derekeder
commented
5 years ago Thanks to everyone who participated in this group! Here's a summary of the high-level points we discussed:
- The open data portal is a great first step in transparency, but there is still a lot to be done on accessibility of that data. Reading and understanding the data and what it means to an individual needs a lot of work. Tools like Power BI and Tableu show some potential to begin to address this.
- Much of the data that is released on the open data portal vary greatly in quality and reliability, yet there is no indication of this that is presented. Some datasets have not been updated in a long time, others are known to have unreliable fields, and some are very high quality. Put in place a way to measure and display these kinds of quality measures.
- The CPD reported crimes 2001 - present, have a 'domestic violence' flag that is misleading. There is a lot more nuance to its meaning, and there is no documentation provided that explains it.
- Inspired by the Cook County Assessor's Chi Hack Night Talk, the City should be more proactive about publishing code and algorithms, not just data. It is increasingly the case that code is policy and releasing it is necessary to keep up with expectations of transparency.
- There is a fundamental lack, even for city staff, to have a centralized place for seeing data and other key performance indicators. It seems like WindyGrid is an attempt to achieve this, but it does not cover all key performance indicators. Do all City departments have key performance indicators (KPIs)?
- Much communication at the city happens on a 1:1 basis over email and phone calls. For the development teams, it has been very beneficial to push conversations onto shared messaging systems like GitHub issues. As turnover is a fact of working at the city, having better conversation and documentation patterns would ease the transition when critical staff leave.
- When it comes to building technology, the needs of the resident and end-user are rarely advocated for and represented in priorities. There is often no one who's job it is to advocate for this critical group of users when it comes to deploying digital services. This needs to change if the City wants to get better at delivering digital services.
- https://311.chicago.gov and the Chi311 mobile app were raised up as positive examples of well designed projects by the City.
- On the topic of public comment, public meetings are held at times and locations that leave many people out of the conversation. As a result, the public comments that are collected do not represent the voices of the community. Some online platforms have been piloted in the past, but seemingly with limited success. However, if you pull up an article on Block Club posted to Facebook, it is clear that there is no shortage of interest and participation when it comes to local development projects. Why can't social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter be treated as legitimate forums to collect public comment? It strikes me that there would be no way for the City to build a tool that was better than Facebook - so why not use the platforms that people are already on?
About the group
I (Derek Eder) have been invited to join Mayor-Elect Lightfoot's transition team on Good Governance. As part of that team, I would like to hear from you the wonderful people of Chi Hack Night.
Here's the high level prompt: What do you think the next mayor should do to increase transparency, accessibility, accountability and equity in Chicago?
The areas of focus for the Good Governance team are:
Group leaders
Derek Eder
Who we're looking for
Anyone who has interacted with the City government, good or bad.
Tools
This will be a conversation. Bring your thinking caps!
Relevant Links
https://bettertogetherchicago.com/
Where we meet
We will meet in the auditorium.