f My data feed/data visualization white paper published by nGenera! at Stephenson blogs on homeland security 2.0 et al.

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My data feed/data visualization white paper published by nGenera!

By WDavidStephenson | June 17, 2008

I’m a proud papa!

nGenera, Don Tapscott’s firm, today published the “Democratizing Data” paper I co-authored for their Gov. 2.0 program.

It covers the two major aspects of a public data program:

to use both within government agencies and as a means to also involve the general public in policy debates, etc.

When I began working in this field, it was primarily with an eye toward public involvement. I still believe that’s critical, especially since the Harris Poll reports public confidence in government and its path is at an all-time low!

However, after meeting with Dmitry Kaechev and learning more about the District of Columbia’s internal use of data feed/data visualizations, I’ve begun to focus more on that. In part that’s because government agencies are understandably leery of giving away the keys to the data warehouse (PS: little side joke — don’t tell anyone in charge — as demonstrated by the many informative sites such as EveryBlock Chicago, illegalsigns.ca, etc. that do bang-up jobs “scraping” data when automatic feeds aren’t available, the battle’s already lost: if you’re willing to make the effort, the data’s there for the taking, and agencies should instead concentrate on making it readily available on a timely basis and how to capitalize on this new public input) so playing with feeds and visualization behind the firewall first can allow them to clean up their data, get familiar with the approach, etc. before going public. Even more important, as I stressed in the paper, employees within these agencies also have a hard time finding data, wrestle with arbitrary boundaries between programs, etc., so launching internal use of the tools can improve management as well, as best demonstrated by the District of Columbia’s internal use of its Citywide Data Warehouse.

I concluded:

“… we foresee a day in the not-too distant future when data visualization will become an accepted tool, and:

  • Political discourse will become more civil and fact-based
  • The legislative process will become smoother, because advocates from many perspectives will offer suggestions—and objections—early in the process, so they will be factored in
  • The “wisdom of crowds” will emerge frequently in all aspects of government, because people willfeel confident participating
  • Governmental performance will be enhanced, and costs and corruption reduced because it will become easier to analyze all aspects of programs, identify overlaps and potential synergies, and will be harder to conceal influence peddling and corruption

“Data visualization is no panacea, but these benefits are real, and they are achievable. Given the active use of
these tools by watchdogs and activists it only makes sense for administrators and elected officials to begin now to make the “wisdom of crowds” work productively for them and for citizens and to make public data a true public good.”

Want to read the whole report? Contact nGenera about becoming a subscriber and enjoying the other benefits of membership in this project.

PS: I’ll be talking about the report, and this concept in general, as part of the Cross-Partisan Movement for Political Transparency and Watchdogging Government from Below panel at the Personal Democracy Forum 2008 in NYC. Here’s my ultra-boiled-down, no-details argument for data feeds/data visualization that I’ll deliver then. Don’t miss it!
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