Reflections on g0v Summit 2016

Founded Because of an Advertisement: The Story of g0v

The origin of g0v actually traces back to the “Economic Power-Up Plan” (yes, that most ridiculous commercial in history).

A group of passionate engineers decided to form g0v, dedicated to pushing for open government and promoting civic tech to the general public via the internet.

g0v really took off during the March 18 Sunflower Student Movement. The introduction of hackfoldr collaborative folders, live-streaming tools, and more allowed the public to gain a much deeper understanding of the situation.

Among the more than 700 attendees at the summit, about 10% were civil servants from government agencies. Even the outgoing Premier, Chang San-cheng, showed up to share his experience promoting open government data.

“Dream big, and believe that one day your own story will be seen by others.” This was perhaps my biggest takeaway from attending g0v.

It was truly a pity that Fang-Hsin couldn’t join. Fortunately, g0v provided live streams and collaborative notes, so following along with the notes and videos was the next best thing.

TL;DR

Nobody could have predicted that g0v—now spanning three continents with over 500 civic hackers—was initially sparked by an ineffective Taiwanese government ad. These engineers in the hacker village not only know how to code, but generally have strong English skills and pay close attention to the impact of civic tech on governments worldwide. Back in 2014, CL Kao spent two months traveling to various international cities, exchanging ideas with open organizations and communities, absorbing local experiences, and bringing them back to share with the community in Taiwan. And so, software engineers who might otherwise have lived ordinary lives stepped into the world of civic tech, driven by a passion to transform society.

This was my first time attending a g0v summit. From what I heard (and gathered chatting with other attendees), this year’s theme, “Deconstruct to Reconstruct,” cast a much wider net. Past events leaned more heavily into technical topics, attracting mostly engineers. This time, there were not only attendees and speakers from all over the world, but nearly 10% of the participants were public servants from government agencies.

You quickly realize that g0v doesn’t hold a partisan stance; instead, it acts as an intermediary, helping you document and record what happens. Whether through live streams or their open-source tools, the philosophy remains the same. If you have time, check out the live stream recordings or the conference notes. If you’re short on time, take a look at my notes below!

• Conference Collaborative Notes

Notes

From .org to .ngo

The speaker was an NGO engineer, so alongside discussing life inside an NGO, they shared many of the technical and development challenges they encountered.

The speaker mentioned several challenges currently faced by the Taiwan Environmental Information Association (TEIA):

• 2000 to 2016: Environmental issues received almost no newspaper coverage; at best, they made it into the lifestyle section. => When times change, the tools must evolve as well.
• Code refactoring: Products are legacy systems from the day they launch. You usually have to be prepared: in the early stages, there is no time for refactoring; you only rebuild once things stabilize. At that point, outside engineers were brought in to help.
• When a nobody becomes a somebody: Facing an ever-growing list of problems:
  • People: With an organization, personnel, managers, and payroll, management becomes difficult.
  • Generational shifts: Constant turnover among newcomers, senior staff lacking time to discuss ideals => communication breakdowns.
  • Vested interests: Once a “nobody” becomes a vested stakeholder, do we still remember our original aspirations?

Finally, the speaker summarized the roles an NGO plays:

• A platform aggregating information and power
• Proxy: Acting in place of the government to respond quickly to issues
• Agent: Acting as an agent for civil society

Conclusion: Aside from the state, corporations are the most important organizations that impact our lives the most.

Open Media for Democracy and Civic Participation

The speaker was the founder of VOXE. The concept behind VOXE is very similar to Taiwan’s Voting Guide for Legislators. Forty-six percent of US voters didn’t vote in the presidential election. Seventy percent of young people didn’t vote in the 2014 European Parliament elections, many feeling it wouldn’t make any difference. Many believe that elected officials don’t care about public opinion, so they simply choose not to vote. This platform was founded with the hope of changing that through digital tools.

One question left a strong impression on me: “How do you get people to actually take action? That’s the hardest part.” The speaker answered: through the ease of use of tools. After all, ordinary people can’t protest all day or spend all their time reading political manifestos—they have kids, spouses, jobs, and daily life to take care of. Therefore, tools must be simple enough to encourage people to use them.

Someone in the audience also asked, “How do you plan to raise funds?” His reply: Google granted them €200,000 XD. Nothing to worry about there!

Conclusion: Tools exist to solve problems.

Earthquake Early Warning System

Over the past few days, many people probably received earthquake warning text messages. The speaker opened with their firsthand experience of the 921 earthquake, reminding everyone of the importance of disaster preparedness. First, a few quick facts about earthquakes. wiki

P-waves travel the fastest, at roughly 28,000 km/h. Earthquake early warnings operate on this principle. After the P-wave arrives comes the S-wave, followed by the most destructive surface waves.

In other words, once the P-wave hits, the actions you take before the surface waves arrive are critical.

Suppose we receive such an alert today—what should we do?

• Check whether you can run outside within 30 seconds.
• If you cannot get outside within 30 seconds, you need to identify the safest spot inside the building.
• Don’t stop to check in on social media—you might disappear from this world 30 seconds later.

Some areas fall into seismic blind zones and might only receive the alert after the shaking stops. According to statistics from the Kobe earthquake in Japan, 70% of survivors saved themselves, 20% were rescued by friends or family, and only 10% were rescued by official responders. This shows that the Japanese truly take disaster prevention seriously.

Bonus

Exquisite Tokyo Disaster Prevention Booklet

Are we mentally prepared, and do we have corresponding preventive measures in place? The speaker believes foundations could be one solution.

Conclusion: Disaster preparedness starts with yourself.

My Days Undercover in Journalism

The speaker was Kirby, founder of 0media.

How Strange! Female Teacher Climbs Mountain for the Second Time Subsequent investigations revealed that this female teacher didn’t even have a boyfriend. The news report was riddled with errors, highlighting the generally poor quality of media coverage. Consequently, Kirby decided to found 0media and provide data visualization tools to help journalists cite reliable data in their reporting, offering accessible tools for non-technical users.

Useful data collection tools right now:

• OpenRefine
• Spreadsheets
• p5.js
• Kimono

The speaker also shared a few real-world case studies:

• The Ice Bucket Challenge: Data showed that the few peak weeks of the challenge accounted for 70% of total donations.
• Emergency Room Life

Key observations and challenges:

• Do data journalists need to know how to code? Is the barrier to entry too high?
• Finding engineers who can design, write, interview, and code is extremely difficult.
• Article presentations on news sites often lack refinement.
• Open-source tools might no longer be maintained.
• Services can be shut down.

Thus, the hope is to use plotDB to empower journalists and offer engineers better options for future data collection and visualization.

The Ting Hsin “Buy and Return” Map

Listening to the speaker’s presentation, you realize that this seemingly spontaneous “instant buy, instant return” campaign was actually backed by meticulous calculation. At the end, the initiator of the movement even came on stage to share their thoughts.

The initiator had already studied Costco’s business model: 100% satisfaction is a mutual guarantee between buyer and seller. For Costco, the campaign provided promotional value, while for consumers, it met the criteria for satisfaction guarantees. With aligned interests and increased exposure, Costco had no reason to refuse.

First, the bottom line:

• In 2015, revenue dropped by NT$1.5 billion, resulting in a net loss of NT$1.9 billion. (Total assets stand at NT$2.5 trillion, accounting for one-sixth of Taiwan’s total.)

Bringing down the “final boss” Ting Hsin directly is a difficult task, so the strategy starts with the smaller bosses. People’s power is dispersed; the return map helped shorten the timeframe of a prolonged struggle. The challenges of the “buy and return” action were twofold: first, the controversial nature of the act itself; second, the logistics of the action (needing to go to the store in person and endure stares from bystanders and clerks). The return map visualized the status of returns; once the data was visualized, it became easier to organize and plan the next steps. There were also system-level challenges: maintaining the platform, promotion, collecting log data, and so on.

Then again, as regular citizens, we have far too many things to deal with. Who can afford to buy and return milk every single day? When Lin Feng Ying milk goes on sale today, people still rush out for that small indulgence.

What Does Growing Up Feel Like?

Take a look at how Japan pushed Snow Brand to bankruptcy back in the day: Link.

From the community’s perspective:

• PTT was mostly supportive, with occasional downvotes.
• Dcard was flooded with criticism, with a wave of posts opposing the “buy and return” campaign.
• Facebook saw occasional posts opposing the action.

Leaving aside the moral debates surrounding the movement (the speaker stated they only focused on solutions):

Regardless of whether the action itself was right or wrong, it successfully captured public attention and provoked reflection. People discussing and seeking answers together is, in itself, a form of open collaboration.

Buy and Return Map

Conclusion: Ting Hsin might be able to buy almost anything, but it cannot buy the conscience and indignation of civic action.

From g0v to gov: 400 Days Undercover in the Ministry of Health and Welfare

The talk that brought tears to my eyes: 400 Days Undercover in the Ministry of Health and Welfare. It was easily the best presentation I heard all day.

Live Stream Video

Public Policy Online Participation Platform

Modeled after systems in the US and UK, if a petition on this platform collects over 5,000 signatures, the government must issue an official response within two months.

The speaker moved from g0v into the actual “gov.” While introducing collaborative tools, they also began reflecting deeply: Is it really that hard for the government to respond to civil demands? They walked through the entire process of how a citizen proposal evolved into a legislative amendment and the hurdles encountered along the way, highlighting the perceptual gap between community participants and government bureaucrats. It revealed that many civil servants inside the system are genuinely willing to get things done. In this case, the government ultimately responded and committed to amending the law. Sadly, the petitioner passed away before the regulation was officially promulgated, and the amendment tragically could not help the person who initiated it during their lifetime.

I remember after the talk concluded, the applause lasted for at least thirty seconds. Although it was heartbreaking that the outcome came too late for the petitioner, I believe this talk fundamentally shifted many people’s perspectives on the government.

For the government to respond to public demands is, in truth, remarkably difficult.

Openness comes with a cost.

Engineers must prevent single points of failure; civil servants must avoid single points of success.

Untransparent, Non-Open Party Assets

Leading up to the election, infographics about the Kuomintang’s (KMT) party assets were everywhere.

The speaker joked that they took the documented addresses and built a map showing KMT-owned land across Taipei, along with massive land holdings in Baihe, Tainan—all belonging to the KMT! Looking at Google Street View, the land was filled with betel nut trees and bananas. Maybe someone will build a “KMT Party Asset Tourism App” in the future.

KMT Party Asset Road Trip

Because Taiwan lacked a dedicated Political Parties Act at the time, there were no specific restrictions on the sources of party assets. This allowed the KMT to absorb state-requisitioned land and revenue without restriction.

• KMT: NT$22.5 billion
• DPP: NT$400 million
• Others: NT$19 million

Looking at this staggering disparity, it is easy to see why small parties struggle to survive—they are already at half strength just competing on advertising spend.

• Openness issues
• Preservation and restoration of historical archives
• Completeness of information

Deciphering KMT Party Assets GitBook

Conclusion: Unless the KMT falls, Taiwan won’t prosper.

Unconference

The unconference sessions primarily allowed attendees to propose their own topics and discuss them together in the lounge area on the morning of the second day.

With limited time, I only sat in on a few topics that caught my interest:

Transitional Justice

The core discussion centered on how to lower the barrier to entry and get regular people to care. Typically, aside from the families and friends of 228 victims, the general public pays little attention. This stems partly from how lightly Taiwan’s history education treated the 228 Incident, and partly from the fact that most living people never experienced it firsthand.

• Historians on Instagram
• 228 Incident interactive map
• Transitional justice games
• Building public interest in the topic

The Sharing Economy Fighting Capitalism

Exploring people’s visions of the sharing economy:

• The Venus Project
• Co-housing in Japan
• Uber and Airbnb represent the sharing philosophy, yet are quintessential emblems of capitalism. They cannot fight against themselves. Reading The Zero Marginal Cost Society provides a deeper perspective. Middle-class sharing is not the ideal form of sharing.
• It can only be dismantled from within, not conquered from the outside. When marginal cost drops to zero, capitalism ceases to engage in that activity, naturally giving way to a sharing economy.

Final Thoughts

Having spent NT$1,200 to attend the conference, it felt wrong not to document something. So I put together my takeaways and notes. Beyond letting Fang-Hsin live vicariously through them, it also gives me something to show the company (?).

I truly saw and learned a great deal! Plus, the bento boxes were delicious and eco-friendly—though the reusable chopstick set they were selling cost NT$300! Just like a modest fisherman, I couldn’t bring myself to buy it.

This edition also featured unconference sessions and interactive mini-games for attendees (collecting cups) to redeem prizes. It feels like future gatherings will increasingly center around the participants themselves.