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| Image: Sunlight Foundation via Twitter |
The Sunlight Foundation’s Transparency Camp is an annual
gathering of activists, “hacktivists”, journalists, researchers, data wonks, government
employees, and programmers, and the de facto epicenter for the emerging Open Government
movement. Over three days, transparency
enthusiasts illuminating every level of government—from local assemblies to
international organizations—exchange their successes and challenges in transforming
raw data into meaningful change for their communities and stakeholders.
Since the conference’s inception three years ago, a surfeit
of new technologies, data, and norms supporting transparency and accountability
have emerged.
A central problem, which “OpenGov” must now address, is information inequity:
who does open information work for? Does access to solely web-based platforms
for disseminating government data only exacerbate social and economic inequality?
How can we get this information in the hands of the right change agents?
One of OpenGov’s core principles is the notion that government
data is a public good. Some have argued that in terms of poverty
alleviation, public information might be just as important as access to
clean water and education. In order to impartially disseminate public
information, then, an organization must design its data liberation strategy
with both effective technologies and appropriate public policies in mind. Too
frequently, however, something is lost in translation between the technical
problem-solvers and the “big picture” policy thinkers.
In this sense, delivering public data is like building a house: there
are future “tenants” (policymakers and end-users) who will “live in” the house
but have a vague idea of what an ideal design might look like, and then there
are “contractors” executing the design (data experts and programmers). Often missing
in this data-delivery process are the “architects”—those who speak both
technical and policy languages and can help create a blueprint for success.
Indeed, the dual tracks of an upcoming Data.gov conference
suggest a split in the global transparency movement that now comprises two distinct
yet interrelated
camps: the “Open Government” advocates for political change, and the data-driven
technologists who enable “Open Data”.
This brings us back to the question of who benefits from the
transparency movement. At a session entitled “Open Data in Closed Societies”, journalists
from undemocratic states discussed the personal risks of requesting open,
machine-readable data in political cultures where bribery, patronage, and
coercion are systemic. Simply providing
the technology required for Open Data is no substitute for the complex work of governance
reform. As Chief Tech Officer of the USG, Todd
Park, pointed out, “You can’t pour data on a wound and heal it”.
When it comes to delivering global development finance data,
AidData is uniquely positioned to serve in this “architect” role. As a
partnership between university researchers, technology innovators, and
development professionals, AidData has the ability to bridge the policy-tech
divide in development assistance. In the past year, for example, AidData designed
and implemented a randomized controlled trial to identify effective models for collecting
grassroots feedback from project beneficiaries, while at the same time
building an interactive “Disaster
Aid Tracking” dashboard (soon to be released) for the Global Facility for
Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR). To me, Transparency Camp reinforces
the idea of this bridge spanning the knowledge gaps between technologists,
policy experts, and citizens.
Brian O’Donnell is an AidData
Post-Baccalaureate Fellow at the College of William & Mary.
1 comment:
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