Politics « Timi will share… | Social Business Strategy

March 19, 2009 • 12:13 am 6

Democratising and socialising data to empower the public domain – part 3/3

Some inspirations

Digital Public Square of the District of Columbia
Vivek Kundra, America’s Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO), spearheaded this project when he was still the Chief Technology Officer of D.C. This portal allowed online access to different government data and services, making it easier for the public to interact with the federal government. A major part of this project was the innovation contest, ‘Apps for Democracy’, where D.C. released its database to the public and encouraged talented technologists and creatives to create the most useful applications from DC’s Data Catalog.

The result: 47 applications ranging from web applications, widgets, Google Maps mash-ups, iPhone apps, Facebook apps, and other digital utilities were developed, representing $2,000,000+ in value and a 4000% ROI. http://www.istrategylabs.com/government-20-the-rise-of-citizen-innovation-through-open-data/

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Digital worlds, e-democracy, Politics, Social / online media analysis, e-democracy, good governance, gov 2.0, social web, Web 2.0

March 19, 2009 • 12:02 am 1

Democratising and socialising data to empower the public domain – part 1

This month’s article is brought to you by the letter ‘E’ and ‘D’ —‘E’ for ‘electronic’, ‘D’ for ‘democracy’.

Taken apart, they each constitute a vast body of meanings. Google them and you’ll get 471,000,000 hits for ‘electronic’ and 67,800,000 for ‘democracy’. Taken together, these words take on a new meaning that definitely outweighs the sum of their parts.

E-democracy thrives in a framework that acknowledges the Internet and other forms of digital technology as political media; each one possessing the radical potential to drive democratic processes and be transformed in return.

The word ‘democracy’ is derived from the Greek word ‘demos’ (people) and ‘kratos’ (rule / strength). There are many detailed definitions and forms of democracy, but in general it’s founded on the principles that:

All citizens enjoy universally recognised equal freedoms and liberties.
All citizens have equal access to political, social, cultural and economic power and decision-making.

Decision-making is a collective endeavour and requires direct involvement by “…all residents of a particular geographical area and of a viable population size beyond a certain age of maturity (to be defined by the citizen body itself) and irrespective of gender, race, ethnic or cultural identity. (Wikipedia, 2009)

Put democratic intent into the realm of the electronic and you’ll get a new way of looking at the ABCs of data: Accessibility (who gets access to data), Bureaucracy (who and what structures control the production and distribution of data), and Consciousness (what kind of information is being disseminated). This framework impacts the whole question of how information can be harnessed and put to use in the digital era, specifically with the onset of Web 2.0.

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: e-democracy, Politics, Social / online media analysis, e-democracy, good governance, gov 2.0, social web, Web 2.0

January 23, 2009 • 4:00 pm 0

“…In the face of doubt, openness prevails."

Day 3 of the Obama Administration and it looks like Obama’s keeping his word.

Yesterday saw the signing of an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, as well as all overseas CIA detention centres for terror suspects, and ban the use of torture in interrogations. Many countries, countless human rights organisations and the UN itself have hailed this move.

But what made me equally excited was what he did on Day 1. Obama issued two memos reflecting his desire to see a greater commitment to freedom of information and a more transparent government.

In the memo on freedom of information (2009foia.mem.rel.pdf), he ordered federal agencies to adopt “a presumption in favour of disclosure” in administering the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): “In the face of doubt, openness prevails.”

This is a sharp contrast to the memo issued by then US Attorney General John Ashcroft soon after 9/11, which called on government bodies to only disclose information after exhausting all means to withhold it. Although the new memo does not explicitly overturn the policy, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EEF) still considers it a ‘big step in the right direction’ as it directs the incoming attorney general to reaffirm the commitment to accountability and transparency when s/he issues new FOIA guidelines to government agencies.

According to this memo, “(a) democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency. As Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.”

It goes on to say: “The Freedom of Information Act should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails. The Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears. Nondisclosure should never be based on an effort to protect the personal interests of Government officials at the expense of those they are supposed to serve. In responding to requests under the FOIA, executive branch agencies (agencies) should act promptly and in a spirit of cooperation, recognizing that such agencies are servants of the public. “

And the call to action: “The presumption of disclosure also means that agencies should take affirmative steps to make information public. They should not wait for specific requests from the public. All agencies should use modern technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their Government. Disclosure should be timely.”

In the memo on the subject of transparency and open government (2009_transparency_memo.pdf), Obama reiterates his goal to create ‘an unprecedented level of openness in Government.’ Whilst reading it, I felt like I was reading an ode to Web 2.0: Obama focused on the values and principles that have woven the participatory Web into the heart of social interaction — transparency, participation and collaboration.

He urges all government bodies to harness the benefits of new media so that their operations and decisions can be readily available for the public online. Going a step further, he encourages them to get feedback from the public and make space for their participation, whether it is policy-making or getting people’s input on how to improve public participation in governance. He explicitly directs agencies to “use innovative tools, methods, and systems to cooperate among themselves, across all levels of Government, and with nonprofit or individuals in the private sector.”

Only time can tell if these initiatives will truly result in significant changes in how federal government works, and whether it will contribute to more meaningful participation of citizens in government decision-making. Even so, it is heartening to see Obama trying to fulfill the promises made during his campaign to employ blogs, wikis and other social networking tools to modernize public communication and information-sharing. You won’t catch some heads of states out there to even allude to openness, transparency and collaboration. I’m quite excited to see how notions of the so-called e-democracy will hold up in everyday life and in the practice of good governance.

Filed under: e-democracy, Politics, e-democracy, freedom of information, good governance, Web 2.0

December 28, 2008 • 9:20 pm 0

Climate of impunity

It’s not new at all — how people in power, especially those ‘elected’ to serve the people — end up abusing those they vowed to serve.

Follow this link and read about how Mayor Nasser Pangandaman, Jr., Mayor of Masiu City, Lanao del Sur and company beat up a 56-year old man and his 14-year old son. His father, Secretary Nasser Pangandaman of the Department of Agrarian Reform, just stood there and watched.

http://vicissitude-decidido.blogspot.com/2008/12/world-is-fucked-up.html

“Hindi nila kami kilala! Sabihin mo nga sa kanila kung sino ako!” shouted the mayor in the midst of the fight. (“They don’t know who we are! Someone better tell them who I am!”). I guess this is his interpretation of spreading some holiday cheer and goodwil.

Nothing new — which makes it already a sad affair — but it doesn’t diminish the tragedy everytime such an incident occurs. Can you imagine how even more hopeless it would be if it were a poor farmer being beaten up?

Spread the word to help nail these fuckeroos.

Filed under: Politics, abuse, impunity, power trip

November 7, 2008 • 8:43 am 2

Yes, we can

Those three words are more powerful than I thought and now I realise why it became the heart of Obama’s campaign.

I must admit I was moved when I heard Obama’s speech the night he became president-elect. Moved by his words, but also equally by the reaction of the crowd. They were crying and I felt connected with them. I wondered when the Philippines would have a President for whom people will shed tears of joy and hope, instead of rage.

But back to America. Just watching the news and saw a feature on how Obama’s story and victory is impacting young Afro-Americans. A group of students were interviewed and based on their answers, you could tell that they were all fired up with hope and inspiration.

An 18-year old spoke of how hundred of years ago they were slaves, but today are equals.

Another one admitted how most of his peers who lost their way are now seeing the path before them more clearly.

A 19-year old mother now looks at her little boy in a different light: ‘He could be a president.’

That is so powerful. I felt the hair on my neck stand upon hearing that. Inspiring change, shifting perspectives, connecting not just with the cognitive but also the affective domain are hard goals to reach and measure.

Maybe Obama will succeed with his vision, maybe not. Maybe he’ll be a better U.S. president for the world, or maybe it will be ‘U.S. intervention as usual’ in many developing countries. Maybe he’ll live up to his promise to the American people, or maybe we’ll see a Republican in the White House in 2012. Whatever the outcome, I believe the hope he has rekindled in the hearts and minds of Afro-Americans has already taken root. I sincerely hope it will flourish and bear fruits to feed the dreams of more young people and their nation.

Filed under: Politics, change, inspiration, Obama

August 26, 2008 • 11:14 pm 6

The hole in the wall

I was in Copenhagen last May 29-30 to get my annual dose of ideas and inspiration overload at the conference aptly called reboot. It’s an annual gathering — a community event to be more precise — that’s been going on for a decade; it has been a crossroads of digital technology and change where practical visionaries meet and reboot.

From the organisers’ own words: “2 days a year. 500 people. A journey into the interconnectedness of creation, participation, values, openness, decentralization, collaboration, complexity, technology, p2p, humanities, connectedness and many more areas.”

I like being in reboot, mainly because it’s so different from your usual corporate conferences. There’s an air of excitement and anticipation, but everyone’s just cool to everyone. The energy sizzles in the air and good will just overflows. It’s good to be stuck in such a place that houses stories and inspirations of people of different nationalities, who share ideas as artists, writers, bloggers, developers, entrepreneurs, researchers, analysts, teachers, cultural workers, designers, information architects, and so much more.

I almost did not go after having had long, tiring and bad day at work, but it’s a good thing I did. I really needed to shut down and reboot

Walking through walls
This year’s theme was ‘Free’: not just the price, but the freedom to flow, create and re-create spaces and interfaces around and within us.

One of the topics that struck me the most was the talk on ‘walking through walls’by Molly Wright Steenson. It was a military strategy used by units of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) on its attack on the city of Nablus in April 2002. Described as ‘inverse geometry’ as it re-organised the ‘urban syntax’, it used the streets, roads, alleys, or courtyards that constitute the syntax of the city in a non-traditional way; as well as the external doors, internal stairwells, and windows that constitute the order of buildings, the soldiers moved horizontally through blasted walls, and vertically through blasted ceilings and floors. Because the rebels interpreted the spaces made by doors, windows and alleys in a traditional manner — places where you can walk through or enter, but also places where you can be trapped and confronted — Aviv Kochavi, then commander of the Paratrooper Brigade decided to perceive these spaces not in the same way as every architect did. He considered it forbidden territory and thus looked for other ways of moving through the spatial boundaries they were in.

“…. We interpreted the alley as a place forbidden to walk through, and the door as a place forbidden to pass through, and the window as a place forbidden to look through, because a weapon awaits us in the alley, and a booby trap awaits us behind the doors. This is because the enemy interprets space in a traditional, classical manner, and I do not want to obey this interpretation and fall into his traps. Not only do I not want to fall into his traps, I want to surprise him! This is the essence of war. I need to win. I need to emerge from an unexpected place. And this is what we tried to do.”

I found deeply interesting the unexpected way the space — or the interface — was reinterpreted by the military. In this case, it was not the spatial boundaries that created and directed movement, but it was the movement itself — the walking though walls — that recreated the space around it. “Walking-through-walls” re-conceptualised the city as not just the site, but also the very medium of warfare.

I find this very relevant in our work with experience architecture, where we give structure to and analyse information on different digital platforms: it reminds me to keep on rethinking the interfaces we design and develop; to challenge the usual flows of data and how users access it.

But although I have a grudging admiration for this perspective, the tactic of ‘walking through walls’ has greatly impacted the democratic spaces offered by both public and private domains. By invading and worming through the domestic interiors, the inside has been turned to outside: private domains became thoroughfares of conflict where fighting takes place ‘…within half-demolished living rooms, bedrooms and corridors of poorly built refugee homes, where the television may still be operating and a pot may still on the stove.’

If they have walked through walls and reinvented the spaces around them, what could have then been removed or displaced? Which pathways have been blocked or rendered impassable and which new spaces are going to evolve, adapt and perhaps fill in the gaping holes in the walls?

Filed under: Digital worlds, Politics, architecture, cities, democratic spaces, flows, spaces, walking through walls

May 27, 2008 • 12:07 am 0

Thank you, Burmese citizen journalists

“They came and put the flag, gave us 10 candles but no food.”

“They don’t help, but force us to leave. Where should we go, my young man?”

“Nobody comes (to help)! But they have taken away all the donations from us.”

– survivors expressing their anger at the Burmese government

We are in trouble, help!
We are hungry!
- written on the road after the storm

Enabled in part, and mediated by today’s internet and networking technologies, citizen journalism—or participatory journalism— has become a more permanent element of the media landscape. Whereas before was a clear delineation between author and reader, news maker and audience; today’s social, networking and collaborative-based applications like blogs, wikis, forums, widgets combined with easy-to-use but hi-tech digicams and mobile computing have blurred the lines between ‘amateur’ and ‘professional’ in the world of journalism.

That average citizens can engage in the writing, production and distribution of news and opinion is not an entirely new concept. It has been rooted in many struggles for change in world history and advocated in recent years by development workers.

Thanks to many ordinary citizens who participate as both witness and storyteller of the world around them, even more people like us get to see the world from a point of view other than that of oragnised media industries. More than this, in the midst of danger and conflict, the world is given the chance to see what’s real, raw and unglamorous — reality uncut. Like the plight of Burma.

Burmese citizen journalists
The devastation of Burma in recent weeks was not really unleashed by Cyclone Nargis. It was its military junta who made a natural catastrophe an unbearable tragedy. This I learned thanks to the Democratic Voice of Burma and its group of Burmese reporters and photo-journalists — all ordinary citizens — working covertly to bring the world the real story of the storm. The DVB is based in Norway and comprises a handful of Burmese activists in exile.

Burma’s military junta, with its tightly controlled state media, paint a picture of a country quickly recovering, with mostly upbeat images of the country’s military leaders handing out aid to survivors. Photo-journalists are not allowed to take photos of the more gruesome reality: hungry survivors squatting on roadsides, stinking corpses floating in flooded waters, injured survivors waiting hopelessly for help. Local relief organisations and volunteers are threatened to not coordinate with monks, who are once have gathered in the streets not in protest, but merely to help the communities.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has claimed that as many as 127,990 people may have died as a result of the cyclone, while the UN says more than 100,000 may have perished. The UN also estimated that between 1.6 and 2.5 million people have been severely affected by the disaster.

As of this writing, the UN is still unable to mount a full-scale relief effort, because Burma has not yet granted visas to dozens of disaster relief specialists. This despite the fact that US and French ships loaded with aid are in the waters close to the country, but without clearance to port. Even Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa has stood up to say that the junta has committed crimes against humanity in its handling of the catastrophe; that the regime had “effectively declared war on its own population.”

Thanks to Burmese citizen journalists, we are not kept in the dark and fed false images of recovery Hopefully, the world can repay them with supporting the Burmese people in their struggle not just to survive this natural catastrophe, but also to regain its freedom and a better quality of life.

Filed under: Politics, Social / online media analysis, Burma, catasthrope, citizen journalism, social web, struggle

May 20, 2008 • 9:43 am 1

Crispin Beltran, Grand Old Man of Philippine Labour

‘Ka Bel’, as he popularly known and fondly called by fellow labourers and comrades in the Philippine labour movement, has passed away. He was 75 years old.

Just read in the news that the tireless labour leader and Congress Representative died 11:48 a.m., Philippine time. He fell from the rooftop of his home, the head injuries proved to be fatal. He was fixing a leak on the roof. Fixing stuff around the house was part of his morning ritual according to his family.

He always said he would like to die in action. That he died in an accident and that his death was not expected, doesn’t make his life any less heroic. It only makes his death a greater sorrow. He is truly one of the Philippines’ modern heroes. This loss will reverberate strongly in the hearts of Filipino workers around the globe.

Rest in peace, Ka Bel.

Filed under: Politics, labour, Philippines, workers

March 23, 2008 • 12:38 am 0

Five years ago

March 19, 2008.

I woke up groggily to see the rooftops of Malmo covered with the memories of a snow-filled night. The sunlight curling slowly around the corners of the window began to stretch until, suddenly, it drew everything in — the streets, the buildings, the horizon, the lone cloud — and swelled with delight.

Another night has passed in a Hilton room that’s erringly starting to look as familiar as my office in Amsterdam and my work area at home. Another long day ahead filled with client meetings, presentations, and trying to not do a Catbert and say ‘Can you prove you’re stupid?’.

The TV, which I always leave on at night while I sleep (a habit I can’t kick off), began to flash the face of a colossus of science fiction. He’s dead, I heard the voice in my head repeating what I saw on the news. Arthur Clarke — a futurist, inventor and author of “2001: A Space Odyssey,” — passed away today. His book, “The Exploration of Space,” was supposed to have been used by the rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun to convince President John F. Kennedy that it was possible to go to the Moon.

I felt a sense of loss as I always do whenever masters of fantasy and science fiction go on exploring beyond this world. But after 30 seconds, the main headline began to emerge and then the sleepiness truly rubbed off my eyes.

Five years ago on this day, March 19 at 9:34 p.m. — two days after demanding that Saddam Hussein surrender and leave Iraq within 48 hours — the U.S.-led coalition began bombing Baghdad.

Five years ago on this day, in Alkmaar, I was busy reviewing for the ‘NT2-examen’ (Dutch as second language exams) when I learned that a war was again unleashed. I was very determined to not only pass the exams but also get high scores and was diligently preparing for it. But when I heard about this war on Iraq, it suddenly didn’t matter at all. I just wanted to hop on my bike and go home.

Five years ago, the ‘Burning Bush’ said it would only take about five years and a hundred thousand troops to win this ‘War on Trerror’. But today, even by the most conservative tally, the war in Iraq has already cost the United States more than $400 billion. The Nobel Prize-winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz, even argued that the total bill could surpass $3 trillion.

In five years’ time, my friends got babies, my nephews were born, my husband and I bought a house, I studied again and finished my interactive media studies, my dad passed away with me by his side, I got the job I wanted, even though every now and then, work makes me want to blurt out ‘Prove to me your stupid’ and stick my straw into unfriendly clients milkshakes and drink it!

In five years’ time, GMA vowed not to run for president and did anyway, ‘Hello Garci’ ringtones swept the Philippines and the world, political killings of activists and journalists became an almost weekly event, ‘bubukol’ gave bribery and greed a new cloak, and the stench of the corrupt NBN-ZTE deal made Pinoys around the world gag and rage.

What would the next five years bring? Which war will end or begin? Would I be able to know the streets of Alkmaar as intimately as the streets of Malate? Would I work less, get paid less but become wealthier with my time? Will Arroyo finally not be President?

But then again, who knows? Maybe we don’t even have to have that long.

——–
Since I’m into musing over ‘Shock and Awe’ five years later, I gathered some of the more popular war terminologies of today from different blogs:

GWOT – the global war on terror

WMD – Weapons of Mass Destruction (should be IWMD = Invisible WMD)

Unlawful combatants – stands for: The U.S. can do anything it wants to you in a place of their choosing. Guantánamo base probably.

Axis of power – Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as mentioned by President G.W. Bush during his State of the Union speech in 2002 as nations which were a threat to U.S. security due to harboring terrorism. Also synonymous with Rogue nations and Terrorists. Basically, all that are against the U.S. government

Homeland Security – synonymous with Homeland insecurity.

Shock and awe – A military doctrine renders an adversary unwilling to resist through overwhelming displays of power, like Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Collateral damage – A military euphemism for civilian deaths.

Bush Doctrine – The policy that holds responsible nations which harbor or support terrorist organizations and says that such countries are considered hostile to the United States. From President Bush’s speech: “A country that harbors terrorists will either deliver the terrorists or share in their fate. … People have to choose sides. They are either with the terrorists, or they’re with us.” See Axis of power, Rogue nations and Terrorists.

Pre-emptive war – U.S. privilege that’s needed in order to save the world and humanity. If not initiated by the U.S., then it’s probably an act of terrorism.

Peace: What war is for.

Filed under: Politics, Arthur Clarke, Bush, corruption, iraq, peace, President Arroyo, shock and awe, terrorism, war on terror

« Previous Next »

	Crowdsourcing turns … on Case study: Philippines touris…
	Crowdsourcing turns … on Case study: Philippines touris…
	links for 2011-06-30… on Social Business Series 1: Soci…
	Timi Alcala on A smart infographic for Social…
	Michael Brito on A smart infographic for Social…

Timi will share… | Social Business Strategy

“…In the face of doubt, openness prevails."

Climate of impunity

Yes, we can

The hole in the wall

Crispin Beltran, Grand Old Man of Philippine Labour

Five years ago

About this blog

Email Subscription

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Meta

Blogroll

Topics

Older posts

Tags

Social Sense | Social Business

Timi Tweets

What I'm reading

Follow “Timi will share... | Social Business Strategy”

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

About this blog

Email Subscription

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Meta

Blogroll

Topics

Older posts

Tags

Follow “Timi will share... | Social Business Strategy”