Yearly Archives: 1997

Building Citizen-based Electronic Democracy Efforts – By Steven Clift – 1997

Building Citizen-based Electronic Democracy Efforts

This paper was presented to the Internet and Politics: The Modernization of Democracy Through the Electronic Media conference sponsored by the Academy of the Third Millennium in Munich, Germany on Feb. 19-21, 1997.

The Power Point slides from this presentation are available: Building Citizen-based E-Democracy Efforts – HTML/JPEG Version or Text Slides or the actual Power Point file for Windows for downloading – be sure to save as.

By Steven L. Clift

Copyright 1997, Steven Clift – Non-commercial use of this document is encouraged. It may be photocopied and distributed or linked to for such purposes. Publication or electronic reproduction for public dissemination or general commercial use requires permission of the author.

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • Organization and Mission
    • Leaders
    • Mission and Outline
    • Geographic Audience Focus
    • Neutral on Positions
    • Core Volunteer Group
    • Focus and Expectations
  • Information Infrastructure
    • Donated Infrastructure and Collaboration
    • Electronic Conferencing for Core Group
    • Announcement E-mail Distribution List
    • World-Wide-Web Site
    • Citizens’ Open Discussion Forum
      • E-mail Lists
      • Newsgroups
      • WWW Conferencing
      • Minnesota E-Democracy’s Implementation
    • Public Access Points
  • Participants
    • Building Audience One Person at a Time
    • Attract People with a Mix of Experience, Backgrounds and Opinions
    • Develop a Media Strategy
  • Conclusion
  • Recommended Further Reading and WWW Sites

Introduction

Over the last century we have witnessed a revolution in communications that has moved much of the public discourse and agenda-setting from the individual and community level to the mass level. As communication technologies and their use by people continues to evolve there are indications that this trend is now reversing with some notable globalization exceptions. With computer-meditated communications, people are reclaiming their communications power from mass institutions. This paper is a concise guide geared toward those who want to build citizen-based efforts that work to ensure that this shift toward many-to-many communication increases the capacity for citizen participation in democracy.

Just as individuals are using the Internet for their own personal interests, so to are traditional political, government, media, and other organizations. Most existing organizations will determine how to use the Internet and electronic communications to represent and further their own interests. Organizations that do not do so within the next few years may not exist a decade from now.

If most of the interests in society “get online,” does that mean that democracy will be improved? Will this by default improve citizen participation, public discourse and public problem-solving? In my general opinion, the answer is no, but it doesn’t have to be.

I work from the premise that technology is essentially neutral, but that strategic and organized use of information technology and networks by citizen-based efforts will make an important contribution to improved democracy at many levels. As a start, information networks hold the potential to raise awareness about elections and candidate positions, but the ultimate benefit will be a more democratic society. A society where more people are able to hear and listen to each other, have a public voice in agenda setting, and have an increased ability to contribute toward the resolution of public problems.

Citizen-based electronic democracy is about creating the online public spaces for interaction among citizens and organized interests (that are for the most part only focused on using electronic communication to further their own goals.) In a simple sense, we are creating an open and on-going town hall meeting where ideas, agendas, personalities, interests, and beliefs may mix dynamically. We are creating an arena for public expression, development of opinion, and accountability.

This paper presents a concise outline of steps one must take in the establishment and carrying out of a citizen-based online citizen participation project primarily from the Minnesota E-Democracy experience. In traditional terms, the is about creating an online combination of a debate society, voter participation organization, and a public policy group (that all happen to be meeting in the same corner coffee shop at the same time.) The three main sections of the paper are Organization and Mission, Information Infrastructure, and Participation. Much of what is covered will come across as “Organizing 101.” These lessons will help move us from individuals with heady goals toward a global association of individuals and organizations dedicated to building online citizen participation in our own communities, regions, and nations.

Organization and Mission

1. Leaders – An effort to establish a citizen-based organization requires leadership. In the few places around the world where citizen to citizen online political participation efforts have been established or are under development, someone took the initiative to publicly propose the idea. They found people who were interested and made the personal and public commitment to take the public interest and make the idea a reality. The first step is to determine if you are going to be the person to offer leadership where you would like to see a project established. If yes, then think about your strengths and your limits and then seek help by finding others who are interested. Perhaps your role as a leader is to simply propose the idea and gather those interested. If you don’t see yourself as a leader, then be ready to offer your help as an active volunteer once someone else publicly proposes an effort (but why wait?).

2. Mission and Outline – Develop a clear and concise mission. This mission should lead off a document with a more detailed outline of the project’s ideas, plans, and needs. The outline can then be used to build a base of public interest and awareness through wide distribution. The mission and outline will help develop the needed volunteer base and help others determine what they might bring to the project. Depending upon the reaction and number of interested individuals the effort should be flexible enough to revisit and improve the mission if needed to gain broader consensus and support. Also, while funding might help a project get started, most projects will be started with in-kind donations and support.

3. Geographic Audience Focus – Defining the geographic audience from the start is essential. While the Internet is often referred to as a “global community,” a project geared toward promoting citizen participation in “real” politics needs a geographic focus to become relevant to a broader cross-section of the population. Think of it as the “glocalization” of the Internet. Further, while the culture of a region does vary from place to place, the larger the population and area covered, the more difficult it is to build a sense of place and accountability. The ability to have online discussion participants meet for in-person events and the realization of publicness versus the (false) sense anonymity on global forums can help ensure a more relevant and civil exchange. From neighborhoods and townships to cities and regions to states and provinces to nations and international regions, the potential for projects exists. Over the next decade blocks of more local efforts will become the foundation for regional or national efforts, in other cases national or state-wide efforts will lead to local efforts.

4. Neutral on Positions – Key to a successful project is the broad participation of many individuals and organizations. a citizen-based effort requires a non-partisan approach and no formal political positions should be taken by the effort’s oversight structure. The main purpose of a citizen-based effort is to bring people together with diverse opinions and backgrounds for electronic interaction and discussion of public issues deemed to be important by the participants. Thousands of political, media, government and commercial organizations are now online. Our challenge is to create public spaces where they can interact. The disappointing application of the Internet in politics thus far has been the lack of adaption toward interactive communication among different organized interests. Current use has been focused on traditional message control and prompting of protest from their supporters to various level of representative government or general advocacy/candidate support. While there is nothing inherently wrong with using information technology to put pressure on elective representative bodies, if that is all we use advanced technology for we will simply freeze the process without prompting new avenues for public consensus development.

5. Core Volunteer Group – a core group of 5 to 15 volunteers, depending upon the scope and scale of activities, is all one needs to begin implementing a project. Minnesota E-Democracy, the project I launched in the summer of 1994, currently has around 8 dedicated volunteers with fairly well defined roles and responsibilities. Ensuring that volunteers receive public credit and thanks for their work is very important. Also, in some cases an effort like this might be led by a committee or sub-group of a community network. Involving people active from a mix of political parties, public policy organizations, government, media, non-profits and business sector in the core group will help ensure unbiased project development and increase its credibility. It is important to point out that the Minnesota experience shows the value of formal and informal connection to a variety of groups. As a citizen organization you will have more flexibility than larger institutions. However, you will not always have the resources of an newspaper or established public policy organization for example. If a mix of organizations can take the lead on a project activity as a part of your broader effort it should be seriously considered. I am currently of the opinion that in the end, comprehensive efforts like this require the establishment of new institutions that are “of the Internet” and not simply reconfigured or sub-projects of efforts born of other communication technologies.

6. Focus and Expectations – Keep the project focused on the agreed upon mission and project outline. Never over-hype the project – raised expectations will never be met. Based on the understanding that the technology for online citizen participation exists, the human implementation and use will take years, one should stretch expectations over the long-term. Only expand your efforts in areas where you have the volunteer support to maintain those efforts. Scan the online efforts of other groups in the target area and highlight their good work from your World-Wide-Web service. This will help bring these groups into your efforts and promote “links” back to your online efforts. Starting “small” with election information and discussions and moving into general citizen participation and public issue discussions has worked well for the Minnesota project. Elections provide a deadline for activity and help a project develop a sense of action and accomplishment.

Information Infrastructure

1. Donated Infrastructure and Collaboration – Work with community networks, educational networks, commercial online services (both content and Internet service providers), and others to develop the technical information infrastructure you need. Minnesota E-Democracy has its WWW pages on the community network called the Twin Cities Free-Net and its major public e-mail list, MN-POLITICS, is hosted by the non-profit, but commercial, Minnesota Regional Network. By clearly identifying your information infrastructure needs you will encourage a bit of “collaborative competition” among groups interested in supporting your effort. Minnesota E-Democracy has received its basic information infrastructure on an in-kind donation basis (for the most part our volunteers are responsible for general infrastructure administration – WWW pages, e-mail list administration, etc.). Now that we have started fundraising from foundations, we are contributing toward the community network for their excellent support. In the fall of 1996 we received WWW support in a crunch from Minnesota Regional Network that allowed us to “virtual host” with the permanent WWW address of: http://www.e-democracy.org – Virtual hosting is important because it allows you to move your WWW site if needed.

2. E-Mail and WWW Conferencing for the Core Group – The core volunteer group should be connected through a small working group e-mail address. This helps make our in person meetings much more effective and efficient. When anyone sends e-mail to our “e-democracy@freenet.msp.mn.us” address it actually sends a message to our board members. This allows the group to share in responding to questions and suggestions from others. It is primarily used as an internal project communication tool. The core group should also consider using newer WWW-based conferencing tools for organization and volunteer activities.

3. Announcement E-mail Distribution List – E-mail lists (listservs) are the “heartbeat” of the Minnesota E-Democracy effort. It is essential that a project have a one-way, low volume announcement list that interested people may subscribe their e-mail address to. The “MN-DEMOCRACY” list has over 1000 subscribers. This is a powerful tool for communication of important project updates and solicitation of new volunteers and content needed for the WWW site. Be sure to heavily promote subscriptions to this kind of list from your WWW site and in print materials.

4. World-Wide-Web Site – The primary place people who are online will discover your project is through the WWW. Your site should be well organized and kept up-to-date. Do not disappoint your audience by placing “under construction” signs everywhere, if you are going to use the orlando roofer roof top services try to do so during the weekend, so your sells still the same, and most importantly, your costumers stay happy. Use the WWW to provide access to the descriptions, subscription processes, and archives of your public e-mail lists. Use the WWW to present “community content” developed by volunteers. a number of your pages will be directory pages that point to other sites and information resources within your citizen participation, politics, and elections focus. Do this well and your site will generate increased traffic. Your project should be accessible to as many people as possible; therefore it is advised that you use standard HTML (3.2 or lower) for formatting your documents. This will help ensure access for the disabled and through text-only browsers like Lynx that many library systems use. While your “image” and use of graphics is important, use them carefully and be sensitive to the download time of users.

5. “Citizens’ Open Discussion Forum” – Electronic conferencing among participants in interactive forum(s) is very important. This ensures that your project moves from the publishing/broadcast mentality to one that builds online public spaces whose sense of ownership can be assumed by participants. There are three main Internet-based conferencing systems that allow for ongoing discussion – e-mail lists, newgroups, and WWW-based conferencing. Another system not described here, but worth exploring for special events, like a guest speaker in real time, is chat. Ultimately the user should be able to choose the platform they are most comfortable with, but practical differences in technological implementation lead to different interactive characteristics. Some general comments and reflections are below.

E-mail Lists – An e-mail list allows people to subscribe their e-mail address to a list server which then forwards them e-mail sent to a single e-mail address. Lists typically have descriptions or charters which limit the scope of discussions and some lists are moderated. They tend to work fairly well when well defined and guided, but have limitation when the membership rises over a certain point. (From my experience, open discussion lists with over 1000 (perhaps even 500) people tend to generate a volume of postings that drive people away or are difficult to manage from a technical perspective.) E-mail lists require the most commitment of participants and are “active” in that once you join a list you have to make the decision to unsubscribe in order to leave that “online public space.”

Newsgroups – Newsgroups are the backbone for global topical discussions and information exchange that work through a distributed server system. Newsgroups also exist at national and more local levels. It has been estimated that the per message distribution scale of news makes it the most technically efficient mechanism in terms of network traffic. There are more state and provincial level newsgroups on politics than there are e-mail lists, however, they tend to not be sponsored or promoted in the way that e-mail lists are. It is also less likely that rules and guidelines on posting volumes (unless the group is moderated, which takes extensive volunteer time of a person) exist or would be viewed as acceptable. The GovNews effort (http://www.govnews.org) effort may offer newsgroup space for local electronic democracy efforts and organizers to meet. Newsgroups, like WWW-conferencing require a user to go to a conference. Then is a sense newsgroups are “passive,” while the user must be active. Noting that e-mail is the most used buy zolpidem in uk online tool, moving strictly to newsgroups would limit your audience. From an organizers perspective “making the sell” once is a lot easier than having to do it every time someone decides to go online. One alternative is to gateway your e-mail lists to newsgroups, but make sure that your rules are available to newsgroup readers who are generally not used to posting limits. Also, the desire to create scores of topical or geographical based “community” or more generalist online discussion spaces will find the economics of news much more to their liking than e-mail lists. Overtime with gatewaying software, hybrid possibilities should be explored.

WWW-Conferencing – The WWW for conferencing is gaining in popularity and dozens of political WWW conferences have emerged at the national and state level. Like newsgroups they offer the reader the ability to access the “discussion thread” of their choice and allow the creation of highly topical discussions with smaller and likely more interested audiences. WWW-conferencing is still in its beginning phases, but the various competing proprietary systems are making rapid improvements. These systems may offer great tools for organizational development and volunteer activities. It may also become the preferred platform for special online events that are organized by citizen-based efforts. The challenge with this form of conferencing is building and keeping audience and commitment of participants to return to a WWW conference. If the commitment is already there, this might be an excellent platform. However, it must be noted that WWW-conferencing requires a continuous connection to the Internet while e-mail and newsgroups allow the person to download messages and read and compose responses off-line.

Minnesota E-Democracy’s Implementation – This project is the most experienced in the use of e-mail lists and is biased in that direction. The “MN-POLITICS” e-mail forum has been the heartbeat of the Minnesota E-Democracy process and has around 400 direct e-mail subscribers. It is the largest state-level politics e-mail list in the United States and averages close to 10 postings a day. Subscribers have the options of receiving messages individually (the default) or through a digested version of the posting sen periodically in one large indexed message. All the postings dating back to the start of the list in August 1994 are archived on the WWW.

It is important that a forum of this nature have a well developed charter and that rules and guidelines be developed over time to ensure that this unmoderated “public space” is of ever increasing value to most of the participants. Having a “list manager” or other project volunteers step in from time to time to guide the discussion back to the forum’s focus is very important. The first two or three months of a list is the most crucial time frame to establish a pattern of successful public conferencing. Our two messages per person per day rule helps keep anyone person from dominating the discussion. It does not censor what someone can say, just how often they can say it. This also helps ensure time for discussions that involve more people before they are taken too far or “into the ground.” In terms of mixing discussion with tips on “hard” information resources, it is also helpful to develop a set of volunteer WWW “hunters” who look for interesting content and WWW site references for distribution on the list.

E-mail forums require commitment and so does civic participation! By subscribing to an e-mail list you are essentially saying, “Come into my home. I am interested in hearing what you have to say.” With a good charter and list guidelines subscribers do have the right to say, however, “I’d rather you not wipe your dirty feet all over my carpets and I am sorry but parts of my house are off-limits.”

In the fall of 1996, through the work of our E-Debate Coordinator, Scott Aikens, we reengaged our MN-DEBATE e-mail list for our second, and the only, U.S. Senate candidate e-mail based debate. In 1994 we held online debates for both the Governor and U.S. Senate candidates. In a sense we created an online stage and structure for a week long debate on three questions with designated rebuttal periods. The debate content was fed into MN-POLITICS for public reaction as well as distributed to a number of high profile media-based online efforts in Minnesota as part of the Minnesota Town Hall 1996 effort. The debate feed was then threaded into a number of different WWW conferencing systems. Over the last year, Minnesota E-Democracy has floated a proposal for another list called MN-FORUM which would create an similar structure to MN-DEBATE, but likely be issue based for “organized online moments.” Depending upon resources and volunteer capacity this forum may be launched in the next year.

Some important references for more details on these topics include:

6. Public Access Points – “Electronic Democracy” will forever be elitist without some capacity for people without computers or home Internet connections to participate. This paper argues for leveraging of the necessary information infrastructure from various organizations. Along these lines working with libraries, schools, colleges, cafes, and other current or potential public locations of Internet public access points is an important extension. The online content efforts of the commercial and government sectors have a tremendous interest in promoting public access for their own reasons. Work to ensure that your effort is one of the reasons why such access points gain community support (for the most part free to use Internet public access points require public monies to exist.)

Participants

1. Building Audience One Person at a Time – People will be brought into your efforts, either as volunteers or participants in your forums, one person at a time. There is no short-cut to broad participation, so focus on creating a valuable experience for those you are able to bring in the project. The one-way announcement e-mail list will help with the development of an audience of “civic-minded” individuals and organizations. Many of the people who are interested in your project will be new to the Internet and you don’t want to overwhelm them right away with a flood of messages. It is much more likely that an elected official would appreciate project updates, but initially only a few will take the time to follow the open forum discussions. Overall, be strategic and use “traditional” means of outreach to involve key people, organizations, targeted populations, and the general public.

2. Attract People with a Mix of Experience, Backgrounds, and Opinions – The key to Minnesota E-Democracy’s early success was that it involved people with a diverse mix of skills and experiences. We had people with political, academic, organizational, non-profit, public policy, business, and technical backgrounds involved from the start. The project outline identified a set of needs that no one person could ever hold – so when we attracted a good mix of people who were willing to commit time to the project we were able to move forward without wearing out any one volunteer.

3. Develop a Media Strategy – My own quote is that the “Internet has 5 million channels and everything is on.” Build it and they will never come unless you tell them where it is. Currently, the traditional media is the best way to let a population in a specific area know about the project. So write and strategically distribute press releases, collect media e-mail addresses and encourage them to join your announcement e-mail list. When dealing with the media, encourage publication of your general e-mail address, subscription information for the announcement list, the project’s WWW address, and the general open forum’s subscription information. In general under-hype, yes under-hype your project. Letting the reporter decide that your project is newsworthy or some how noble is much better than telling them that it is. In general don’t claim that “citizen-based electronic democracy” is representative or some form of self-selected direct democracy. Instead talk about how you are working to something positive to encourage more purposeful use of the Internet now that more people are going online.

In the end, the real success might be measured in how people begin using the global Internet to come home to their neighborhood or actually getting people out to public meetings (this has happened a number of times on MN-POLITICS where people have reported on meetings they attended). As more and more members of the media have joined our lists to follow our discussions, it has become clear that we have created a new public opinion sphere that has led to a number of topical stories in the traditional media. This has given a number of participants the opportunity to be quoted in the paper or interviewed on the radio.

Conclusion

This is about real democracy. “Electronic democracy” is not some notion of a future state of affairs, it is simply today’s democracy with an infusion of people using information networks and technology to assist their participation in “democracy.” Information technology is changing our current form of democracy. Will is be for th better? We don’t know. Without the development of online “citizen participation centers” across the world, I think the primary direction will be negative. We know that established interests and organizations will use information technology to further their interests. That is how democracy works. But without an open “public space” online, these interest’s use of technology will simply raise the level of noise and conflict in out traditional political institutions and media. With a well established, neutral, online public space perhaps these interests will enter a circle of accountability and public awareness that will enable everyday citizens to become real part of broad public discussions and hopefully part of future solutions.

Recommended Further Reading and WWW Sites

North Star Project – Minnesota Government Online IRM Plan – By Steven Clift – 1997

MINNESOTA OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY

332 MINNESOTA STREET, SUITE W1420

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA 55101-1314

NORTH STAR PROJECT

MINNESOTA GOVERNMENT ONLINE

*****DRAFT 1.0 TO IPO*****

FY 98-99 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BUDGET REQUEST: INFORMATION RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN

NORTH STAR PROJECT

MINNESOTA GOVERNMENT ONLINE

FY 98-99 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BUDGET REQUEST: INFORMATION RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN

Introduction and Principles

This North Star Project proposal lays out the framework for the transition of the current North Star Project to a comprehensive citizen-focused government service and information system.

The North Star budget proposal marks the beginning of a transition from a demonstration project to next century’s primary gateway for direct government to citizen public service provision and interaction through the use of information technology.

The proposal represents the realization that specific resources must be dedicated to the development of the official framework for coordination and planning of government online activities designed for public use. Through executive branch and legislative leadership, Minnesota will help lead the way by establishing a solid foundation for cost-effective and forward looking government online development.

  • The new North Star online database-driven directory service will:
    • provide the public with a comprehensive, organized, and user-friendly system to locate and navigate through government services and information;
    • will present the foundation for the migration to actual provision of government services online;
    • allow the public to choose their preferred technology for accessing government while also providing government an internal customer service tool.

The strategic budget investment of $600,000 a year in North Star likely represents less than 10 percent of the resource investment in this area, but it will help ensure that the other 90 percent spent by hundreds of Minnesota government units provides the public with exponentially more value for their tax dollars.

In anticipation of future resources the framework for a North Star Online Development Fund will likely be proposed in the future to the legislature for small government online planning grants and grants for inter-governmental applications development with a focus on services.

  • A core North Star staff with a mix of information content, planning, design, and management skills, will in sum represent a leadership hub for collaboration and coordination of overall government online development. The project will be dedicated providing the public as a whole with user-friendly access to a dynamic set of government services and information that are provided in the most cost effective manner possible.

Much of the vision we hold for more responsive government through use of information technology will be realized in ten years. The real challenge for the State of Minnesota is to act now because it understands that its vision can be realized in five years, but be done twice as well at potentially half the overall cost.

The following draft “Principles for Government Online” from a recent presentation to an inter-governmental audience have been designed to guide planning, development, and implementation of the North Star Project:

  1. User-focused design for user friendly access and intuitive navigation
  2. All of public sector is easily accessible from “single-window” starting point 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
  3. “Digital” information or service organized so users may choose their preferred information technology for interaction – computer, TV, phone, FAX, paper, person
  4. Dynamic searching – users may locate or search for service and information based on their interests and needs regardless of place, disability, and preferred access technology
  5. Users may complete full service transactions and receive desired depth of public information access to the fullest capability of used access technology
  6. Collaborative intergovernmental “audience focuses” serve specific “publics” based on their interests and needs versus hierarchical display
  7. System is of direct use to government staff for information/service referral or provision
  8. Development and use is cost-effective and fully integrated into the business of government – planning is essential
  9. Measurement and feedback from users and general public guide level of service development and systems encourage public participation in what government services are provided (systems must create new information for policy makers to prioritize future allocation of public resources for services – versus automation of old systems)
  • Enclosed is the current text from the FY98-99 budget process:

BUDGET REQUEST

Minnesota’s World Wide Web Presence

North Star is the State of Minnesota’s World Wide Web “Welcome” page. A growing number of state agencies are providing information to citizens and government via the Internet. North Star has provided a single point of reference, from which researchers can find and access a multitude of government information resources.

However, the current version of North Star provides only a basic directory to government information resources on the Internet and these resources are really just information “brochures.” The next generation of the North Star Project will provide the public with a user-friendly, “single window” to Minnesota government services through the use of multiple information technologies.

Vision

North Star 2 will provide a citizen-focused, service oriented, secure transaction gateway to services offered by multiple state and local government agencies. A database driven application at the top-level access point (http://www.state.mn.us/) will ensure that users can gain quick access to high volume service transactions and directory information with links to the depth of specific government unit applications. Potential inter-governmental clusters for the development of online government applications including the environment, business, citizen services, democracy, tourism, K-12 education (see educational technology proposal), local government, higher education, government “intranet”, rural-agriculture, libraries, and likely others.

Future developments will ensure broad public access to “digital” information and service through the use of new technologies. These multiple technologies include computers on the Internet, telephones, FAX machines, televisions with set-top boxes connected to the Internet and other technologies that ensure access for the disabled.

Project Rationale

The following rationales help establish the need for aggressive government development and operations in this area:

  • The public expects government to provide effective and efficient access to government services and information.
  • A full featured secure transaction gateway and dynamic, database driven search capability will help aggregate application development, allow for greater security, save resources, promote coordination and inter-operability, and allow for the potential of out-sourcing and competitive contract work. Providing the transaction gateway at a central location will ensure inter-operability of transaction systems, provide cost savings (by reducing duplicated efforts), and allow agencies to concentrate on providing services.
  • Information tools now exist to provide access to government through multiple technologies to most of the population. The development of a database driven top-level service with integration of tools that allow easy access through telephones, FAX machines, and eventually televisions is key to realization of benefits in this area.

Project Benefits

  • Government information infrastructure investments are leveraged not duplicated. For example, if North Star provides a means of secure Internet transactions, it will not be necessary for multiple agencies to develop transaction services. Agencies can instead concentrate on providing services online.
  • Public access to government information and services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Allows the public to serve themselves, which may reduce telephone inquiries, travel to government offices, and printing and postage costs.
  • Improved government service delivery and mechanism for collaboration and coordinated developments.
  • Citizen have choice of technology in their interaction with government.
  • Alignment to public expectation of government service regardless of the source of that service (state, local, federal). Future options would allow geographic based directories of government services through the use of a database-driven environment.
  • North Star becomes a information utility within government for use by staff in their information and referral needs. “Intranet” applications may be developed from the same platform.
  • Enables citizens to gain a better understanding of their government and to be more participatory.
  • Provides fundamentally different foundation for audience or topic-based inter-governmental applications.
  • CSF= Critical Success Factors
  • Note: Attachments are not available with on-line version. Sorry.

CSF 1: Executive Leadership and Involvement

1.1 Executive Leadership

  • A North Star Project Manager shall be appointed by the Executive Director of the Office of Technology in consultation with project participants. The specific duties shall be based on a non-temporary classification of the current North Star Project Team Leader position. See attachment 1.1.
  • The North Star Project Manager will represent the project in high-level relationships with state agencies, local governments, and other government units involved with publicly accessible online services. The North Star Project Manager shall in conjunction with the Executive Director of the Office of Technology, hire appropriate staff. In total, the currently envisioned North Star Project staff will consist of 6-8 FTE positions. The staff will represent a leadership structure and participation support for government-wide development of direct public-government interaction through information technology.

1.2 North Star Partnership and Involvement

  • Enacting legislation for North Star shall establish the framework for official government unit participation in the initiative. General legislative authorization shall enable multiple levels of involvement that shall be specifically defined and structured by the project to ensure broad government participation and citizen input.
  • The current North Star Project by its nature represents one of the most collaborative government initiatives to date, however, in its current form, the capacity for formal involvement and coordination is limited. There is likely no government branch, state agency, local government, college, school, library, or other government units and intergovernmental efforts that will not be affected by future government online activities. One core staff position would be assigned to outreach and coordination to enable the mix of policy and planning efforts across government that will in the end present a seamless package of government services directly to the public. See attachment 1.2 for details on MN-GOV-NORTHSTAR, the world’s largest state-level e-mail collaboration forum for government online development which has close to 300 participants from across the public sector.
  • A potential North Star Partnership for active participants, advanced development, additional support and project review that is made up of representatives from a core of highly involved government units and organizations would assist the project’s advancement once it receives official legislative status.

CSF 2: Policies, Standards and Guidelines

2.1 Government online Policies, Standards, and Guidelines

  • The next phase of the North Star Project is fundamentally about providing the necessary resources for the development of policies, standards and guidelines that provide a dynamic and stable development structure for publicly accessible online government information and services.
  • These policies, standards, and guidelines will focus on the development of the information and service resources designed for direct public access. Internet standards from the Internet Engineering Task Force, the World-Wide-Web Consortium and those adopted by the Information Policy Office, the Information Policy Council, and others present a technical foundation for information systems development. Close coordination with these bodies will be essential.
  • North Star sponsored policy, standard, and guideline development processes will focus on those areas essential to the development of a seamless government agency, service, and over the long run an information locator that may be accessed in an user-friendly manner through multiple technologies and is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Additional guidelines, policies and standards would promote government unit specific and intergovernmental government online application planning. In the end North Star activity is more about the application’s interface design, content format, transactional service security than what an agency says about itself on its own World-Wide-Web site or traditional information system issues of a more technical behind the scenes nature.

2.2 Possible Policies, Standards and Guideline Activity

  • The new North Star front-end will serve as an agency and service locator. The main menu page itself on North Star now has over 4,000 visitors a week. This page serves at the “single-window” to government and should be crafted to intuitively present the well designed options for accessing and navigating all of Minnesota government online. In Internet terms it is best described as a Minnesota government-focused advanced version of “Yahoo!” (http://www.yahoo.com). A set of standard database fields will be defined and modeled in its distributed operation in large part as a scaled up version of the intergovernmental environmental education project called SEEK (http://www.seek.state.mn.us). Widely distributed access will be given to government units to input, update, and enhance core directory and frequently requested information remotely via the WWW. A database designer and meta-data expert will lead staff efforts in the development and implementation of such a directory. The manual maintenance of this information on current North Star directory pages is unsustainable and an automated indexing solution is a top priority. The new directory server has been given the temporary development code name of “Aurora”. See attachments 2.2.A for example print outs of “single-widow” front ends including the current North Star main menu.
  • A “Government Online Best Practices and Planning Guide” focused on Minnesota government could be modeled on the new guide from the Center for Technology in Government’s “Developing & Delivering Government Services on the World Wide Web” which was designed for New York State Government. They reference the 1995 draft Information Policy Office IRM guideline titled, “Internet Access and Information Dissemination: Selected Topics” which has not been updated or reviewed in some time. At this point it is clear that the issue of providing the publicly accessible government online services is a fundamentally different policy issue from issues related to government staff access or use of external resources on the Internet. At the state government level, the Information Policy Office and Information Policy Council should retain and increase their level of activity in related policy areas. In concert with these and other governmental organizations, the North Star Project shall take the lead in those focused areas where direct public interaction with government through information services is provided. For references to various resources, please see attachment 2.2.B for printout of the contents of the North Star Development Center and the summary from the CTG guide.
  • Guidelines related to the use of standard content formats will be essential to promote scalable use through user preferred interaction technologies. This will help ensure the broadest public access to the “digital source” of a document or service, including access by the disabled. See the section 4 on Models for details on the use of the Internet for multi-technology access and design of the “digital source.”
  • The privacy and data practices implications of more advanced government online services (those that provide transactions or some level of personalization) must be addressed through policy processes and may require legislative action before the public will accept with confidence broad financial and other service transactions with government.

CSF 3: Planning

3.1 Information Resource Plan

  • The North Star budget and legislative proposals are in essence planning and leadership processes. They include basic implementation of those applications absolutely essential to ensure a basic level of user-focused activity that presents government and to a certain extent Minnesota as a whole to the public. Additional resources for the legislatively proposed North Star Online Development Fund allocated either this session or in the future would largely be focused on the development of a service-oriented transaction system for directly delivery of government services. This will require extensive planning, the current level of proposed resources of $600,000 a year would help support this planning process, but additional resources and funding mechanisms would have to be available at a future date.
  • The current information architecture of North Star is very basic. The are two distinct parts of the WWW service – the North Star directory pages and the shared WWW service called the “North Star Hotel.”
    • A. The North Star directory pages consist of a couple dozen WWW pages that help users navigate from government unit to government unit or they provide access to various project or external resources on the Internet. These pages are currently manually edited (versus the proposed database directory) and not much more complicated than the creation of a word processing file. See attachment 3.1.A for sample directory pages.
    • B. The North Star Hotel’s information architecture is also extremely simple. An agency requests space on the WWW server and is given a login, password, and “virtual hosted” space for their HTML (hyper-text mark-up) files and graphics. The virtual host ensures that an agency may move WWW servers without having to change their publicly distributed WWW address (i.e. www.xxxx.state.mn.us) – a key to ensuring competition and portability over the long run. The University of Minnesota is on contract to provide support for the processing of account requests. The server is physically located at MNet in the Intertechnologies division of the Department of Administration. Once the technical account is established, agencies are 100 percent responsible for content development and maintenance. They develop their files on their local network and transfer the complete files to the WWW server in a few seconds via a file transfer program. There are now 49 state agencies with accounts. Around 30 have gone public with their WWW service. A rough estimate of total cost savings assuming that each agency would have gone online with their own server and dedicated at least 1/4 a staff position to establishment and technical maintenance of their server is in the range of $750,000. The estimated total expenditure for core North Star activities during its demonstration phase including staff time is less than $300,000. Agencies are responsible for the resource allocations related to content development. See attachment 3.1.B for a copy of the North Star Hotel Guideline. (A comprehensive list of agencies on the WWW, on our server, etc. will soon be updated.)
  • The future information architecture for the North Star Project and the general development of Minnesota government’s Internet-based applications should be reviewed and enhanced on a regular basis. While the WWW stands out in most people’s minds, a full information service requires the use and coordination of the public elements of a number of Internet-based services hosted by multiple state agencies. See attachment 3.1.C for a diagram of predicted Minnesota government Internet service developments. The primary anticipated technical investment as it relates to this proposal is focused on the “North Star Shared Server” (hotel) and the North Star ‘Aurora’ Server (Database Directory). The illustration seeks to display the depth and level of activity that will likely occur based on current trends.
  • The technical separation of the North Star Shared Server from the North Star “Yahoo!” style directory multiple technologies server is important to note. The issue of which hardware or software platform for these and other servers must be carefully evaluated. The size and complexity of government rule out the assumption that only one platform (Unix versus Window NT) will solve all of our technical needs. The technical needs for various project components must be evaluated based on the desired outcome and required system performance. For example, the technical complexity of the North Star Shared Server, currently a SunSparc20 workstation running on the Solaris 2.4 Unix operating system (will soon be upgraded to 2.6) , allows for remote administration and extremely easy use by government agencies on the “hotel.” However, the envisioned North Star directory server may find an advantage in the use of Windows NT based on its database oriented scheme. These issues will have to be examined closely before any decisions are made.
  • The North Star Shared Server will likely be in a position to be “outsourced” to MNet or potentially to an outside Internet Service Provider. The chief technical position of the North Star staff core will be responsible for initial support of this service and its potential migration. The set-up and account administration of a basic WWW presence service is not unlike that of other Internet-related services provided by MNet, MRNet, and dozens of other companies. Some agencies currently purchase WWW space from outside sources and nothing would prevent a mix of providers from competing to provide WWW services to government in relationship to the North Star Project. The current basic WWW service will be expanded to include at least one enhanced tier of service that will require the development of an economic model for the support of such enhanced service. In addition to an enhanced tier, agencies need to be able to purchase necessary advanced development skills and tools within in a competitive framework not restricted based on the technical house which hosts their WWW service. Also, depending upon available resources, the goal of the North Star Project is to continue a level of “subsidized” service for basic WWW presence for at least an initial year of development. Since most large agencies are now on the WWW, this would benefit the smaller agencies considerably. A determination about providing basic or enhanced WWW service to local governments will have to be made based on the available resources and other policy considerations.

3.2 Project Management

  • The project will require a project manager that has both experience in the development and planning of online services, but also an understanding of and experience in the public sector. The level of skill required for those positions in the core staff team will be extremely high and competitive wage pressures from the private sector make it essential that the project be managed in a way the engages staff in a highly rewarding professional manner. Project manager connections to broader online activity in the state and other government online initiatives will be very important.
  • The project in its essence represents a coordination and collaboration effort that as a whole will seek to manage the direction and development of publicly accessible online government information and services. To that end, the following positions will likely make up the core North Star staff team of 6-8 full time equivalents:
    • Project Manager
    • Database Designer
    • Section and Content Designer
    • Technical Coordinator
    • Collaboration and Outreach Coordinator
    • Development Fund Administrator (future)
    • General Office Support and Student Employees/Interns

3.3 Contract Management

  • The legislative authorization for development and coordination of government online contracts will be sought. This will be essential to positioning North Star as a purchaser of advanced online development tools and platforms versus a technical provider.
  • Depending upon legislative resources, a North Star Online Development Fund is envisioned. That fund would be used for both contracting online services for government-wide and agency specific use as well as grants for planning and intergovernmental applications development. A position to oversee these relationships and positions will be required if such a fund is established. The current budget does not include support for such a fund at this time, but is anticipated in future years.

3.4 Project Plans

  • A detailed time line for development of policy, guideline, and standard processes will need to be established.
  • A detailed time line for planning, demonstration and phased implementation of core services will need to be established.

3.5 Life cycle cost, Benefits & Risk

  • The North Star Project will evolve over time. To both the users and content and service providers the system will look radically different in a few years. The project name itself will go on indefinitely, however the current construct as it relates to the Office of Technology and other government entities should be viewed as an incubation stage. Future legislative sessions will be faced with much more significant resource requests emerging from all corners of government, however, in the spirit of integration, the publicly accessible component of information technology investments should become a part of general government operations and proposals.
  • The North Star Project should assist agencies in the development of methods to evaluate the costs and benefits of government online activities. While the current level of government online investment is relatively limited, the long-term “tails” or commitments of service to the public are often viewed as high. The lack of a strategic investment in the mission of the North Star Project will present significant risks to the goal of cost-effective development.
  • The use of more “open systems” and widely used standards will minimize the risk of government investment in this area. The concept of the Internet and its system of standards development is still unfamiliar to most information resources management staff. The creeping of proprietary mentalities into the Internet environment can be seen in the current WWW browser wars between Netscape and Microsoft, where the addition of non-standard features attempts to build market share at the expense of an open information environment and in the end confuses users. The greatest risk to useful and cost-effective government online development is the investment of time and resources to produce content and features in non-standard formats.
  • One of the primary benefits of the use of core North Star services will be access to and use of more advanced tools across a wider swatch of government agencies. Another will be the ability of agencies to place their more stable content on the North Star Shared Server which will be placed for optimal access from the Internet community and have secondary servers at the agencies for more complex services or database interactions. The primary benefit of such an arrangement will be the reduction of public Internet traffic into the State’s network unless absolutely necessary.

3.6 Estimated Project Costs (DRAFT):

  • Based on a budget of $600,000 a year, including staff costs, the following estimated project costs per year are as follows:
  • $200,000 – North Star Database-driven Directory Server – Planning, Development, and Phase Implementation
  • $100,000 – North Star Shared Server – Continuation, Improvement and Expansion
  • $100,000 – North Star Project Support for Coordination and Collaboration Policy Activities
  • $100,000 – General Office Expenses – Rent, Supplies, Personal Computers*
  • $50,000 – Additional North Star Supported Services – Potentially include North Star “Alta Vista” Style Search Engine, Electronic Conferencing Tools, Audio Server Access, and experimentation with secure WWW server applications.
  • $50,000 – Educational and Public Outreach Efforts
  • $0 – North Star Online Development Fund – Current
  • Total – $600,000 per year
  • * The potential co-location of staff with an advanced development team based on the level of anticipated funding for information technology oriented initiatives in higher education, K-12, trade and economic development and other public sector online areas should be considered in order to bring down costs and expand diffusion of expertise and standard applications.
  • Also see attachment 3.6 for sample cost allocation sheets from the Center for Technology in Government. While geared to agency specific online project, they will be useful in identifying more specific cost allocations.

CSF 4: Models

The use of modeling will be essential to the design and operation of user-friendly, distributed, cost-effective, and useful government online services. The following modeling work is envisioned:

  1. Data Model
    • The primary data modeling initiative will be the most important part of the design of the North Star database driven directory server. This server will be host the content and database used as the public front end to all of Minnesota government over time.
    • Over time government units will want to move from static WWW pages to database driven services as well. The components of more sophisticated services could be outlined in a data model to promote creation of modules for specific government unit use. (i.e. the similarity in content and service by counties lends itself to the development of a prototype county, city, school district, etc. WWW presence/server.)
  2. Process Model
    • Models displaying the process for North Star development of policies, standards, and guidelines as well as how general Internet standards development processes will impact Minnesota efforts will be useful.
    • Suggested government unit WWW management, content, and technical development models would help government units address the organizational issues and conflicts that often arise with the use of this cross function cutting medium.
    • A model that explored the “public’s” interaction with government online and government in general would assist with the design of the navigation, search, and keyword indexing scheme used to allow various avenues for public interaction with government online. As the “one-start” to government, North Star must develop a system which serves multiple audiences and needs from an integrated perspective. See attachment 4.2 from the Government of Victoria, Australia for an example of intergovernmental public service modeling.
  3. Event Model
    • The strategic “to do” list for the various project priorities will be needed to create realistic timeline for implementation of required project improvements.
    • An event model which laid out a suggested government unit development process that included initial basic planning, experience building, detailed planning, and large scale implementation process would be of use.
  4. Technology Model
    • The basic technology model for the North Star Shared Server was described in the information architecture section 3.1.B. The current implementation is not dramatically different from other Internet WWW presence providers. General technology models from this industry would be useful in project development.
    • The most significant advancement in the North Star Project’s perspective toward service to the citizen, is to position the “digital source” for access through multiple technologies. One example is the use of the WWW as a platform for integrated telephone access through interactive voice response and FAX-back. Attached are two diagrams from the Web-On-Call product which illustrate this concept. This approach will demonstrate the value of integrated access to the “digital source” versus burdensome maintenance of different versions of the same information or services for different technologies.

CSF 5: Information Resource Organization

The substance of this document extensively describes how the North Star Project as a whole is an information resource organization that will represent the overall coordination, collaboration and management structure for government-wide online development.

The organization must engage in activities that provide for direct public outreach and input into future resource dedications in the government online activity. This can be done through the use of surveys and comment form, focus group meetings, usability testing, and analysis of summary use statistics. As more is learned about the public demand function in this area, government units and legislature will need to use that information in the prioritization of expenditures and allocations of resources on government online initiatives.

CSF 6: Skills

  1. 6.1 Organization IR Skills
    • A North Star Project will require a high concentration of information resource skills. The types of position to be created based on the limited level of resources will present a significant challenge to the project. As noted above the competitive wage pressures in the Internet expertise market may make it difficult to retain staff unless the operation presents professional opportunities and intangibles not available elsewhere. With this in mind the project must establish mechanisms for access to external skills based for short-term needs and developments. It must also develop formal mechanisms to share or borrow staff time with other government units. The skills needed to move North Star forward exist across the public sector, the challenge that must be met is the establishment of formal mechanisms that would allow for skills exchange toward the goals of a comprehensive project from the experience gained in the creation of government unit specific online applications.

6.2 Project Skills

  • The core North Star team position titles have emerged from extensive experience and analysis. At a minimum the project requires the following skills: project management, strategic planning, technical coordination, technical knowledge and experience including use of multiple technologies, content and editorial, indexing and librarian skills, electronic conferencing, training, multimedia development, human factors design and testing, security analysis, outreach and communication, contract management, office and fiscal support, and likely many others.
  • The core North Star team will also be called on to provide extensive skill support to government online initiatives across the public sector. In some cases the core North Star team will be in a position to help government units directly, in other cases the North Star team will be a facilitator directing requests toward other public sector or private sector entities that may be of assistance.