> 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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