Thanks, Micheal, you bring up some good points re: the fact that there ought to be competition.
As for example sites, there's a couple on the go at VisibleGovernment as well. The idea was to shepherd these ones through the planning process and use them, as well as howdtheyvote and theyworkforyou as examples for raising money. I've been getting some input from end users in advocacy groups, but the project groups definitely could use more input - particularly from people with technical backgrounds (hint, hint).
- an expense database that allows advocacy groups and journalists to visualize / tag / screen hospitality and expense data.
Please take a look and see if you feel like getting involved.
> From: Michael Lenczner <
[hidden email]>
> Subject: Re: [CivicAccess-discuss] Getting Tools Built
> To:
[hidden email], "civicaccess discuss" <
[hidden email]>
> Received: Tuesday, July 8, 2008, 12:04 PM
> Hello,
>
> It's great that you're pushing this conversation,
> Jennifer.
>
> My thoughts about making this happen in Canada to a larger
> degree is
> that we need more people like yourself:
>
> -understand technology / aren't afraid of it.
> -have an understanding of business / financing.
> -are committed to making something happen.
>
> I think that's what we're missing, not a specific
> form of organizing.
> Personally I don't like the idea of either CivicAccess
> or your project
> being the one-stop-shop for all of this work. I believe in
> an
> approach of diversity and competition in the open-source
> space.
>
> More than processes and structures that look good on paper,
> I think we
> need some more concrete examples of working projects as
> well as people
> who have 1, 2, 3 + citizen information projects under their
> belt. In
> the past I've offered to help howdtheyvote raise some
> funds because
> the experience and commitment is already visible.
> Currently I'm just
> finishing a demo of something I want to see built and will
> try to go
> fundraise for it.
>
> That being said, I agree with your and Cory's point
> that there is a
> natural point of friction for geeks that want to build
> projects but
> don't want to bother with legal status for each or
> don't have the
> skillset to do fundraising. I think that there's great
> work to do
> there. But first, i think we need some more actual
> projects that are
> funded by either individual donors or by foundations. That
> will
> establish the movement as more credible.
>
> Mike
>
> On Mon, Jul 7, 2008 at 4:11 PM, Jennifer Bell
> <
[hidden email]> wrote:
> > Hello all,
> >
> > I've been thinking the last while about the best
> approach for promoting the creation of online tools for
> government transparency. The Sunlight Foundation in the US
> and mySociety in the UK are showing that the government can
> be changed by example, from the outside. It just takes
> people to push to make it happen.
> >
> > What will it take to get a similar movement going here
> in Canada? As I know there are several people here with
> experience in similar groups, I'd like to get your
> opinions.
> >
> > The ingredients, as I see them, are:
> >
> > 1) Money.
> >
> > The Sunlight Foundation initially had a single large
> donor, who put up a seed of 3.5M.
> >
> > 2) A Community.
> >
> > barcamps are a great example of people coming together
> to learn and share. E-gov sessions can be tagged on to
> existing barcamps, and dedicated events held once
> there's some interest.
> >
> > Possibly, these could be supplemented with
> invitation-only events for a more 'elite' crowd of
> government and high-tech representatives.
> >
> > 3) A Tool.
> >
> > There ought to be a website to formally capture ideas
> for tools and allow them to be developed by the community.
> There's a rough plan for one here, which I'd like
> feedback on:
> >
> >
>
http://groups.google.com/group/visiblegovernment-discuss/browse_thread/thread/9b0211b0b51965df?hl=en> >
> > ....
> >
> > I would appreciate any input.
> >
> > At a recent conference, the moderator started out by
> saying 'I believe in the wisdom of crowds, and I
> believe we have a very wise crowd here today'.
> >
> > Jennifer
> > visiblegovernment.ca
> >
> >
> >
> >
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