OpenGov2016

First we brainstormed best and worst experiences with Government data:

Frustrations with Open Government

• IE4 required to use election website (2010)
• Opaque development leading to preventable problems (e.g. healthcare.gov)
• Owners/stakeholders hoarding or being secretive with information
• Closed source voting software (Diebolt/Eagle machines)
• Provided government data being provided online but nearly impossible to extract into a useful form.
• Metadata being removed from online published information that existed in original documents.

Best experiences

• Paying traffic fines (local)
• GIS Website and Information
• California Voter Guides
• Oakland, See/Click/Fix to fix potholes
• Immediate disclosure requests (24 hour response time, 10 days maximum)
• Eviction mapping to show lack and losing of affordable housing
• Public Transportation mapping
• Information Disclosure Requests
• Saflii
• Larry Lessig
• Sunlight Foundation

Ambivenlent experiences

• Mapped crime data in Durham (drives property values, police coverage)
• Shot Spotter: Targets gunshots city-wide. Provides security, but microphone privacy concerns.

Once these specific examples were defined. We abstracted them into concepts.

Abstractions of Bad experiences

• Proprietary software
• Organizational problems
• Lack of tech savviness
• Lack of actual information or research

Abstractions of Good experiences

• Defined and well-known user stories (focus)
• Simple/straightforward (don't get creative!)
• Standardization
• Education (Public information reduces violation)

Abstractions of Ambivalent experiences

• Reflects existing inequalities

Reading recommendations

Recommendations for Background Reading on Open Government

• "The Open Organization" by Red Hat
• "San Fransisco Sunshine Ordinance" Ordinance Code 67 is the gold standard in information acts
• Contact or interview Megan Smith (White House CTO), Jennifer Pahlka (Code for America)
• Maplight.org
• OpenGovernment.org
• FollowTheMoney.org
• Sunlight Foundation (what is left of it, shut down but transitioning)
• The Internet Archive

Miscellaneous notes

• Raw "weather data" published online by governments is great
  • Businesses then spring up around analyzing/delivering that information to the public
• In South Africa, you can't ask for related "information" you can only ask for existing "documents".
• In California, you have information requests, which includes raw data or records.