Open311

Discussion Lists

Re: An Open API to government and others accountable for the public space

Back to topic listing

  • From: Nick Grossman

    Subject: Re: An Open API to government and others accountable for the public space

    Date: Jun 11, 2009 08:28 PM 

    Hey Ben (and everyone),

Thanks for bringing this up and for drawing more people into the  
conversation -- it's definitely important that whatever gets going is  
structured in the right way.

For the new folks on the email, here at The Open Planning Project we  
started a thread yesterday about putting together a coalition to  
shepherd the development of an Open 311 standard. With all the  
activity around 311 recently, from the DC's 311 API and the Apps for  
Democracy 2 contest, to several other online conversations (Fred  
Wilson's blog post, threads on DIYcity, an open letter to Mayor  
Bloomberg, etc) it's certainly the right time to be having that  
conversation.  TOPP currently owns Open311.org and offered it up to be  
the home base for such an endeavor.

For those who might not know us, TOPP (http:// 
theopenplanningproject.org) is a non-profit organization focusing on  
urban policy and technology for civic participation.  TOPP Labs is our  
open source "civic hacking" group, similar in many ways to Sunlight  
Labs.  As Ben alludes to, full disclosure is that TOPP Labs has  
developed an open source tool called GeoTrac, an extension to the trac  
ticketing platform, which would be a potential client of such an API.

We are definitely interested in putting together the appropriate sort  
of guiding entity for an Open 311 initiative.  Yesterday's email was  
our first step in reaching out to folks that might be interested in  
participating.   I'm not sure who would be the best organization to  
host such an effort, whether another nonprofit like Sunlight, or an  
organization that's dedicated to promoting standards such as the Open  
Web Foundation.  I am interested to hear others' thoughts on what  
might be the best course of action.

Also, I've CC'd Phil Ashlock, who has been leading our effort here to  
spearhead an Open 311 coalition.

Thanks,
Nick


On Jun 11, 2009, at 6:59 PM, Ben Berkowitz wrote:

> Transparent gov. people,
>
> Some of us have been discussing how to create an open API for  
> connecting to local government and I thought I would expand it to  
> the bigger group that we have been conversing with on the subject.   
> Call it an open 311 API for service requests or quality of life  
> issues.  Service providers could be local governments or others.
>
> SeeClickFix has a draft of an open API that we've been working on  
> for a bit and look forward to sharing it shortly.  As DC has  
> published their own API, Vancouver and Toronto are doing their  
> thing, FixMyStreet has an effort and other 311 software vendors have  
> their own APIs we are really excited to start collaborating towards  
> a common API for data pertaining to the public space.
>
> In order for this effort to have the most power, we'll want the most  
> people involved and trusting it.  Since some of us will work  
> together or offer competitive services at various times, it may be  
> best to consider carefully how to build that trust.
>
> I think more people would feel comfortable about discussing the API  
> in a public forum if it was controlled by neither a government  
> entity nor a vendor.  A neutral third party should really hold the  
> domain, the wiki and any kind of email list.
>
> Would some one like Sunlight make sense to act as a neutral third  
> party?
>
> Open Planning Project had offered up a domain name and a wiki for  
> use on this matter.  Open Planning would you be willing to put that  
> in the hands of a third party that would not be building apps on the  
> api?
>
> If Sunlight was not interested in this, we would be happy to do the  
> leg work to create a new non-profit to advance these kinds of  
> standards.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Ben
> SeeClickFix.Com
>
> -- 
> Have you seen my new startup for social good? SeeClickFix (www.seeclickfix.com 
> ) Check it out and report an issue in your neighborhood. Power to  
> the Community.
>

--
Nick Grossman
The Open Planning Project -- http://theopenplanningproject.org
nickyg@... | tweets @nickgrossman | (917) 388-9040

    Attachments

    Thread Outline:

  • From: Ben Berkowitz

    Subject: Re: An Open API to government and others accountable for the public space

    Date: Jun 11, 2009 10:16 PM 

    I should also mention that apps for democracy would be a good holding
co. For Api. Peter, it seems like the DC google group will be a good
transition to this.
On 6/11/09, Nick Grossman <nickyg@...> wrote:
> Hey Ben (and everyone),
>
> Thanks for bringing this up and for drawing more people into the
> conversation -- it's definitely important that whatever gets going is
> structured in the right way.
>
> For the new folks on the email, here at The Open Planning Project we
> started a thread yesterday about putting together a coalition to
> shepherd the development of an Open 311 standard. With all the
> activity around 311 recently, from the DC's 311 API and the Apps for
> Democracy 2 contest, to several other online conversations (Fred
> Wilson's blog post, threads on DIYcity, an open letter to Mayor
> Bloomberg, etc) it's certainly the right time to be having that
> conversation.  TOPP currently owns Open311.org and offered it up to be
> the home base for such an endeavor.
>
> For those who might not know us, TOPP (http://
> theopenplanningproject.org) is a non-profit organization focusing on
> urban policy and technology for civic participation.  TOPP Labs is our
> open source "civic hacking" group, similar in many ways to Sunlight
> Labs.  As Ben alludes to, full disclosure is that TOPP Labs has
> developed an open source tool called GeoTrac, an extension to the trac
> ticketing platform, which would be a potential client of such an API.
>
> We are definitely interested in putting together the appropriate sort
> of guiding entity for an Open 311 initiative.  Yesterday's email was
> our first step in reaching out to folks that might be interested in
> participating.   I'm not sure who would be the best organization to
> host such an effort, whether another nonprofit like Sunlight, or an
> organization that's dedicated to promoting standards such as the Open
> Web Foundation.  I am interested to hear others' thoughts on what
> might be the best course of action.
>
> Also, I've CC'd Phil Ashlock, who has been leading our effort here to
> spearhead an Open 311 coalition.
>
> Thanks,
> Nick
>
>
> On Jun 11, 2009, at 6:59 PM, Ben Berkowitz wrote:
>
>> Transparent gov. people,
>>
>> Some of us have been discussing how to create an open API for
>> connecting to local government and I thought I would expand it to
>> the bigger group that we have been conversing with on the subject.
>> Call it an open 311 API for service requests or quality of life
>> issues.  Service providers could be local governments or others.
>>
>> SeeClickFix has a draft of an open API that we've been working on
>> for a bit and look forward to sharing it shortly.  As DC has
>> published their own API, Vancouver and Toronto are doing their
>> thing, FixMyStreet has an effort and other 311 software vendors have
>> their own APIs we are really excited to start collaborating towards
>> a common API for data pertaining to the public space.
>>
>> In order for this effort to have the most power, we'll want the most
>> people involved and trusting it.  Since some of us will work
>> together or offer competitive services at various times, it may be
>> best to consider carefully how to build that trust.
>>
>> I think more people would feel comfortable about discussing the API
>> in a public forum if it was controlled by neither a government
>> entity nor a vendor.  A neutral third party should really hold the
>> domain, the wiki and any kind of email list.
>>
>> Would some one like Sunlight make sense to act as a neutral third
>> party?
>>
>> Open Planning Project had offered up a domain name and a wiki for
>> use on this matter.  Open Planning would you be willing to put that
>> in the hands of a third party that would not be building apps on the
>> api?
>>
>> If Sunlight was not interested in this, we would be happy to do the
>> leg work to create a new non-profit to advance these kinds of
>> standards.
>>
>> Thoughts?
>>
>> Ben
>> SeeClickFix.Com
>>
>> --
>> Have you seen my new startup for social good? SeeClickFix
>> (www.seeclickfix.com
>> ) Check it out and report an issue in your neighborhood. Power to
>> the Community.
>>
>
> --
> Nick Grossman
> The Open Planning Project -- http://theopenplanningproject.org
> nickyg@... | tweets @nickgrossman | (917) 388-9040
>
>
>
>
>
>
>


-- 
Have you seen my new startup for social good? SeeClickFix
(www.seeclickfix.com) Check it out and report an issue in your
neighborhood. Power to the Community.

    • From: Tom Steinberg

      Subject: Re: An Open API to government and others accountable for the public space

      Date: Jun 12, 2009 06:45 AM 

      Hello from the UK perspective,

Over here we're in quite a different position. Local governments are
showing no interest in opening their 311 systems, there's little
comprehension of why you'd want to. Meanwhile FixMyStreet simply ticks
over as the defacto national fault reporting website, with no official
connections to government of any sort, growing in size and popularity
and occasionally expanding as people build mobile versions that submit
problems through our own API.

FixMyStreet is complete open source, but beyond that I'm not really
sure quite how much we can help. It'd be awesome if you guys could
work out a nice, flexible open standard for all city fault reporting
of all sorts, but whilst we have a government that's totally
uninterested we can't help much on the lobbying side.

best,
Tom

2009/6/12 Peter Corbett <peter@...>:
> A few thoughts:
>
> [Disclaimer to new folks so you have context on what I'm about to say: I
> created Apps for Democracy for Vivek Kundra & DC' s Office of the CTO last
> fall. I am the CEO of iStrategyLabs and we currently run Apps for Democracy
> "Community Edition" in DC which is about mashing up DC's new Open 311 API -
> DC.gov is my client; we're charged with promoting the use of DC data and
> it's API...but we have no role or interest in influencing the structure of
> this API outside of making sure developers love using it.]
>
> I hope the following is helpful to this conversation:
>
> 1) I think it's best to focus on action first rather than what organization
> owns what or who's leading the charge.  In this context the key action is to
> make the world's best Open 311 API.  Part of being "the best" in this
> instance means having it actually be used and supported by a city. The only
> current opportunity like this in the world is with DC.gov.
>
> 2) Dmitry Kachaev is CC'd on this email and is the Director of R&D for DC's
> Office of the CTO and has been building DC's 311 API. He needs talented
> people like you to collaborate with him on making this API work - and work
> well. If it doesn't rock, other cities won't have as good an example to
> point to for how and why a city should have an Open 311 API. Round 1 apps
> submitted for Apps for Democracy "Community Edition" look good
> (http://bit.ly/apps091), and we've got another 20 days...so there going to
> get much better. By July 1st when Apps for Democracy ends, there will be an
> unmistakable case to be made to any city as to why having an Open 311 API
> (perhaps along with a boat load of open data) is a really really good idea
> that's not so scary to put in place.
>
> 3) It's self serving for me to say that you should focus on DC's API as the
> beta - because if you do, the apps created for the contest we're running
> will work better and there will be more of them. But it's also the right
> strategy right now - so I don't have another answer. Regarding my input -
> feel free to take it or leave it. I'll still be happy to help you all where
> I can. I'll be focused with Dmitry and DC.gov over the next 3 weeks or so
> making sure that there's a shining example of 311 API mashup-awesomeness
> that you all can point to in your home cities/countries to say "hey look,
> DC's got a good example of how this works in action. Mr. City CTO lets do
> this here..Now!"
>
> 4) Apps for Democracy is not a good 'holding company' for this at the
> moment. It's a marketing campaign to encourage citizen engagement with
> government data (I run this in DC, but Finland and Belgium do their
> own...)...it's not owned by a non-profit, but by a for-profit
> (iStrategyLabs) technically but I don't care who uses the name or launches
> their own. It's good for everyone to do this kind of thing (certainly it
> helps to have a brand for it to fall under).
>
> Make DC's Open 311 API shine and then apply it everywhere. This is the
> fastest path to worldwide adoption of Open 311 IMHO. But I could be wrong so
> that's just my two cents :)
>
> Peter
>
> Peter Corbett
> CEO
> iStrategyLabs
> Cell: 917.748.3595
> peter@...
> http://www.istrategylabs.com
> http://www.twitter.com/corbett30000
>
> Interactive Strategy. Experiential Marketing. Content Creation
>
> On Jun 11, 2009, at 10:16 PM, Ben Berkowitz wrote:
>
>> I should also mention that apps for democracy would be a good holding
>> co. For Api. Peter, it seems like the DC google group will be a good
>> transition to this.
>> On 6/11/09, Nick Grossman <nickyg@...> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hey Ben (and everyone),
>>>
>>> Thanks for bringing this up and for drawing more people into the
>>> conversation -- it's definitely important that whatever gets going is
>>> structured in the right way.
>>>
>>> For the new folks on the email, here at The Open Planning Project we
>>> started a thread yesterday about putting together a coalition to
>>> shepherd the development of an Open 311 standard. With all the
>>> activity around 311 recently, from the DC's 311 API and the Apps for
>>> Democracy 2 contest, to several other online conversations (Fred
>>> Wilson's blog post, threads on DIYcity, an open letter to Mayor
>>> Bloomberg, etc) it's certainly the right time to be having that
>>> conversation.  TOPP currently owns Open311.org and offered it up to be
>>> the home base for such an endeavor.
>>>
>>> For those who might not know us, TOPP (http://
>>> theopenplanningproject.org) is a non-profit organization focusing on
>>> urban policy and technology for civic participation.  TOPP Labs is our
>>> open source "civic hacking" group, similar in many ways to Sunlight
>>> Labs.  As Ben alludes to, full disclosure is that TOPP Labs has
>>> developed an open source tool called GeoTrac, an extension to the trac
>>> ticketing platform, which would be a potential client of such an API.
>>>
>>> We are definitely interested in putting together the appropriate sort
>>> of guiding entity for an Open 311 initiative.  Yesterday's email was
>>> our first step in reaching out to folks that might be interested in
>>> participating.   I'm not sure who would be the best organization to
>>> host such an effort, whether another nonprofit like Sunlight, or an
>>> organization that's dedicated to promoting standards such as the Open
>>> Web Foundation.  I am interested to hear others' thoughts on what
>>> might be the best course of action.
>>>
>>> Also, I've CC'd Phil Ashlock, who has been leading our effort here to
>>> spearhead an Open 311 coalition.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Nick
>>>
>>>
>>> On Jun 11, 2009, at 6:59 PM, Ben Berkowitz wrote:
>>>
>>>> Transparent gov. people,
>>>>
>>>> Some of us have been discussing how to create an open API for
>>>> connecting to local government and I thought I would expand it to
>>>> the bigger group that we have been conversing with on the subject.
>>>> Call it an open 311 API for service requests or quality of life
>>>> issues.  Service providers could be local governments or others.
>>>>
>>>> SeeClickFix has a draft of an open API that we've been working on
>>>> for a bit and look forward to sharing it shortly.  As DC has
>>>> published their own API, Vancouver and Toronto are doing their
>>>> thing, FixMyStreet has an effort and other 311 software vendors have
>>>> their own APIs we are really excited to start collaborating towards
>>>> a common API for data pertaining to the public space.
>>>>
>>>> In order for this effort to have the most power, we'll want the most
>>>> people involved and trusting it.  Since some of us will work
>>>> together or offer competitive services at various times, it may be
>>>> best to consider carefully how to build that trust.
>>>>
>>>> I think more people would feel comfortable about discussing the API
>>>> in a public forum if it was controlled by neither a government
>>>> entity nor a vendor.  A neutral third party should really hold the
>>>> domain, the wiki and any kind of email list.
>>>>
>>>> Would some one like Sunlight make sense to act as a neutral third
>>>> party?
>>>>
>>>> Open Planning Project had offered up a domain name and a wiki for
>>>> use on this matter.  Open Planning would you be willing to put that
>>>> in the hands of a third party that would not be building apps on the
>>>> api?
>>>>
>>>> If Sunlight was not interested in this, we would be happy to do the
>>>> leg work to create a new non-profit to advance these kinds of
>>>> standards.
>>>>
>>>> Thoughts?
>>>>
>>>> Ben
>>>> SeeClickFix.Com
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Have you seen my new startup for social good? SeeClickFix
>>>> (www.seeclickfix.com
>>>> ) Check it out and report an issue in your neighborhood. Power to
>>>> the Community.
>>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Nick Grossman
>>> The Open Planning Project -- http://theopenplanningproject.org
>>> nickyg@... | tweets @nickgrossman | (917) 388-9040
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Have you seen my new startup for social good? SeeClickFix
>> (www.seeclickfix.com) Check it out and report an issue in your
>> neighborhood. Power to the Community.
>
>

      • From: Steve Ressler

        Subject: Re: An Open API to government and others accountable for the public space

        Date: Jun 12, 2009 10:46 AM 

        Hello all-

I'm happy to help any way I can.  I run GovLoop.com, a social network of
over 13k members of gov't community (fed/state/local/int/and cool folks like
you.

GovLoop may be a good place to have the dialogue (groups/post
blogs/wikis/etc) and I can publicize the need for hlep on the Open311 API to
the GovLoop members.

Additionally, I agree with Peter in many ways that the first step to making
this all happen is to really help the cities that are moving in this
direction succeed so they become shining light examples.  As a government
employee, I understand that agencies are likely to be hesitant at first to
opening up their 311 systems so they need some case studies on why it makes
sense not only for their own thinking but to convince their leadership.

All the best,

Steve Ressler
Founder, GovLoop.com
On Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 6:45 AM, Tom Steinberg <tom@...> wrote:

> Hello from the UK perspective,
>
> Over here we're in quite a different position. Local governments are
> showing no interest in opening their 311 systems, there's little
> comprehension of why you'd want to. Meanwhile FixMyStreet simply ticks
> over as the defacto national fault reporting website, with no official
> connections to government of any sort, growing in size and popularity
> and occasionally expanding as people build mobile versions that submit
> problems through our own API.
>
> FixMyStreet is complete open source, but beyond that I'm not really
> sure quite how much we can help. It'd be awesome if you guys could
> work out a nice, flexible open standard for all city fault reporting
> of all sorts, but whilst we have a government that's totally
> uninterested we can't help much on the lobbying side.
>
> best,
> Tom
>
> 2009/6/12 Peter Corbett <peter@...>:
> > A few thoughts:
> >
> > [Disclaimer to new folks so you have context on what I'm about to say: I
> > created Apps for Democracy for Vivek Kundra & DC' s Office of the CTO
> last
> > fall. I am the CEO of iStrategyLabs and we currently run Apps for
> Democracy
> > "Community Edition" in DC which is about mashing up DC's new Open 311 API
> -
> > DC.gov is my client; we're charged with promoting the use of DC data and
> > it's API...but we have no role or interest in influencing the structure
> of
> > this API outside of making sure developers love using it.]
> >
> > I hope the following is helpful to this conversation:
> >
> > 1) I think it's best to focus on action first rather than what
> organization
> > owns what or who's leading the charge.  In this context the key action is
> to
> > make the world's best Open 311 API.  Part of being "the best" in this
> > instance means having it actually be used and supported by a city. The
> only
> > current opportunity like this in the world is with DC.gov.
> >
> > 2) Dmitry Kachaev is CC'd on this email and is the Director of R&D for
> DC's
> > Office of the CTO and has been building DC's 311 API. He needs talented
> > people like you to collaborate with him on making this API work - and
> work
> > well. If it doesn't rock, other cities won't have as good an example to
> > point to for how and why a city should have an Open 311 API. Round 1 apps
> > submitted for Apps for Democracy "Community Edition" look good
> > (http://bit.ly/apps091), and we've got another 20 days...so there going
> to
> > get much better. By July 1st when Apps for Democracy ends, there will be
> an
> > unmistakable case to be made to any city as to why having an Open 311 API
> > (perhaps along with a boat load of open data) is a really really good
> idea
> > that's not so scary to put in place.
> >
> > 3) It's self serving for me to say that you should focus on DC's API as
> the
> > beta - because if you do, the apps created for the contest we're running
> > will work better and there will be more of them. But it's also the right
> > strategy right now - so I don't have another answer. Regarding my input -
> > feel free to take it or leave it. I'll still be happy to help you all
> where
> > I can. I'll be focused with Dmitry and DC.gov over the next 3 weeks or so
> > making sure that there's a shining example of 311 API mashup-awesomeness
> > that you all can point to in your home cities/countries to say "hey look,
> > DC's got a good example of how this works in action. Mr. City CTO lets do
> > this here..Now!"
> >
> > 4) Apps for Democracy is not a good 'holding company' for this at the
> > moment. It's a marketing campaign to encourage citizen engagement with
> > government data (I run this in DC, but Finland and Belgium do their
> > own...)...it's not owned by a non-profit, but by a for-profit
> > (iStrategyLabs) technically but I don't care who uses the name or
> launches
> > their own. It's good for everyone to do this kind of thing (certainly it
> > helps to have a brand for it to fall under).
> >
> > Make DC's Open 311 API shine and then apply it everywhere. This is the
> > fastest path to worldwide adoption of Open 311 IMHO. But I could be wrong
> so
> > that's just my two cents :)
> >
> > Peter
> >
> > Peter Corbett
> > CEO
> > iStrategyLabs
> > Cell: 917.748.3595
> > peter@...
> > http://www.istrategylabs.com
> > http://www.twitter.com/corbett30000
> >
> > Interactive Strategy. Experiential Marketing. Content Creation
> >
> > On Jun 11, 2009, at 10:16 PM, Ben Berkowitz wrote:
> >
> >> I should also mention that apps for democracy would be a good holding
> >> co. For Api. Peter, it seems like the DC google group will be a good
> >> transition to this.
> >> On 6/11/09, Nick Grossman <nickyg@...> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Hey Ben (and everyone),
> >>>
> >>> Thanks for bringing this up and for drawing more people into the
> >>> conversation -- it's definitely important that whatever gets going is
> >>> structured in the right way.
> >>>
> >>> For the new folks on the email, here at The Open Planning Project we
> >>> started a thread yesterday about putting together a coalition to
> >>> shepherd the development of an Open 311 standard. With all the
> >>> activity around 311 recently, from the DC's 311 API and the Apps for
> >>> Democracy 2 contest, to several other online conversations (Fred
> >>> Wilson's blog post, threads on DIYcity, an open letter to Mayor
> >>> Bloomberg, etc) it's certainly the right time to be having that
> >>> conversation.  TOPP currently owns Open311.org and offered it up to be
> >>> the home base for such an endeavor.
> >>>
> >>> For those who might not know us, TOPP (http://
> >>> theopenplanningproject.org) is a non-profit organization focusing on
> >>> urban policy and technology for civic participation.  TOPP Labs is our
> >>> open source "civic hacking" group, similar in many ways to Sunlight
> >>> Labs.  As Ben alludes to, full disclosure is that TOPP Labs has
> >>> developed an open source tool called GeoTrac, an extension to the trac
> >>> ticketing platform, which would be a potential client of such an API.
> >>>
> >>> We are definitely interested in putting together the appropriate sort
> >>> of guiding entity for an Open 311 initiative.  Yesterday's email was
> >>> our first step in reaching out to folks that might be interested in
> >>> participating.   I'm not sure who would be the best organization to
> >>> host such an effort, whether another nonprofit like Sunlight, or an
> >>> organization that's dedicated to promoting standards such as the Open
> >>> Web Foundation.  I am interested to hear others' thoughts on what
> >>> might be the best course of action.
> >>>
> >>> Also, I've CC'd Phil Ashlock, who has been leading our effort here to
> >>> spearhead an Open 311 coalition.
> >>>
> >>> Thanks,
> >>> Nick
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Jun 11, 2009, at 6:59 PM, Ben Berkowitz wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Transparent gov. people,
> >>>>
> >>>> Some of us have been discussing how to create an open API for
> >>>> connecting to local government and I thought I would expand it to
> >>>> the bigger group that we have been conversing with on the subject.
> >>>> Call it an open 311 API for service requests or quality of life
> >>>> issues.  Service providers could be local governments or others.
> >>>>
> >>>> SeeClickFix has a draft of an open API that we've been working on
> >>>> for a bit and look forward to sharing it shortly.  As DC has
> >>>> published their own API, Vancouver and Toronto are doing their
> >>>> thing, FixMyStreet has an effort and other 311 software vendors have
> >>>> their own APIs we are really excited to start collaborating towards
> >>>> a common API for data pertaining to the public space.
> >>>>
> >>>> In order for this effort to have the most power, we'll want the most
> >>>> people involved and trusting it.  Since some of us will work
> >>>> together or offer competitive services at various times, it may be
> >>>> best to consider carefully how to build that trust.
> >>>>
> >>>> I think more people would feel comfortable about discussing the API
> >>>> in a public forum if it was controlled by neither a government
> >>>> entity nor a vendor.  A neutral third party should really hold the
> >>>> domain, the wiki and any kind of email list.
> >>>>
> >>>> Would some one like Sunlight make sense to act as a neutral third
> >>>> party?
> >>>>
> >>>> Open Planning Project had offered up a domain name and a wiki for
> >>>> use on this matter.  Open Planning would you be willing to put that
> >>>> in the hands of a third party that would not be building apps on the
> >>>> api?
> >>>>
> >>>> If Sunlight was not interested in this, we would be happy to do the
> >>>> leg work to create a new non-profit to advance these kinds of
> >>>> standards.
> >>>>
> >>>> Thoughts?
> >>>>
> >>>> Ben
> >>>> SeeClickFix.Com
> >>>>
> >>>> --
> >>>> Have you seen my new startup for social good? SeeClickFix
> >>>> (www.seeclickfix.com
> >>>> ) Check it out and report an issue in your neighborhood. Power to
> >>>> the Community.
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> Nick Grossman
> >>> The Open Planning Project -- http://theopenplanningproject.org
> >>> nickyg@... | tweets @nickgrossman | (917) 388-9040
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Have you seen my new startup for social good? SeeClickFix
> >> (www.seeclickfix.com) Check it out and report an issue in your
> >> neighborhood. Power to the Community.
> >
> >
>

        Attachments

        • From: philipashlock

          Subject: Unifying 311 systems toward an open standard

          Date: Jun 16, 2009 11:42 PM 

          Thank you all for the thoughtful responses. I figured I'd try to defer 
replying until it could be done here on a mailing list. I've imported 
the earlier threads to the list <http://lists.open311.org/discuss/>, but 
please direct future messages to discuss@... and ensure 
that you're subscribed (you should've received an invite). 

I personally think it's important to echo Peter Corbett's emphasis on 
focusing standardization efforts around the only city that's currently 
supportive of implementing an open 311, D.C. <http://api.dc.gov/>, 
(maybe Vancouver too?) and the headway that's being made /right now/ 
through the Apps for Democracy contest 
<http://www.appsfordemocracy.org/>, so I'd like to keep action pushing 
in that direction.  That said, it seems to me that there exists a wider 
interest and knowledge base for the endeavor of creating an open 311 
system than is currently present in the D.C. effort, so I hope we can 
bring that together to help make the API coalescing there more robust 
and ensure that existing systems are more interoperable with whatever 
standard emerges.  I also hope that we can all work together to make 
Open311.org something that carries the momentum of the Apps for 
Democracy contest beyond it's final deadline in just two short weeks and 
helps cultivate and sustain legitimacy to a standard beyond D.C.. It 
wouldn't be much of a standard otherwise, would it?

One of the things an Open311.org wiki might be well suited for is 
aggregating the specs for 311 related APIs and tools so that one can 
begin to map out relationships and understand how existing systems can 
be coordinated to contribute to a unified platform.  I know that sounds 
lofty and abstract, so I don't want it to detract from the kind of core 
focus demonstrated by D.C.'s API, but it's important to consider how 
existing approaches (FixMyStreet, SeeClickFix, even Trac) and adjacent 
infrastructure can inform the evolution of the standard.  Likewise, 
looking to the future, it's valuable to consider how a standard like 
this can act as another layer in the emerging stack of civic information 
systems that everyone can use as a foundation for further innovation.

Here at The Open Planning Project 
<http://www.theopenplanningproject.org/> we've been a little slow in 
getting involved with pushing for this standard, but we do have a 
history of creating related systems (eg 2006 
<http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/>, 2008 
<http://demo.opengeo.org/vespucci/>, 2009 
<http://ideas.topplabs.org/wiki/Geo-mobile_Issue_Tracker>) and we carry 
some strong expertise in open geospatial systems (OpenGeo 
<http://opengeo.org/>). An open 311 standard falls directly in-line with 
our mission as a non-profit dedicated to using technology to improve 
civic life, so we'd like to help out as best we can. Through the next 
couple of weeks and beyond we'll be collaborating with OCTO Labs and the 
Apps for Democracy contest, SeeClickFix, and all of you on this list to 
create software that makes our cities shine.

Matt Cooperider suggested that ParticipationCamp would be a good venue 
for an open 311 code sprint (plus it coincides perfectly with the final 
round of Apps for Democracy), so that's definitely in the works.  I 
believe we're also slated to facilitate a sort of a "birds of a feather" 
session at Personal Democracy Forum where this topic should get good 
coverage.

So there you have it, I look forward to working together and keeping the 
conversation lively and constructive.

-Phil

/I've made the discuss <http://lists.open311.org/discuss/> list public, 
so please invite whoever you think should be involved. If you don't want 
to be subscribed, you can still follow the archives at:
http://lists.open311.org/discuss//

-- 

Philip Ashlock
The Open Planning Project -- http://theopenplanningproject.org
phil@... <mailto:phil@...> (917) 388-9046

          Attachments

          • From: Chris Messina

            Subject: Re: Unifying 311 systems toward an open standard

            Date: Jun 17, 2009 12:51 AM 

            I'll just throw this out there, but I wonder if there's any interest or
relation to the recently launched microsyntax.org project (to which I am
advisor)? Basically if you're trying to develop any kind of syntax for SMS
or text-channels, that effort might be a good place to work on spec'ing out
or exploring different syntax options...
Otherwise, I'm not familiar enough with the realm of the 311 API discussions
to offer much help... can you point me to the existing API resources (if
such exist)?

Thanks!

On Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 8:42 PM, Philip Ashlock <phil@...> wrote:

>  Thank you all for the thoughtful responses. I figured I'd try to defer
> replying until it could be done here on a mailing list. I've imported the
> earlier threads to the list <http://lists.open311.org/discuss/>, but
> please direct future messages to discuss@... and ensure that
> you're subscribed (you should've received an invite).
>
> I personally think it's important to echo Peter Corbett's emphasis on
> focusing standardization efforts around the only city that's currently
> supportive of implementing an open 311, D.C. <http://api.dc.gov/>, (maybe
> Vancouver too?) and the headway that's being made *right now* through the Apps
> for Democracy contest <http://www.appsfordemocracy.org/>, so I'd like to
> keep action pushing in that direction.  That said, it seems to me that there
> exists a wider interest and knowledge base for the endeavor of creating an
> open 311 system than is currently present in the D.C. effort, so I hope we
> can bring that together to help make the API coalescing there more robust
> and ensure that existing systems are more interoperable with whatever
> standard emerges.  I also hope that we can all work together to make
> Open311.org something that carries the momentum of the Apps for Democracy
> contest beyond it's final deadline in just two short weeks and helps
> cultivate and sustain legitimacy to a standard beyond D.C.. It wouldn't be
> much of a standard otherwise, would it?
>
> One of the things an Open311.org wiki might be well suited for is
> aggregating the specs for 311 related APIs and tools so that one can begin
> to map out relationships and understand how existing systems can be
> coordinated to contribute to a unified platform.  I know that sounds lofty
> and abstract, so I don't want it to detract from the kind of core focus
> demonstrated by D.C.'s API, but it's important to consider how existing
> approaches (FixMyStreet, SeeClickFix, even Trac) and adjacent infrastructure
> can inform the evolution of the standard.  Likewise, looking to the future,
> it's valuable to consider how a standard like this can act as another layer
> in the emerging stack of civic information systems that everyone can use as
> a foundation for further innovation.
>
> Here at The Open Planning Project <http://www.theopenplanningproject.org/>we've been a little slow in getting involved with pushing for this standard,
> but we do have a history of creating related systems (eg 2006<http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/>,
> 2008 <http://demo.opengeo.org/vespucci/>, 2009<http://ideas.topplabs.org/wiki/Geo-mobile_Issue_Tracker>)
> and we carry some strong expertise in open geospatial systems (OpenGeo<http://opengeo.org/>).
> An open 311 standard falls directly in-line with our mission as a non-profit
> dedicated to using technology to improve civic life, so we'd like to help
> out as best we can. Through the next couple of weeks and beyond we'll be
> collaborating with OCTO Labs and the Apps for Democracy contest,
> SeeClickFix, and all of you on this list to create software that makes our
> cities shine.
>
> Matt Cooperider suggested that ParticipationCamp would be a good venue for
> an open 311 code sprint (plus it coincides perfectly with the final round of
> Apps for Democracy), so that's definitely in the works.  I believe we're
> also slated to facilitate a sort of a "birds of a feather" session at
> Personal Democracy Forum where this topic should get good coverage.
>
> So there you have it, I look forward to working together and keeping the
> conversation lively and constructive.
>
> -Phil
>
> *I've made the discuss <http://lists.open311.org/discuss/> list public, so
> please invite whoever you think should be involved. If you don't want to be
> subscribed, you can still follow the archives at:
> http://lists.open311.org/discuss/*
>
> --
>
>  Philip Ashlock
>  The Open Planning Project -- http://theopenplanningproject.org
>  phil@... (917) 388-9046
>



-- 
Chris Messina
Open Web Advocate

Personal site: http://factoryjoe.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/chrismessina

Diso Project: http://diso-project.org
OpenID Foundation: http://openid.net

This email is:   [ ] bloggable    [X] ask first   [ ] private

            Attachments

        • From: Lily Liu

          Subject: Re: Unifying 311 systems toward an open standard

          Date: Jun 17, 2009 12:47 PM 

          Phil,

Thanks for sending this! It looks like you're doing some great work  
organizing. I think it's good that you're starting the discussion with  
a broad overview of what an eventual system should look like, and what  
some current initiatives are.

Please keep me updated on what's going on, and I would love to  
contribute to the development of the initiative. I'll be at  
participation camp, and it'll be nice to catch up there!

Talk soon,
lily

On Jun 16, 2009, at 11:38 PM, Philip Ashlock <phil@...> wrote:

> Thank you all for the thoughtful responses. I figured I'd try to  
> defer replying until it could be done here on a mailing list. I've  
> imported the earlier threads to the list, but please direct future  
> messages to discuss@... and ensure that you're  
> subscribed (you should've received an invite).
>
> I personally think it's important to echo Peter Corbett's emphasis  
> on focusing standardization efforts around the only city that's  
> currently supportive of implementing an open 311, D.C., (maybe  
> Vancouver too?) and the headway that's being made right now through  
> the Apps for Democracy contest, so I'd like to keep action pushing  
> in that direction.  That said, it seems to me that there exists a  
> wider interest and knowledge base for the endeavor of creating an  
> open 311 system than is currently present in the D.C. effort, so I  
> hope we can bring that together to help make the API coalescing  
> there more robust and ensure that existing systems are more  
> interoperable with whatever standard emerges.  I also hope that we  
> can all work together to make Open311.org something that carries the  
> momentum of the Apps for Democracy contest beyond it's final  
> deadline in just two short weeks and helps cultivate and sustain  
> legitimacy to a standard beyond D.C.. It wouldn't be much of a  
> standard otherwise, would it?
>
> One of the things an Open311.org wiki might be well suited for is  
> aggregating the specs for 311 related APIs and tools so that one can  
> begin to map out relationships and understand how existing systems  
> can be coordinated to contribute to a unified platform.  I know that  
> sounds lofty and abstract, so I don't want it to detract from the  
> kind of core focus demonstrated by D.C.'s API, but it's important to  
> consider how existing approaches (FixMyStreet, SeeClickFix, even  
> Trac) and adjacent infrastructure can inform the evolution of the  
> standard.  Likewise, looking to the future, it's valuable to  
> consider how a standard like this can act as another layer in the  
> emerging stack of civic information systems that everyone can use as  
> a foundation for further innovation.
>
> Here at The Open Planning Project we've been a little slow in  
> getting involved with pushing for this standard, but we do have a  
> history of creating related systems (eg 2006, 2008, 2009) and we  
> carry some strong expertise in open geospatial systems (OpenGeo). An  
> open 311 standard falls directly in-line with our mission as a non- 
> profit dedicated to using technology to improve civic life, so we'd  
> like to help out as best we can. Through the next couple of weeks  
> and beyond we'll be collaborating with OCTO Labs and the Apps for  
> Democracy contest, SeeClickFix, and all of you on this list to  
> create software that makes our cities shine.
>
> Matt Cooperider suggested that ParticipationCamp would be a good  
> venue for an open 311 code sprint (plus it coincides perfectly with  
> the final round of Apps for Democracy), so that's definitely in the  
> works.  I believe we're also slated to facilitate a sort of a "birds  
> of a feather" session at Personal Democracy Forum where this topic  
> should get good coverage.
>
> So there you have it, I look forward to working together and keeping  
> the conversation lively and constructive.
>
> -Phil
>
> I've made the discuss list public, so please invite whoever you  
> think should be involved. If you don't want to be subscribed, you  
> can still follow the archives at:
> http://lists.open311.org/discuss/
>
> -- 
>
> Philip Ashlock
> The Open Planning Project -- http://theopenplanningproject.org
> phil@... (917) 388-9046

          Attachments

Previous thread Next thread