All inclusive conversations

By Jianggan Li | 2 November 2011 | Permanent link | 0 comments

The challenges governments are facing now are not only unprecedented but also unexpected. Numerous events recently happened in the many parts of the world (I do not have to name them, do I?) have shown that the trend is only accelerating. Crowdsourcing and how to involve the citizens have been a topic on which many have shared their experiences and pain points in FutureGov magazine.

That’s why when Microsoft reached out to FutureGov for our input while developing the programme of GovCamp Singapore, we happily said ‘yes’. And in addition to that, our editors and researchers will be on site to help with the conversations. The event will be held on November 18 at The Rock Auditorium, Level 3, Suntec City.

Having been to our annual FutureGov Summit a number of times, Microsoft’s MD for Global Public Sector, Rodrigo Becerra, has been a friend for years. And as early as in 2009, he sold me the idea of GovCamps by sharing about the events he had facilitated in Mexico and in Berlin.

I find GovCamps interesting because of two reasons: they are inclusive – anyone can participate, and they do not have a fixed agenda.

The organisers put the profile of participants as including “thought leaders, citizens, students, government officials, developers, public servants, web 2.0 advocates, bloggers and community members concerned with technology, open data and open government”.

In another word, it means ‘everyone’.

The forum allows every citizen, regardless which sector he or she is coming from, to discuss about improving government operations and services through technology.

This rhymes well with what James Kang, Singapore’s Government CIO, told Rahul and myself in a three hour long dialogue session earlier this year. He said that the complexity of the contemporary world was forcing the government to admit that it did not know everything; instead, it needed to engage the citizens, who had the knowledge which complements government’s knowhow, to ‘co-create’ policies, processes, systems, and services.

Those who came from an IT background would be familiar with the process of “User Acceptance Testing”. Many conferences with fixed agendas often have the precise problem of User Acceptance Testing – you tick the boxes without fully understanding or addressing the needs and issues of the attendees.

Realisation of this was one of the reasons why FutureGov conferences adopted the Interactive Discussion Tables format two years back, and have seen tremendous success in fostering dialogues and creating memorable experiences among the region’s public sector officials.

More radical (and also because of a different participant profile), GovCamp uses a format where discussion topics are voted (in or out) by the participants, who had submitted their proposed topics before hand, and who would then proceed to discuss on the issues they voted for.

Judging from past GovCamps’ results, the Singapore event is bound to be exciting.

My editorial colleagues at FutureGov and I look forward to the conversations on the 18th of November.

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