I’ve received some interesting feedback from some pollsters who took the time to leave their views on the question I posed, inspired by the local issue reporting (eg broken street light, fly tipping) site FixMyStreet.
The opinions varied from pole to pole, pun intended. Tim Green says: “I think it’s sad that non-profits have to make improved interfaces for councils to get them to a point where they’re usable, but also recognise that it’s important that it should be possible for non-profits to Keep reading →
Websites developed by non-profit organisations which develop web tools to help you report problems and issues in your neighbourhood to the council are doing some great work . Like Fixmystreet for example. But some people I’ve spoken to belive fervently that this should be the responsibility of government.
What do you think?
Click on the words below to be transported to my poll and have your say. . .
When it comes to engaging people with politics – whether that’s making sure decision makers hear your voice about local matters or a broken street light right up to lobbying government for a change in the law – us Brits are a pitifully apathetic lot.
I was at Future Democracy 09, an excellent and well-established event which takes place annually in London organised by Headstar, looking at ways the internet can improve political engagement (‘e-democracy’) and I chatted to a researcher who had come from Italy from the University of Keep reading →
Right now, I’m here at Brighton and Hove City council’s first Get Involved event, an opportunity to tell the public about what it is they pay their council tax for and perhaps how they might spend it better. The day will be devoted to showing how to be involved with the council, health and emergency services in the community.
What brings me here? Well I am very interested in how governments can use digital technology to enhance democratic particpation especially in the UK but also, I responded to a call out for volunteers from Sussex Community Internet Project (SCIP) to show Keep reading →
To help me gather new examples, I’ve started a hashtag thread on Twitter as part of my hunt for linguistic blends new and old.
A blend is an amalgamation of two words to create a new one. A Classic examples that springs to mind is ‘brunch.’ Others include Peter Andre’s seminal (ahem!) album from the 1990s ‘Insania;’ the more recent ‘Freakonomics‘ from Stephen Dubner and Keep reading →
There’s something I want to talk about. According to Jessica Vascellaro of the Wall Street Journal, email is dead and is being trampled on by big bolshy new kids on the block like Twitter. What? “Email has had a good run as king of communications.
But its reign is over,” says Vascellaro. Que? Lean news week at WSJ was it? Keep reading →
If some Eastern European governments are turning to technology to make their inner workings and public services more transparent a bit later than those “Westside,” then what a great opportunity to make these systems even more robust and pioneering.
“El Gran Hermano se cuela en las aulas madrileñas” – ‘Big Brother arrives in Madrid classrooms,’ reads the headline in today’s Spanish national El País, the most widely-circulated daily newspaper in Spain.
The President of Madrid Council, Esperanza Aguirre today announced a new intiative which will see software deployed across all of Madrid’s schools allowing parents of pupils to see what their children are getting up to in class, over the web by SMS text message or
A mobile wireless router to which up to five devices can be connected – this has to be gadget of the year!
Photographer and picture editor “Gary the Gadget Guy” at Reuters in New Yoik, talks through how the unit works and how it benefits him in this video – ie, he can shoot photos, edit them on the camera screen, ftp it from another gadget to the MiFi unit and upload photos over the web on his iPhone. Pretty good. Pretty, pretty, pretty good as Larry David would say.
Verizon, the company which launched the device, charges Keep reading →
It’s not the usual topic for this blog, but I want to tell you my radio show has gone live on the brilliant thedownlowradio.com . Check it out, there’s some fantastic music on the website including vintage reggae, disco, house, funk, soul and acid house. The main ingredients of my set (don’t worry, there’s no emceeing) are as follows: a fat dollop of funk, a big scoop of disco, a dash of house and all with the lifeblood of Soul coursing through it. So have a listen, if that’s your thing.
This online radio station is affiliated to the wonderful NYC Downlow – AKA ‘the world’s first travelling homo disco’ – and this year’s star of Glastonbury Festival’s Trash City – where entry is cheap, trannies rock the stage, the music is spot on and stick-on moustaches are compulsory.
The NYC Downlow from Block9
