The Road to Government 2.0

The Aspen Institute’s Forum on Communications and Society (FOCAS) convened in August, 2012 in Aspen, Colorado to discuss the “movement towards open and innovative governance and develop tangible proposals and recommendations to increase transparency, promote smarter governance and enhance democracy.”  The report of the proceedings, entitled “Road to Government 2.0”,  has recently been released.

In the foreword, Charlie Firestone, Executive Director of the Communications and Society program frames the potential of Government 2.0  by pointing to the:

“Burgeoning “open governance” movement to use information and communications technologies to foster accountability, transparency and trust, to open up traditionally closed systems and to transform governance. Collaborative technologies such as social media are now enabling two-way information channels between citizens and governments, helping to solve problems at the local, state and national levels. Digital technologies also have the potential to reduce costs to governments and citizens, and to create enormous opportunities for more transparent, participatory and responsive governments.”

To advance the effort toward opening government, the FOCAS report, written by rapporteur Greg Ferenstein, lists  a series of “tangible, meaningful solutions to immediate problems facing the open government movement” concerning the following 3 issue areas:

“Awareness and Media:  Even if governments can become more open and participatory, there is no guarantee that citizens will be aware or motivated to engage with new opportunities. Nor can we be sure that the media will want to inform their readers about important,  but nonetheless unexciting bureaucratic developments. FOCAS participants recommended an automatic alert systems for new services, empowering citizens to spread messages through new media channels and working with volunteer programmers who could develop media-friendly software for resource-starved journalists.

Procurement: Many government contracts are won by a small group of well-connected vendors. Yet, in many cases, there are better solutions that are either free or more cheaply available from smaller start-ups.  Participants recommended overhauling the procurement process to favor prize-based competitions and volunteer contributions.

Participation: Policymakers, especially at the federal level, are often overwhelmed with feedback from citizens. Unfortunately, there  is no reliable way to filter out the most helpful information or to understand which issues should be prioritized. FOCAS participants recommended developing a system where citizens can indicate their individual expertise and be notified when such advice is needed.”

A list of participants and the agenda of the meeting can be found here.