A crucial part of President Barack Obama’s transparency agenda has always been to increase public participation in government by bringing it online. In fact, you may have heard him or a member of his administration discussing e-government as a key element of a national broadband plan.
These statements are not just rhetoric – using broadband to increase civic participation in policymaking efforts is the law. No, you didn’t just misread that sentence – there’s a law stating what a national broadband plan must include, and e-government is stamped right on it.
Now that we know the law, let’s take a closer look at what drives successful e-government initiatives – information. After all, information has allowed civilians to participate in local and national government since there’s been a government.
“Informing Communities: Sustaining democracy in the Digital Age,” a report by The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy, provides an outstanding perspective on how “information is as vital to the healthy functioning of communities as clean air, safe streets, good schools and public health.”
According to the report, “America needs ‘informed communities,’ places where the information ecology meets people’s personal and civic information needs. This means people have the news and information they need to take advantage of life’s opportunities for themselves and their families. They need information to participate fully in our system of self-government, to stand up and be heard. Driving this vision are the critical democratic values of openness, inclusion, participation, empowerment and the common pursuit of truth and the public interest.”
| Are you an informed community? |
| According to the report, a community is a healthy democratic community – an “informed community” – when:
• People have convenient access to both civic and life-enhancing information, without regard to income or social status. • Journalism is abundant in many forms and accessible through many convenient platforms. • Government is open and transparent. • People have affordable high-speed Internet service wherever and whenever they want and need it. • Digital and media literacy are widely taught in schools, public libraries and other community centers. • Technological and civic expertise is shared across the generations. • Local media – including print, broadcast, and online media – reflect the issues, events, experiences and ideas of the entire community. • People have a deep understanding of the role of free speech and free press rights in maintaining a democratic community. • Citizens are active in acquiring and sharing knowledge both within and across social networks. • People can assess and track changes in the information health of their communities. |
The commission also states that to achieve its vision of informed communities, the following three fundamental objectives must be pursued:
Maximizing the availability of relevant and credible information to communities
The availability of relevant and credible information implies creation, distribution and preservation. Information flow improves when people have not only direct access to information, but the benefit also of credible intermediaries to help discover, gather, compare, contextualize and share information.
Strengthening the capacity of individuals to engage with information
This includes the ability to communicate one’s information, creations and views to others. Attending to capacity means that people have access to the tools they need and opportunities to develop their skills to use those tools effectively as both producers and consumers of information.
Promoting individual engagement with information and the public life of the community
Promoting engagement means generating opportunities and motivation for involvement. Citizens should have the capacity, both individually and in groups, to help shoulder responsibility for community self-governance.
A large part of the report also focuses on the importance broadband technology and new media in revitalizing traditional journalistic roles and values. Since the advent of the 24-hour news cycle and the subsequent rise of sometimes superfluous content, many have forgotten the media was initially created to serve as a “watchdog of the government” – to provide civilians with accurate information on what their elected public officials were doing and to take those officials to task when they overstepped their bounds.
Traditional, accurate journalism efforts on civic affairs have always played a crucial role in providing individuals with the necessary information to participate in government. That service can only be enhanced as consistent innovation creates new information channels. The challenge for media outlets is to revamp their old business models to better incorporate new broadband technologies while staying true to their original “watchdog” role.
However, it’s extremely difficult to predict what kinds of innovation will occur in any industry, yet alone communications. But given what we have today, it’s imperative for public bodies to invest in the creation of universal broadband access for all Americans. Enabling citizens to participate in civic affairs through the accessibility of a national broadband infrastructure is a proper role for government.
