[okfn-za] (no subject)

[Adi Eyal]

Hi All

Plans are currently being hatched for the start of a collaboration
between the Open Democracy Advice Centre, the African Eye News Service
and (hopefully) the Cape Town chapter of the Open Knowledge
Foundation.

Government budgets, especially at the municipal level do their best to
attract little interest from the citizens who fund them. As
comprehensive as the Cape Town budget website is
(http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/budget/Pages/default.aspx) - I actually
have no interest in reading through what looks like thousands of pages
of really boring text peppered with tables. I know that somewhere in
those documents lie stories that could explain to me what the city is
doing for its poor, disabled, disenfranchised not mention uptight
middle-classed folk like myself. I just can't bring myself to curl
around one of those bad boy documents (e.g.
http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/Budget/Documents/2011-12%20Final%20Main/1112Budget_ForApprovalAtCouncil_May11_inclMayorRecom.pdf).

Perhaps there's another way? What if we could bring together a group
of geeks, graphics people, a peppering of civil society organisations
and a smattering of journalists to find those stories and present them
to everyday people? We're not sure what the best format is yet, an
Infographic, a mobile application, a website, a vomputer game - who
knows? What we need is volunteers who have an interest in taking this
forward providing whatever skills they have to offer. If you can code
- bring a keyboard - if you can draw bring a pencil. If all you can do
is cheer - bring your pom poms!

The partnership introduced above is looking at picking stories from
the budgets of the City of Cape Town and/or the Western Cape
Government as well as Mbombela Local Municipality and the Mpumalanga
government. If there is any interest in expanding the number of local
or regional governments then we're all ears.

To exhort you to action - I've found a good video on why budgets are
important and why you should care
http://www.youtube.com/v/7d-mSv0eSOE

For now - all we need from you is an expression of interest and a
suggestion for what you can bring to the party. As a group, we'll
brainstorm around how to turn this grain of an idea into a finished
product.

Looking forward to our first project as a community.

-- 
Adi Eyal
phone: +27 78 014 2469
skype: adieyalcas