John Carlo Bertot, Successful eGovernment Takes a Village: Inclusion and the Role of Community Anchors

Successful eGovernment Takes a Village: Inclusion and the Role of Community Anchors

John Carlo Bertot Director and Professor Information Policy & Access Center College of Information Studies University of Maryland College Park [email protected]

Some trends and concerns

Growth Rate

� 103% growth rate between 1950 and 2009 ◦  From 152 million to 308 million ◦ Germany: 21% ◦  Italy: 30%

� Continued growth anticipated ◦  ~440 million by 2050

http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/ http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2008/wpp2008_highlights.pdf

Immigration

Shrestha, L.B., & Heisler, E.J. (2011). The changing demographic profile of the United States. CRS Report RL32701.

Age

http://www.census.gov/population/projections/data/national/2008/summarytables.html

0

50.000

100.000

150.000

200.000

250.000

300.000

2010

2015

2020

2025

2030

2035

2040

2045

2050

Under 18

18-64

65 and over

85 and over

* In thousands

Race

http://www.census.gov/population/projections/data/national/2008/summarytables.html

2010

2015

2020

2025

2030

2035

2040

2045

2050

0

50.000

100.000

150.000

200.000

250.000

White

All Others

* In thousands

Poverty

Broadband Plateau �  $7.2 billion spent on broadband diffusion as

part of the Stimulus Bill ◦  Funds end August/September 2013

�  Broadband (home) penetration around 65% ◦ No, mobile access is not the answer

� Who are the non-adopters? ◦  Those who do not adopt technologies �  Older, less educated, less wealthy ◦  Recession �  Cut Internet access ◦  Stagnating/declining income �  Less spending on ICTs

Inability to Govern

�  Inability of federal government to make any decisions

�  States financially strapped ◦ Though bottom may have been reached ◦  Burden shifting to local governments/

communities

� Local governments taking on more of governing/governance to resolve nation’s challenges

Trust in government

10

How much of the time do you trust the government in Washington?

http://www.people-press.org/2013/01/31/trust-in-government-interactive/

Pew Research Center

Open Government and Engagement Opportunities �  Radical redistribution of power away from

government and to communities and people (Cameron, 2011)

�  Redesign institutions around collaborative problem solving (Noveck, 2009)

�  Government as platform for the creation of public value and social innovation (Tapscott, 2010)

�  Reinvention of government through digital engagement, crowdsourcing, open data (Newsome & Dickey, 2012)

�  Reinvention through “nudging” (Sunstein, 2012)

Community Challenges �  What is a healthy

community/society? ◦  Basic needs ◦  Economy ◦  Health and wellness ◦  Education ◦  Arts and Culture ◦  Neighborhoods and

Communities ◦  Environment

◦  Seattle Foundation, 2006

�  Digital inclusion ◦  Access: Availability,

affordability, design for inclusion, and public access ◦  Adoption: Relevance, digital

literacy, and consumer safety ◦  Application: Economic and

workforce development, education, health care, public safety and emergency services, civic engagement, and social connections

◦  IMLS, 2012

Assumptions of eParticipation

�  Informed citizenry � Participation is broad � Digitally inclusive communities � Digitally literate citizenry ◦ Data literacy

� Engagement is intermediated by technology, and directly between citizens and governments (G2C)

Public Libraries in the US

Public Libraries

� Trusted � Neutral � Ubiquitous � Community-based social innovators

Engagement at the Library

� Hartford Public Library (CT) ◦ Community & Civic Participation �  Strategy 1: Recruit and train volunteers to serve

as Cultural Navigators �  Strategy 2: Build coalitions among key

stakeholders �  Strategy 3:  Community - two approaches: City

Wide and Neighborhood �  Strategy 4: Bridging cultures through facilitated.     �  Strategy 5: Communicate the value that

stakeholders bring

Engagement at the Library

�  Sacramento Public Library (CA) ◦  I Street Press

Engagement at the Library �  Howard County Libraries (MD) HiTech ◦  Partners include Institute for Learning Innovation,

Mindgrub Technologies, Howard County Public School System, Howard Community College, University of Maryland’s Clark School of Engineering

◦  Digital Media - Internet collaboration, web site

design, and e-publication development ◦  Mobile Collections - mobile apps and e-book

creation ◦  Games - game play, logic, design, and game building ◦  International Relations - domestic and

international networking, linguistics exploration, and international news and current event observation

It’s about �  Leveraging community resources ◦  (space, people, organizations, skills, infrastructure,

trust) �  Engagement at the local level �  Engagement through intermediaries and

technology �  Digital literacy and data skills �  Inclusive community building ◦  Not just for the connected and skilled

�  Community transformation in critical areas of need

�  Innovation and creativity

References �  Cameron, D. (2011). PM on Government Transparency.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQTt4l2Qmd4&feature=player_embedded

�  Institute of Museum and Library Services. (2012). Building Digital Communities: A framework for action. Washington, DC: Institute of Museum and Library Services. Available at: http://www.imls.gov/assets/1/workflow_staging/AssetManager/2140.PDF

�  Newsome, G, & Dickey, L. (2013). Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government. Penguin Press.

�  Noveck, B. S. (2009). Wiki Government: How Technology Can Make Government Better, Democracy Stronger, and Citizens More Powerful. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.

�  Seattle Foundation. (2006). A Healthy Community: What You Need to Know to give Strategically. Seattle, WA: The Seattle Foundation. Available at: http://www.seattlefoundation.org/aboutus/Documents/10029170_HCReport_web.pdf

�  Sunstein, C.R. (2012). Simpler: The Future of Government. Simon & Schuster. �  Tapscott, D. (2010). Foreward. In D. Lathrop & L. Ruma, Eds. Open

Government: Collaboration, Transparency, and Participation in Practice. O'Reilly Media.