csik's blog

I had not planned on attending the O'Reilly conference Gov2.0 , an exposition and dialog about new forms of government and information technology. But at last week's Foo Camp (another O'Reilly conference) I met a great number of people in the area, and I became pretty excited with what I heard. For instance, I was in a session on government and data, sitting next to a deputy CTO from the White House, and was surprised by the sincere and urgent dialog that was taking place with information activists and coders. The White House and geeks? What is not to like? So now I am sitting in a huge room in the third sub-basement of the Grand Hyatt in D.C. Microsoft's Chief Research and Strategy officer is speaking, so it is a good chance for me to reflect on what I have seen so far.

Last June we held our Future of News & Future Civic Media conference, here at MIT, with many recipients of the Knight News Challenge meeting, speaking, and demoing their work. We chose to use the "barcamp" un-conference technique for most of the sessions, where all participants to the conference were able to host a session.

How can NGOs working on diverse projects—including graffiti, rap music and education—better reach disadvantaged communities and youth in the barrios of Juarez? How can journalists in Juarez and across Chihuahua state better communicate the positive elements of the region, encouraging citizens to play an active role in civic life? How can university students at Tec de Monterrey and other institutions in Juarez better organize both with each other and with other campuses across Mexico to become agents of change?

These are some of the questions that tech.del participants addressed during a series of roundtable events with civil society players in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on Tuesday, August 25. Tech.del participants—including representatives from Google, Facebook, Microsoft, AT&T, Adefro Group, Liberty Concepts, FastForward Group and MIT Media Lab—explored how technology can help these grassroots organizations better communicate both within their own team frameworks, as well as to the communities they seek to engage. The idea is to support Mexican civil society efforts to address the violence, renewing and reinforcing a positive, hopeful image for Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua State and all of Mexico. Tech.del participants repeatedly encouraged these groups to use the tools that make the most sense for their particular context—whether mobile-based SMS texting, online applications or simple face-to-face contact with the right people—to deepen the roots of civil society in Mexico. By introducing and advising on the right communication strategies, Tech.del participants are helping Mexican citizens best address the challenges they face.

After our meetings in Juarez, we flew to Mexico City, landing around midnight last night. We are about to begin another full day here on the ground in Mexico City, engaging with NGOs, mobile providers, university students and professors as well as representatives from the Mexican government to discuss these same issues, but from the context of the capital city.

Our goal is to tease out deliverables and implement them as quickly as possible with the contacts we made in Juarez, and will make today in Mexico City.

Stay tuned for another installment reporting on our efforts.

I've written before about the extrACT suite of software tools we have been developing at MIT: information and communication technologies that promote community collective action. We have started to introduce the first of these tools, "Landman Report Card":http://lrc.media.mit.edu, to communities in Texas and Ohio that are being confronted by the impacts of natural gas extraction. The experiences that citizens are recording with it are as remarkable as they are heartbreaking.

Residents out west, in some of the most scenic and (until recently) unspoiled parts of the US have called their regions a "national sacrifice zone" where their health, welfare, and environment are being traded for energy that used in other parts of the country. In many cases rural and suburban communities lack the experience, knowledge, or political capital to hold industry accountable. Industry can cut corners, use unspecified and dangerous chemicals, and negotiate substandard agreements with the people whose property and livelihood they are impacting. ICT systems that record an individuals' experiences, make them accessible, and allow these individuals to network and organize can help rectify the knowledge gap. Film maker Paula Aguilera followed some of our fieldwork and put together this video:

I've written before about the extrACT suite of software tools we have been developing at MIT: information and communication technologies that promote community collective action.

Jackie and Helen, two MIT graduate students, are making the bassinet safe for democracy: They have decided to name their baby through Selectricity, Mako & Co.'s online voting system. The baby is completely adorable (The tattoo is just a simulation. Perhaps something to consider?). Helen is well, and there was an auspicious first snow last night.

Congratulations to the very happy parents!

This week our development team announced the release of the LandmanReportCard (LRC), the first of our experiments in designing tools for community understanding and self-defense. We've chosen one of the most difficult community contexts imaginable: neighborhoods, mostly rural, that stand in the path of some of the richest and most powerful corporations in the world. In the mix are weak and compromised governments, a lack of local media, mutant baby goats, a toxic soup of industrial byproducts, unmatched potential for profits, flammable tap water, and a clean burning source of energy that may be central to national security.

Read the full article at PBS' MediaShift Idea Lab:
http://www.pbs.org/idealab/2008/12/extract-civic-defense.html

This week our development team announced the release of the LandmanReportCard (LRC), the first of our experiments in designing tools for community understanding and self-defense.

"What's the business model?" It's a question I hear again and again at meetings and events. The existing model for newspapers is quickly unraveling, so we need a 'new new thing' to serve some of the vital functions that newspapers used to.