More on "Digital Citizenship"

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Rollie Cole <rolliecole () gmail com>
Date: June 7, 2010 10:20:55 AM EDT
To: "Dave Farber " <dave () farber net>
Subject: More on "Digital Citizenship"

The US has had mechanisms for "citizen policymaking" in between electing our officials for decades. Think of hearings, 
publishing proposed rules for comments, etc.  New technology gives us new possibilities -- but they have to be used 
wisely.

Asking people with full-time lives away from government to make the hard choices we elected our officials to make will 
probably NOT work. But with the aid of technology, government can ask citizens (only some of whom will respond) for 
specific items that may be very helpful to better policy.  Examples include:
(1) ideas, especially if there is a "voting mechanism" for the responders to rate each other's ideas
(2) values -- ie what do you care about in regard to this issue?
(3) information -- what problems are you facing? where have you encountered potholes or other needs for government 
activity?
(4) "easy" choices -- should the buses be blue or green? 

Another form of "citizen input" is represented by data.gov. Present government data to citizens, so a few of them can 
make clever uses of it to benefit themselves and others, often further serving the public purposes for which the data 
was gathered in the first place.

There is even a web site (in California of course) that tracks clever uses of IT to involve citizens by asking them for 
specific inputs, analyzing those inputs, and re-presenting them for further input. 
http://www.commonsenseca.org/home/default.php



-- 
Rollie Cole
5315 Washington Blvd
Indianapolis, IN 46220-3062
317-727-8940




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