I had the opportunity to attend
Gov 2.0 Expo in Washington, DC and I am really energized with various Gov 2.0 initiatives underway worldwide. More importantly, it's encouraging and exciting to know that leading innovators are involved with shaping Gov 2.0. I still can't believe that I met the father of the World Wide Web,
Sir Tim Berners Lee yesterday. During the keynote, he brilliantly
deconstructed a bag of chips to stress the value of linked data.
Click here to watch the recorded presentation.
Wouldn't it be a great way to motivate government agencies and engage the public if there was an American Idol Gov 2.0 Edition? Well, let me get it started. Here are my 5 finalists:
1. Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)
Why a finalist? By opening up the real-time bus schedule data, they were able to:
- Address a fundamental question "Where's my bus?"
- Innovate a way of engaging the general public in developing solutions that benefits the public. Literally "By the people, for the people".
- Cut through bureacratic procurement process that's as fast as a ball of wax rolling down a flat rubber floor.
- Deploy various real-time bus tracking solutions at minimal costs (the apps that were developed are open source)
Click here to watch the recorded video presentation about this initiative.
2. Water Services of City of Bryan, TX
Why a finalist? By being creative, they were able to:
- Stir excitement and passion among water services employees (I imagine folks got in shape in preparation for next year's calendar).
- Educate the general public on water quality
- Engaged the citizens on consuming the information and passing it along (imagine how many people "Liked" it on Facebook)
Click here to watch a recorded video presentation about this initiative.
3. City of Los Angeles, CA
Why a finalist? By adopting cloud based services, they were able to:
- Provide a better email + calendaring platform
- Deliver a savings of $5M
- Gain an ROI of close to $20M
Click here to watch a recorded video presentation about this initiative.
4. City of Washington, DC
Apple was brilliant in mass marketing the App Store concept. Well, what impressed me more is how the City of Washington, DC created a Gov 2.0 version of it. Welcome to the
DC App Store. Not only can you build and use DC-related apps, but you can rate it as well. Now that's what I call "Power to the People"! My favorite app is the
DC Wi-Fi Hot Spot map.
Why a finalist? By allowing citizens to interact with DC government through various apps, they were able to:
- Reduce government bottlenecks
- Engage citizens in developing, using and rating DC-centric applications
- Provide access to real-time DC information
5. Loudoun County Virginia
Have you ever wondered if there's school for your kids on a bad winter day? These days, residents of
Loudoun County, VA doesn't have to worry thanks to
Alert Loudoun - it's a secured alerting system that is used furing major crisis, emergencies and county related events.
I know this is not unique to Loudoun County - there are a lot of other government institutions leveraging this as well.
Why a finalist? By providing relevant information to constitutents, they are able to:
- Deliver the right information at the right time
- Prevent accidents (Imagine people going out in bad road conditions)
How about you? Let me know who your finalists are and why (provide relevant links if you can) by posting on the comments section below.