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Tools for Transparency
SECRECY
Lack of Accountability Corruption Waste Cynicism
TRANSPARENCY
Participation Oversight Feedback Trust
Only partially available online
Formatted as web page or PDF
Hard to search Can’t subscribe Can’t visualize Can’t re-use
Publishing Structured Feeds
• Ability to subscribe to interesting data
• Data streams can be ‘mashed’ in new ways.
Data Visualization
• Makes it easy to find new patterns.
Collaborative Organization
• Tagging, Voting
Crowdsourcing
• Combines skills and input of large numbers of people
Governments publish data
streams
Citizens monitor data
streams
Issues are detected
Issues are resolved
3rd
Party Tools
• Governments publish data streams
• 3rd parties create tools for analysis and oversight
• Citizens collaboratively monitor their government
• Citizens detect issues, give feedback
• Issues are resolved
Government has no incentive ▪ Usually has disincentive
Don’t want a single monolithic solution▪ Want to allow evolution of best-
of-breed tools
Tools created by citizens, for citizens▪ Ensure participation
Why can’t the government do everything?
Focus: US Congress California
Legislature
Gives grants to online transparency tools
$3.5 M Seed
A recent US Congress bill
Groups for bill
Groups against bill
Donations
Votes
Publishing Structured Feeds
• MAPLight is a mashup of data streams from different sources.
Data Visualization
• MAPLight makes relationship between money and votes
visible.
Collaborative Organization
• Advocacy group tagsdonating companies as belonging to interest groups.
Crowdsourcing
• Thousands of journalists, advocates, and citizens can browse data and flag issues.
People submit project ideas
Core team defines tools
Web development groups bid for implementation
Supporters donate to fund development
Engine for Donation-Based 3rd Party Tool
Development
Travel and Hospitality Expense Database
• Make it easy to sort and visualize expenses
• Make it easy to screen new expenses
Access to Information Request Front-End
• Make it easy to file an access to information request
• Collect statistics on requests and response times
• Highlight the areas that receive the most requests
Advisors
• Technical Domain Experts, Academics
• Advocacy Groups
• Journalists
Volunteers
• Planners
• Organizers
• Evangelists
Money
• Donations
• Grants
Jennifer Bellvisiblegovernment.ca