g0v: Founded by an Advertisement
The origin of g0v actually stems from the Economic Vitality Promotion Plan (the most ridiculous advertisement in history).
This group of passionate engineers decided to form g0v, dedicated to promoting government openness and spreading it to the public through the internet.
g0v gained popularity starting from the 318 Movement. The introduction of hackfold collaborative folders, live streaming tools, and more allowed the public to have a better understanding...
Among the 700+ participants present, about 10% were government officials, and even the soon-to-be former Minister without Portfolio, Zhang Shan-Zheng, attended g0v to share the process of promoting government open data.
"The idea is to dream big and believe that one day someone will notice and recognize your own story." This is probably the biggest sentiment one can take away from participating in g0v.
It's a pity that Fang Xin couldn't attend, but there were live streams and collaborative notes from the conference, so you can still read the notes and watch the videos.
TL;DR
No one could have imagined that the zero-time government, with over 500 citizen hackers spread across three continents, was born out of an ineffective advertisement by the Taiwanese government. The engineers in this hacker community not only write code but also generally have good English skills. They are interested in the impact of citizen technology on governments worldwide. In 2014, Gao Jialiang spent two months visiting cities around the world, exchanging ideas with open organizations and communities, learning from local experiences, and sharing them with the community in Taiwan. This is how these ordinary programmers, who should have led an ordinary life, stepped into the world of citizen technology due to their passion for transforming society.
During the first g0v summit, it was said (and confirmed during conversations with participants) that the theme "Dismantling and Rebuilding" was broadened. Previously, the topics were more technical, attracting mostly engineers. This time, there were participants and speakers from various countries, and nearly 10% of the attendees were government officials.
You will find that g0v does not hold a specific position but acts as an intermediary to record events. Whether it is live streaming or their open-source tools, it is the same. If you have time, you can watch the live stream or read the conference notes. If you can't make time for it, you can read my notes!
Notes
From .org to .ngo
The speaker is an engineer from an NGO and shared many challenges encountered during development.
The speaker mentioned that the Environmental Information Association currently faces challenges such as:
- From 2000 to 2016: Environmental issues were not covered by the media, at most appearing in lifestyle sections. => When the times began to change, the tools needed to change as well.
- Code refactoring: The product has been a legacy system since its launch, usually requiring preparation. There was no time for refactoring in the early stages; stability had to be achieved before starting the reconstruction. External engineers were also brought in to assist.
- When "nobody" becomes "somebody": Facing more and more problems
- People: With the organization, staff, supervisors, and salaries, management becomes difficult.
- Generational changes: Newcomers constantly rotate, while older staff have no time to discuss ideals => Communication problems arise.
- Established interests: When "nobody" becomes an established interest, do we still remember our original intentions?
Finally, the speaker summarized the role played by NGOs:
- A platform that gathers information and power.
- Proxy: Acting as a government proxy, responding quickly to issues.
- Agent: Citizen agents.
Conclusion: Companies, apart from the government, are the most important organizations that affect everyone.
Democracy and Citizen Engagement in Open Media
The speaker is the founder of VOXE. The concept of VOXE is similar to Taiwan's Legislator Voting Guide. During the presidential election, 46% of US voters did not vote. In the 2014 European Parliament election, 70% of young people did not vote, and many people thought it didn't matter. Many people believe that elected officials do not care about public opinion, so they simply don't vote. Therefore, the speaker hopes to improve this situation through tools and created this platform.
One question left a deep impression, "How can we get everyone to take action? This is the most difficult part." The speaker's answer was through the use of tools. After all, ordinary people cannot protest or study politics all day long; they have families, work, and other responsibilities. Therefore, the tools must be simple enough to stimulate others to use them.
Someone also asked how they would raise funds, and the speaker jokingly said Google gave them 200,000 euros XD. So, they don't have to worry at all!
Conclusion: Tools are meant to solve problems.
Real-time Earthquake Warning System
These days, everyone should have received earthquake forecast messages. The speaker began by describing the actual experience of the 921 earthquake, reminding everyone of the importance of earthquake preparedness. Here are some earthquake facts. Wiki
P-waves travel the fastest at 28,000 miles per hour. Earthquake forecasts are based on this principle. When the P-wave arrives, the S-wave follows, and after that comes the most terrifying surface wave.
So, when the P-wave arrives, the actions taken when the surface wave arrives are crucial.
Today, suppose we receive such a message. What should we do?
- Confirm if we can run outside within 30 seconds.
- If we can't run away in 30 seconds, we need to know the safest place inside the house.
- Don't hesitate; there's a chance you might disappear from this world after 30 seconds.
In some earthquake blind spots, it's possible to receive the message only after the earthquake has occurred. According to statistics from the Great Hanshin earthquake in Osaka, Japan, 70% of the victims rescued themselves, 20% were saved by their friends and family, and only 10% were rescued by officials. This shows that the Japanese take disaster prevention seriously.
Bonus
Beautiful Tokyo Disaster Prevention Handbook
Are we prepared with the right mindset and corresponding preventive measures? The speaker believes that foundations will play a role in solving this.
Conclusion: Disaster prevention starts with oneself.
My Days as an Undercover in the News Industry
The speaker is Kirby, the founder of 0media.
Strange! Female Teacher Climbs Mountain Again Later investigations revealed that this female teacher didn't even have a boyfriend. The news was filled with countless errors, and the overall quality of media reports was low. Therefore, the decision was made to establish 0media and provide data visualization tools to help journalists have data to reference in their reports. These tools should also be user-friendly for non-technical individuals.
Currently, useful data collection tools include:
- OpenRefine
- Spreadsheet
- p5.js
- Kimono
The speaker also shared several real-life cases:
- Ice Bucket Challenge: It was discovered that during the weeks when the Ice Bucket Challenge was popular, it accounted for 70% of the total donations.
- ER Game
The following observations were made:
- Do data journalists need to know how to code? The entry cost might be too high.
- It's difficult to find engineers who can design, write articles, interview, and have technical skills.
- Articles on news websites are not well-crafted.
- Open-source tools may no longer be maintained.
- Services may be terminated.
Therefore, the hope is to help journalists through piotDB and provide better options for engineers in data collection and visualization.
The Instant Buy and Return of Ting Hsin Map
After listening to the speaker's sharing, one can realize that this seemingly impromptu instant buy and return had actually been meticulously calculated. In the end, the initiator even came on stage to share their experience.
As the initiator had already studied Costco's business structure, where 100% satisfaction is guaranteed, this activity met the requirements for both parties. For Costco, it achieved the desired publicity effect, and for users, it satisfied the condition of purchase satisfaction. With mutual benefits and increased exposure, there was no reason for Costco to refuse.
To directly overthrow the Ting Hsin Group is quite difficult, so they started with smaller targets. The power of the people is scattered, and the instant buy and return map shortened the time for long-term resistance. The first challenge of instant buy and return is a controversial issue, and the second challenge lies in the action itself (having to go to the destination in person and endure the gaze of the public and store employees). The instant buy and return map visualizes the situation, allowing the data to be organized and the next goals to be planned. Someone needs to maintain the system, promote it, collect login data, etc. (challenges related to the system itself).
However, as a normal citizen, there are so many things to do. Who has time for instant buying and returning every day? Today, Lin Fengying's special offer, for example, is more appealing.
Let's take a look at how the Japanese managed to bankrupt Snow Brand link.
From a community perspective:
- Most of the discussions on PTT are in favor, occasionally there are criticisms.
- Dcard is full of criticism. Numerous articles opposing instant buying and returning appear.
- Facebook occasionally shows dynamics opposing instant buying and returning.
Setting aside the moral debate about this activity (the speaker focused on the solution).
Regardless of whether this activity is right or wrong, it has already effectively attracted attention and sparked reflection, leading to discussions, seeking answers, and ultimately fostering open collaboration.
Conclusion: Ting Hsin may be able to buy anything, but they can't buy the conscience and indignation of civic action.
From g0v to gov: Infiltrating the Ministry of Health and Welfare for 400 Days
A touching presentation, "Infiltrating the Ministry of Health and Welfare for 400 Days." It was the best talk I heard today.
Public Policy Online Participation Platform
This platform follows the mechanisms of the United States and the United Kingdom. If more than 5,000 people sign a petition, the government must respond within two months.
The speaker, after joining g0v and entering gov, began to reflect while introducing collaboration tools. Is it really difficult for the government to respond to public demands? The speaker provided a detailed account of the process from a citizen proposal to the amendment of a bill, highlighting the gap between community participants and government perspectives. It can be observed that government officials are still willing to get things done. Unfortunately, in this case, the government responded and promised to amend the law, but the proposer had already passed away before the law was announced, so the proposed amendment did not help the proposer during their lifetime.
After listening to the talk, I remember the applause lasting for about thirty seconds! Although it's a pity that the proposer was not helped in the end, I believe their sharing indirectly influenced many people's views on the government.
It is indeed challenging for the government to respond to public demands.
Openness comes with a cost.
Engineers should avoid a single point of failure, while public officials should avoid a single point of success.
The Closed and Non-Transparent Party Assets
Before the election, we often see charts related to the assets of the Kuomintang (KMT) party.
The speaker joked about having a so-called address and turning it into a map, showing the KMT's land in Taipei and a large area in Baihe, Tainan. The street view is filled with betel nut and banana trees. In the future, there might even be a KMT party assets tourism app.
Due to the absence of a political party law in Taiwan, there are no specific restrictions on the source of party assets. This has resulted in the KMT selflessly receiving land and revenue seized by the government at the time.
- KMT: 22.5 billion
- DPP: 400 million
- Others: 19 million
The significant disparity can be seen, making it difficult for small parties to survive. Just advertising alone puts them at a disadvantage.
- Openness issues
- Preservation and restoration of historical archives
- Information integrity
Conclusion: Taiwan won't be better until the KMT is gone.
Unconference
During the unconference, participants initiated their own ideas, and the next morning, they discussed their ideas with each other in the lounge.
Time was limited, so I only attended sessions that interested me:
Transitional Justice
How to lower the threshold for discussions and attract the general public's attention is the focus of the discussion. Generally, besides the families and friends of the victims of the 228 Incident, the general public is less concerned. This is partly due to the light portrayal of the 228 Incident in Taiwan's history education, and partly because most people have not experienced the 228 Incident themselves.
- Historian's Instagram
- 228 Incident Map
- Transitional Justice Game
- Building public interest in the issue
Combating Capitalism with the Sharing Economy
Discussions on everyone's imagination of the sharing economy.
- Venus Project
- Japanese co-living housing
- Uber and Airbnb are both examples of sharing, but they are also representatives of capitalism. It is impossible to fight against oneself. Another book, "The Zero Marginal Cost Society," can provide a better understanding. The sharing that belongs to the middle class is not the ideal sharing.
- It can only be destroyed from within, not conquered from outside. When marginal costs reach zero, capitalism will no longer continue to do the same thing; it will become the sharing economy.
Wrapping Up
I spent 1,200 on the conference, and it doesn't feel right to not do anything. So, I wrote down my thoughts and notes to satisfy Fang Xin and also provide an explanation to the company (?).
I really learned a lot and saw many things! The lunch boxes were delicious and eco-friendly, but they were selling a pair of eco-friendly chopsticks for 300 NT! I just couldn't bring myself to buy them, just like a fisherman!
There was also an unconference session and a small game (collecting cups) for interaction with participants. I feel that in future gatherings, the focus will increasingly shift towards the participants themselves.
