Eric Mack On-Line

First speaker is Melodie Mayberry-Stewart. Melodie is the CIO of New York talking about the case for Open Government.

The case for Open Government
Government should be:

• Transparent
• Participatory
• Collaborative

Web 2.0, Social Media and Networking
Signals a move from "Knowledge is Power" to "All of us are smarter than any one of us."  (Knowledge is still power, because with knowledge we can make smarter and more informed decisions.")
Business uses for innovation, transformation & collaboration.
Allows us to reach different constituents where they live and work.

Government uses for Web 2.0
Public outreach - direct channel to citizens/public service
Encourages citizen involvement and feedback
Workforce - This is where the next generation is working and looking for jobs. How will we prepare for those entering the workforce when they use tools daily that we are still talking about? They expect us to have these tools in place.

Empire 2.0 (NY State)
" By 2015, people will spend more than 80% of their time working collaboratively - and not necessarily Face-to-Face"
NY initiative to connect, create, and collaborate. Brings inner workings of government out in the open.
Now using public-facing Portals, Twitter, FaceBook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and other social tools to connect with employees and constituents.
Described legal and management implications of embracing social networking to increase govt reach.
A challenge with openness is still making sure that everyone has internet access. many constituents do not have broadband internet. For openness to work, infrastructure needs to be available to all.

Interesting discussion about safety. NY tweets bridge conditions. Audience is now discussing safety issue of government promoting texting while saying texting while driving is unsafe and should be illegal, Interesting implications: openness vs safety.

Brainstorming & crowd sourcing of ideas.
Using brainstorming technologies to engage constituents in discussing issues and brainstorming decisions. (I wonder what efforts they are making to provide trained facilitators?)

Using social networks for data collection and sensemaking. Lowers cost of acquisition and increases validity of information collected.

Increased transparency increases accountability
Example: Now posting all contract details online for all. (No FOIA filing required)
Constituents can submit proposals and track how state money is being spent.

Challenges of openness
Misinformation
Monitoring workplace productivity
Secure critical infrastructure
Maintaining privacy and confidentiality
Abuse/misuse
Protecting intellectual property

Societal & Cultural Challenges of Open Government
Trust
Accountability
Access
Fear
Exposure
Literacy - need to teach sound info mgmt skills.
Vulnerability
Humility

Ethical Challenges
Balancing freedom with responsible behavior.

Legal Challenges
Intellectional Property
Brand Management
Privacy
Accessibility