Ukraine 2.0
As many of us know, one of the challenges advocates often face abroad (if not in the U.S. as well!) is a lack of receptiveness among government bureaucrats to the participation of citizens in public administration. In Ukraine, as one example, government has not historically been of the people, by the people, and for the people. Cabinet Ministries whose ostensible purpose is to provide social services have no experience with treating citizens as clients – on the contrary, citizens are often nothing more than problems, flies in the ointment. Government bodies and processes are not designed to be transparent, but obscure and invisible to outsiders, discouraging or preventing interference.
Getting government to take citizens seriously requires a significant change in mindset, as well as a whole host of skills and tools unfamiliar to career officials. Despite the challenges, over the last couple of days in Kyiv I’ve seen some real and exciting opportunities for change.
Our approach is to introduce government employees at one target Ministry to the benefits of simple Web 2.0 tools such as instant messaging, free IP telephony, and online document collaboration. Because Ministries employees are often resource strapped themselves, with a large portfolio of responsibilities and limited budgets and personnel, the experience of using cheap, user-friendly collaborative platforms is often revelatory. As they incorporate these tools into their work routines, a subtle mental transformation begins to take place. No longer “siloed” in their offices, unable to get the information they need or work together on key decisions, they begin to see the benefits of working collectively as a team – of being inclusive and team-oriented, as opposed to wedded to outdated procedures.
As they assimilate these tools, they will also incorporate them into their work with stakeholders from other sectors – academics, business leaders, activists – invited to participate in ad hoc working groups to develop policy recommendations. By increasing the effectiveness of these groups, we will also help build their credibility. The more seriously officials take such groups, and the more directly and productively they collaborate with them, the more open the officials become to public input into their work.
If you’ve spent any time at all working in parts of the world where government tends to be monolithic and opaque, this concept might seem naïve, even quaint. But here’s the thing – it’s working. We’ve already got one Vice Minister talking about starting up a blog to get his thoughts out to the public – this is already being done in Russia – and they’re asking after more and better tools for collaborating not just with each other, but also with citizens interested in their work.
Proof that Web 2.0 isn’t just about creativity, information sharing, and collaboration online – it can be a catalyst for changing minds, habits, and institutions offline as well. Who knew?
Tags: advocacy, government, tools, ukraine, web 2.0
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