In a fun and inspiring chat, Markus and Adam talk about stages of service rapid prototyping, their plans for city-specific Jams and how this pilot inititaive will see small teams meet at multiple locations around the world, working for 48 hours on building innovative approaches and solutions towards challenges faced by the public sector.

“One of our basic work philosophies is the theatrical working rule of ‘doing, not talking’ – and this fit well with the idea of the Jam.”

About Adam Lawrence and Markus Hormeß

Adam and Markus run WorkPlayExperience, a German-based service design agency.  Markus is German with a background in theoretical physics and process design; Adam is British and has a background in psychology, marketing and theater.

Adam Lawrence is a professional comedian, business consultant and writer with a background in psychology and the automotive industry. For years he has been using expertise gained in the world of theatre and film to help companies influence their customers.

Markus Hormeß is a service designer and organisational consultant. For years, the qualified scientist has worked in the engineering, banking and IT fields, helping companies to improve complex services and to make them more customer friendly.

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Episode links and resources

• GovJam 2012
• Global Service Jam
• Work.Play.Experience
• Australian Government innovation space
• Australian Innovation in Public Sector Week

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• People and organisations:
  @GovJamHQ
  @GSJam
  @markusedgar
  @adamstjohn
• Tags: #innovationweek #GovJam #servicedesign

Ahead of CITIZEN2012 in London, conference organiser Jeffrey Peel – with guest speakers Andy Williamson of Future Digital and David Moody of Kana – discuss building the democratic commons, including tools and trends in next-generation government/citizen engagement.

There is a great opportunity here: it’s not just about the obvious ROI and replacement of costly channels, it’s about engaging and listening in real ways that have never been possible before.

About Jeffrey Peel

Jeffrey is the Managing Director of Quadriga Consulting and the organiser of CITIZEN2012.  He has a well developed reputation as a specialist in research and evidence based consulting, and is a highly experienced digital communications professional. He has written thought leadership reports or created online web content for dozens of clients operating in the IT, telecommunications, business services and financial services sectors.  He has also undertaken project work for many early to mid-stage venture capital funded organisations.

About Dr Andy Williamson

Andy is an internationally recognised expert in digital strategy with an in-depth understanding of effective engagement and online democracy, as well as an experienced consultant and researcher focussing on social media, society and policy. His work is about educating, engaging and enabling; creating active citizens and connected government.

About David Moody

David is the Vice President of Solutions Marketing Worldwide for KANA, responsible for strategic solutions across all target markets including commercial and government. Formerly CTO and founding director of Lagan (acquired by KANA software in November 2010), David has a unique combination of strong technology, customer and commercial skills. KANA is the principal sponsor of CITIZEN2012.

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Episode links and resources

• Citizen 2012 conference

Want more links? Check out our Delicious!

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• Tags: #citizen2012

A successful participatory budgeting program is one that delivers what has been decided… It is very fashionable right now to use technology to engage with citizens, but you’re not able or willing to respond to citizens, then don’t engage with them.

Tiago also emphasises the escalating impact of mobile technologies to enable a more inclusive participatory budgeting program:

One of the things that you see is… the power of using mobile phones for citizen participation…We’ve been in areas where citizens walk further to charge their mobile phones than they walk to get water!

About Tiago Peixoto

Tiago Peixoto is an Open Government specialist in the ICT4Gov program of the World Bank Institute.  Having worked for 10 years as a practitioner and researcher in the field of ICT and participatory governance, Tiago is currently an open government specialist at the ICT4Gov program of WBI’s Open Government cluster. Prior to joining the Bank, Tiago has managed projects and worked as an advisor and consultant for various organizations in the field of participation and technology, such as the European Commission, OECD, the United Nations, and the Brazilian and UK governments. He is also research coordinator of the Electronic Democracy Centre, a joint venture of the European University Institute, the University of Zurich and the Oxford Internet Institute of the University of Oxford.

About the World Bank Institute

The World Bank Institute (WBI) is a global connector of knowledge, learning and innovation for poverty reduction. It is part of the World Bank Group, and connects practitioners, networks and institutions to help them find solutions to their development challenges.

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Episode links and resources

• World Bank Institute
• Project overview of Participatory budgeting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Recent Participatory Budgeting conference in New York
• Participatory Budgeting Facebook Group
• Non-exhaustive map of Participatory Budgeting Cases Around the World. Markers in red indicate cases of e-participatory budgeting (ICT facilitated)
• Article on mobile phones and Participatory Budgeting
• Mobile Participatory Budgeting in South-Kivu
• La Plata Multi-Channel Participatory Budgeting including PDF Case study
• Belo Horizonte’s (Brazil) e-Participatory Budgeting (PDF)
• ICT facilitated Participatory Budgeting in the DR Congo
• Brief report of NYC Participatory Budgeting Process, prepared by the Community Development Project at the Urban Justice Center (PDF)
• World Bank / Open Government Partnership webinar on “ICT for Citizen Engagement”

Videos

Participatory budgeting project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Participatory Budgeting and CrossVoice

Mobile Participatory Budgeting in South Kivu

La Plata (Argentina) Multi-Channel Participatory Budgeting

Belo Horizonte Participatory Budgeting

Recife Participatory Budgeting

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• Tags: #opengov #edem #demopart #pbconf

Space Apps Challenge

Chris Vein, Deputy US CTO for Government Innovation and Nicholas Skytland, head of NASA’s Open Government Initiative, discuss how momentum for open government and open data is building internationally within policy leadership and also practical on-the-ground problem-solving events and initiatives.

Chris Vein shares some insights into how open data and code-a-thon events are a useful ‘sensemaking’ tool for open government, and ways in which this can turn into sustainable innovation inside governments. He encourages public sector agencies to…

…find groups of people, bring them together around an issue or problem that needs to be fixed, then step out of the way and let the collective energy of the people in the room come together and really take that data and solve things in creative and imaginative ways that we would never have done ourselves.

Nicholas Skytland talks about the inspiration and background to the initiative, which currently has 25 cities, around 70 organizations and more than 800 people across the world signed up to participate.

You’re able to solve challenges that might take months to do in government, but only take a weekend when you get the right people in the room together.

About Chris Vein

• Chris Vein is the Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer for Government Innovation in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In this role, Chris searches for those with transformative ideas, convenes those inside and outside government to explore and test them, and catalyzes the results into a national action plan. Prior to joining the White House, Chris was the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the City and County of San Francisco where he led the City in becoming a national force in the application of new media platforms, use of open source applications, creation of new models for expanding digital inclusion, emphasizing “green” technology, and transforming government.

About Nicholas Skytland

• Nicholas Skytland is a NASA engineer, designer, entrepreneur, and advocate for NASA’s Open Government Initiative. He has a passion for engaging all generations in the adventure of space exploration and is continually working to help NASA embrace new technologies, increase public participation and innovate on how the Agency does business. Combining elements of space exploration, science, technology, visual art and storytelling, Nicholas is well known for many of his presentations promoting NASA, the human space program, participatory exploration and the Open Government initiative.

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Episode links and resources

• International Space Apps Challenge website
• NASA Open Government website
• Open Government Partnership website
• US Government’s Open Innovator’s Toolkit

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  @skytland
  @intlspaceapps
  @NASA
  @opengovpart
• Tags: #spaceapps #opengov #opendata #nasa #OGP

In this episode, we chat with Maurits van der Vlugt, one of the co-founders of Australia’s Bushfire Connect service on the power of the crowd in an emergency. Maurits talks candidly about the opportunities and challenges of establishing and sustaining a voluntary initiative using social tools, and the importance of these initiatives engaging with the ‘command and control’ culture of the formal emergency management agencies and structures.

Bushfire Connect allows anyone in the country to submit local updates, which are then mapped and combined with official warnings and then alerts are sent out to people who are signed up for that particular region – all that’s done in real time.

About Maurits van der Vlugt

Maurits is recognised as one of Australia’s leading authorities in the design and implementation of (interoperable) spatial data infrastructures, and web delivery of spatial data. Maurits has a long career in consulting government and the private sector on developing location-intelligence strategies, along with the enabling technology frameworks, business cases and implementation planning. Having worked for over 20 years in the spatial information industry in Europe, the USA and Australia, he has developed an extensive international network.

Maurits also volunteers his time to not-for-profit crisis management initiatives such as BushfireConnect and Random Hacks of Kindness.

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Episode links and resources

• Bushfire Connect website
• Ushahidi open source software that powers Bushfire Connect as well as other similar initiatives around the world
• Emergency Management 2.0 research project for the Australian Government’s 2.0 Taskforce

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  @mvandervlugt @bushfireconnect
• Tags: #smem

Hear from Michael P McDonald and Micah Altman of the Public Mapping Project, which is an organization that is using open source software to enable people to create their own redistricting maps and send them to local government for potential adoption. Using a tool called District Builder, citizens can make their own maps based on demographics, voting patterns and legal requirements (among other criteria) and submit them to local government for consideration for redistricting.

Redistricting is a very, very difficult problem – it’s so complex that we know no one person is going to find the optimal solution… having that added crowdsourcing power means we can discover new ways of drawing districts that maybe people just hadn’t thought of before.

About Michael McDonald and Micah Altman

• Dr Michael McDonald is Assistant Professor of Government and Politics in the Public and International Affairs Department at George Mason University, and a visiting fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. His research interests include voting behavior, redistricting, Congress, American political development, and political methodology.
• Dr Micah Altman is Director of Research and Head/Scientist, Program on Information Science for the MIT Libraries, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Altman is also a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution. Prior to arriving at MIT, Dr. Altman served at Harvard University for fifteen years as the Associate Director of the Harvard-MIT Data Center, Archival Director of the Henry A. Murray Archive, and Senior Research Scientist in the Institute for Quantitative Social Sciences.

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Episode links and resources

• Public Mapping project for participatory redistricting
• District Builder software to enable citizens to collaborate on creating redistricting scenarios

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• Tags: #eparticipation #edem

Kevin Curry, founder of CityCamp, talks about Brigade, the new civic tech organizing program he’s heading up for Code for America that seeks to energise the tech developer community across the US to participate in a focused civic application development campaign.

The extended network that Code for America has and then with all the civic hacking communities all over the country… the time was right to catalyse that community and mobilise them into building the civic web.

About Kevin Curry

Kevin Curry is the Program Director for CfA Brigade. He created CityCamp together with CfA founder & ED, Jennifer Pahlka. Kevin is a co-owner of Bridgeborn, Inc. and a graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (BA History, ’92, MS Computer Science, ’99). He is a native of Virginia Beach, Virginia where he lives with his wife, daughter, and two pugs. You can follow Kevin’s work on the Code for America blog.

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Episode links and resources

• Code for America Brigade website
• CityCamp network website

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• Tags: #codeacross

Join us for a conversation with David Eaves about International Open Data Day, and his best advice on how to organize a hackathon – including the value of statisticians and project managers to success.

About David Eaves

David is a public policy entrepreneur, open government activist and negotiation expert and frequent speaker on these topics. He is retained by several governments to advise on open government and open data, works with two spin-offs of the Harvard Negotiation Project, and advises businesses on open source strategies and community management. Three years ago David advised the Mayor of Vancouver on Open Government and Open Data and helped draft the Open Motion. He has also launched a number of open data projects including Recollect.net and emitter.ca.

David blogs regularly at eaves.ca where you can read more about his projects and upcoming speaking engagements.

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Episode links and resources

• The Open Knowledge Foundation
• Open Spending website
• Scraper Wiki toolset
• The MySociety Mapit initiative
• Code for America Adopt-a-hydrant project

Join us as we chat with Lucy Chambers from the Open Knowledge Foundation in London.  As well as the work of the Foundation, we discuss the  Warsaw Open Government Data Camp, a festival of open data with more than 400 participants from more than 40 countries around the world.

Join us as we chat with Pia Waugh, the organiser of last weekend’s GovCamp Australia, held in Canberra.  The gathering brought together a range of government practitioners and open data enthusiasts to talk about topical issues