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Raleigh-Durham, NC
Two decades experience analyzing user behavior interacting with web applications. Experience includes developing user interfaces using rapid prototyping and an iterative project management style to create award winning, user-centered information portals. Primary interests include Big Data and Open Data applications and community engagement in a public sector environment. Other interests include analytic-driven portal interface design, e-government acculturation, citizen engagement, open source platforms and government transparency.Reach Jason Hare on Twitter, Google+ and About.me.
Authored Comments
Hi Michael
These are good comments and also fits the direction where many governments are heading. I have written quite a bit about the "culture of government". To be clear I am speaking about US models of governance. I have been in municipal government for some time and have worked as a consultant on county, state and federal levels.
The government as a monolithic entity has never existed. The US "government" in particular is a collection of agencies and this model is copied down to the municipal level. Transformation and innovation is always balanced with accountability. Government serves the lowest common denominator. Everything from procurement to revenue collection to law enforcement and legislation has a process based on accountability to the citizens.
What I see locally is a government that is moving toward a service based model. This is something that is often referred to as "Government as a Platform". Getting there requires citizen collaboration with elected officials who then create resolutions and executive orders. Code for America is an excellent example of a civic group that works with government. These executive directives whether they be from a City Council or the President of the United States are interpreted by the workers within a given agency and carried out with accountability to the official(s).
Getting innovative means a dialog between government and citizens. Open Source, Open Data and Open Government are all examples of ways for government to innovate even though they are all separate types of innovation.
In regards to open data, how do we balance economic impact, being informative about government activities and till respect a citizen's privacy? These are questions I am working on by talking with citizens and members of the larger open data community.
Great post!
Hi Robin. I appreciate the comments. Perhaps our intiatives resemble each other because Raleigh is using the OKFN Open Data Handbook as our guidline as well as the Open Government Data Definition. We are working to develop policies and an infrastructure that will be sustainable.
Data usability is also something that is very important to our initiative. While we will provide machine readable data sets and APIs, we also want to provide citizens a visually rich and interactive experience. Perhaps we can discuss our strategies some time?