Why I care about opengov
WHY DO I EVEN CARE ABOUT THIS STUFF?
I BELIEVE that open government not only enhances government effectiveness, but improves the quality of life of citizens.I also BELIEVE that we are responsible for everything that happens to us. We are responsible for our thoughts. We are responsible for the environmnent around us, we are responsible for managing our community.
Until now, mankind has been dismal to manage the needs of the community. Poverty, hunger, social injustice, unequal distribution of wealth, wars, etc. In Claude Lelouch’s movie ‘La Belle histoire’ (The Beautiful Story), he interviews Hubert Reeves about the future (see this scene/interview here). I watch this movie year after year, since 1992. Hubert Reeves sums up beautifully, in a few paragraphs, how I perceive the world:
«Il est impossible de prévoir l’avenir. Parce que le seul fait de faire des prédictions influence ce que nous allons faire. En sciences, vous pouvez prévoir qu’un électron va faire cela. Mais le seul fait que l’on prenne conscience de cela va influencer ce futur. Et toute la question est de savoir, est-ce qu’il va l’influencer suffisamment pour renverser ce spectre de la destruction. Alors on entre dans la question de savoir si on est optimiste ou pessimiste. Moi, je dirais que je suis VOLONTAIREMENT OPTIMISTE.
L’espèce humaine n’a jamais rencontré des problèmes comme ceux que nous rencontrons aujourd’hui. Les gens disent que l’espèce humaine a toujours résolu ses problèmes. C’est faux! Nous sommes notablement mauvais à résoudre nos problèmes. La preuve, c’est qu’un problème aussi simple que celui de la guerre, du racisme, de l’oppression, on est lamentables! Il n’y a pas un pays qui n’ait des histoires lamentaires à raconter.
Nous sommes notablement mauvais. Comparés à n’importe quelle espèce animale, nous sommes particulièrement mal adaptés. Nous n’arrivons pas à vivre avec notre entourage de façon harmonieuse, ce que la plupart des animaux font très bien.
Là, (maintenant) nous sommes appelés à nous dépasser. Peut-être pour la première fois, nous allons être obligés de nous dépasser, parce que nous serons accullés à nous dépasser. Ce sera cela, ou rien.»
The first blog I wrote about open government, on September 2010, explained why I care about it (http://lynerobichaud.blogspot.com/2010/09/le-plus-interessant-dans-le-phenomene.html). The following paragraphs are a translation of this post in English.
The concept of wisdom of crowds (a book by James Surowiecki; http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Crowds-Collective-Economies-Societies/dp/0385503865) is what is, in my opinion, the most exciting in the Web 2.0 phenomenon. “Collectively people know more than what people from the top think,” says James Surowiecki. When this concept is applied to governance, or open government, it becomes possible to improve society.
“The groups are smarter when people act individually,” says James Surowiecki.
Why is there more intelligence released? I know that many people do not believe in quantum physics. But it is not because you cannot see the smallest of particles that they do not exist. Quantum physics provided me with some answers.
This year, I spent much time to read about consciousness, which is a field, or collective consciousness. If we conceive the human consciousness as an infinite field, each person being a localized expression of this field, the fact that part of the field can affect the other becomes quite plausible. This is how a field works. Regardless of its location in the earth’s magnetic field, a compass always spontaneously aligns with it.
In the experience of the hundredth monkey, intelligence behaved self-referentially. It jumped over the barriers of the “impossible.” This would be the natural behavior of intelligence that influences itself, within itself and by itself. It knows no absolute obstacles. It knows how to blaze new trails. When need be, it creates new realities.
In a context of collective consciousness, a comment from Lyall Watson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyall_Watson) is revealing: “It is possible that when enough take one thing to be true, it becomes true for everyone.”
Since the collective consciousness is a reality, we should be able to take advantage of it. Studies of the effects of the collective consciousness show fascinating results. Candace Borland discovered that when the number of meditators in a city reaches 1% of the population, the crime rate decreases spontaneously. These results seem unlikely as long as you do not understand that reality is formed in the collective consciousness. Once admitted this fact, these results become fascinating and reveal promising possibilities to create a positive and progressive human reality.
It is difficult to prove if there is a link between the paradigm of consciousness, and variables such as crime rates, armed conflicts, the number of road accidents, diseases, and various other quality of life measures. So why these results? Because intelligence is one. The One is All and All is One. “Every drop of sap contains the fullness of the whole tree.” (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi)
If the individual intelligence is able to cure a disease, to introduce thoughts of peace and love, to eliminate stress within the spirit and lead to positive attitudes, I believe it can also happen at a larger scale, the scale of society.
“I believe that every of our action has a universal dimension,” said the Dalai Lama.
During the process of transcendence, the meditator does not try to control thought crime, war and disease. He only opens his attention to his Self. Once this is accomplished, the mind spontaneously does the rest.
“This remarkable new technology to make coherent collective consciousness may not only improve the quality of urban life, but also resolve international conflicts and ensure world peace”, say the experts in transcendental meditation.
Knowing this, also understanding quantum physics, through platform of open government, I believe it will be possible (one day) for humanity to solve its most pressing and complex problems. I am an optimist!
I believe in the miraculous power of social media. It is reshaping the way we communicate. It might as well help to reinvent our societies.
WHO ENCOURAGED ME TO TAKE THE RISK?
PHOTOS: Adriel Hampton
ADRIEL HAMPTON (@AdrielHampton ; http://www.adrielhampton.com) from San Francisco United States, encouraged me and pushed me to become an open government advocate. “Be bold”, were his last recommendation to me, when I met him in October 2010 in Edmonton (Alberta, Canada). They still resonate in my mind.
Adriel Hampton is a passionate advocate for harnessing emerging technologies to make government more effective, collaborative and transparent. Adriel is chief organizer for NationBuilder, a software platform for organizing, co-founder and producer of the Gov 2.0 Radio podcast, and president of the San Francisco Technology Democrats. He is a professional speaker and advises governments, politicians, NGOs and businesses on social media and technology innovation. He is also an organizer for various civic tech events.
I have know Adriel for many years. Even before Barack Obama signed the “Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government”, issued in January 2009. (Ref http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment/ and http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/memoranda_2010/m10-06.pdf ).
“Wired to Share” (http://adrielhampton.wordpress.com ), edited by Adriel, was one of my favorite blogs, when I was an active member of the digital landscape of pandemic flu known as the Flublogia.
After open government was launched in United States in 2009, in order to learn about this new type of governance, I started covering open government events live in French on Twitter. In March 2009, I informally covered the government 2.0 un-conference (http://gov20camp.eventbrite.com/), among others led by Dr. Mark Drapeau (@cheeky_geeky), which took place in Washington. For two years, I voluntarily assured a French language coverage on Twitter of Gov20Radio (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/gov20), founded and produced by Adriel Hampton.
I pause here, but I will return to Adriel in a few paragraphs.
I turned the switch off Zonegrippeaviaire.com on January 6th, 2010. My heart was not there anymore. I administrated this forum for three years, despite the refusal of collaboration by the Government of Quebec. In 2006 and 2007, high spheres government officials from both provincial and federal levels expressed amusement at me when I told them a pandemic was soon to occur. “There is no risk for anyone to die from a pandemic”, they said. “Only the government has the right to think about these issues”. “There can be only one unique Web site to publish information and directives to citizens during a pandemic”.
Well, it turned out that I was right. A pandemic did emerge. On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) signaled that a global pandemic of novel influenza A (H1N1) was underway by raising the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 6.
PHOTOS: Quilled pieces made with paper (topiaries, various decorative objects and jewelry, by Lyne Robichaud, 2010
In January 2010, my heart was hurt. I had spent five years of gigantic efforts to build a Flublogian community of practice, and it had lead me nowhere. I completely unplugged from social media, and decided to undertake a second artistic career, as a craft artist. I started quilling. I quilled and quilled and quilled, over 12 hours a day, for six months. (See the definition of quilling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quilling). I produced close to 800 quilled pieces, and had many exhibits of my work in craft shows. I quilled so much… that I reached a state of bliss.
In the Summer of 2010, my ex-collegue from Web Escape Agents introduced me to Empire Avenue (http://empireavenue.com/about), the online social stock market, a Canadian initiative lead by Brad Grier (http://www.linkedin.com/in/bradgrier). Six months without talking to a single soul were beginning to weigh on me, so I decide to give Empire Avenue a try.
To my surprise, I discovered that my friend Adriel Hampton was the king of the virtual stock market. He was No.1 on the global leaderboard of Empire Avenue. I very quickly found my way in this virtual game. Adriel spotted me and enrolled me in the School of gifted newbies of Professor Aracalm (a prestigious education institution!). Adriel is so wired to share that he took the time to coach others. “What is your secret for success in social media?”, I asked Adriel. He answered: “I have ways and ways and ways and ways”. Aracalm actually exists on Twitter, the Fake Joe Biden @TheFakeJoeBiden on the Avenue (http://twitter.com/#!/thefakejoebiden). It is one of the many virtual identities of the phenomenal Adriel Hampton. Under the wing of my talented mentor, I managed to maintain myself in the global Top 10 of Empire Avenue.
Dragon_flaming (Denise Caron, Vice President, Technology Transformation at Shaw Communications) was on the rise in Empire Avenue. At the end of August 2010, she convinced me to co-administrate an online community within Empire Avenue. The Dragon’s Cave quickly became extremely popular among users and Dragon_flaming was the first woman to hit the 100 mark on Empire Avenue. But Adriel Hampton was outraged when I followed Dragon_Flaming. “My student betrays me”. It was nothing but a game, but I was torn between my friendship for Adriel and Denise.
I fell into an uncontrollable burst of tears. For some reason, I was suddenly very afraid to lose Adriel’s friendship. Wrenching sobs, endless stream of tears, shook me for several hours. But what was happening there? Never in my life had I had cried this much! Not even for a lover or the death of loved ones. I realized that there must have been a deeper reason — yes, an invisible force — pushing me towards Adriel. From that moment, I knew that whatever would happen to me in life, I would always keep a link with Adriel. I have no rational explanation about this link with Adriel. The link is there, strong, eternal. I do not ask myself more questions. That’s the way it is, and that’s all.
Dragon_Flaming, Adriel and I were reconciled, and Adriel joined the Dragon’s Cave.
PHOTO: Adriel Hampton, Lyne Robichaud, Jordan Hodges (meeting in Edmonton)
In October 2010, I decided to go meet Adriel in person, and several other open government advocates, in Edmonton, Alberta (Canada), at the Beyond Edmonton conference organized by Chris Moore, Chief Information Officer of City of Edmonton (http://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherjmoore).
It was my “baptism” into the world of open government. “Be bold”, said Adriel.
Those who inspire influence beyond what can be imagined.
HOW DID I BUILD THE COMPETENCES TO EVEN BE IN THE DEBATE?
PHOTO: John F Moore
Shortly after the Beyond Edmonton conference, I met JOHN F MOORE (http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnfmoore), from Massachussetts United States, founder and CEO of Government in the Lab (http://govinthelab.com). John is an open government strategist, consultant, and analyst. He has experience working with governments and small and medium business owners to achieve their goals. His experience with social media strategies, CRM, and a plethora of other solutions provides immense value to clients. John is also a prolific blogger, a frequent speaker on open government, government 2.0 and social business strategies, and has grown strong, thriving communities across the web. In addition to being the Founder and CEO of The Lab he is a Strategic Advisor to Silberberg Innovations (Alan W. Silbergerg is also an open governement strategist, consultant and analyst) has founded CityCamp Boston (an event focused on bringing together citizens and governement, to share perspectives and insights about the city, leading to measurable and strategic outcomes), and is a contributor to Fortune.com, writing about open government and other government related issues.
After graduating from the School of gifted newbies of Professor Aracalm (I really did, Adriel AKA Aracalm sent me a diploma!), I embarked on a thrilling experience with John Moore. I learned a lot.
John believes that open government creates jobs (see “Creating jobs for the people through open government”, one of John’s articles in Fortune). Humm humm.
John is a very bright thought leader and change agent, one of the top editors of the open government sphere. But on this point, I think he is a little too optimistic. Or maybe ahead of his time. Although we presented relevant and well designed projects, we were not able to develop an economically viable open government market (linked to Francophones).
I did not learn technical things, details about open data, for instance. These things do not interest me very much. I consider that tools are ephemeral. I prefer to focus on strategies. Curiously, I learned about human behavior. The more John and I sank in adversity, the more I discovered about decision makers and managers’ behavior towards change.
IF YOU WANT TO WORK WITH OPEN GOVERNMENT, IS IT NOT EASIER TO DO IT IN TORONTO, OR EVEN IN OBAMA’S AMERICA?
The City of Toronto and several other municipalities in Ontario have an open data initiative, but there is no open government yet in this Canadian province.The City of Montreal (province of Quebec) recently announced on October 28, 2011, an open data initiative, thus becoming the first Francophone city in America to tap into this open data experience.
In Canada, only the provincial government of British Colombia has taken a very serious open government turn.
In Quebec, the final report of the Gautrin group about the potential of Web 2.0, is expected in mid-december 2011. I am really looking forward to read this report.
The federal government of Canada has launched an open government initiative on March 18, 2011. But what does it mean? This has not really translated into concrete visible and understandable actions to ordinary people.
“Well informed people are citizens, uninformed, they become subjects” [of a kingdom] («Bien informés, les hommes sont des citoyens; mal informés, ils deviennent des sujets») wrote Alfred Sauvy, French demographer of the twentieth century. “Accordingly, influenced by Enlightenment thought, the revolutions in America (1776) and France (1789), freedom of press enshrined provisions and requirements for public budgetary accounting and freedom of the press in constitutional articles." (Ref: open government definition, Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_government)
However, open data attracts me less than open government, because I am what is called a ‘non-technical advocate’. I tend to focus less on technical issues than strategic issues.
The past months of my advocacy have been very difficult, even painful. This is not the first time I get smashed by failure. But even though I was able to consider failure as an opportunity to rebound, it still remains hard work on myself to break away from discouragement, anxiety, and especially the loss of confidence.
PHOTO: David Hume PHOTO: Kieran Harrop
Government managers in British Colombia encouraged me to continue my efforts. David Hume, Executive Director, Citizen Engagement, (http://ca.linkedin.com/in/dbhume) and Kieran Harrop, Director, Business Engagement chez Office of the CIO (http://www.linkedin.com/in/kieranharrop) were there for me. I will always be grateful to them for having been present in my life when I only had bad news to communicate. The BC open government team is doing a great job. This team has been a beacon for me: they represented the ideal that I was trying to reach. As Adriel Hampton, who helped me find the strength to take the risks, my two friends from BC have played an important role in my advocacy journey.
Apart from global citizen projects (for instance, the Global Citizenship (http://govinthelab.com/global-citizenship-building-momentum/) lead among others, by Lovisa Williams (http://www.linkedin.com/in/lovisawilliams) and Alan W. Silberberg (http://www.linkedin.com/in/alanwsilberberg), where collaborators from many countries are involved, only the recent Open Government Partnership (http://www.opengovpartnership.org/) comes to my mind as a multilateral initiative, where a Canadian like me could perhaps eventually get involved (???).
My numerous American friends from the open government sphere have been very nice with me, during the years that I have celebrated their open government projects and successes.
Although English is the language of business, and even if the Open Government Partnership is open to most countries of the United Nations, I keep thinking that a complementary multilateral open government cut-up project for the Francophonie community would be a good thing (for everyone).
HOW DID I COME UP WITH THIS GRAND INTERNATIONAL FRANCOPHONE VISION OF OPEN GOVERNMENT?
BUILDING PHASEI joined John F Moore’s Government in the Lab (http://govinthelab.com/) around November 2010. I was the first Francophone open government advocate, writing in French, to publish blog posts about open government in the United States.
My first post at TheLab was entitled “Gov2.0 multilingual communication strategies”, original version in French. This multilingual vision had a considerable positive influence on TheLab’s development.
John Moore and I focused our efforts to build a community of practice. On Twitter, we asked for content contributors, from all over the world, to post in their own language. In just a few months, thanks to John’s fantastically great community building skills (it was so fascinating watching him ride), and my input, TheLab had more than 300 bloggors writing in 8 different languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Japanese, Arabic and Russian. Government in the Lab was the first – in the government sphere – to bring together as many authors, writing in so many different languages.
From my first failure with the Quebec government, the criticism I received was that social media is “immature and not credible”. I think I took it personally. I worked hard to never hear these criticisms again. What I was unaware is that decision makers are rather full of imagination when it comes to find excuses to say NO and reject change.
Therefore, at that time, I had two major concerns:
a) To work hard on my personal development — to ensure that the “immature” side would vanish completely from my life, once and for all;
I engaged in a self-taught training about individual empowerment. I read more than 30 books by Deepak Chopra, and many from other authors, like Baird T. Spalding. “Life and Teaching of the masters of the Far East” has become my favorite bed side reading. I read about quantum physics, etc. After much research and exploration, I discovered, around September 2011, that I had become full fledge “Kundalini awakened” (kuṇḍalinī, Sanskrit: कुण्डलिनी, literally means coiled, a corporeal energy). Suddenly, my whole life appeared to me in a new perspective and my behaviors (weird strange stuff I was unable to explain), since childhood, found an explanation. This is a major achievement, beyond anything else I’ve done in my life. I am extremely proud and pleased to have reached this physical state of consciousness. Bliss is… wonderful.
Kundalini (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kundalini) is described as a sleeping, dormant potential force in the human organism. Through meditation, and other practices, kundalini is awakened, and rises up through the different chakras (located along the spine). It leads to different levels of awakening and mystical experience, until the kundalini finally reaches the top of the head, the Sahasrara chakra (crown chakra, or lotus of the thousand petals), producing an extremely profound mystical experience. It is permanent irreversible. This video beautifully illustrates kundalini energy and Sarasrara http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV5szIgqnBE . Deepak Chopra explains bliss and its healing process: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfBWtovxYQY
b) To make efforts to build “credibility”.
I thought it took an extraordinary strategist to sit credibility of the Open government and Francophonie project. There are currently no open government Francophone strategists. It just doesn’t exist yet. Why? Because no main Francophone country has turned open government, no one has emerged with these skills yet.
John Moore enrolled in the Government category of Shorty Awards (http://shortyawards.com/). I mobilized everyone I knew, and put together a small support team to carry out this project. I conducted this campaign, for an American leader (with Barack Obama running as opponent), from my Trois-Rivières basement! And we won! http://shortyawards.com/category/government John F Moore reached the first position in the Government category. But the Shorty Awards team gave the award to someone else (Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, New Jersey). Go figure what happened and please explain me… John F Moore was first, Barack Obama second, and Cory Booker fourth.
DESIGN PHASE
At the end of November 2011, John F Moore and I had completed the design of an open government incubator, that we presented to Stéphane Rousselet, vice-président Relations Entreprises at Youth Diplomacy, organiser of the G8G20 Youth Summits.
PHOTOS: Youmani-Jérôme Lankoandé and John F Moore
We had successfully enrolled several bloggers at TheLab, including my friend Youmani-Jérôme Lankoandé (http://www.linkedin.com/in/youmanijerome; http://www.lefaso.net/spip.php?article36826), a young political advisor and economist, passionate about innovation and open government.
PHOTOS: Jean-Louis Roy
In December 2010, Youmani informed me that his boss, Jean-Louis Roy, ex-secretary general of Organisation internationle de la Francophonie, was to meet Abdou Diouf (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdou_Diouf), secretary general of OIF, in Montreal, in early January 2011. He suggested to prepare a draft open government project. Jean-Louis Roy was to present it in person to Mr. Diouf.
During the holidays, at the end of the year 2010, John F Moore and I created the Open Government and Francophonie project. We had an intense brainstorming session. A dozen times, I sent John back to the drawing board. Youmani reviewed the project and proposed minor corrections. We delivered the project on January 4, 2011.
The meeting with Abdou Diouf was postponed. Instead, Jean-Louis Roy proposed to meet us on February 9th, in Montreal. John travelled from Massachussetts to meet us in person.
PHOTO: John F Moore, Youmani-Jérôme Lankoandé and Lyne Robichaud
WHAT IS THE OPEN GOVERNMENT AND FRANCOPHONIE PROJECT?
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: Project to implement open government in several French-speaking countries and cities. A pilot program implementation (starting in Senegal) to create tools for implementation, serves as basis for analysis and study of problems, obstacles and successes encountered. The implementation tools are then shared and applied to other French-speaking countries and cities, initially in three other African countries. Then, after a resolution has been filed by Senegal at the OIF Summit (to take place in Congo, in October 2012) and has been adopted by all member States, the pilot program for implementation of open government is implemented in a five-year plan, in 39 francophone countries and 977 of theircities.
GOAL: The overall goal of this project is to position the French language in the digital age by making use of open governance. To accomplish this mission we must think broadly and achieve results across many fronts: economic, cultural, education, and more.
The entire project has derived from this quote:
“The Francophonie has reached the end of a cycle, and has been fairly successful. We are now in a digital age, in another space which is being constructed from other materials, other ways of communicating. We must realize that we now live in a world where technology plays a more prominent role. All contents that are existing in Francophone countries, we must digitize them and create available data banks, where people can find them and see them… France, Quebec, and the Francophone community of Belgium and Switzerland, alone, they do not have the critical mass to create enough of these digital contents, and occupy a suitable place in the global cultural competition.”
[LEVY, Elias, Jean-Louis Roy et la Francophonie: le défi francophone, Voir http://www.voir.ca/publishing/article.aspx?zone=1§ion=11&article=60972]
We proposed the strategic implementation of open government across the 70 OIF countries to directly address this challenge. We came up with a five-year plan. The first year was to create the necessary policies, processes, documentation, and other models as well as deliver working solutions for at least one state and several cities on each of the official OIF regional classifications with OIF member countries.
It was critical (for John Moore and I) that we created repeatable solutions as well as working enviroments that the entire OIF community could look to, in order to understand the need for, and benefits of, open government.
The first year selection of OIF member states and cities would have been done in a manner that focuses on reaching that critical mass that Jean-Louis Roy speaks of above. It should have been done in a manner that encourages openness across member nations, while recognizing the need to work closely with non-member nations as well. The reasons this is important is because open government best practices, open data standards, etc., are being developed throughout the world, not just within French-speaking countries. We found it was important that best practices were able to be shared, regardless of what country or with what language they are originally created across the world.
This project was to be overseen by a cross-functional group of key Francophonie stakeholders (exactly like they did for the Open Government Parternership) and be managed based upon a project schedule that delivers components in an interactive fashion allowing for regular monthly progress checkpoints.
For those unclear about the meaning of open government, John F Moore provided this concise definition in 2010:
A citizen-centric philosophy and strategy that believes the best results are usually driven by partnerships between citizens and government, at all levels. It is focused entirely on achieving goals through increased efficiency, better management, information transparency, and citizen engagement and most often leverages newer technologies to achieve the desired outcomes. This is bringing business approaches, business technologies, to government.
Why is open government necessary for achieving the goal of positioning the French language in the digital age? Open government principles are the basis upon which many governments across the world are making decisions, engaging and collaborating with citizens by providing government data in digital open data formats and by using social media and other collaborative platforms. The bad news? The majority of this communication is currently taking place using the English language. The good news? It is not too late for the Francophonie to become open government thought leaders and, by delivering real economic results, best of breed solutions and best practices in the French language strengthen the importance of the language on the world-wide stage.
This project was to be a social enterprise selling open government strategic consulting services to a targeted population, respecting a mission of social character, without sacrificing profitability. In addition to the amounts hoped through funding programs of institutions and partnerships with several organizations and donors reached at a concertation meeting, a fundraiser (private individual) was to be included in the project. I was planning a campaign similar to that conducted by ‘Live Below the Line’ http://www.livebelowtheline.com.au.
RESUMÉ DE PROJET
INFORMATIONS SUR LES INSTITUTIONS ET PARTENAIRES
Titre du projet: Gouvernement ouvert et Francophonie
Pays ou ce projet aura lieu: Phases 1, 2 et 3: Sénégal. Phase 4: Sénégal (région Afrique de l’Ouest), [suggestions] République démocratique du Congo (Afrique centrale), Djibouti (Afrique de l’Est et Océan Indien), Tunisie (Afrique du Nord et Moyen-Orient). Phase 6: [suggestions] 39 pays membres de l’Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), et 977 de leurs villes francophones
Institutions proposantes (recoit les fonds et les administre, porteur de projet): Link4DEV. En partenariat avec Government in the Lab (consultants externes).
À propos de Link4DEV: Agence conseil en strategies Internet 2.0 et medias sociaux. Siege social: Dakar, Senegal; succursales au Québec et aux États-Unis. Link4DEV aide les entreprises, quelque soit leur taille et leur domaine d’activité, et les gouvernements, à tirer profit du formidable outil qu’est l’Internet. Grâce a son expérience entrepreneuriale et son expertise des projets et technologies internet, Link4DEV est bien positionnée pour conseiller et donner une longueur d’avance. En adoptant une approche évolutive des relations, Link4DEV guide les partenariats strategiques d’entreprises avec les ONG afin de constituer une véritable alliance entre les organisations, et créer de nouvelles formes de dialogue sociétal.
À propos de Government in the Lab: Conseillers strategiques en gouvernement ouvert. Siege social: Massachussets, États-Unis. Government in the Lab est une plate-forme en ligne pour les penseurs et les acteurs, qui se distingue par son attention portee au contenu et idees concernant le gouvernement et la politique mondiale. Government in the Lab rayonne et dépasse les frontières des disciplines, perspectives, contextes et fuseaux horaires. Avec plus de 100 collaborateurs, Government in the Lab est la première source d’information mondiale sur le gouvernement ouvert, livrée en plusieurs langues. Dans ce domaine, aucune autre entreprise ne se rapproche de ce que fait Government in the Lab. En plus de fournir une foule d’informations stratégiques sur Internet, Government in the Lab crée des effets de levier de gouvernement ouvert, en mettant en oeuvre des strategies d’affaires basées sur les réseaux sociaux et en déployant des outils, pour repondre aux besoins du gouvernement.
PHOTOS: Laye Kanté; Susan Hess
Gestionnaires de projet: Porteurs du projet: LINK4DEV. Lyne Robichaud, Gestionnaire de projet - gouvernement ouvert et Francophonie (Québec); Laye Kante, co-fondateur Link4Dev (Afrique francophone); Susan Hess, gestionnaire de projet. Technologies de l’information. Consultants externes: GOVERNMENT IN THE LAB. John F Moore, fondateur Government in the Lab, stratège en gouvernement ouvert.
Institutions participantes (qui collaboreront au projet, mais ne recevront pas de fonds): [Suggestions] Centre de recherche pour le developpement international (CRDI), une société d’État créée par le Parlement du Canada en 1970 pour aider les pays en développement à se servir de la science et de la technologie pour trouver des solutions viables aux problèmes sociaux, économiques et environnementaux auxquels ils font face. L’appui du CRDI sert en particulier à consolider les capacités de recherche locales afin d’appuyer les politiques et les technologies susceptibles de contribuer à l’identification, dans les pays du Sud, de sociétés en meilleure santé, plus équitables et plus prospères; L’Agence canadienne de développement international (ACDI). Au Canada, l’ACDI est le principal organisme responsable de l’aide au développement; IDÉ Trois-Rivières (assure le développement socioéconomique de Trois-Rivieres, en favorisant l’accroissement des investissements dans les secteurs moteurs de l’économie, ce qui contribue à la création et au maintien d’emplois); Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF); Conférence interparlementaire sur la diversité des expressions culturelles (CIDEC); Association des parlementaires de la Francophonie (APF); Nouveau partenariat pour le développement de l’Afrique (NEPAD); Union africaine (UA); Association internationale des maires francophones (AIMF); Agence canadienne pour le développement international (ACDI); Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF); Commission économique pour l’Afrique (CEA); Programme des Nations Unies pour le Développement (PNUD); Open Society Initiative (OSIWA de la fondation Soros); Banque africaine pour le développement (BAD); et d’autres pays et organisations.
Accords préliminaires et coût du projet: Afin d’assurer la sécurité financière du projet, nous envisageons obtenir des accords préliminaires d’intérêt et d’engagement des agences internationales et bailleurs de fonds, à la hauteur de 80% de l’objectif financier (évalué a +4,5M $ (dont 1M$ provenant d’une campagne de financement) pour les phases 1- 5, d’une durée de 1 à 2 ans). La phase 6, de plus grande envergure, d’une durée de 5 ans, fera l’objet d’une seconde ronde de financement.
Fonds paralleles: Une campagne de financement de 1M$ auprès de corporations et entreprises sera planifiée et mise en oeuvre, afin de leur offrir une visibilité et des opportunités d’affaires en Afrique et le reste de la Francophonie.
Comité d’honneur: Un comite d’honneur sera mis sur pied. La présidence de ce comité sera offerte au commanditaire principal de la campagne de financement. Plusieurs vice-presidents complèteront ce comité d’honneur. Le rôle de ce comité sera d’aider à conclure des partenariats avec des organismes subventionnaires et internationaux, des corporations, et des gouvernements.
Gouvernement du Senegal: Principaux porteurs du projet: Abdoulaye Wade, president; Moustapha Guirassy, ministre de la Communication, des Télécommunications et des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication, et porte-parole du gouvernement.
DÉFINITIONS
Gouvernement ouvert: Une philosophie axée sur le citoyen et la stratégie, qui croit que les meilleurs resultats sont généralement dictés par des partenariats entre les citoyens et le gouvernement, et ce à tous les niveaux. Cette philosophie est entièrement axée sur la réalisation des objectifs grâce à une efficacité accrue, une meilleure gestion, la transparence de l’information et l’engagement des citoyens.
Avantages: Améliorer les services, réduire les coûts et créer des emplois.
Caractéristiques des données publiques: Accessibles. Format ouvert, manipulable par un programme. Donnees brutes. Avoir le meilleur niveau de détail. Standardisées pour permettre de recouper differentes donnees. Centralisées, facilement accessible à partir d’un même catalogue. Permanentes, pour ne pas nuire aux applications qui en dépendent. Licence ouverte. Droit à la reutilisation, transformation et re-distribution.
OBJECTIFS
Objectif principal: Positionner le Sénégal en tant qu’architecte du développement du gouvernement ouvert dans la Francophonie, et en leader mondial et nation phare.
Objectifs de developpement: Établir des partenariats de collaboration avec trois autres États africains, de même qu’avec plusieurs organisations internationales et continentales; Renforcer la cooperation entre pays francophones africains; Bâtir du soutien parmi l’ensemble des pays membres de l’OIF conduisant à l’adoption d’une résolution en faveur du développement du gouvernement ouvert dans la Francophonie.
Objectifs de gouvernement ouvert: Veiller à ce que chaque citoyen soit en mesure de comprendre et de participer à l’avenir de son pays; Accroître la participation des citoyens dans l’élaboration des politiques grâce à une combinaison du numérique et de pratiques d’intervention de gouvernement ouvert auprès des individus; Tirer parti des solutions de gouvernement ouvert, telles que la libération des données gouvernementales, afin de créer un nouveau marché qui générera des emplois et fournira des revenus accrus pour le secteur public et privé; Offrir une plus grande transparence aux citoyens, employés gouvernementaux et politiciens concernant tous les aspects du gouvernement; Créer des systèmes de collaboration ouverte.
DÉMARCHE EN SIX ÉTAPES
Description générale: Il s’agit d’un projet d’implantation du gouvernement ouvert dans plusieurs pays et villes ayant le francais en partage. Un projet pilote d’implantation permettant de créer des outils d’implantation, sert de base d’analyse et d’étude des contraintes rencontrées et des succès obtenus. Les outils d’implantation sont par la suite partagés et appliqués à d’autres pays et villes francophones.
Le coeur du projet, l’Afrique: En fevrier 2011, notre équipe a rencontré Jean-Louis Roy, ex-secretaire general de l’OIF. M. Roy a recommandé d’initier les démarches avec un projet pilote, en collaboration avec un pays du continent africain.
Étape 1: DÉMARCHES PRÉLIMINAIRES CONDUISANT À L’ORGANISATION D’UNE RENCONTRE DE CONCERTATION. Le projet est soumis par le biais de Laye Kante au ministre des TIC, de la Communication et porte-parole du gouvernement, Moustapha Guirassy. Les modalités de ce leadership sont en train de se matérialiser avec des rencontres ayant déjà eu lieu avec le ministère de la Communication, des Télécommunications et des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication du Sénégal, et seront d’avantage affinées lors d’une prochaine rencontre avec le Ministre en personne. Cette demarche permettra d’exposer en quoi consiste le gouvernement ouvert et de souligner les avantages du gouvernement ouvert pour le Sénégal. Les 6 étapes du projet sont expliquées, notamment les objectifs espérés pour chacune des étapes, de même que les stratégies et actions prévues, les modalités de financement, les partenaires proposés, les écheanciers de travail. Il est crucial d’obtenir un engagement ferme, un appui politique de la part des plus hautes instances du Gouvernement du Sénégal, notamment le président de la République, Abdoulaye Wade. Une fois que le Gouvernement du Sénégal se sera prononcé sur ce projet, nous constituerons une équipe collaborative chargée de nous accompagner dans les démarches d’organisation d’une rencontre de concertation.
Étape 2: TENUE D’UNE RENCONTRE DE CONCERTATION. Nous concrétiserons des investissements de plusieurs institutions du secteur public et privé par la tenue d’une conférence de concertation d’une durée de 2 jours qui se déroulera au Sénégal. Il s’agira d’un événement de relations publiques et relations internationales, en respect du protocole diplomatique étant de mise dans un contexte ou plusieurs dignitaires représentants d’États membres africains de l’OIF y participeront, de même que des représentants d’organisation internationales. Ces participants auront été préalablement informés des étapes du projet présentées. Ce sera l’occasion de poser des questions, et d’obtenir des commentaires à propos du projet, discuter des meilleurs stratégies à envisager pour la mise en oeuvre des différentes étapes, de rencontrer en personne les partenaires et futurs collaborateurs, entendre les positions des représentants des
États membres participants et des diverses organisations. À la fin de cette rencontre, les représentants des États membres et des diverses organisations pourront annoncer leurs couleurs et positions lors d’une conférence de presse.
Étape 3: ANALYSE ET MISE EN OEUVRE D’UNE INITIATIVE DE GOUVERNEMENT OUVERT DU GOUVERNEMENT DU SÉNÉGAL. Ce projet pilote se fera en collaboration avec un Comité composé de représentants de trois autres États africains membres de l’Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. Les trois premiers mois d’implantation seront consacrés à des rencontres et à une analyse des besoins avec le gouvernement du Sénégal. Le reste de l’année, le comité panafricain pourra se joindre aux travaux d’implantation, en aidant notamment à définir les outils et mesures.
Programme pilote de gouvernement ouvert: En collaboration avec le Comité africain. Exécuter le programme:
Libération d’ensembles de données ouvertes. Mettre en ligne d’applications pour soutenir la sensibilisation des citoyens concernant les aspects portant sur les politiques clés. Créer une plate-forme d’idées des citoyens, qui permettra aux citoyens d’exprimer leur opinion sur les questions clés du gouvernement. Kiosques et fourgonnettes itinerantes. Lancement de nouvelles entreprises et d’un incubateur d’entreprises pour soutenir et financer de nouvelles entreprises. Créer de la documentation et des guides. Sensibiliser des intervenants sur l’importance de l’ensemble du projet. Créer des cadres communs pour le code (des logiciels applicatifs, codes source ouverts) et de la documentation, afin que les processus soient bien documentés et que les experiences d’apprentissage puissent être partagées et reproduites ailleurs. Rapports mensuels des progrès par rapport aux paramètres. L’ajustement du projet s’effectuera sur la base de ces rapports. Procéder à une analyse post-mortem approfondie afin de s’assurer que tous les membres comprennent ce qui a été accompli, qu’ils prennent conscience de tous les succès aussi bien que des échecs, afin de s’assurer que les tactiques et les stratégies seront corrigés au besoin. Mettre sur pied une conference afin de souligner les progres accomplis lors de la première année et d’engager d’autres États membres dans le processus.
Étape 4: MISE EN PLACE D’UN COMITÉ COMPOSÉ D’ÉTATS POUR LE DÉPLOIEMENT DU GOUVERNEMENT OUVERT SUR LE CONTINENT AFRICAIN. Une fois que les efforts d’implantation du gouvernement ouvert au Sénégal (Étape 3) seront pleinement en cours, soient après une periode d’intenviron de 3 mois, il sera essentiel de lancer des efforts comparables dans les autres pays participants. Cela permettra d’assurer que les leçons apprises au Sénégal sont appliquées à d’autres implantations, dans le but de maximiser le succès global de ces efforts.
Étape 5: STRATÉGIE DE RELATIONS GOUVERNEMENTALES CONDUISANT À UNE RÉSOLUTION EN FAVEUR DU DÉVELOPPEMENT OUVERT AU PROCHAIN SOMMET DE L’OIF. Cette étape concerne les débats relatifs à la négociation et à l’adoption d’accords internationaux. Comment s’assurer que les déclarations ou résolutions adoptées par la Conférence des chefs d’État et de gouvernement des pays ayant le français en partage, c’est-à-dire le “Sommet”, sont mises en oeuvre et executées par l’OIIF et les opérateurs? Lorsque des partenariats seront établis avec plusieurs États membres, il deviendra possible d’établir les meilleures stratégies et les étapes à franchir. Nous aurons besoin de conseillers experts dans le domaine de la Francophonie, de nombreux parlementaires de l’APF, etc., pour nous guider et sensibiliser un grand nombre de chefs d’État et membres de délégations. L’étape 5 est une campagne de relations gouvernementales. Notre objectif est de sensibiliser les États membres de l’OIF à la philosophie du gouvernement ouvert, et d’identifier quelle serait la meilleure formule qui ferait en sorte qu’un grand nombre d’États membres de l’OIF adoptent cette philosophie, et acceptent de collaborer et de participer à un projet d’implantation du gouvernement ouvert sur leur territoire. Notre équipe a pensé que le prochain Sommet de l’OIF pourrait s’avérer une excellente opportunité pour obtenir un consensus. Il pourrait être suggéré de combiner une résolution de soutien du gouvernement ouvert comme forme privilégiée de gouvernance à la création d’un nouveau vecteur de l’OIF: l’Association internationale des gouvernements ouverts de la Francophonie.
Étape 6: DEPLOIEMENT D’UN PLAN QUINQUENNAL DE SENSIBILISATION ET D’IMPLANTATION DU GOUVERNEMENT OUVERT CHEZ DES MEMBRES DE L’OIF ET VILLES DE LA FRANCOPHONIE. Une fois qu’une résolution, déclaration, ou autre forme d’accord sera convenue entre les États ayant le français en partage, nous avons prévu un plan quinquennal, dont le déploiement permettra l’implantation du gouvernement ouvert dans jusqu’a 50% des pays de l’OIF et près de 1000 villes francophones. Creation d’un Comité des parties prenantes composé de membres de l’OIF. Un écheancier complet du projet sera défini et approuvé par le Comité des parties prenantes sur la base des exigences à remplir.
ANNÉE 1 du Plan quinquennal . Définir 11 États membres de l’OIF (France, Québec, Communauté francaise de Belgique et la Suisse; ainsi qu’un État membre par 7 regions géographiques, selon la classification régionale officielle de l’OIF) qui participeront cette première année au projet, de même que 33 villes (trois villes par État membre) à participer à un projet pilote sur le gouvernement ouvert. Ce programme pilote aura été clairement défini, et accepté, sur la base des mesures de la réussite. Exécuter le programme.
ANNÉE 2 du Plan quinquennal. Nous continuerons à travailler avec les 11 premiers pays et les 33 villes initiales. En outre, nous ajouterons 7 nouveaux pays. Nous ajouterons aussi 10 nouvelles villes dans chacun des pays d’origine, majorées de autres 3 villes dans chacun des nouveaux pays. Ce qui portera le nombre a 18 pays et 164 villes (33 + 11 x 10 + 7 x 3) francophones. Executer le programme.
ANNÉE 3 du Plan quinquennal. Nous continuerons à travailler avec les 18 premiers pays et les 164 villes initiales sélectionnes lors des deux premières années. En outre, nous ajouterons 7 nouveaux pays. Nous ajouterons aussi 10 nouvelles villes dans chacun des pays d’origine, majorées de 3 autres villes dans chacun des nouveaux pays. Ce qui portera le nombre à 25 pays et 365 villes (164 + 18 x10 + 7 x 3) francophones. En outre, au cours de l’Annee 3, nous mettrons en oeuvre la stratégie propre à l’Afrique par: La mise en oeuvre du programme d’actions défini par le sous-comité. Le lancement et la realisation d’une campagne de financement pour l’Afrique. Executer le programme.
ANNÉE 4 du Plan quinquennal . Nous continuerons à travailler avec les 25 premiers pays et les 365 villes initiales sélectionnes lors des deux premières années. En outre, nous ajouterons 7 nouveaux pays. Nous ajouterons aussi 10 nouvelles villes dans chacun des pays d’origine, majorées de 3 autres villes dans chacun des nouveaux pays. Ce qui portera le nombre à 32 pays et 636 villes (365 + 25 x 10 + 3 x 7) francophones. Executer le programme.
ANNÉE 5 du Plan quinquennal. Nous continuerons à travailler avec les 32 premiers pays et les 636 villes initiales sélectionnés lors des deux premieres années. En outre, nous ajouterons 7 nouveaux pays. Nous ajouterons aussi 10 nouvelles villes dans chacun des pays d’origine, majorees de 3 autres villes dans chacun des nouveaux pays. Ce qui portera le nombre a 39 pays et 977 villes (636 + 32 x 10 + 7 x 3) francophones. Executer le programme.
Rapport final: L’Année 5 du plan quinquennal sera consacrée à terminer tous les projets, évaluer les résultats et à rédiger un rapport final.
LOBBYING PHASE
The Open Government and Francophonie project evolved as I came across several key officials. I refined the project along the way, to respond to what they were telling me and suggesting to do.
Several government officials liked the project and encouraged me to continue lobbying. But as months went by, the list of opponents grew. Risk aversion was very high. Opponents had a very important input in the project: they helped me get the picture of the favorable conditions (what would have been necessary to have in place) in order to make the project happen. They helped me uncover the irritants. Even if they were against the project, they helped shape an understanding of what should be changed for the “grand international Francophone vision of open government” to materialize into the world. In my mind, opponents form a whole and I see them as belonging to the debate and to the project, although they never were put together in a room for a group meeting. Each one of them, they hold a piece of the puzzle. I would like to be able to sit them all in one room, and give them a seminar about what is open government, why and how they should modify their thoughts (perceptions).
If these people – government managers, elected members of parliament – simply changed their mind about open government, with these same people, it would become possible to ensure that the project takes place. Why? There is no one other than these people. These are the people in charge. There is only one prime minister, only one minister of digital economy, only one member of parliament per riding. We cannot remake the world in full, and change all the players by replacing them with others more inclined to change. But leaders can come to modify their attitudes. Yes, they can! But first, they must be aware of their attitudes. Someone has to explain them. If they have no awareness of their own behavior, they will remain in denial.
Just as there are mandatory ethics classes offered to all elected officials (at least in Quebec), I think there should also be mandatory classes of change of attitudes. Classes about a new type of leadership, and how to adjust the thoughts to move from directive leadership to participatory leadership. I incessantly tweet about #leadfromwithin, because I believe it is an important part of the solution.
RECOVERY PHASE
PHOTO: Jean-Paul Diamond
On September 1st, 2011, the député of Maskinongé, Jean-Paul Diamond, told me, “There is no solution. There is nothing at the Quebec government that allows to do this project.” Hey, what a pessimist view! (Curiously, Jean-Paul Diamond is the spitting image of my (dead) father. When I met him, I had a hard time focusing on his words, I was deeply troubled by the physical resemblance).
I buried the project. And cried a lot while watching live coverage of the Open Government Partnership launched in New York on September 20, 2011 (http://www.opengovpartnership.org/launch).
Shortly after killing the project in my mind (detachment, liberation), I made quantum leaps in my Kundalini awakening (within a few days, I reached the 2nd and 3rd fusion, Sahasrara). There is one last fusion for me to reach (transfiguration)… and I will disappear into the light. I still have many years in this lifetime to get there.
Already, I can see a pattern. Every time I cash in a major failure, it has a positive strong impact on my Kundalini journey. A month after I turned off Zonegrippeaviaire (in early January 2010), I had the first Kundalini fusion, in early February (first fusion of energy takes place in the heart). I had no idea what was happening. I thought I was sick, I thought I had contracted a very strange rare illness, and that I was to die very soon. A similar experience was recalled by Gobi Krishna. “About two months after awakening the Kundalini Gopi Krishna believed he was about to die. He had been in agonizing pain for hours.”
"There were dreadful disturbances in all the organs, each so alarming and painful that I wonder how I managed to retain my self-possession under the onslaught. The whole delicate organism was burning, withering away completely under the fiery blast racing through its interior. I knew I was dying and that my heart could not stand the tremendous strain for long." (ref Georg Feuerstein)I passed full medical examinations. I had a heart ultrasound. Doctors found nothing wrong. It took me 18 months to understand: "The body has to undergo a huge transformation in order to physically support higher states of consciousness." (Deepak Chopra).
I can foresee that the next big thing to happen to me will possibly propel me to the highest level of consciousness.
This is the first time that I openly write about my Kundalini experience. I went through this situation alone, with nobody to talk to. I am hoping to find people like me. I know they exist out there. I am convinced that as we enter a new Age (we are apparently in the transition out of the information age and into the age of wisdom) more and more people will experience an expanded consciousness. Kundalini is a very scientific and biological event occuring in the body. Today’s research done in the mind and consciousness seems to be coming closer to this understanding. Researchers can see that there are marked physical differences in those men and women who have unlocked this dormant energy.
I thought I was done definitively with this story, but Alberto Cottica (from Edgeryders) pushed me to tell it here. Maybe all is not buried ten feet underground. Who knows, maybe one day my open government dream will become a reality. Meanwhile, I am very happy to be part of the great Edgeryders experience.