Beth Simone Noveck’s new book, Wiki Government: How Technology Can Make Government Better, Democracy Stronger, and Citizens More Powerful, could not be more relevant today as we observe the unfolding dynamics after Iran’s disputed presidential election, where tech-savvy Iranians have turned to microblogging platforms and social networks to organize and send pictures and messages to the outside world in real time as events unfold. This serves as a powerful example of how new media tools can overcome government attempts at censorship and oppression.

While her book doesn’t call for a revolution, it does call for collaborative democracy – government with the people – a new vision of governance in the digital age.

Bottom Line:

The author describes a vision to create an ongoing collaboration between government and its citizens using new social networking tools to construct new kinds of collaborative communities so those on the sidelines can participate and influence the system beyond the right to exercise the vote: a government by the people, of the people, and with the people.

Author:

Beth Simone Noveck

Publisher:

Brookings Institution

What It Covers:

In this how-to guide for creating a collaborative democracy, Beth Simone Noveck weaves three common themes throughout the book: collaboration as a distinct form of democratic participation, visual deliberation, and egalitarian self-selection to enhance public decision-making connecting the power of the many to the work of the few.

An inspiring and ambitious book, Noveck uses the United States Patent Trade Office (USPTO) “Peer-to-Patent” model which invites the public to participate in the patent examination process, as the central example of how ordinary people can participate within democracy in the digital age.

Throughout the eight chapters, she provides the case that the decision-making process can be better served with citizen participation using new social networking tools than by the notion that the government official knows best. The first two chapters should be carefully read to understand the distinction between deliberation and collaboration. The core of the book tells the “Peer-to-Patent” story, while the last three chapters address the role of information in collaboration building on the momentum of Web 2.0 technologies and providing lessons for designing better practices to engage the public in government.

While promoting a lofty approach to a bureaucratic system that is risk adverse, revels in inefficacy, and inhibits transparency, Novak encourages the reader to recognize the time is now to achieve better governance and improve effectiveness through the use of new communication and social technologies.

Recommended For:

Those interested in the Peer-to-Patent story, Web 2.0 aficionados, policy makers, civil servants, and citizens who are interested in government reform and improving the decision-making process.

About the Author:

Beth Simone Noveck is the US Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Open Government. She is on leave as professor of law and director of the Institute for Information, Law, and Policy at New York University Law School and as the McClatchy Visiting Associate Professor of Communication at Stanford University.

She is director of the Democracy Design Workshop and "Do Tank." Noveck is founder of Bodies Electric LLC, developer of the Unchat software. She is a member of the ABA's Commission on Electronic Rulemaking and the OMB Watch Taskforce on Transparency and Public Participation in Government. and editor of The State of Play: Law, Games and Virtual Worlds (NYU Press, 2006).

Excerpts:

"Executive departments and agencies should use innovative tools, methods and systems to cooperate among themselves, across all levels of Government, and with nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individuals in the private sector."

“Existing institutions lack clear incentives to change their own business plans. More important, they lack a blueprint for doing so.  Were it only a matter of more technology and a faster Internet, collaborative governance would have come to government long ago.”

“The ability now to use new technology to organize shared work makes it possible to work in groups across distance and institutional boundaries.  Technology can reinforce the sense of working as a group by recreating some of the conditions of face-to-face work environments that build trust and belonging.”

“Innovation is not emanating from Washington; instead, the practices of government are increasingly disconnected for technological innovation and the opportunity to realize greater citizen participation—and therefore more expert information—in government.”

“What is lacking, though, are effective ways for government to be responsive to the public, as opposed to corporate interest, large stakeholders and interest groups.”

“Successful companies and organizations have cultivated responsiveness from and to employees, suppliers, and customers, but government rarely has the opportunity to improve the quality of public consultation practices by giving or receiving feedback.”

“Participation must not be undertaken for its own sake…Instead, it is important to design the right process.”

“The potential for engaging people in government decision making through technology is about empowering individuals.   Ordinary people come together across distance to debate a proposal and also to decide it.  Communities bring collective wisdom to bear and also to take action.”

Suggested Backdrop:

We hope this book becomes popular reading within the Cabinet level leadership to inspire change and encourage risk taking like the USPTO and for those not so high on the food chain to inspire change from below.

OhMyGov! Rating: 

3 out of 4 stars. The only thing this book lacks is direction on how the newest technology could be used by those who work in government to change it from within. Nonetheless, this is recommended reading, especially for those who truly believe in government transparency and the power of the Internet to better inform and enhance decisions that affect our day-to-day lives.