Tag Archives: participatory government


Your Country Needs You!

Posted on February 14, 2010 by Ville Miettinen

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Until recently, the options for citizens to participate in government were few and of arguable impact. Besides signing or organizing the odd petition, joining a protest, attending a town hall meeting, or writing a letter to your Minister of Parliament, influencing leadership was pretty much limited to voting during elections (assuming you are lucky enough to live in a democracy at all).

I say, “Until recently” because the times are a-changing. …

Tags: big brother CCTV crowdsourcing democracy obama participatory government

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Shining a light on local government

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Ville Miettinen

Share Recently, after long days at work, I find myself cursing the Government.

It’s not that I’m an anarchist, or because I am particularly upset about taxes or government policy. What annoys me is the streetlight outside my house.

Last month, after a brief, flickering illness, it died. Without its guiding light, fitting my key into the door to my apartment building has become an annoying game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

To be fair, the issue is …

Tags: crowd crowdsourcing crowdsourcing platform distributed work Fixmystreet local government mySociety Project Fosbury

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Life, liberty and the pursuit of crowdsourcing: Iceland’s constitutional saga

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Ville Miettinen

… plans to crowdsource a new constitution. At first, I confess I was skeptical. In my experience government crowdsourcing projects are like Mars probes: there’s a massive launch, then six months later they mysteriously vanish without trace. But not this time. On July 29th Reykjavik declared the new constitution complete: for the people and most definitely by the people.

So how do you crowdsource a whole new system of government? Basically the same way you crowdsource anything: invite …

Tags: crowd crowdsourcing Facebook Iceland Icelanders Jedi microwork Open government Reykjavík youtube

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E-petitions: a vote for the future?

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Ville Miettinen

… as the next guy (as long as the next guy’s another world-weary net geek). But when it comes to government crowdsourcing initiatives, I gotta admit, my cynicism radar starts to twitch. Like an out of control chemistry class, state funded crowdsourcing projects tend to start with a bang and end with a whimper.

Take the UK elections last year. Back in May we covered the embarrassing crush politicians had with online social media. As well as constantly tweeting and setting up Facebook …

Tags: activism Conservative crowd crowdsourcing crowdsourcing platform distributed work Government of the United Kingdom human Petition Politics TIGA UK government Video game industry

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Watching Big Brother

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Ville Miettinen

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The summer of 2010 will be remembered for searing temperatures and soaring government debt. With more whistle-blowing than the World Cup final, it was also the summer of Wikileaks, the whistle-blowing internet site, and its weird, white-haired front man Julian Assange.

Thanks to Wikileaks, I now know that even if I am dying of thirst in a heat wave, I am better off avoiding Helsinki’s ATMs to draw cash for a drink. When I am kept awake at night by the heat and …

Tags: Barack Obama COINS crowdsourcing government data Julian Assange Public.Resource.Org Wikileaks Wolfram Alpha

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