scalar distribution pattern:
one where there’s a very large number of failures, some modest
successes, and a few solutions that will do amazingly well. Being
prepared to accept a lot of failures is the key to finding the
successes.
Government bureaucracies are failure-averse for very good reasons.
Public scrutiny and the spectre of being accused wasting of tax payer
funds make for a cautious environment, where money is only spent on
guaranteed successes. By publishing data in open, standardized
formats, governments can off-load the costs and stigma of failure to
external organizations. Like Goldcorps, governments can take the open
approach to innovation by challenging advocacy groups, the nascent
community of armchair egovernment-geeks, and the for-profit market to
‘build a better way’. The government can then take advantage of the
value created by the best solutions. Solutions that don’t work can
die quietly, without any tax dollars having been spent.
Jennifer
Michael Cayley
Jan 13, 2009, 1:43:15 PM1/13/09
to visiblegover...@googlegroups.com
I think it is quite good too.
> Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:06:14 -0800
> Subject: [VG-Discuss] Transparency through Open Data and Open Source - Essay on Scribd
> From: visibleg...@gmail.com
> To: visiblegover...@googlegroups.com
> Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:06:14 -0800
> Subject: [VG-Discuss] Transparency through Open Data and Open Source - Essay on Scribd
> From: visibleg...@gmail.com
> To: visiblegover...@googlegroups.com
Stephanie Berger (gmail)
Jan 13, 2009, 4:10:05 PM1/13/09
to visiblegover...@googlegroups.com
Jen,
What a good read! I feel like I need to read it again to really understand (you know my lack of IT knowledge!)
Well-written. Compelling.
Stef
--
Do you really need to print this email? Think about the environment...../ Devez-vous vraiment imprimer ce courriel ? Pensons à l'environnement .....
What a good read! I feel like I need to read it again to really understand (you know my lack of IT knowledge!)
Well-written. Compelling.
Stef
2009/1/13 Jennifer Bell <visibleg...@gmail.com>
--
Do you really need to print this email? Think about the environment...../ Devez-vous vraiment imprimer ce courriel ? Pensons à l'environnement .....
Laura
Jan 18, 2009, 4:27:03 PM1/18/09
to VisibleGovernment Discuss
Excellent read Jennifer. I sent your article to my boss with the
subject line "Radical transparency: Are we willing?" Will let you
know.
Government bureaucracies are failure-averse? lol. I hadn't noticed.
This statement reminded me of an excellent presentation I saw by
William Eggers at GTEC (Government Technology conference in Ottawa) in
the fall. He gave a speech on innovation in the public sector (topic
of his next book) and it was very encouraging to hear not just real
world examples but practical implementation strategies. One piece of
advice he gave us was 'alter the risk to reward ratio'. If the
government wants to avoid failure rather than just fear failure, they
(we) should stop implementing multi-million dollar IT projects without
testing out ideas or using staff who are trained in what they are
working on! I'm taking his advice at work and have found myself
repeating it on more than one occasion. Might I recommend his book
"Government 2.0"?
Re: minutes from your last board meeting on fundraising, have you
considered offering consulting services? Or do you do that already?
Laura
On Jan 13, 1:06 pm, Jennifer Bell <visiblegovernm...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Earlier this year, Christine suggested that VisibleGovernment.ca
> produce some position papers to communicate what the organization is
> about. I had a good excuse to put something down on paper this month
> -- I was asked to write an article for Open Source Business Resource,
> which I started over Christmas and finished on the weekend. It ended
> up as a summary of much of the research I've been doing.
>
> It's open for comment on scribd here:
>
> http://www.scribd.com/doc/10254460/Transparency-Through-Open-Data-and...
subject line "Radical transparency: Are we willing?" Will let you
know.
Government bureaucracies are failure-averse? lol. I hadn't noticed.
This statement reminded me of an excellent presentation I saw by
William Eggers at GTEC (Government Technology conference in Ottawa) in
the fall. He gave a speech on innovation in the public sector (topic
of his next book) and it was very encouraging to hear not just real
world examples but practical implementation strategies. One piece of
advice he gave us was 'alter the risk to reward ratio'. If the
government wants to avoid failure rather than just fear failure, they
(we) should stop implementing multi-million dollar IT projects without
testing out ideas or using staff who are trained in what they are
working on! I'm taking his advice at work and have found myself
repeating it on more than one occasion. Might I recommend his book
"Government 2.0"?
Re: minutes from your last board meeting on fundraising, have you
considered offering consulting services? Or do you do that already?
Laura
On Jan 13, 1:06 pm, Jennifer Bell <visiblegovernm...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Earlier this year, Christine suggested that VisibleGovernment.ca
> produce some position papers to communicate what the organization is
> about. I had a good excuse to put something down on paper this month
> -- I was asked to write an article for Open Source Business Resource,
> which I started over Christmas and finished on the weekend. It ended
> up as a summary of much of the research I've been doing.
>
> It's open for comment on scribd here:
>
Jennifer Bell
Jan 19, 2009, 11:25:26 AM1/19/09
to VisibleGovernment Discuss
Good to hear from you, Laura. Thanks for forwarding the paper. It's
validating to know the paper resonated with someone with an inside
view.
Have we considered offering consulting services? While we're still
working things out, I could definitely see taking on consulting
projects that fit under our organizational objectives of 1) building a
knowledge base related to online tools for government transparency and
2) creating systems to redistribute best practices for citizen web
service development (from here: http://groups.google.com/group/visiblegovernment-discuss/web/principles).
As mentioned off-list, I'll be in Ottawa in a couple of weeks for
ALI's 'Social Media for Government' conference where I'll be
presenting the ideas in the paper set to images. It would be great to
meet up and talk about ways to move these issues forward.
Thanks for the reccomendation on the William Eggers book. I've
ordered it from Amazon.
Jennifer
Michael Cayley
Jan 19, 2009, 12:12:42 PM1/19/09
to visiblegover...@googlegroups.com
Hi Jennifer - I am schedule to do a workshop at that conference in Ottawa too. Let's get together for sure.
mc
mc
> Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 08:25:26 -0800
> Subject: [VG-Discuss] Re: Transparency through Open Data and Open Source - Essay on Scribd
> From: visibleg...@gmail.com
> To: visiblegover...@googlegroups.com
>
>
>
> Subject: [VG-Discuss] Re: Transparency through Open Data and Open Source - Essay on Scribd
> From: visibleg...@gmail.com
> To: visiblegover...@googlegroups.com
>
>
>
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages