The Openness Bug
June 11, 2009
I’ll admit it, I have a thing about openness. Whether it be personal or professional I strongly prefer ‘open’ communication. It can be coded if you like, to save blushes where social norms preclude a frank discussion, but if you can’t be honest then there is something in what you are doing or saying that doesn’t sit well somewhere along the line.
I’ve advocated quantifying veracity as a way to pry apart the doors of truth and I am 100% with Tim Berners-Lee when he asks for access to previously closed databases. So it is really heartening to see that, firstly I’m not the only nutter out there, but secondly that even the US administration is taking this topic seriously. Take a look at the US Chief Information Officer’s (Vivek Kundra) Blog and see what you think.
The US has always been miles ahead of the UK in terms of accountability and a big part of that is because the raw data is available. Until relatively recently this didn’t really help that much because all data was compartmentalised in its originating department. Things are changing.
Check out Data.gov. Its not perfect and I don’t have a clue whether it is ALL the available data (the fact that they are asking what other datasets we would like to see suggests that it isn’t), but its a step in the right direction.
We need the UK and the EU to do the same and more.
Restructuring Parliament – MPs without portfolio
May 30, 2009
The UK’s political parties are all a-quiver about parliamentary reform so I’m going to suggest MPs without portfolio. We’ve had ministers without portfolio, why not MPs to represent those with little by way of interest in local issues but lots to say on the bigger picture or who have cross-boundary issues.
You’d have a limited number of elected seats that are not geographically tied in order to represent people who live online, those who can’t get to MPs surgeries, those whose problems are not to do with local issues (for example online privacy) and those who generally don’t have much to say on local constituency issues.
If you want reform why not reform along the lines that society is working. My life isn’t limited to a 40 square mile block with 30,000 people. Is yours ?
Update – try as I might I cannot find anyone to suggest this to. No 10 doesn’t have a suggestions box (for obvious reasons), my local MP is a LibDem (so already has an agenda set on this), the parliamentary reform commitee doesn’t even have an e-mail address. How the hell do I actually get the suggestion into the system ? Answers on a post card please.
