[open-government] Mobile Apps for Engagement, Transparency, and Democracy

Fri Sep 24 13:25:29 UTC 2010

I'll be speaking in Kenya next month (Oct 11-17) where mobile is all
the rage and smartphones are on the rise. I am a guest of the U.S.
Embassy in Kenya.

My sense is that the mobile web interface presents a powerful
intersection between incumbent "e-democracy" tools and how most people
in the world will come to access the interactive side of the Internet
- via their phone. I now spend half my net time on my Android G1 phone
and my iPad.

While the crowd-sourcing story of Ushahidi - http://www.ushahidi.com -
is compelling - "Our goal is to create a platform that any person or
organization can use to set up their own way to collect and visualize
information" - in how it allows people to submit information via even
the most basic mobile phone via SMS, the two-way many-to-many group
engagement person in me sees mobile access to Facebook, Twitter,
mobile apps, even good old e-mail as the power dynamic changer.

While I can certainly present a number of Western projects using
social media for political engagement and community building, almost
all are 1024 x 768 screen-based or conceived. While everything can be
adapted for the small screen, what I really need are some great
examples of mobile specific tools enhancing public participation,
government transparency, informed voting, etc. to add to my mix. The
more examples the better.

Please send to clift at e-democracy.org or http://stevenclift.com/contact

Steven Clift - http://stevenclift.com
  Executive Director - http://E-Democracy.Org
  Follow me - http://twitter.com/democracy
  New Tel: +1.612.234.7072