If Gov is Platform, what is the API?

At New Voices for Civic Engagement, an open discussion and meetup organized by Steven Clift @democracy, of e-Democracy.org.

20ish people gathered in the Ben Franklin room at Code for America to review the findings from the Pew Internet Research report link.

In additon to the customary around-the-room introductions, each person was asked to provide an optional 'big question'? After introducing myself and brief background, I asked, "If Gov is Platform, what is the API?" I made to clarify I was not talking about literal API's, but extending the metaphor of gov as platform. Specifically the interface between government and citizens - at which points does a citizen interact with government? At the polls? Online? Heading down to the office? Mail-in form. Ad-hoc safety services (public safety and fire). Institutionalized services (schools, hospitals). I like to call these 'public touchpoints'.

In the context of a research effort like Pew's, it is certainly a valuable task to measure behavior - such is a perfect task for research and statisticians. However, bringing people together to discuss the research quickly fails to satiate the need to take action.

While Pew's research does well to show what is... Such research is not suited to show what isn't, and especially why.

Why is engagement only so low? Really, how accurate is our demographic data? Beyond its accuracy - how much credence should we give to demographic data given its high variability? (it changes so frequently, trends aren't clear)

In the end, it may be called service-design, human-centered fill-in-the-blanks.

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Tim O'Reilly talks of "Government as Platform", as the ability to build atop government and operate in an environment.

With transparency, open government, gov2.0, gov 3.0, and other terms fighting for taxonomic superiority, much of these concepts are still primarily technical in nature.

Transparency as a concept is broad, but the in practice, it is primarily the publishing of data. This in an 'output' of government.

So, citizens receive the data. Some mash it up, some build apps around it, some win contests for apps around it. Many talk of building better tools around data.

The goal is for citizens to understand the data - to process raw data into useful information that leads to action, interaction, or at least awareness of what government is doing.

Ultimately, citizens will be tasked with participating and even collaborating with government. Yet, what does this actually look like? What are the inputs? At what points can do citizens interact with government, and vice-versa.

As it stands, what is govapi 1.0? Voting once an election cycle? Standing up and being 'acknowledged' a county council meeting?

govapi 2.0 might be asynchrounous polling, idea-scaling, consensus building, and more forms of communication

Digital data. Analog process

Government as System

Inputs and Outputs

Inputs: Votes, Public Meetings (forum, town halls, seminars, workshops)

Outputs: Transparent Data, Education, Materials

Debug

Refactor

Design

TestTim O'Reilly talks of "Government as Platform", as the ability to build atop government and operate in an environment.

With transparency, open government, gov2.0, gov 3.0, and other terms fighting for taxonomic superiority, much of these concepts are still primarily technical in nature.

Transparency as a concept is broad, but the in practice, it is primarily the publishing of data. This in an 'output' of government.

So, citizens receive the data. Some mash it up, some build apps around it, some win contests for apps around it. Many talk of building better tools around data.

The goal is for citizens to understand the data - to process raw data into useful information that leads to action, interaction, or at least awareness of what government is doing.

Ultimately, citizens will be tasked with participating and even collaborating with government. Yet, what does this actually look like? What are the inputs? At what points can do citizens interact with government, and vice-versa.

As it stands, what is govapi 1.0? Voting once an election cycle? Standing up and being 'acknowledged' a county council meeting?

govapi 2.0 might be asynchrounous polling, idea-scaling, consensus building, and more forms of communication

Digital data. Analog process

Government as System

Inputs and Outputs

Inputs: Votes, Public Meetings (forum, town halls, seminars, workshops)

Outputs: Transparent Data, Education, Materials

Debug

Refactor

Design

Test