Re: [Ag Meinungsfindungstool] [MG] [NCDD] Invitation to join the Online Dialogue and Deliberation Infrastructure Working Group

[Mark Frischmuth <mark AT democracylab.org>]

Hello everyone,

I've been following conversations on this list with quite a bit of interest.  Many of you know me from my past participation here, thought I've been listening more than talking as of late.

I'll talk a little bit about the ODDI (Online Dialogue and Deliberation Infrastructure) list referenced here, and how it's similar and different from Metagovernment.

First, the differences:
- Primarily non-technical.  I believe that the majority of folks on the ODDI list are not software developers.  They believe in the idea but don't possess the skills to code themselves (like me).  They're primarily practitioners in public engagement.  A major aim of the group is to translate the best practices from real world public engagement into online tools and platforms that can be used to enhance in-person public engagement efforts.
- More about engagement than voting.  Much of the conversation on the MG list is around various forms of voting, and how online communities can take binding decisions on issues of concern.  I believe this is very important, but it's not the primary focus of the NCDD crowd, which is more concerned with creating community and civil dialogue, gaining understanding of various points of view, and informing decision makers.
- Short term focus on the Catalyst Awards. NCDD is sponsoring two Catalyst Awards: http://ncdd.org/catalyst-awards, providing $10k of funding to collaborative projects with the potential to have significant impact on the field of dialogue and deliberation.  The ODDI group was formed with the specific intent of submitting a collaborative proposal in response to this opportunity.  Hopefully this is just the beginning of our work together, but it seemed prudent to start with a tangible short-term focus.

And similarities:
- Commitment to open source: so far everyone I've talked to in the group shares the belief that there's no one right way to do online engagement, and the smartest approach is to create open source/open standards tools that can adapt and evolve to the needs of various communities and practitioners.
- A belief in the transformative potential of the idea.  Several of the luminaries in the Dialogue and Deliberation field who spoke at the conference expressed the opinion that there's no more critical issue to address than improving the effectiveness of online tools for dialogue and deliberation.

Perhaps a topic for another thread relates to point #2 on differences above, engagement vs. voting.  I think the central question here relates to authority - voting is meaningful as long as a community has the ability to to make a binding decision and take meaningful action.  In the absence of that authority, all the community can hope to do is inform/influence decision makers, which *may* make voting less important.

A few final things:
The nonprofit I've founded has the vision of creating open source online tools to help communities identify problems, construct solutions, make decisions and take collaborative action.
For those unfamiliar, you could find info here: www.democracylab.org, 
try our demo here: https://democracylab.herokuapp.com,
check out our code here: https://github.com/bnfb/DemocracyLab/issues?state=open
or if you live in Portland, Seattle, or Salt Lake City, join us to talk in person here: http://www.meetup.com/DemocracyLab/

Also, the ODDI group has no specific geographic focus, though most on the list are American (and a few Canucks!).

I'll look forward to any input from this group.  Specifically, if you believe an extensible open source foundation for online engagement tools already exists (or is taking shape).

Cheers,
Mark

On Fri, Oct 26, 2012 at 4:31 AM, Michael Allan <mike AT zelea.com> wrote:

As a Canadian politician once said, "The Americans are our friends,
whether we like it or not."  ;^)

M

marc said:
> sounds as they are focused on the US only?
>
> But I think to come in touch is always a good thing.
>
> @Ed: Maybe we can subscribe with our possible new metagovernment mailing
> list to all those we want to contact and join forces with?

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