Why govt 2.0 is green.

Note on govt 2.0 as a green aesthetic.

Govt 2.0 is like web 2.0 - an aesthetic of mass enablement.

The notion of the City Hall building with its corinthian pillars and whatnot being = "government" melts down. Our mental association of govt changes: not pillars, but connectors.

Governance appears anywhere there is input and decision-making on the use of public space. In govt 2.0, that can be all over - policy making wikis, discussion groups, or in a physical place like neighborhood parties that are busy planting flowers. The place, appearance, and membership isn't static.

People have had church basement meetings, and translated action to City Hall for ever. But the difference with govt 2.0 is, City Hall may take more of a backseat in terms of decision making. The seat of power has to do with the way intelligence is aggregated. The form is not that place on 7th and Cambie. It is non persistent. This changes things.

This is connected to the jag: persistent forms are not green.

Distributed governance: what it means to Us, now

David Eaves, whom I met at VanChangecamp on Wednesday, is involved in panel discussions on the Future of the Public Service stories. A good gig.

What's needed are public service illustrations of Here Comes Everybody (the fact that Shirky appears in the US Now trailer is not a fluke) - i.e. they are stories that have to do with recognising and using distributed intelligence in governance.

As in all times of upheaval, the political center is not holding - if only for financial reasons. It makes sense that in this new climate, we leverage better what we have - in governance, as in all things, we see a move to optimizing distributed intelligence. Wikipedia applied to governance...

The Bowen roads tool story is proof of concept/ illustration of distributed intelligence in action, that enhances public service. That the Govt should share data and everybody use it ( the 2005-6 TTC story) is also a good thread. Note that the Bowen tool thread is a little different: an example of ground-up data production that impacts governance.

Hypothesis: over the next few years, big changes in
- the average politicians' job and psychographic profile
- the average govt beurocrat's administrator's job and psychographic profile

Overall, less to do with making policy from nothing, at the central level, and more on facilitating and filtering it.

There are many positive impacts of better use of distributed intelligence. For example: Open and accessible tools can do more make us aware that there are lonely people in our neighborhood: they engage us in solving this problem. What a (paid) municipal agency would do in this case is not clear, but if some of its role is taken back by citizens, it follows that the agency would need less funding.

So, we can plan both for role changes at the administration and political level, as govt make room for Everybody. We can also expect to require fewer municipal employees.

We are in a world of wild culture

Inspired by Peter Rawsthorne, who is consulting for lawyers while pointing to the end of the gated community that is lawyerdom. Others chime in .

Which brings me to review the term "Wild culture". Wikipedia and self governance are examples of wild culture in action. Wild but not ineffective anarchy: they use some very unobtrusive and effective pruning mechanisms, thanks to social media.

We too often refer to the "amateurization" of governance, encyclopedias, publishing or lawyerdom, but Wild culture is also about the efficiency of wild dissemination.

In fact, there will be lawyers, politicians and publishers. But "lawyerdom" and "publishing" and "governing" as we have known them are not surviving Wild culture.

There is no public/professional firm division any more, caused by a self-perpetuating barrier to entry, and sustained by cowardice and greed. We are seeing the efficiency of wild culture instead. That is:

People will probably use legal means, and governance, and publishing resources, more than ever. Because they are empowered to do so, and are not put off by a $400/hr clock ticking against them.

The "pros" ( eg lawyers, copyrighted publishers and politicians/ political administration) may be in less demand, and sherpa-like agencies (e.g. book, info subscription, blog or learning consultant, wikis)in greater demand. Because with participative learning resources, self education, self representation, and self publishing - 98% of issues can be handled by my wild self, thank you.

This means efficiency, access, democratization. To climb the mountain, I can walk up as high as my lungs will carry me. There is no sentry at the base of the mountain asking for your membership card. I can hire a sherpa, and in special cases, a "professional" (lawyer, big book publisher) to traverse the segment I can't. But these people don't own the entire journey any more. It is my own unique journey, and though the so called "professionals" may quiver and quake, the world is enlivened by the enabled wildness of it all.

People who care

A two minute movie I did about a Dancing Deer Baking Company, food company that gives a damn. MonkeyMedia paid me to make this, hats off to them too.

In the US, there are 700,000 mothers who rely on homeless shelters. This can change.

Saving seeds - as if your life depended on it

Michelle just bought his book, along with Dan's local, heritage vegetable seeds from Salt Spring Island. Really going to work at it this year, as are many people I know. Juxtaposing how I feel about this and what many of the chain restaurants are still doing. Still think that a chain that makes strides in localization could thrive.

From the TED conference: Green technology

Nope, not at the TED conference, but I do have a pass for streamed content. Trying to re-jig my schedule to watch two session today.
2 very smart guys with stuff I barely understand. But it is green technology - shown in the 2006 conference. The first one is very short. We are not necessarily screwed etc.