Can governments innovate? #govcamp grows up #opengov #opendata

Earlier this month I attended GovCamp, a conference for open government and open data enthusiasts and practitioners. A good breadth of speakers and panelists were loosely organized around three streams:  gov tech & open data, public involvement & communications, and public service innovation.  Dreamy!

The well attended conference did lose some of the free wheeling intimacy of the first evening GovCamp that met at the Toronto Reference Library in the summer of 2010.  That event, dubbed an “unconference” for its organic approach to the sessions, had every presenter introduce their topic for 1 minute on stage.   Attendees got a great preview of both the topic and the speakers themselves.  This approach beat deciding to attend a session based on a 4 or 5 word title by a long shot.  In the organizers’ defence, they had planned this but some opening speakers went over their time and the session introductions had to be cut.  Also owing to its smaller size, the previous GovCamp was more interactive.  Participants gathered to discuss particular topics at tables rather than listening to panelists and speakers in larger rooms.  That being said, there were many interesting speakers this year, and the unexpected conversations were equally enjoyable.  On to the sessions:

Rob Ford, Open Data Activist?

Open government is not a partisan issue. Rob Ford's mayoral victory was a clear signal that change is coming to municipal government. Fortunately, the City of Toronto's work on open data continues to gain support.

The National Post's Chris Selley reported that Ford "honourably […] wants to expand the city's Open Data Initiative, which is one of the coolest things going". Selley does a good job making the case for open data. Interested developers can build, for example, a "web tool that translates real-time data on streetcar locations onto a constantly updating map". All residents can benefit from these innovative reuses of data.

"The principle of the thing should appeal to everyone. They're our streetcars, our tracks laid on our roads, we pay the drivers and we pay to ride. It's our data."

Ford has long presented himself as advocate for more open and transparent government, as seen by his publishing of voting and councillor expenses on his own website. Note that Ford publishes "a selection of how Toronto City Council is voting on issues that affect you" rather than publishing all votes. Since 2008, City council office salaries and expenses have been available on the City's website. Work is also underway through the City Clerk's Office Toronto Meeting Management Information System to make all council and committee meeting information more accessible. Through the open data portal, machine-readable data on council attendance and councillor voting is also available for download and reuse.

Ford won't be the first politician promoting more open government. George Smitherman had a great open government platform. Ironically, and unlike Rob Ford and Joe Pantalone, he held off releasing his list of campaign donors until the date required under the law.

At the Federal level, the Liberal Party is embracing a default position of openness in government. The Federal Conservatives also came to power promising to improve transparency. However, they have generally opted for a less open government through tight control of government information combined with interference in Freedom of Information requests. Multiple times.

Nonetheless, the rising interest in openness from the public, media and politicians across the political spectrum is a cause for optimism. Hopefully Ford's commitment to transparency and accountability will continue throughout his term as mayor.