Hello,
I've been appointed to serve on my county's Strategic Planning Committee for Public Infrastructure via my connection to the Civic Tech. I would like some feedback on points that I'm (and my civic tech community) making.
We started off by asking the county to implement a public, fiber optic, Internet backbone with a gateway to the Internet.
That lead to discussions about the public infrastructure, (transportation, land/buildings, health services, economic development, information technology, etc.) In these conversations, I stressed that we need to redefine government. Great opening, huh?
I would appreciate your experience and feedback on how the following points will play, and how to make them play better:
- Yes, we need full transparency. Reporting out must be full and curated for any specific audience from casual browser to full participant.
- Plus, we need feedback mechanisms that actually work. This means collecting feedback at every stage from idea through to evaluation and having that feedback inform decisions at every stage and level.
- In addition, we need multi-lateral conversations government/citizens (I use that word advisedly)/business. This means that in addition to reporting, informing decisions based on feedback, the governement needs to facilitate communications about government issues that take place between citizens and businesses.
- The whole process looks more like a conversation about ideas and their implementation than a set of regulations and services.
- I've also pushed for and received general agreement that we need to accommodate people who don't have access to technology, by creating clear multi-lateral communications at government buildings and throughout all agencies.
So what are your thoughts? Is this a good tactic for bringing this to the county's attention in a manner that might result in some forward movement?