are citizens ready for open government?

1Marco Fioretti ([email protected]) July 128th, 2010, Open Government Seminarhttp://mfioretti.com UIMP, Santanderhttp://stop.zona-m.net Some Rights Reserved

Open Government and Open Data:

are citizens and Public Administrations

ready for them?


Some thoughts on

the nature of Open Government and Open Data

their social and human requirements and

implications

how to “sell” them to citizens

Open Government and Open Data


Marco Fioretti

Member ofOpenDocument Fellowship (www.opendocumentfellowship.com)

Digistan.org (www.digistan.org)

www.eleutheros.org – a Catholic approach to Information Technology

RULE (Run Up to date Linux Everywhere, www.rule-project.org)

Writer for Linux Journal, Linux Format, Pc Professionale and others

Co-author of the O'Reilly Open Government book

Author of the Family Guide to Digital Freedom (http://digifreedom.net)

Home page and writings:

http://mfioretti.com

http://stop.zona-m.net

Author introduction


Let's try to answer some questions:

Is Open Government something like e-government, that is performing

government services and operations much more efficiently thanks to

software, other digital/electronic technologies and the World Wide Web?

Is it using only Free/Open Source Software on computers belonging to

Public Administrations, or running public services?

Is it “transparency”, as in “publishing online all public raw data and

official documents”?

What really is Open Government?


The short answer to the three previous question is “not necessarily”

Using computers doesn't automatically make services more efficient

(remember the '90s promises on the “paperless office”)

Some italian judges complained that the arrival of computers in legal

firms is one of the many reasons why trials usually take years:

Typewritten legal briefs couldn't be very long

Computer cut-n-paste makes it possible to produce in a few minutes

a 3-thousand page brief that will take the judge busy for months

What really is Open Government?


In and by itself, using only Free/Open Source software on government

computers gives citizens no extra guarantees at all, as far as democracy or

civil rights are concerned:

You can build the perfect police state using ONLY

“Free as in Freedom” software

Access to source code is only meaningful if you also have physical

access to the computer that (supposedly) is running it.

What really is Open Government? FOSS?


Having online data that prove that some public official misbehaved or that

public money is not spent properly is not enough unless it comes with:

Always following the right technical standards

Real freedom of speech

Efficient police and justice bodies

Clear law on accountability of public officials

If these things are missing, transparency could simply generate

powerlessness and refusal of engaging in politics

Cfr http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/04/27/technology-for-transparency-review-part-ii/

What really is Open Government? Transparency?


It is, at least:

Real transparency and accountability

Power to citizens and doing “mas con menos”

Above all: Citizens strongly willing to use, and actually

using in large numbers, on a regular basis, all the

digital government infrastructure and data

So, what really is Open Government?


Data that is:

Published and constantly updated online

In raw, computer parsable, really open formats

With licenses that explicitly allow for private or

commercial reuse and mash-up

Linked and easily linkable to all other open data

What really is Open Data?


Much of the history of the last decades may be described as a struggle

between all kinds of traditional “big government” and “small

government” systems

Big Government: takes most of your money/rights, to

care for you. Even when you don't want it.

Small Government: takes (theoretically) as little as

possible and always leaves you alone. Even when it isn't

fair

Extra-short history summary


Traditional “big government” and “small government” systems both assume

(sometimes unconsciously) that:

They always know better than you what you need or need to know

Two-ways, continuous communication isn't really necessary or good

Consequence: both in small and big government there is very little

possibility (or need...) for the single citizen to take an active role or have all

the informations to make the best decisions

Extra-short history summary (2)


Cares for you in the right, most effective (and most economic!) way:

It doesn't want to do be big and do every possible thing for you, but...

Aims to be small in the right way: not abandoning you in the dark, but

giving you all the tools, resources and channels to actually do

something good for you, in a really fair environment

Since now, for the first time in human history, it is technically

possible to do it, at an affordable cost, thanks to ICT.

A really Open Government is one that...


...privatization and deregulation done right?When only big organizations can offer a service, but only other big

organizations can access the all the data and infrastructure needed to compete

with them or monitor them... citizens lose

Today instead, using ICT, we could build a world where everybody can really

monitor the providers of those services or sometimes become a provider (that

is, a world where everybody can act like the Government, at least in some

moments): that's openness

May a really Open Government be ...


Will we be all ready to make

this really happen?


Digitizing public services and communications can also have

negative effects:

Reducing bureaucracy and controls and taking online some

procedures can favour illegal activities, unless everybody is

allowed to control

Influencing people's opinion online can be much easier, and it's

surely much cheaper, than in the pre-digital age, when it was

much, much harder to see only the news you wanted to see.

Negative effects of digitalization


The majority of citizens are prepared and willing to actively and

regularly use it

Once the government is really open, you can't relax or blame... the

government when things don't work

This is a huge cultural shift for many people:

“Move from a vote-and-forget mentality to daily checks and

personal decisions and actions, in a world that discourages

independent thinking and refusal of responsibility??? Who,

me???”

Really Open Government and Data only work if


Open Government and data only work if... The majority of

citizens are prepared ... to actively use it

Translation: Open Government and Data deliver all their

potential benefits only if... the majority of public employees

and other citizens will be able and willing to analyze numbers

or judge how complete, reliable and unbiased numbers are.

Otherwise, more numbers may only generate more confusion

How good are people at math?


May 2010: subscriber to a FOSS mailing list asks to promote Linux in public

offices to save public money because... “in 2003 Microsoft got more money

from the Italian Government than the Italian state deficit”

One other subscriber feels such an assertion is unreal, makes a quick check

and provides links proving that the 2nd number is, in reality, 150 times bigger

than the other

But several others believe the initial request anyway and copy it integrally

on their own blogs

Full story (italian): http://stop.zona-m.net/node/171

A true story of people not getting public data


Many current high-level initiatives for open data, transparency etc.. are

short or medium-term ones

But Europe is a relatively old, and rapidly aging continent

Can a system that will only work if many people participate in it be

made to work in just a few years if senior citizens aren't involved, at the

very least to vote for it?

Can Open Government advocates afford to ignore large masses of

people with lots of time on their hands to inspect Open Data in the

common interest?

How much time do we have?


Spain, June 8th 2010:general strike of public sector

workers against austerity plan

What about the Job Market?


Spain, June 9th 2010:meeting on Open Data and reuse of Public Sector Information

www.aporta.es

What about the Job Market? (2)


What is the connection between the strike and the meeting?

Open Data and Interoperability mean automation

Openness means disintermediation, participation of all citizens,

allowing them to do their part

“transferir conocimiento e poder a la ciudadania”

Consequence: Open Government and Data, if done right, destroy many

jobs in what is now one of the largest remaining providers of socially

stabilizing, long-term employment in many countries

What about the Job Market? (3)


Don't hide the fact that with Open Government/Data the number of desk jobs

in the public sector will strongly decrease, and plan for it

Promote training of public employees, adult citizens, students, in basic

processing of Open Data

Make Open Data hacking cool, popular, trendy (contexts, even in schools?)

Don't snob or forget the fastest growing segment of potential Open Data

volunteer processors: senior citizens. Turn them into Open Data addicts

instead

Promote laws that protect citizens doing reporting or denounces based on

official Open Data

How do we handle all this? Some proposals


We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology – Carl Sagan, ca 1995

Today, the world is software- and data-driven. Therefore, we must replace “technology” in Sagan's statement with “digital data and technology” because...Your civil rights and the quality of your own life heavily depend on how software is used around you – M. Fioretti (2006?)

Technology (especially digital technology!) is legislation

Why proper training of all citizens is essential


Effective Open Government/Open Data initiatives start local!

Focus in the short term on promoting Open Gov./ Data at city &county level

It's easier and mistakes are smaller

excellent way for local administrations to stay within budget: when possible, if

there is no money to offer a service, give away to citizens all the info needed to do

it by themselves

It creates local jobs that increase local revenues and wealth

Citizen gratification: positive results can come and become visible much sooner

Citizens learn and love Open Data and Government much sooner, in the way that requires the less resources

How do we handle all this? Locally!


Resources:

Slides of these talk will be available at http://mfioretti.com

Why Open Digital Standards matter in Government (stop.zona-m.net)

Open Data, Open Society research (still ongoing): (stop.zona-m.net)

Impact of file formats on economy and culture: see http://mfioretti.com

For comment and questions, please contact:

[email protected]

Questions? Thanks!

Resources and contact information

http://mfioretti.com/

mailto:[email protected]

are citizens ready for open government?

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