How do I know this?  Well here’s the PDF outlining the deal between the City of Edmonton and Google regarding the Workspace Edmonton Program.  If you’re young, hip and want a working environment that’s hyper-connected from anywhere, and cutting-edge fusedlogic is your first stop.  However, if all of those things apply and public service is on your mind, then consider the City of Edmonton’s IT Branch as the perfect home.  For those of you who don’t know, Edmonton’s IT Branch is led by a strong group of people and its CIO, Chris Moore.  Full disclosure, Edmonton’s IT Branch is a client of ours, and Chris Moore has been on fusedlogicTV several times to talk about Open Government.

He is not only a real advocate but as you can see above, he and his team are people of action when it comes to creating efficiencies, collaboration, and increasing transparency among their team on behalf of Edmontonians.  The world is literally now, their oyster when thinking of all the ways collaboration can happen across great distances.

This is a fantastic example of what cities and towns need to do, Chris no doubt will be able to speak about the pros and any cons that come out of this migration to Google, and it’s Enterprise level Google Apps Premier Edition. Using Apps such as Google Mail, Google Docs, internal YouTube for training will dramatically save the team time.  Not to worry Microsoft, (Disclosure: another client of ours) Office and SharePoint are still a part of the picture as required.  People have a choice, imagine that.  Also, Edmonton’s public servants have had access to Yammer, a Twitter clone designed for internal communications, now with over 1000 people on it. In the case of the BC Government, they’ve been using Yammer for well over a year now with great success.  Glad to see the City of Edmonton embrace real-time communications internally as well.

Overall, this step into the Cloud is fantastic, congratulations to the City of Edmonton, the IT Branch and to Chris Moore for walking the walk.

Pre-Game Warm-up

I went live earlier than expected as we pulled the show together and prepped, while I did this I took time to mention OpenGovWest in Portland, Oregon on May 13th.  Looks like it will be great fun.

OurSay.org and O’Reilly Media

We had Lihn Do, (@lmdo) one of the co-founders of OurSay.org out of Australia Skype in from the United Nations in New York City.  We also had a last minute addition of Alexander Howard, (@digiphile) Gov 2.0 Correspondent for O’Reilly Media out of Washington D.C.

This was a lot of fun, we discussed several things surrounding citizen engagement, showed several examples like OurSay.org, our own futureedmonton.ca, as well as, a post by Alex on a new Online Identity framework brought forward by the United States Federal Government.  We also inserted a video of Chris Moore, City of Edmonton CIO that we shot last year on the topic of Open Data.

We talked about building frameworks in general, and both Lihn and Alex held my feet to fire while clarifying a couple of things on different topics through the show which I appreciated.  I did mention that I would like to see more transparency from our provincial government in this area, but the point I was trying to make about old school methods and new methods got mixed up a bit, it wasn’t my best delivery I must say and I’ll work harder next time to get it right.

That said, I emphasized the need for an Open Government framework here in Alberta and wished we had a Minister of Open Government just like the Province of British Columbia.

All in all, I think it set the foundation for a great series moving forward.  The feedback has been very positive thus far, and I’m looking forward to next week when we’ll have even more great contributors on the show and lot more to discuss.

Oh and I almost forgot to tell you, our inaugural episode will be translated into Portuguese by a team led by Francisco Cavalcante, CIO for the municipality of Fortaleza, Brazil.

Here’s his tweet.

With that in mind, I have a few questions.

Does this mean that the City of Edmonton knows what to do with the information generated?  Just because of things stated in this post, should someone actually inform Mary Pat Barry?  What happens when “troll like” statements are made by a city employee?Such has been known to happen on Twitter when Andre Darmanin makes disparaging remarks regarding the city he now lives in, and is employed by, and that makes it into a blog post?  Should anyone care?  Of course, there are clear codes of conduct for city employees regarding freedom of speech and personal opinions, political or otherwise.  I also believe that the use of social media by City of Edmonton employees is important, so I’m a clear proponent of using and respecting the power of social.  I’m just wondering about the perception.  How should one interpret the perception of this or any other employee’s conduct online?  Would that even resonate with those monitoring with Radian6?  Would they know what to look for?  That is clearly a very large task.

How far reaching will the information gathered about this post travel?  All the way to city council?  All the way to Mayor Mandel for instance?  If as a city employee you are reading this blog post, and you don’t think it’s important enough to include in your reporting or important enough to include in briefings to the mayor, could you be fired as a result of missing something this important?  Is this important? I’m not a City of Edmonton taxpayer, I live in Strathcona County, does that matter?

I’m curious, what’s the point of monitoring if you don’t intend on taking some level of action based on the information?  That said, let’s assume you will take action.  What action (if any) should be taken?  Who has the power to take that action?  Does the City of Edmonton use social media to respond publicly or ignore this post?  Will ignoring this post only fuel my curiosity, causing me to ask even more questions?  That’s tough to determine.  So then, does one respond here on my blog, and publicly acknowledge this post, giving it recognition?  The safer route may be to ignore it, then again, this entire post is about how the city is listening which would automatically suggest that a response should take place.  Whatever you decide is fine with me.

What about sentiment?

I suppose one or two within city administration might be trying to determine the “sentiment” of this blog post at the moment, an important endeavour to be sure.  Am I being positive, negative or neutral?  But wait, won’t the software take care of that?  Can you truly trust a software solution of any kind to make that determination?  If not, that means that there will need to be many city employees sifting through results, and trying to make that determination.  How much time should be spent going down that rabbit hole?  How much research should one perform on me as the blog post author in order to determine the importance of this blog post, and possible implications if ignored?  Is that time and money well spent?

At what cost?

What of the expense of Radian 6, and how they bill their clients partially based on the number of searches being returned?  If the searchers are not in tune with what’s to be monitored, searching inaccurately could mean substantial cost down the road with very large surprises.  I imagine the City of Edmonton would generate considerable search results across the entire enterprise, and then you have to ask, can one solution be trusted to do the job effectively?

What about influence and/or respect?

Do I have any?  Or am I just a troll taking a pot shot at the city?  Do I have any reach or respect at all?  I suppose that would be determined by who you asked.  This blog gets very little traffic in the grand scheme of things.  It’s possible that no one is reading this blog post at all, except for you. And still, it’s possible that members of the mainstream media are reading it, and will decide to inquire as to the cost of this program to taxpayers after the trial is over.  As they might with any city expenditure, that’s quite routine actually.  What should you do?  Report this to your superiors now?  Across how many departments and supervisors?  There’s nothing like reading a headline in the Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun or hearing about city spending on the 6 o’clock news is there?  Is this money well spent?  I think the activity itself if done correctly is an important one, and yet that’s simply my opinion.

I hope those reading will agree that I’ve asked some important questions here that deserve follow-up and strong consideration. Not only for those within the City of Edmonton, other areas of the public sector but also the private sector as well.

The inaugural show of Getting Social with Schwabe covers off some interesting points and includes great interviews with Chris Moore, Chief Information Officer for the City of Edmonton, and Chris Heuer, Founder of the Social Media Club in San Francisco.  There’s also My Big App with Evan Adnams who reviews a new indie game called “Funnergunner” by Fluik Entertainment, and the Internutt who provides his take on “fails.”

Our thanks to our sponsor Yardstick Software

Please provide us with show ideas and feedback by sending us an email: radio@fusedlogic.com

Thanks for listening.

Download on iTunes

I’m not going to run through the entire show play-by-play, but I would like to mention a few key take-aways.  Technically, we had very little really go wrong with the day.  Oh sure, there were guests I’d never met until seconds before going live, guests without pants, pet cameos, names I got wrong, a lack of food all day and not wanting to chow down on camera means I was operating on fumes.  Which probably contributed to situations with panelists where I rudely cut them off in mid-sentence, not intending to be rude, but what are you going to do? All in a days work on fusedlogicTV.  One thing is for sure, we had no shortage of great people on the show.  I’m so gratified that nearly everyone we asked was able to participate.

Another key moving forward is that we have some fine-tuning to do on our production.  I believe we can make programming improvements that will help the next show flow a bit better.  We gave everyone at least a half-hour on the show, and it seemed to me with all the panels, there simply wasn’t enough time to cover all that we wanted to.  In each and every case, we could have talked for hours.  A tribute to the quality of the guests, they were great.

In particular, I want to mention that this had an effect on the time that our Open Government panel had to speak.  Compounding the issue was that I elaborated a bit too much and because of some technical things with cell-phones, Skype bandwidth etc, I might have come off a bit rude cutting things off on air.  That was totally not my intention when setting the stage for a question or response from our panelists.  A panel that collectively could fill days of airtime with their wisdom and knowledge on Open Government was distilled down to a few moments each.

Note to self, “Walter, shut-up and let your guests speak, ya bonehead.” That’s something I’ll definitely work on for next time, less the presenter and more the listener.

I tend to get really passionate about the topics and excited about the guests.  Listening more will be part of my personal journey, something my wife will be happy about too.

Laughter

Of course, having said all of the above, if you caught our pro-sports with Allan Watt from the Edmonton Oilers, David Jamieson from the Edmonton Eskimos and the Team1260′s Kyle Chase, there was certainly no shortage of banter, laughter and great discussion going on.  Also, Kyle was kind enough to join us at the last minute and I wasn’t aware until literally seconds before going live who he was by face.  I said, “Hi, what’s your name?” “Kyle Chase, Team1260.” I said, “Kelly, great to meet you.”  Thankfully, there was no shortage of people there to correct me, thanks Allan. I got it right on air, watch the segment and notice Kyle shakes his head up and down as I mention his name.

More laughter was had on Skype with Duleepa (Dups) Wijayawardhana, CEO of local Edmonton start-up Empire Avenue.  This is a serious contender and we had lot’s of opportunity to tackle some of the misconceptions that are floating around on Twitter, and elsewhere.  During the interview the battery on Dups’ laptop was about to die so he said, “Please excuse me while I move, I didn’t anticipate this and I don’t have any pants on.”  Just shortly after that his cat decided to be the star of the show and walked into camera…awesome TV!

Thank-you to our guests

The proof of a great show is in the feedback.  Thankfully that has been very positive on many fronts.  From in studio guests, panelists, viewers in our chat room, by email and online.  I’d like to thank each and everyone one of you for providing feedback.  We look at each one as a chance to improve or continue in a positive direction.  You make us better.  Please continue to speak-up and let us know.  Do you see value in a regular video podcast telling the kind of stories we did on Thursday?

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the support from the community.  The show is only as good as the people on it and the discussion and we had wonderful people and organizations participate.  Here’s the list in no particular order.

More of the great feedback regarding our show includes one viewer’s comments that we had “too many good guests,” they would have liked a shorter show possibly.  We’ve also had feedback that we’ve reached new audiences as people who would have never consumed a live video podcast in the past tuned-in or showed up to witness it in person.

Thank-you to our sponsors

As I said live, a show like this cannot go forward without the kind support from the business community we were fortunate to receive.  Our lead business sponsor was First Foundation, Gord McCallum and his team including Sheila Hawkins stepped-up and said we want to be a part of this.  They put together a great panel including Kelly from CMHC, whom I only met a minute before going on air, and Stephen Lau, a successful Realtor. Great discussion regarding how people should prepare for applying for a mortgage.  Watch the high-priced car loan folks, it can prevent you from getting that new home.

The Golden Rice Bowl equals fantastic authentic chinese food.  I know this for a fact because after the show all of us were exhausted and Miranda Lau, the owner came by, took one look at us and said, “you guys sit down and eat, I’ve got food coming for you.” and boy was it good.  This is not the first meal I’ve had at the Golden Rice Bowl but it was a clear reminder as to why the place is packed much of the time.

What’s next?

Well certainly our archived video will be up as soon as Mr. Evan (I broke my hand) Adnams can work to get the video up on fusedlogic.tv for those who missed the live show to watch.  One thing I will caution everyone on.  We had lower than preferred upload bandwidth so our playback quality will suffer a bit as a result.  Still that’s mostly us being perfectionists.

Certainly, we’re looking for interesting stories to cover and we’ve received many requests to do “free” shows.  Unfortunately, there is quite a production that goes on to do this right and with high production values.  If you’d like to have a show for your organization, region or cause we’d love to help, we just cannot afford to help everyone for free or at a discount.  We are happy to work with you on getting some funding for your project via the sponsorship model, for the the right show that works really well.  We’ve generated over 100,000 viewer minutes in 2010 just with the few shows we’ve done, there’s more eyes looking at fusedlogicTV everyday and your great stories are the reason why.

How would you like to use live streaming video?

Citizen Engagement in Seattle

Mayor McGinn spent a few moments welcoming us all to Seattle and providing some interesting perspectives on how his campaign used social media to engage citizens and expand the reach of his message.  The Mayor also announced a new citizen engagement lab to help expand open government and citizen engagement here in Seattle.  ”We’re looking to learn from you and gather some ideas from this conference,” he said of the expectations of OpenGov West.  There were certainly a lot of great ideas that came out of yesterday’s experience.

Apps 4 Climate Action in BC

Honourable Minister Ben Stewart, Ministry of Citizens’ Services proclaiming “Go Canada Go” as well introduced ourselves was fun, however as we found out he had something else to proclaim.  Yesterday the Government of British Columbia announced a new contest called Apps 4 Climate Action.  That’s very cool.  Ironically, one of the things that the BC government will need to ensure as they pick a winner is “sustainability.”  In this case, I’m speaking about the sustainability of the application and the developer as that will be the key moving forward.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention some other cool people from the BC government.  David Hume, Executive Director Civic Engagement, Ministry of Citizens’ Services and Christine Wood, Social Media/Online Communications Director with BC’s Public Affairs Bureau.

New York State Senate is Open

Andrew Hoppin, Chief Technology Officer for the New York State Senate provided an excellent keynote and overview of all the Open Government change that’s going on New York in large part due to budget constraints.  Andrew explained that efficiency was a key part of the plan.  For example, New York now saves over $1.5 million per year by having all the daily news distributed by news feed rather than having staff clip out news headlines and scanning them for distribution.  There is a lot that has been accomplished in just a short year or so, it’s amazing frankly what can happen with motivated individuals at the helm.

City of Edmonton Well-Represented

Chris Moore, CIO for the City of Edmonton was a panel moderator on Open Standards.  Not surprisingly there’s considerable work to be done with respect to standards and supporting policies.  Things get especially tricky when you go across jurisdictional lines.  One of the most common themes of the day was the fact that lawyers and their legal departments within government need to change their approach.  They need to move more to the centre and away from a “zero risk” position on the use of social technologies.  The largest barrier to progress within the Open Government movement isn’t technology but the law and how it is applied.  One of the keys to success as discussed by more than one panel with a lawyer on it was to get the legal department involved in policy making early in order to help them better understand the dynamics of what an Open Government initiative should look like.

Bill Schrier, CTO for the City of Seattle mentioned that “we need to deputize citizens,” a statement that stuck out for many including me.  The day was filled with nuggets of experience, wisdom and questions on how to solve big problems.  Today should be another packed day of Open Government exploration as we start the “unconference” portion.

“Real Men Don’t Tweet” – Stuart McKee, Microsoft

Stuart McKee was in the room representing Microsoft, and taking every opportunity to push Microsoft services made a distinct impression on me and frankly it wasn’t a good one.  In a breakaway session, I sat two chairs away from McKee and he took an opportunity to pitch to the panel and make a pledge to provide free hosting on the “cloud,” the “Microsoft cloud” for a project being discussed by the panel.  Brett Horvath was attempting to construct a multiple city project, to the exclusion of Edmonton represented by Chris Moore in the room whom Horvath acknowledged at one point but continued to focus on his immediate market while McKee attempted to give away free services as a desperate move to position Microsoft as some sort of Open Government advocate.  Knowing Microsoft as we all do, advocate seems to be way to altruistic of a term.  McKee wrapped his Microsoft commercial by asking the people in the room for a show of hands of those who didn’t own an iPhone.  About 10 people raised their hands out of 25 or 30 people.  ”You know all this talk about iPhone apps?” McKee questioned.  ”All those people can’t use them.” Then the head of Open Government for Microsoft literally hops up and down in his seat saying “Woooo, I’ve been waiting to say that!”  To which a participant replied, “yeah but iPhones are pretty cool, you should get one.”

I won’t speak for Chris Moore but my own thoughts and opinions as I sat next to him was, McKee again acted like an ass.  This time treating the CIO of Canada’s 4th largest city (and whom had graciously mentioned working with Microsoft earlier in the day as moderator) with less respect than he deserved as he in passing said, “hey, thanks for the shout out earlier.”  When Chris Moore asked him if he was on Twitter, “no I’m on Facebook, I like to say that real men don’t tweet,” he replied.  The arrogance of McKee was amazing and had offended both of us since we are both on Twitter.  This guy is responsible for “buying” Microsoft’s position in the Open Government space and in my opinion is just another reinforcement of why everyone should buy an Mac, Apple iPhone, iPad and use the “real cloud,” rather than a Microsoft server farm and run as far away from this corporation as possible.  Nice job McKee, and for the record not only do real men and women tweet, but since you’re not on Twitter you won’t have to worry about the amazing discussions going on regarding the Open Government space there.  Goof ball!  The first order of business for Steve Ballmer should be to fire this jerk, the damage being done to the Microsoft brand I’m sure is much more than I witnessed first hand with McKee on the loose.  That show of disrespect might work on the East coast of the US, but it clearly didn’t play well in Seattle yesterday with me, and who am I?  I’m part of the human network and I have a voice, as does Chris Moore and everyone else in that breakout session yesterday.  The fact that Microsoft has top-line executives who don’t get this is the central point as to why their only true tactic in Open Government is to “buy” their market position.  If McKee had any real clue of the Government 2.0 space he’s apparently responsible for across the US, he would have certainly handled himself differently yesterday.  His ineptitude even as a desperate pitch artist was palpable.

Ok, now I’m off to Day Two, and I look forward to meeting even more terrific folks today.  Open Government people (the aforementioned  McKee excluded of course) are awesome, they’re approachable, engaging and passionate about this subject and that makes the experience of OpenGov West that much more enjoyable and valuable.

See you all at City Hall.

OpenGov West

However, I didn’t come here just to smell the salty ocean air, I’m here to work and attend OpenGov West which will be taking place at Seattle’s City Hall over Friday and Saturday.  (Day 1 schedule)  OpenGov West is a fantastic chance to meet many Open Government enthusiasts and evangelists, including Andrew Hoppin, CIO for New York State who will be giving a keynote.  Our own Chris Moore, CIO for the City of Edmonton is here to be a panel moderator.  This will be a rich opportunity to learn, share and experience what others not only here in Seattle are doing but elsewhere.

Research

To set the stage, I’ve been doing a bit of research on the local situation and have found some substantial issues here for Seattle’s new Mayor McGinn.  Here are some of the highlights.  One of the largest issues on the agenda is a construction project.  The Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement project. This is Seattle’s “big dig” and it seems that Washington State is being a bit difficult to work with regarding the funding scheme for this project.  As Mayor McGinn states, “90% of all large tunnelling projects go over budget” this is a critical issue because apparently Washington State legislature has issued a law stating the State won’t pay more than a certain amount, (somewhere just north of a billion dollars).  Should the project experience cost overruns Seattle will be stuck with the bill.  Add to this issue that of the King County Metro Transit system taking funds from their capital equipment stash to prop up operations and you quickly realize that the transit system is on life support and the overall budget is another central issue here.  The financial situation here due to the recession is serious enough that City of Seattle workers are taking voluntary days and the Mayor and Council are working through a process to identify 200 top-line jobs to save the city money – things are critical.  Citizens are asking for more Seattle Police foot patrols in the downtown area.  There’s more light rail needed and as everyone knows, elevated trains don’t come cheap and neither does road and bridge construction/maintenance, such as in the case of the Route 520 bridge project.   This is a project that’s been in the works for over 4 years now from what I can gather, but Mayor McGinn wants the design to support light rail and that has the discussion heating up apparently.

Open Seattle

What can a more “Open Seattle” accomplish in this fiscal environment?  Well, certainly on the citizen engagement front, guidance from the population on a host of issues can’t hurt but what about all those folks who aren’t as tech savvy in the Seattle region?  Well check out this cool “digital inclusion” Community Technology Project – a matching funds project to help people develop computer skills.  Sure, Web 2.0 applications to help with information flow but I’m interested in finding out what’s already being done, I’m sure there’s a lot.

Frankly, I’m even more excited now to see what transpires over the next two days and beyond.  I don’t think Open Government solves all of Mayor McGinn and the rest of the City of Seattle Council’s financial woes, but it can definitely help.

By the way, I found this Oct 2009 Public Engagement Plan released by the City of Seattle’s Open Government Committee.  The next couple of days are going to be epic for us Gov2 wonks…

Open Government Framework

As Chris Moore, CIO for the City of Edmonton states, it’s time to “enlarge the circle.”  With that in mind, I’m calling for an Open Alberta.  The Government of Alberta (GOA) needs to begin to put in place an Open Government Framework.  I think that there are many within government who understand that the GOA doesn’t have a monopoly on creating “public value.”  Citizens also have an opportunity, and in my opinion, a responsibility for creating value that positively impacts the quality of life for Albertans and Canadians.

If we take a moment to think about this, Open Government initiatives are a tremendous opportunity to share openly.  To communicate that the government is willing to listen and collaborate with citizens rather than simply appear to placate, which is so often the criticism many in the provincial government hear from Albertans.

Is Open Government risky?

I believe Open Government is only risky to those individuals working (at all levels) within government who would rather see citizens not enter the discussion and thereby affect the way their job is performed.  Unfortunately, these people exist, I know because from time to time I’ve had conversations with them.  You may know an elected official or bureaucrat that believes in this philosophy, claiming this is the way an efficient government works, “we know best and citizens need to butt out,” they’ll say.  This can be the result, when people don’t vote and/or get involved in public debate.

What about privacy?

Open Government doesn’t mean that the Government of Canada should start sharing everyone’s Social Insurance Numbers or personal information on a wiki.  What it does mean, is that data which is already generally available should be properly organized into machine readable formats and offered for use by the private sector or citizens.

Election Issue!

I suggest that during this municipal election year people make the concept of Open Government an election issue.  True, many elected officials have been sitting on the sidelines regarding the use of social media and Web 2.0 technologies.  This is no longer tolerable. Further, if the candidate for your ward, or those going to the top job of mayor know nothing about Open Government, don’t vote for them.  Simple. The same goes for the next provincial election, if your MLA, party of choice has not exhibited the fact that they understand, or the government hasn’t initiated an Open Government Framework by that time, don’t vote for them either.  Open Government isn’t the future, it’s the present.  If you don’t know about it you’re living in the past.  This isn’t about being harsh but direct.

Is it really that important?  Not only is Open Government important, it’s critical.  Critical that our leaders get this concept and move quickly in this direction.  Many have yet to realize that this is the most transformative time in government in our lifetime.  Hold meetings and chat all you want about how your government isn’t performing.  More than talk, Open Government is where the rubber meets the road, it’s transparency, participation and collaboration in action.  Open Government represents citizens and government elbow to elbow working together for a better future.

Below is a 2-minute video of the City of Edmonton’s Chief Information Officer, Chris Moore speaking about Open Data in relation to tomorrow’s big event, as well as, continuing the vision forward.

As mentioned, the stage is set for the regional Open Data movement to continue to travel leaps and bounds.  The list of folks scheduled to be in the room or participating online is diverse and represents our region, province, country and international friends from many angles and that goes directly to how well the communications about what’s going on has penetrated and inspired folks to take action, all this since the first event on November 21, 2009.  Whether that be through the use of social or traditional media, the results are clear.

Just this week, Edmonton was recognized as a leader in the Open Data movement during a major announcement by San Francisco’s Mayor Gavin Newsom in the United States regarding their National Open 311 initiative.

Please see the video below and pay careful attention to the organizations listed in the background.

How can you participate?

Well first, if you have an opportunity please come out in person and participate directly in the “unconference.” Secondly, if you are unable to attend in person, then you are invited to watch the live video stream.  Further, anyone in the world may also “embed” the live video stream into their website, blog, etc…

Why would you want to do that?  Those who are considering an Open Data initiative in their region may want to communicate and educate certain local audiences that frequent their site.  You now have that opportunity, thanks to the City of Edmonton’s willingness to share with other communities, not only here in Alberta and in Canada, but also around the world.  I’ve had personal discussions with people from the US, Australia, even with Annemarie van Campen who is excited about the Dutch “fresh government” Open Data initiative.  I love the “fresh government” tagline, it’s brilliant.  We won’t be able to tell or communicate leading up the event as to everyone whom might be planning to carry the feed unless someone confirms that ahead of time, so please tell us here if you can.  Such as in the case of Nick Charney and his very popular Gov 2.0 cpsrenewal blog Nick is also going to be a panelist here in Edmonton.  I’d also like to mention once again how cool it is for the Edmonton Journal and GovLoop.com to be participating as mentioned in a previous post.

The team

I know one thing for sure, regardless of the really great discussion, ideas and thoughts shared tomorrow at the workshop.  You should be very proud of the City of Edmonton event planning team.  This takes a lot of effort to properly represent the fourth largest city in Canada on such an important subject.

Councillor Don Iveson, Chris Moore, Jacob Modayil, Scott Lundy, Jason Darrah, James Rugge- Price, Devin Serink, Raffaella Loro and Ashley Casovan who has been rock solid in terms of keeping everyone marching forward to ensure the event is terrific, that’s a tough gig regardless and she’s handled it very well so far I thought.  I’d also like to mention our project team, Evan Adnams, Kelly Lalonde and Genoa Adnams who have been working hard on this project to ensure our first ever (and I believe for the city as well) “bilingual” webcast goes without a hitch.

Due to everyone’s hard work, increased awareness and even recognition for this region and the Open Data work has already happened prior to the event itself taking place and that’s something to be proud of.  Of course, there is a lot of work still ahead and yet, clearly the momentum is building going into tomorrow and that I must say is highly cool.

Can you measure buzz and awareness?

Absolutely, several different ways in fact.  This is where the use of social media is a no-brainer as a starting place.  In the case of the City of Edmonton and the upcoming Open City Workshop (register here space left is limited) my opinion is that increased awareness is critical.  Sharing ideas, listening and educating new audiences as to what Open Data is will be one of many messages I expect to come out of Saturday.  Further, software developers local and non-local alike are no doubt excited to hear about upcoming announcements, the vision in general and how they may play a direct role.

Magnify the effect through sharing

One of the fundamentals of Government 2.0 is participation.  The social web, in particular the government 2.0 segment of the social web is already responding to what the City of Edmonton is doing.  By agreeing to share the live bilingual webcast feed (a first for the City and very progressive by anyone’s standards in government) with anyone who would like to embed the feed on their site, it’s already opened up new communications doors for the City of Edmonton brand.  Not the least of which is GovLoop.com out of Florida.  With over 25000 Gov 2.0 community members having the stream featured on the home page of this site is important for the purposes of building international credibility and awareness for the Open Data movement and the City of Edmonton.

Here is another example on Mashable.com of the buzz potential surrounding what’s happening here.  Evan from our team made sure to mention in the comments what we’re all up to, nicely done Evan.  One never knows who may choose to watch and participate in the online discussion as a result and where that will lead, only time will tell.

Further, the media is also getting into the act and so you can expect to find the feed on one or more major traditional media websites on Saturday too.  In fact, the Edmonton Journal has authorized me to let everyone know that they’re excited to be carrying the feed, it’s so great that they’re participating and helping to spread the word about Open Data.

The bounce

What can we expect short to mid-term out of this effort on behalf of the City’s IT and Communications collaborative efforts?  In politics and other circles it might be called the “bounce.”  I predict that Edmonton area companies, the Alberta and federal governments, more than one post-secondary institution, as well as, countless folks outside the region will definitely see all kinds of opportunity coming out of Saturday.

I also think City Council and administration in Edmonton (and others whom I know are watching closely) will be able to witness first hand just how much the City of Edmonton is quickly moving towards being a strong model for Open Government.  Saturday will prove yet again that working in real-time with citizens can be extremely beneficial and not something to be feared but embraced.  That sharing our plans with the world outside our region is progressive and it too will benefit the local economy and attract new people, business and brand awareness.  The Edmonton area (I’m in Sherwood Park) is a great place to live, work and play.

Live!

Here’s a special twist.  fusedlogic is proud to announce that we’ve been hired by the City of Edmonton to provide a live bilingual webcast of the event.  We’ve twisted the City’s arm (it didn’t take much) and asked if we could provide the live stream to others who may want to share it.  They said yes.

Hello embed code! If you’d like to generate traffic and attention to your Government 2.0 focused blog, website or community this is a terrific opportunity to provide content to your online community.  If you’re in the media and would like to have the stream on your site, let a thousand flowers bloom.

The City of Edmonton is listening to your Open Data ideas and they’re acting on it.

The spirit of this event is to share ideas and thoughts, learn and collaborate on the way forward.  It’s events like this that help to shape a city, everyone’s job is to come out and contribute directly or online.

Trust

One of the fundamental elements of an Open Government is trust.  The City of Edmonton said it would open its’ data, it has.  The City of Edmonton said it would expand this Open Data movement to the entire region so as to benefit all citizens, it is.  Citizens are often skeptical of government for many reasons not the least of which is they don’t feel their voice will be heard.  The City of Edmonton’s IT Branch is listening and led by Councillor Don Iveson, CIO Chris Moore, and the team in the IT Branch they’re acting on it.  Look out folks, this is only the beginning.

Special Guests: 3 impressive Open Government minds are flying in to Edmonton to participate on a Open Government panel.  David Eaves, Mark Kuznicki and Nicholas Charney I expect this to be great fun, and a tremendous learning experience.

See you on Saturday and follow along on Twitter using the Twitter hashtag – “yegdata”

Embed code will be provided for you on our site here:  http://fusedlogic.tv/events/yegdata/

More information on the event itself is on the City of Edmonton’s website

Register here to attend the FREE Open City Workshop

This whole conversation with Tim happened as a result of doing research for my upcoming book entitled Escape Velocity and Tim was kind enough to share an unpublished chapter from his upcoming book – Open Government.  He gave me permission to work with small parts of this body of work in support of helping me form thoughts about Government 2.0.

Tim has approved this content which is an important point, as I want to ensure I don’t overstep my bounds.

Being this fortunate means not only has Tim afforded me with the ability to study his work ahead of release, but also to communicate with him directly.  This wonderful gift also means that I can share brief thought provoking portions with you here on my blog as part of the process.

You’ll notice elements of his work in my PowerPoint from the recent ALI Social Media for Government Conference available for download here.  http://bit.ly/anwOWY

From Tim O’Reilly’s chapter within the book Open Government.

As President Obama explained the idea during his campaign: “We must use all available technologies and methods to open up the federal government, creating a new level of transparency to change the way business is conducted in Washington, and giving Americans the chance to participate in government deliberations and decision-making in ways that were not possible only a few years ago.”

Allowing citizens to see and share in the deliberations of government and creating a “new level of transparency” are remarkable and ambitious goals, and would indeed “change the way business is conducted in Washington.” Yet, these goals do not go far enough.

I agree

I agree with Tim that the idea of an Open Government Initiative as explained by then Presidential Candidate Barrack Obama doesn’t go far enough.  The next paragraph that Tim provides starts to talk about “government as a platform.”  Why?  Simple, just having citizens participate in a government based conversation is only the beginning of the change required and the change that is taking place.

For example, one of the things I’ve personally experienced is that it is the private sector who in many ways is driving innovation within an open and transparent government ecosystem.  Open Data is a step towards the foundation of government operating, as Tim would say, a “platform.”

My firm is a direct beneficiary of Open Data and we’re the ones driving a specific form of innovation on behalf of three city governments at the moment with respect to our Route 411 transit application.  We’re not the only ones or the first but we’re in the game.  As Chris Moore, CIO for the City of Edmonton told a crowd at Pecha Kucha the other night.  ”No tax dollars were harmed in the making of Route 411.”

I’m not making the above point to brag, only to reinforce one of the many positive outcomes which go beyond citizen generated conversations or direct participation in government deliberations.

The Open Data movement is a concrete step that governments can take to inspire innovation while saving tax dollars in the process.  Our goal as citizens should be to push this effect further via those important digital conversations.  Let your government know (regardless of level) that this is important to you.

As I listened to the various speakers today, listed here. I found each one very interesting in their own way.  Jas Darrah from the City of Edmonton provided some key insights into how he helped the City get started with the “SMAC” or Social Media Advisory Council down the social path.  Jacob George from the City of Calgary, enlightened us about the overall digital footprint the city has and how quickly they respond to issues that arise.  Also, Jacob used prezi and we’re big prezi fans too, so extra points for that.

I found our break-out blitz session to be most interesting as that’s when the audience was given a chance to contribute by telling a social media story other than their own as I encouraged them to meet someone new.  Fear, still reigns supreme as the number one issue, time-management and capacity where also near the top of the list. However, trying to convince the “old guard” back at the office that this is the way to go is frustration that it seems everyone is feeling.  Should you work in government and for someone who is actually a proponent of open government, you don’t know how lucky you are.

Nathan Freed and Manon Abud did an excellent job of explaining the issues, processes and opportunities behind Inspiring Education.  A terrific Government of Alberta, Alberta Education initiative.  Kudos to Minister Dave Hancock for supporting such a project.  Now if we can just remove some more road blocks for Nathan, I bet we’d see even more from this project.

Other highlights include Troy Wason explaining to the crowd all about the ups and downs of being a assigned with getting the social media word out on behalf of the Alberta Government Caucus only to be shown the door as a result of doing his job “too well.”

And then ending the day on a pleasant note with Diane Begin from NAIT’s communications department who explained all the great things they’re doing over there involving the social web.  All and all a wonderful day.

I was just on Twitter and Nick Charney wrote the following. “Thinking of writing a blog post called Rethink, Retool or Retire, but I think it’s too edgy.”  To which I replied, “why not be a guest blogger on our site, I don’t think it’s too edgy.”  In fact, I think it’s bang on.  This sentiment also reminds me of a Lee Iacocca saying, “lead, follow or get out of the way.”  Ultimately, this is really what we’re exploring at this conference, you can actually see the wheels turn as participants look for ways to convince colleagues back home that “Web2 and Gov2 have happened and they need to be prepared and involved.”

Tomorrow is another action packed day and I’m just as excited to be a part of it with this wonderful group.  Especially since I’ve got a surprise or two cooked up for everyone…

Scott McKeen of the Edmonton Journal wrote:

“City Hall has embraced open data. Great. But I’m confused”

McKeen goes on further to describe himself as a “second-class citizen.” In theory, because he doesn’t entirely understand or use technology in the way early-adopters within the City of Edmonton’s tech community do or will now that the city’s data catalogue has been partially released.

Although it’s true that some of this data has been publicly available online in some cases for years.  The difference now, is that it’s in machine readable format now and not a PDF or application that doesn’t allow for independent coders to work with it.  As McKeen explains this will inspire a new level of innovation in the Greater Edmonton Region.  Our iPhone transit application Route 411 is a prime example of the kind of innovation that can take place when a city such as Edmonton, Vancouver or Toronto releases transit data.

Many may not be aware of the fact that I’m well into writing my first book on Government 2.0 and the “open data movement” that’s happening around the world as we speak.  During this experience of exploration within government, I’ve managed to have some very interesting discussions and exchanges with thought leaders in Canada and the US.  There’s a distinct overlap of social media, and this is where Web 2.0 applications are really shining and driving innovation.  The return on investment for Open Data is a higher quality of life for citizens and a considerable savings in tax dollars.

Freedom to Create, Spirit to Achieve

Rather than make this about the book, I thought I’d provide another short list of applications or projects that are available as a result of government releasing data.  A process which I’ve said many times on Twitter that our own Government of Alberta needs to work towards immediately.  We need to be forward thinking in Alberta and of course, it takes more than simply stating, Freedom to Create, Spirit to Achieve. If one believes the propaganda behind the current Alberta brand, then it’s high time we act on it.  I’m not referring to our oil industry, royalty reviews or the environment.  Rather, our strong Alberta tech community putting words into action and leveraging our strengths, which are considerable and should be given “more credit.”

SIDEBAR: Not looking to sound overly critical, but why are we spending tax dollars to “rebrand” a department that has connections and rapport around the world at a time when what we really need is an “open government directive” and policy with teeth?  Just think about the simplest of tasks for the over 700 people in this department that now have to take the effort to explain to people across Alberta and around the world, “no it’s still us, but change our name and update your address book.”  Further, in the interest of transparency, every government worker should have a complete LinkedIn profile so that they can be easily reached.  How’s that for making you feel uncomfortable?

This is constructive criticism from the heart – it’s also motivation, inspiration and evangelism for this great province and its’ people inside and outside government to embrace what’s already here and has been since 2007.

Below are just a few open data examples and sources from around the world on how government can work as a platform for citizens to leverage:

Government of Canada 2.0 Wiki

Code For America

Police Act Review Wiki

Streetswiki

OpenStreetMap

Edmonton Data Catalogue

City of Edmonton Social Media

Vancouver Data Catalogue

Vantrash

Toronto Open

Stumblesafely

Everyblock

Lords of the Blog

CitySourced

GovTrack

Citizenvoices

Patients Like Me

Sermo

There are countless more applications and websites being launched, it seems daily, as more and more governments open their data to the public.  I encourage bloggers across Alberta and beyond to create your own list and share it with the world.  Increased accountability, transparency, participation and collaboration are the results.  Those detractors from this movement are typically worried about privacy and security issues or they simply don’t get it.  Privacy and security are important and yet, not barriers to be used as excuses for inaction.

For those government jurisdictions considering the open government movement here’s a list of guiding principles to get you started.

I’m also extremely grateful for my business life.  Many know that fusedlogic has grown over this past year and has had the opportunity to work with several really terrific clients, we’re a long way from the one person operation I started in 2000.  Beyond being grateful for the business, the people on the team are the true engine and I’m very grateful for their hard work and commitment.  Paul Ney, Evan Adnams, Genoa Adnams, Troy Wason, Debra Ward, work tirelessly to do their best for our clients and it shows in the social media work we do.

This week in particular, I’m grateful for all of the people who supported the Edmonton International Fringe Festival.

Notables were John Wilson (@SirThinks) who wrote a great blog post and along with several others, @cyclopsphoto, @pixelens, @livingsanctuary to name a few, took copious amounts of photographs these last 10 days to visually document our Fringe in their own way on flickr for the world to see.  By the way, thanks to them the Edmonton Fringe now has the largest Fringe related flickr group with over 1300 images all telling a story about Edmonton and the Fringe.  This is just one of the terrific things we were able to accomplish with the help of the community, not to mention the amazing ticket sales this year topping over 90,000.  The way these #yegphotographers provided their perspective was terrific and it was really cool to be a part of.  Also, I feel like I know these folks a lot better as a result of that experience which I’m grateful for. Thank-you for all of your support.

Earlier today I was reading Chris Brogan’s blog post Take 10 Minutes – Meet a Trust Agent.

I began to reflect on the various people and relationships out in the world that I have had an opportunity to cultivate and wondered what it took in my mind to be a Trust Agent?  Below are 10 in the Edmonton area that I’d like to mention.

Social media is about conversations and relationships.  Beyond that, the most important key to social media is a person’s ability to “build and maintain trust.”  Trust is critical in all areas of life, but especially online within chosen networks or micro-tribe(s).  The Edmonton region is a bustling micro-tribe and if you spend any amount of time online with Edmonton on your mind, you’ll no doubt recognize these people below identified by their Twitter handle below and in no particular order.  They all stand out as Trust Agents in my mind for one reason or another.

@ZoomJer, is a local Realtor.  Jerry is also a rock solid member of society.  He goes out of his way to create opportunities to help and support others.  In particular his #yegicecream events for @RLPShelterFdn are a big hit.  Jerry protects those he respects and holds accountable in his own way those who step out of line.  I first met Jerry when he attended one of my seminars well over a year ago and he and I maintain our conversation regularly.  Jerry is a “Zoom” family man first, strong digital citizen second, all of which makes his real estate business thrive as a result.  A true example of what Chris Brogan calls a “Trust Agent.”

@KenChapman46 is one of the most politically active digital citizens I know on the planet Earth.  Beyond politics and policy, Ken is a proponent for justice and equality.  You will always know where you stand with Ken as you’re measured based on your actions.  When it comes to politics, Ken understands how it affects our community and holds those accountable for their statements, actions or inaction as the case may be.  I have found Ken to be a loyal, trust-worthy person, who’s friendship I appreciate.  If you want to know what’s going on in politics days before it happens? Ken is your man.  That’s not to say he speaks out of turn, rather that his blog and predictions are typically accurate or not far off the mark.

@ChrisLabossiere is a local businessman, one of the founders of ProTraining.com he is an active digital citizen.  Chris was recently voted onto the board of one of our clients, Edmonton Economic Development Corporation and through that appointment he’s continually looking for ways to make Edmonton better.  My experience working with him on Change Camp and other ventures has taught me that Chris isn’t shy when it comes to sharing his opinion, and thank-goodness because he’s usually bang on in his assessment of the situation.  Sometimes he takes too many shots at himself, but Chris is a stand-up guy.  Frankly Chris, you should make a run for city council.

@Out_Inc is empowerment personified.  Shauna keeps herself very busy with her successful marketing company Out Enterprises Inc., and we almost had a chance to work together on a project.  I look forward to the day when a project comes along that makes sense for us to collaborate on.  Beyond her work life what makes Shauna a “trust agent” in my mind is her endless source positive energy and giving spirit.  Shauna is well known for coordinating with ZoomJer on charitable events and that sets her apart.  Not everyone steps up to organize and inspire others to give, Shauna does it often and she does it well.

@jdarrah is a digital gentleman among citizens, the fact that he believes strongly in building a enviable quality of life for others to enjoy in his community through his work at the City of Edmonton (#yeg) and privately is just one of the character traits that sets him apart.  I’ve come to know Jason better through our work on Change Camp and he’s top notch.  A smart and diplomatic voice in any room is in part what makes Jason a trust agent.

@bingofuel is one of Edmonton’s unique characters.  Always fun and unexpected, Adam blogs, helps run the very successful OilersNation and works with the Dub5 crew.  As if that wasn’t enough he recently started the unusual podcast, the Unknown Studio with @Scottybomb.  Mr. Fuel is pure digital citizen and a proponent of Edmonton through and through.  He’s searching for your pride Edmonton and he’s not going to stop until he finds it.

@livingsanctuary is a quiet, yet powerful voice for her micro-tribe via the community paper Boyle-McCauley News.  Paula readily lends her voice in support of issues, events and causes that need her help.  A proponent of equality, justice and humanity, Paula is a trusted source of positive energy.  I must admit that I have not spent time off line getting to know Paula and yet her activities online make her stand out in a positive way.  Thank-you Paula for your support.

@CaryWilliams is a key member of Edmonton’s NextGen group.  I first met Cary in person at Michael Janz’s IDEAfest, I called him “Astroboy” all day (ask him why) and our conversation continues to grow from there.  I interviewed Cary regarding NextGen and social media for my column in the Edmontonians Magazine, unfortunately it was replaced by a request from the publisher to cover another story.  Sorry Cary, maybe we can try that again in the future.  Cary is a “trust agent” because he believes in community roots, he believes in innovation and he believes in the empowerment of Gen Y.

@mastermaq is all about Edmonton, if there’s news to be had about the city, he’s all over it and likes to break the news first.  Due to his many media appearances, Mack is one of Edmonton’s most recognized digital citizens and he keeps everyone well informed about Edmonton via his blog.  He’s also not afraid to take a stand or offer his opinion, as we witnessed during the Edmonton City Centre Airport debate.  Another reason why you’ll recognize Mack is because it seems that he is at every social event happening around town, those he isn’t organizing himself that is.  Mack, you’re also someone who I think should run for city council.

@GriffMLA is about the truth, about being honorable and a voice for others.  Having had a few opportunities to meet with Doug and learn more about Doug and what it’s like to be an MLA, it’s clear to me that not only would I personally not want the job.  I also admire those who step-up, in the same way I admire goaltenders in hockey, they have to be just a little “off” to want to have players wire pucks at their head.  Doug is a very dedicated family man and digital Albertan, it’s clear he loves this province and offers a sound voice in the chaotic world of Alberta politics.

Edmonton’s online community has many folks who may be considered Trust Agents.

This is not a list made to the exclusion of others, you’re just as cool on this list as you are off it.  The true purpose was to take Chris Brogan’s lead and help identify certain meaningful traits in others that I have met online.  Too often people are given too much credit because they know something about the technology.  Chris Brogan along with Julien Smith’s work on Trust Agents is a game-changing look at how people and trust are the real power components behind social media.

Another personal motivation for this list was so that I express my gratitude and start a conversation by recognizing in a small way the good work that others in the community are doing and how that influences every day life for the rest of us.