Framing of problem Few projects to date have attempted to develop open government participation and collaboration from a global perspective. The Global Citizenship project has sought to define what could be a global citizenship, free of geographic boundaries, and what this would mean for citizens from around the world. This project however has lacked support and was abandoned. Some platforms have succeeded in engaging citizens on global issues, like OPENideo. CitizensLab is a venture of Government in the Lab, with a mission to unite citizens around the world to create a better future.
Since the Open Government Partnership initiative was jointly launched by the USA and Brazil last September, nearly 60 countries have signed the Open Government Partnership declaration and about a dozen of them are working on an open government plan to be delivered to the OGP. It is a top-down approach.
Value proposition / Short definition An online community built upon a shared vision, a shared purpose, can thrive when it is complemented by open and respectful collaboration.
Features
- Onefocused upon positive transformation: a community that could create an engaged and active citizenry focused on improvement for all.
- Consider the Edgeryders experimental project as in its infancy, a global platform to focus on global problems, inspired by the Edgeryders model, and exploring more themes and global issues.
- Examples of possible themes: Peace (world military spending, racism, unrests, wars), global economy (financial crisis, causes of poverty), environmental issue (global warming, cataclysms), food and agriculture (famine, food production), sustainable development, global aid, global governance, etc.
Value for citizens An expression of different and evolving cultures and languages, bridging separate culture and national identities. An unparalleled instructive and explorative opportunity to participate and collaborate to bringing solutions to global problems.
Value for governance Understanding people’s aspirations. Possibility of alignment between governments’ actions and the multiple contributions from citizens. A range of possible results of government actions: economic, political, social, strategic, quality of life, ideological, and stewardship.
Why is it different Although the bold and ambitious Open Government Partnership is growing in membership, and making progress, there is still a need for grass-root based open government initiatives with a focus on collaboration. What is different in this project is that it has never been done before. Edgeryders being a pioneer of open government collaboration, this project would seek to explore how citizens can contribute to collaborate with governments to solve global issues.