WRITTEN ON March 4th, 2008 BY William Heath AND STORED IN Design: Co-creation, Online Maps, Power of Information, What do we want?
Look what Her Majesty’s loyal opposition came up with last week
The second announcement I want to make today is about information. For decades, information, power and control have been monopolised by well meaning public officials.
Now, because of the internet and dynamic change in our broader culture, we can consign this top-down model to history. We’re entering a post-bureaucratic age, where true freedom of information is making possible a new world of people power, responsibility, citizenship, choice and local control.
One of the best examples is crime mapping. In cities all over America, police forces regularly publish information about crimes in their area. What type of crime, when it happened, and where. Anyone can take this information and overlay it on an online map. This gives the public unprecedented information about crimes in their local area. And it gives social entrepreneurs, drugs charities, and a whole host of organisations to pick out hotspots, see what needs doing and transform neighbourhoods.
But look at our Government at home. It’s still bureaucratic, still top-down and still old-world. It still thinks it knows best and that it should keep all the information.
If you don’t believe me, try getting a supposed freedom of information request on important issues like exactly how taxpayers’ money is being spent. It’s next to impossible.; this is bad for democratic accountability….
Now, if the actual government (die Regierung an sich) were to pinch these ideas (which are already in its fredom of Information report) we’d be starting to get back on the right track. Hey; it would almost be Ideal ๐* cheers William! Well spotted.
Our local police already have a mapping system. It could do with a bit more work on it but its an interesting way to raise your paranoia levels.
http://www.beatcrime.info/force.asp