A few weeks ago we received an email from a county Emergency Manager in the United States.  The unnamed manager was excited about SeeClickFix as a gateway reporting tool to emergency and crisis reporting.

His vision was that citizens would use SCF as an easy on ramp to reporting to city government for issues like potholes and graffiti in their every day comings and goings. In an emergency they would use the same tool that they had already acquainted themselves with to help out their neighbors in an earthquake, fire or other natural disaster.  Not only would they be able to quickly report issues to their government but to their community as well.

We were excited to get started in this new county with the endorsement of Emergency Management but the idea was quickly shot down in a meeting in which we demo'd the product to Public Works and other non-emergency service departments.   The other managers were upset that someone was proposing that citizens be able to give more feedback. The Emergency Services manager felt bad for our Government Relations Manager and ended the call early only to be reprimanded afterwards by his co-workers for suggesting an additional layer of accountability in the name of public safety.

Sadly, it is not always easy being a forward thinking individual that puts the interests of tax-paying citizens first when you're working inside an institution with a lot of cob-webs to dust.  Sometimes I feel like a therapist for these officials who think that what they are experiencing is unprecedented.

Of course there are always barricades in every city to open government. If there wasn't SeeClickFix would not be championing civic disruption as the first step towards open government.

So what tools are best suited for this situation? How can we assist the Emergency Manager from the outside without placing his job on the line?

1) The Sales Pitch Top Down: Politics is always a good angle though not our favorite. I might email the Mayor and pitch him on this great idea that a nameless employee had. We've found that open government has made its way into the political agenda of many municipal officials.  A campaign to increase participation and safety at the same time would be a great way to hold staffers accountable and garner public favor.

or

2) The Disruption Bottom Up: We could get the word out to citizens in the county through media widget embeds and community groups. When issues were reported alerts would be sent to the Public Works Director's email and residents could get their attention regardless of whether or not it was being asked for. Now the Citizens would be telling the Public Works Department what to do without invitation and the Emergency Management employee could work with the City to help adopt this new form of participation.

For the sake of this experiment I'll try both and keep you posted.

On Christmas Eve, Grist released "Seven New Year's resolutions to make your neighborhood a better place." SeeClickFix came in at resolution number 5, where "if you see something, say something." Other resolutions suggested were planting something, picking up litter, getting to know your neighbors, finding who you government representatives are, shopping locally and going for a walk.

Yesterday, Philly.com also featured a New Year's Resolution list on how to be a better citizen. Coming in at number 6, SeeClickFix was featured as a way citizens can communicate with the city. 

Well we agree, what better way to start off 2011 by making your neighborhood a better place... and using SeeClickFix!

SeeClickFix users have helped improve a dangerous intersection in New Haven. Last month, there was a post on the SCF blog about the intersection of Livingston and Edwards Streets because the issue received so much attention within hours of being posted. Users noted the limited visibility for drivers caused by illegal parking and said that speeding cars only worsened the problem by placing more pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers at risk.

The City of New Haven has responded, and a speed table will be added to the intersection of Livingston and Edwards Streets.

As City Engineer Dick Miller (left) explains in the New Haven Independent, the street will be
raised about six inches to slow traffic at the intersection. The City will also add bump outs (which extend the curb further out into the street in order to slow down turning vehicles and reduce the amount of time it takes for pedestrians to cross). Lastly, according to the Independent, "The intersection will also feature planted medians, textured and multicolored crosswalks, and yellow-patterned paving" along with newly planted trees. The City hopes that drivers will see all of these changes as "visual cues" to proceed through the intersection more carefully, in addition to the other infrastructure changes mentioned above.

For more information about how speed tables have worked elsewhere, check out Mark Abraham's post on this improvement on the New Haven Safe Streets Blog. As Mark points out, not only do speed tables calm traffic, but they can also help increase the sense of community in the area by making the street a more inviting place.

Great work by our users, the City of New Haven, and the New Haven Independent.

See the original post below:

In just a couple of hours, an issue reported in New Haven's East Rock neighborhood has attracted over 60 views, 7 votes, and several comments. The issue: limited visibility turning onto Edwards Street from Livingston Street due to illegally parked cars.

So far, a number of solutions have been suggested. Among them are increased parking enforcement in the current no standing zone, or changing the intersection to add bump-outs, bollards, a roundabout, curb extensions, or converting it to a raised intersection.

What do you think? How can the City of New Haven improve this problem?

(Photo: Thomas MacMillan/New Haven Independent)

Appolicious asked Craig Newmark, founder of Craig's list, what's on his phone.


The Answer, "SeeClickFix"


Why you ask?


Newmark: "Real eGovernment. If you see a problem, you take a picture, geotag it, and send it to the right local government people to get it fixed.”


Check out the post here and get excited for our shiny new app to be released in the first week of the New Year!


If you've never heard of this little site Craig runs you should check that out as well.

Meridian Hill Park, Washington DC

Today SeeClickFix was mentioned in the Parker Spitzer blog "Mele: Give Assange internet access." For a Parker Spitzer exclusive blog post, leading expert in social media and Web 2.0 politics, Nicco Mele was interviewed with five "OFF-SET" questions, one of them which prompted Mele to highlight SeeClickFix.

Mele was asked "do you think the internet is turning us into more informed citizens and improving the civility of our society - or is it helping segregate Americans into separate groups based on what people say they believe?"

Mele responded, "When I look at the wide range of exciting and engaging things happening online to better engage citizens - projects like SeeClickFix and Wikipedia - I think that the internet is transforming our society for the better." Mele further explained how he believes the internet will be the "engine for civic innovation."

SeeClickFix thanks Mele for the mention, we love it!

Check out Mele's appearance on the Parker Spitzer show on CNN tonight at 8pm ET and 5pm PT.

Today SCF has two new media partners. One in Mass and the other in New Mexico.

 



These two new media partners add to nearly 1,000 media partners working with SeeClickFix to deliver citizens' concerns to their governments and each other. As we grow SCF we are ever grateful for the 4th estate's willingness to disrupt at the local level. Both of these hyperlocal sites are providing a valuable service to their communities and we salute them for that.

Worcester Wired has created their own section for SCF which you can check out here: http://www.worcesterwired.com/seeclickfix-2/

and Rio Rancho has SCF embedded on the homepage here: http://www.rrobserver.com/

Cheers to new friends!

Thanks to Penny Fearon and Heatwatchnyc.org another neighbor's heat in NYC is on.  A neighbor reported that their building did not have heat or hot water on the SCF widget embedded in Penny's website. Penny acted on behalf of the reporter and called the landlord herself to see if they could get the heat on and with much success.

In New York City this is a phone call that would take 15 minutes to report to the the City which would then in turn might create a notice or fine against the landlord. The whole process for a single issue could cost the city hundreds of dollars. (Speculative opinion based on conversations with municipal workers)   Aside from the cost savings there is the added benefit, through public documentation, of showing others that problems like this can be resolved by speaking up.  A sort-of viral feedback loop through the network created on SeeClickFix.

We love Penny and Heatwatch. If you want to help her help other neighbors, you can contact her at heatwatchnyc.org

Check out the fixed issue at http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/67973

If you have not picked up the latest Fast Company for December 2010, you really should!
SeeClickFix is featured alongside our clients Tucson, AZ and Manor, TX along with Gov20 Co-Conspirator Code For America.

The article tells of the coming shift to muni government and some of the folks that are helping to make that happen. If you're not feeling committed to a print copy you can read the articles here:

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/151/upright-citizens-brigade.html
and here:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/151/icitizen-bonus.html

Reported by The Saratogian, members of the Saratoga Springs community ask if it is possible to outsource the Saratoga Springs Heritage Area Visitor Center to another community group in light of budget difficulties, raised in Issue #64475.

Community member Brian on SeeClickFix encourages a healthy discussion to ensure city tax payers are getting the most values. Other members supported Brian's opinion and added that the Visitor Center should be a priority because tourism brings the most revenue to the city. As outlined in The Saratogian, government officials have acknowledged the issue and are discussing the options.

WECT of North Carolina investigated issue #61816 , which reported a potentially dangerous area coming out of the Food Lion shopping center on Carolina Beach Road. It has been requested that a traffic light be put in place to prevent an accident. Other concerned citizens have commented on the issue in agreement that this is a dangerous location and that they've witnessed accidents as well.

WECT interviewed the N.C. Department of Transportation, and found that according to them "any time a development causes an impact to existing traffic it is the developer's responsibility to make improvements."

According the WECT, a traffic signal is planned for the shopping center in conjunction with the new McDonald's restaurant!

In just a couple of hours, an issue reported in New Haven's East Rock neighborhood has attracted over 60 views, 7 votes, and several comments. The issue: limited visibility turning onto Edwards Street from Livingston Street due to illegally parked cars.

So far, a number of solutions have been suggested. Among them are increased parking enforcement in the current no standing zone, or changing the intersection to add bump-outs, bollards, a roundabout, curb extensions, or converting it to a raised intersection.

What do you think? How can the City of New Haven improve this problem?

The Bronx News Network recently integrated the SeeClickFix map widget onto their website. Community members of the Bronx can now report and vote for issues directly from The Bronx News Network site. So far, a number of issues have been reported within the Bronx area, and Councilman Fernando Cabrera has created a watch area!

Local governments across the country are cutting back. While these cuts can strain a city's ability to provide services, they also present city residents with opportunities to become more engaged and fill in the gaps with civic action. That's what we're seeing in Philadelphia, and SeeClickFix is proud to help.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter announced a series of budget cuts in May, including about $1.7 million to an office that oversees the city's Town Watch Integrated Services. The program works with local residents to help them patrol their own neighborhoods and create safer communities. In the face of these cuts though, one civic group in Philadelphia is still growing.

The Passyunk Square Town Watch is recruiting members, reporting issues, and working to help solve them. By working through SeeClickFix, their group just gained one more partner: SCF user Bob Shipman. Bob has been reporting issues in the group's watch area and recently contacted the group's leadership to get more involved. This is exactly how ordinary citizens can work together to change their communities.

Keep up the good work!

Next Generation Democracy - What the Open Source Revolution Means for Power Politics and Change ,written by Jared Duval, was released today by Bloomsbury. (Full disclosure for this review: Jared has become a friend since he first interviewed us for the SeeClickFix chapter in the book. He also now lives in New Haven. Both are likely to bias my opinions.)



Guilty of dedicating little time to reading I expected to vainly consume only one chapter. However on a recent flight to Toronto I failed to only scope the index for references to SeeClickFix and finished Next Generation Democracy before touching down.  

Next Generation Democracy chronicles distributed and open movements and organizations that are reshaping the face of democracy.  Through the stories of ordinary people who have made instrumental impact on the world, Jared links the similarities in effecting change back to the principles of the open source software movement.

The forward by Tim O'Reilly reads, "...now is the time for government to reinvent itself, to take the old idea of government 'for the people, by the people and of the people' to a new level."

This is the story of people who are helping government to think of itself in a new light. This is the story of government as a partner with its citizens and as a platform for participation. This is the story of government as an enabler. Most importantly this is not the story of the government that sits solely inside city hall, this is the story of the government that sits in the collective actions of all of us and sparks the average citizen to speak up and enable their neighbors to do the same.

Malcom Gladwell wrote in the New Yorker a few weeks back that, "Social media can't provide what social change has always required."

I understand the point that a tweet about global warming is a sorry substitution for tying one's self to a tree. However Gladwell misses a point which Mr Duval clearly recognizes:
That first tweet about global warming is a much easier on-ramp for the average citizen. Those that will tie themselves to trees and show up to City Hall for town meetings are not less likely to do so.  In many cases social web platforms can enable those that tie themselves to trees to get many more to do the same. In the same way that a few check-ins on foursquare can lead to a swarm, organizers can get those to rally in real life. Between 40,000 and 100,000 people still attended the Copenhagen Summit and gave cause for 968 arrests.

Its not the individual tweet that creates a revolution but the trending hashtags of thousands of tweets that provides awareness to many who would not have been previously aware. Social Media personalizes our new global consciousness through the voices of our friends.  The platforms teach us that leveraging users and citizens will only make the platform/democracy stronger . The read write principles of the web platform are what's fundamentally changing the way we organize and effect change.

From the evolution of Linux to the distributed mechanisms of the US Coastguard, Next Generation Democracy shows us how being more inclusive in our decision making and providing easier access to governance can reshape democracy for the 21st century. As a perfect debunking of "Why the revolution will not be tweeted." Jared tells the Story of SeeClickFix users who met online and formed a block watch off-line to improve the real space around them.

For a more detailed review of Next Generation Democracy, by Yasmin Fodil: http://governingpeople.com/wethegoverati/18471/next-generation-democracy-what-open-source-movement-means-power-politics-and-cha

And to purchase the book: http://www.amazon.com/Next-Generation-Democracy-Open-Source-Revolution/dp/1608190668

About a month ago,  a citizen reported issue #57229 in Providence, RI, stating that there was an abundant amount of trash and weeds along Smith Street, Orms Street and Tyndall Ave sidewalks. The reporter suggested adding more trash barrels as a solution.

A few days later, another citizen in Providence had suggested the solution of organizing a street clean-up and getting "Providence College and St. Patrick's school involved."

Well just 2 days ago, it was reported by the original poster of this issue that a "Neighborhood organization and some residents and students performed a clean up of trash and weeded tree wells." She also stated that a half demolished building has also been addressed and that a fence has been erected with signs of construction work beginning to take place.

We love community action!

A few weeks ago we wrote about Rhode Island Gubernatorial Candidate Lincoln Chafee and his Open Gov platform for Rhode Island.

Today I write simply to say...He Won!!!

Want to win an election? Put Open Government on the agenda.

Ten days ago, SeeClickFixer Eric reported Issue #61872, debris in intersection through his SeeClickFix Mobile Application. Eric reported that there was "loose dirt, rocks, garbage, and debris in the intersection of Barstow and Alameda. This causes cars to lose control and run the four way stop."

In one day, Albuquerque 311 Citizen Contact Center had responded to Eric, stating that "his request had been sent to the appropriate department for handling." Two days later, they reported that the Street Maintenance Division had swept the area!

Issue #42101 was investigated by WECT, which reported a dangerous intersection between Village Rd, Old Fayetteville Rd and S. Navassa Rd in Leland, NC.  

After WECT investigated a little further, they found that the North Carolina Department of Transportation will be working hard on fixing this intersection. They reported that "crews are widening the road and making other changes," and that the construction is projected to be completed next summer.

While sitting in a breakfast meeting on disrupting the Public Schools this am it felt very appropriate that we were given an opportunity to reap the benefit of previously successful disruption.

My friend Eliza was the victim of a broken parken meter and a consequent ticket during the meeting. We opened the SeeClickFix iPhone app and, for the first time, when I reported the broken parking meter, a request was created within the City's work order system. (As of last week we completed the first roll out of a connection between SeeClickFix and the city's Citiworks work order system.)

This was truly an exciting moment for me as it symbolically marks the success of a social mission to make our own government more open, accountable and efficient while encouraging citizens to be more engaged in a productive way. Imagine an unendorsed, unfunded, undesired and unrequested service not only sending the existing service (WebQA) into obscurity but replacing it in its entirely. All while carrying the weight of a cultural shift in how we as citizens interact with each other and our government. By a democratic process the citizens of New Haven voted for open and accessible government through the tools they chose to use to connect with government. And through effective leadership the City of New Haven chose to listen and adapt to the voices of their citizens.

Once we could only have access to a blackbox of communication by leaving a voicemail or filling out a lengthy form with too many personal questions when we wanted to report a broken parking meter. Now we can publicly document our broken parking meter with a photo and a GPS location provided by our mobile phone and it will integrate directly with the city's existing business process.

We have noted the benefits of the simple shift over and over but its worth reiterating here on the success of this implementation:

1) A positive feedback loop for the citizen who has chosen to speak up. One less opportunity to feel trapped and frustrated with the governing institution and one less excuse to become apathetic.

2) An opportunity for the government to effectively harness the power of the crowd and start to get a complete bug report on the municipal fabric of the city.

3) A network effect of engagement that scales exponentially as the conversations and reports that spin out of an open system of government bounce off of each other and spin up greater participation.

Personally seeing the effect of SeeClickFix on the how someone reports a parking meter at a time when we are thinking about how to "Fix" the public schools gives me great confidence that a citizen driven disruption of the Public Schools is not only needed but will also be effective.

Stay Tuned....

Four days ago, isssue #61718 was posted, reporting that due to a change in the timing of a traffic light on Whitney Ave, there has been increased traffic.

According to the SeeClickFixer, "Before the new system came online, a maximum of 5 or 6 cars on Armory would have to wait for a green light, the lights would change quickly, and there would be enough time for all the cars to get onto Whitney. Under the new system, the light turns green less frequently and for a much shorter time, resulting in a backlog of 10 - 12 cars at peak rush hour times. "

 Check out the documentation of this issue below:

At BIF6 in Providence we were asked by Torch Innovation to come up to Toronto for a speakers series aptly titled Unfinished Business.  The event, Disrupting For Good, by all means was a success.

We got a chance to tell the founding story of SeeClickFix as well as some user stories. Of course the biggest hit was telling the story of Juli who painted her own crosswalk in New Haven.

During the question an answer period a gentleman smartly requested that the Dave Wallace CIO of the City of Toronto and Ryan Merkley of the City of Toronto, both in the audience, come up and speak on Open Government as he was not sure when he would get to hear from his public officials again.

Both Ryan and Dave are leading in the open data movement in Toronto. Though Ryan will be leaving office in 6 weeks Dave will be staying on and I am hopeful that they will stand up the Open311 API and we can connect to Toronto. For now we will email 311 :)

A bunch of really good questions were asked in which I'd like to recap here:

@Remark: What do cities like detroit do with no budget to pay for repairs?
My Answer: Be open and honest that they can not repair the potholes and do it publicly in the comments section on SeeClickFix. And use SeeClickFix to manage constituents complaints as its free.

Dave Wallace: How do you feel about collaborating w/ other developers, cities and apps contests?
Answer: We want to help spark innovation in the open government space and think of ourselves as a platform. If you build a better app we hope you'll connect it to SeeClickFix so other governments and citizens can use it.

SeeClickFix User Patcon: Can I use your API to build a game layer on top of SeeClickFix?
Answer: Yes Please!

At one point in the conversation I acknowledged the new wave of muni workers who are embracing open government and pulling the pins on the open government hand grenades when we toss them over the walls. A good conversation w/ intrigued web dev's inside Toronto 311 ensued. Much of the questions are around change management and simplifying bureaucratic process.  How many questions are too many when talking to a citizen? Keep it simple and adjust your business process to the info that they are willing to give.  How can we trust that the new wave of data is accurate? More people providing more information will make the data more accurate - look at the Wikipedia.  Will this create a new burden on the system?  The system that exists will go away and the resulting distribution of information will become cheaper (goodbye call center) and allocation of resources more efficient.

We strongly believe that governments need to make the change to open and less constricted processes weighing the benefits of the outcome over the nuisance of adjusting.

The open government process changes the way we do government and as such the culture will not adapt to the government, the government  has to adapt to the culture.

In the end if the city employees have trouble shifting policy from the outside we suggest that they go outside and just start reporting issues on an open platform.

As part of announcing our Open Government platform, Lincoln Chafee's independent campaign for governor of Rhode Island asked supporters to take some time this past weekend and log issues on SeeClickFix, an effort we delightfully called a SeeClickFix Storm (credit to Owen Johnson). The idea was to get Rhode Island citizens using SeeClickFix en masse statewide, and more broadly, to show citizens what open government - what participating meaningfully in the work of governance - can mean. Supporters were asked to 'storm' their neighborhoods throughout the state, and invited to 'storm' Providence by bike with me on Sunday.

Over the course of the weekend, 14 issues were logged with an average of 7 per day, a major spike in RI's embarrassing daily average of 0.008196721, and daily activity looks to have picked up somewhat since, which was part of the point (profuse thanks to SCF Community Manager Kayla Vandervort for the info and this graph). That said and seen, although an SCF Storm is a fabulous idea, 14 issues doesn't quite qualify as a storm - even relative to total calmness - and only one supporter showed up to join me on Sunday (that's us in the image). Certainly, there are things I could have done to attract a bigger crew, but as they say, good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. So, in that vein, allow me to impart a checklist for all you future storm orchestrators in the crowd:

1) Post the storm online - create a Facebook event, blog post, and/or other online home for the storm to live. If you're posting the storm on your website, add an SCF widget so folks can report issues on your site and see issues being reported as you storm.

2) Create a watch area - create a watch area for the area you're storming, so you can track issues logged pre-storm, during storm, and post-storm, and report your success.

3) Set a goal - if 14 issues doesn't qualify as a storm, what does? Check your watch area for previous activity, and using that along with your estimate of the number of people who will participate, set a realistic but ambitious goal. Along with better enabling you to gauge your success, it'll give participants a goal to aim for! And of course you can shower them with prizes and gifts and awards and brownie points if they succeed.

4) Promote the storm widely - SCF is of interest to a diverse contingency, including community groups, geeks, activists, and more. Don't limit yourself to your email list or Facebook group; leverage the fact that SCF has broad appeal to promote your storm to local MeetUp groups, blogs, and more!

5) Reach out to people individually - a basic tenet of Marketing (or Activism or Party Throwing or any people-convincing art) 101, beyond promoting the event through social media channels, reach out to individuals who you know will come and bring people. (Duh, I know.)

6) Brand your logged issues with your cause - change your SCF profile pic to the Trust Chafee logo, add a quick 'Vote Chafee!' at the end of each issue logged, or do something to promote your storm's cause. This is the beauty of a SCF Storm as a campaign stunt: in Ghandian terms, that voters get to see the campaign being the platform it wishes to see in the world. But in order for them to see that, you need to show 'em.

7) Brand your SCFers - wear campaign paraphernalia as you storm! See image above. And same rationale as previous.

8) Document your storm - take photos, video, otherwise document your fantabulous storm, and ask your stormers to do the same!

9) Report back - follow up with participants, post on your blog, and otherwise report back to the world on how the storm went, including photos & video, activity in the watch area, and encouragement to keep using SCF.

Feel free to respond with any additional words of wisdom. Perhaps 'SCF Storm' will someday warrant its own Facebook group or Twitter hashtag? Not to get too meta on us, but may SCF Storm, itself, become a storm.......