How Can Civic Tech Make Government More “Open” and “Participatory”?
Aside from changing laws and creating new digital tools, how can civic tech groups help governments become more “open”?
By Wei-chia Hu
Taipei is the only city to host two World Congress on Information Technology conference in the 21st century. Taipei’s first WCIT was in the year 2000, at the height of the PC era. Taipei’s second WCIT was September 2017, and the global IT sector has seen a paradigm shift. Taiwan’s IT sector has changed too. Taiwanese firms have moved on from ODM production, and are now focusing on cloud technology, internet of things, and artificial intelligence.
What’s more, civic tech became a center-piece of this year’s WCIT. Working with WCIT organizers, Taiwan’s Open Culture Foundation (OCF) and UK-based mySociety organized Asia’s first ever civic tech-focused conference: “Civic Tech Fest.” The event featured more than 150 speakers, with participants representing 171 organizations from a total of 36 countries.
One of the most highly anticipated events at the conference was a talk on how civic tech groups can better promote open government and citizen participation. The talk featured Taiwan’s “digital” minister Audrey Tang (唐鳳), mySociety head of research Rebecca Rumbul, Open Data Lab Jakarta’s Michael Canares, Etalab’s Mathilde Bras, Code for America’s program and partnership manager Sarah White, and was moderated by g0v.tw co-founder Kao Chia-liang (高嘉良).
The ‘Two Key Indicators’ That Civic Tech Works
Making government more “open” in the 21st century is no easy task. Democracies around the world have encountered huge challenges. The public is becoming disenchanted with representative democracy, and there’s urgent demand for change. Civic tech groups around the world have also called for political reform.
But what qualifications do civic tech groups have to demand such change, when the impact of their digital engagement apps is still unknown? What impact does civic tech have at all?
It’s a hard question to answer with quantitative data, but it’s still an indicator that a research method is needed to study the influence of civic hacker-made digital tools.
“To learn what was the motivation for using civic tech, we need to conduct in-depth interviews,” said Rebecca Rumbul. “But people usually don’t want to spend too much time answering questions. They want the interview to be finished by the fourth or fifth question, making it difficult for researchers to dig deep into their motivations,” she adds.
Rumbul believes that two key indicators to see if civic tech is actually promoting open government and citizen participation is “the ability to actually reform public service” and “enhancing citizens’ trust in the government.”
She noted that during mySociety’s website and app development phase, the group spends much of their rime ensuring all users can easily use the tools without difficulty. “Through simple tools, citizens can more quickly retrieve the information they need and make change possible. More importantly, many people really enjoy these digital tools and feel empowered,” she said.
Despite the distinct political and economic contexts that each of the panelists come from, they all pointed out that only when public servants understand the benefits and importance of civic tech and are willing to apply it to their work, can civic hackers play an influential role in the government.
But that doesn’t mean taking a confrontational approach with the government. Lina Patel, of Code for Australia, said it is important to be willing to cooperate with partners in government departments, and treat one another as partners.
“Once you treat public servants as your friend, they will become more willing to work together on the projects,” said Patel.
Luke Bacon, of the Open Australia Foundation says that “if the government is able to establish digital services that are easily accessible, and the public finds the services convenient, they will have more trust for the government.”
Obstacles for Taiwan’s “Open Government”
For Taiwan, the road to real open government is still full of obstacles. At a Civic Tech Fest event discussing OCF’s report on Taiwan’s open data platforms, panelists were less than sanguine about the government’s progress. The talk featured Open Data Alliance chairman Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明), professor of public administration at NCCU Tu Wen-ling (杜文苓), New Power Party think tank director Saul Peng (彭盛韶), and OCF legal advisor Cheng-hsia Lin (林誠夏).
People in Taiwan find it difficult to access information on public open data portals. Furthermore, the government always seem to have reasons about why they should prevent the release of data to the public. When people try to request information from one of Taiwan’s government data portals, the government usually responds (if they respond at all) with a message saying “the request has been sent to the authorized agency, which will respond to the request later.”
Taiwan doesn’t have an “open data law”, making government agencies reluctant to release information and do so only when pressed by higher-ups, or badgered to release it by citizens.
When citizens do receive data, the question becomes what is the usability of the data? The goal of open data is that the government can release comprehensive and structured data on a single platform, so that the public can use different tools to use and analyze the data they need. But according to OCF’s “Taiwan Open Government Report,” that isn’t what is happening in Taiwan.
“After [Taiwan’s open government data] platform was launched, datasets grew in quantity, but there has been no systematic integration from the production end, resulting in varied data quality…50% of data on data.gov.tw has poor machine readability, hindering data flow between agencies and value-adding data applications,” the report stated.
In addition to releasing usable information, the government should collaborate with citizens on an equal footing, leveraging civic tech to improve government services, optimize administrative processes, and enable citizen participation. For the moment, this type of collaboration remains limited and sporadic.
“There is no one responsible for the promotion of open government,” said Peng Chi-Ming during the talk on Taiwan Open Government Report. “It looks like there are many people ready to contribute but in fact there is no one in charge.”
Peng has been critical of the government’s lack of long-term planning on open government in the past. “Many people are still wondering what the government’s digital and open government policies are. When can the public have convenient access to open data and useful digital services in an organized manner?” added Peng.
Does Taiwan Need an ‘Open Data Law’?
During the talk, both Peng and Lin Cheng-hsia declared their support for Taiwan to legislate an “open data law.”
“This is to ensure that open data policies will not be neglected or distorted during routine political change,” said Peng, adding that an open data law might be helpful to resolve difficulties when public and private sectors collaborate.
Lin took the example of the European Union, and said the EU’s directive on the re-use of public sector information ensures that EU member states produce data in machine-readable format. He also encouraged discussion at the grassroots level on the type of open government laws needed to improve governance.
Some others differ on whether an open government is even needed at all. People who oppose the idea believe the law would leave little flexibility since digital technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Some others said the law would limit the use of technology. In the current context where public servants don’t know enough about open data, it may also increase the risk of unlawful activities.
The way forward? How to encourage citizen participation?
NCCU professor Tu Wen-Ling, said the key to promoting open government lies in using languages and methods that the public understands, and transform the massive amount of policy data into information that enables public participation. In this way, barriers can be removed, and both public and private sectors can start to communicate meaningfully and build mutual trust.
Minister Tang noted the need to listen carefully and understand the views of everyone when launching a new policy. “For instance, by using Pol.is to analyze and take into account the feeling of all participants. Learn if they are angry or willing to accept the ideas before turning the ideas into policies,” said Tang.
“Meanwhile, there should be people who can ‘translate’ and turn regulations and policies into languages that people understand. I believe the point of open data is not simply releasing the information that the government has, but understanding how to release the data and respond to the needs of society,” she added.
In addition to an authority with a strong political will, finding a reliable network of supporters for open goverment is important too. We need to find ministers and bureacrats who communicate well and provide timely support. We need a talented group of civic hackers and mediators, who can help lower the barrier for the public to participate. These are the most urgent tasks for developing an open government.
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