10 apps for development

These are not the top ten social applications of history, or the region, or the year. They are a se-lection that covers a wide spectra of needs and situations to show the potential of civic tools to generate change in our societies.

This selection comes from the Latin American re-gion, but also from other parts of the world that may have different realities, but can always find similar applications.

As always, we are looking to inspire the deve-lopment of more of these applications by showca-sing what is out there, therefore contributing our bit to improving our realities with the help of infor-mation and communication technologies.

INTRODUCTION

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MY SOCIETY, UK

1. ALAVETELLI

A small town in Finland is the inspiration for the name of this project. That is where Anders Chydenius lived, who laid the foundation of the first Access to Public Information law in history, adopted in Sweden in 1766. As you can imagine at this point, it is a project that makes it possible to make Access to Information Public requests through the web. As a matter of fact, this is the software on which the first site of this type (What-DoTheyKnow?, 2008) was published, now relea-sed as open software and made available to other organizations.

In addition to the merit of being the first, Alaveteli is an ambitious project launched by My Society that seeks to facilitate the creation of Access to Public Information websites worldwide. Thanks to the provision of complete documentation, ex-tensive outreach and full support of a dedicated team committed to provide this kind of tools to more countries, the platform is now available in more than 14 countries or territories, including Brazil and Uruguay in Latin America.

WHY IT’S ON THIS LISTFirstly because it is a project much broader and more ambitious than the original site, which al-ready allowed thousands of people around the world easy access to making Access to Public Information request, without the need to do so in person. The platform has also served as a tool for improving access to information policies in vir-tually all countries in which it has been installed, it was part of the campaign that culminated in the adoption of a law of access to information in Spain, and it was key for the recognition of email as valid means for making official requests in Uru-guay, among other things.

In fact, the scale of the project has led to a com-prehensive global study on websites that allow for Access to to Public Information requests by the Research Team at MySociety, proving once again that the vision of this—now global—project is much broader than the original site, with the potential of becoming the standard for Access to Public Information online.

KEY POINTSOpen Software

Citizen Participation

Participation/collaboration with government

Involucramiento de la sociedad civil

Uses Open Data or Services

Generates and Publishes New Data

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https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/




http://alaveteli.org/

http://alaveteli.org/

https://www.mysociety.org/

https://www.mysociety.org/

GOVERNMENT OF MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL

2. DATAVIVA

In collaboration with a MIT Media Lab team led by Professor César A. Hidalgo, the Government of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais created Da-taViva with the intention of closing the gap bet-ween the availability of open data and the ability of people without technical knowledge or resour-ces to visualize, analyze, interpret and derive va-lue from these data.

Beyond being and exercise in visualization and a tool for transparency, it is a site aimed at at indus-trialists, businessmen, exporters and regional go-vernments. Probably the best way to define it is as a government-developed strategic planning tool for open data, which has been made availa-ble to the public so that others can generate va-lue too.

WHY IT’S ON THIS LISTThis is the most ambitious known effort to make highly complex data available for the entire popu-lation through visualizations that are easily gene-rated and simple to interpret. While the idea of visualizing published data is not unique—in fact, it’s incorporated in the latest versions of portals like CKAN, Socrata or Junar—, few projects have a comparable level of development, depth (10 years of data from various issues) and granula-rity (you can analyze by state or by every Brazi-lian municipality) in the offered visualizations. Mo-re importantly, few data visualization projects dis-play such a clear benefit to a large segment of society, particularly for strategic planning.







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http://dataviva.info/




LA FACTURA, PERU

3. DATEA

A "datero" in Peru is a public transport worker whose role is to record the time and destination of the "combis" (buses) that carry passengers to notify companies and drivers that hire them. The site Datea has the tagline "we are all dateros", which perfectly describes the role of the tool—not because its subject is public transportation, but because it provides users the possibility to collect data individually, or along others in the community, to visualize and analyze problems and claim or seek solutions to them.

It is a platform where anyone can create an "initia-tive" by adding texts, photos, links or at-tachments to geographical points on a map. It is used on a wide variety of topics, from cycling to security, sustainability and gender equality.

The maps are user-friendly and encite participa-tion, they allow comments on the items and are easily shareable with other users, to enhance (as explained on the site) “the intelligence, strength and voice of your community".

WHY IT’S ON THIS LISTThis is not the first tool for collective mapping, nor is it the first with a social element (that honor probably belongs to Ushahidi), but its focus on ease of use, its social potential and its orientation in opening data have made it a platform useful for people without resources or advanced techni-cal knowledge.

On the other hand, it is the most transversal case on this list, adding value to the a variety of to-pics. That makes it an appealing tool to a huge audience, not only in the topical sense, but also geographically, as users can be from anywhere in the world.







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http://datea.pe/

http://datea.pe/

http://www.ushahidi.com/

http://www.ushahidi.com/

INFOAMAZÔNIA, BRAZIL

4. INFOAMAZÔNIA

This project, focused on the protection of the Amazon, combines open data collection, publica-tion, visualization and download in journalis-tic-style articles that tell stories supported by maps that display data. This dynamic gives data a “full cycle”, going from the collection, to the pro-cessing, to the storytelling.

The maps, articles and data published in Infoa-mazonia about displacement, exploitation of natu-ral resources, access to water, labor abuses and much more can be downloaded, shared and em-bedded into websites. The tool is successful be-cause of its usefulness to the public in general, and in particular for journalists and activists working in defense of this fundamental "lung" of the planet.

WHY IT’S ON THIS LISTThis is an interesting case because it focuses on digital activism without falling into a plain “aware-ness raising” campaign without much depth, like so many other efforts. This is probably due to its close connection with journalism—in particular data journalism—, as the project is supported by a network of journalists, citizens and NGOs that spans across nine countries. The case becomes even more interesting considering the fact that not all databases are governmental. The site invi-tes users to participate by uploading and sha-ring data and stories.







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http://infoamazonia.org/




IMCO, MEXICO

5. MEJORA TU ESCUELA

This is probably the largest and most recognized open data project focused on citizen participa-tion and transparency in education. Based on pu-blic statistical data, this tool allows Mexican pa-rents and students to know the performance of any school in the country, compare them with other educational establishments (in the area or anywhere else) and see their positions in a state ranking.

Mejora tu Escuela also allows users to provide feedback through an onine form to grade tea-chers’ attendance and preparation, school infras-tructure, parental participation, and transpa-rency. And to complete the flow of curiosity, inte-rest and action, the site lists tools and programs that support school improvement.

WHY IT’S ON THIS LISTEducation is a sensitive and difficult issue to co-ver in a balanced way and without stigmatizing in any country. This tool accomplishes this cove-rage and is not limited to the display of data, as it shows the user which paths to take for action, based on the steps recommended on the websi-te.

While a map of school choices is extremely valua-ble in itself, a tool that directs efforts towards school improvement through parents and stu-dents participation has a greater chance for suc-cess and is much more sustainable.







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http://www.mejoratuescuela.org/

http://www.mejoratuescuela.org/

OPEN KNOWLEDGE, UK

6. OPEN SPENDING

This platform is, all at once, an open database for centralized public financial information, a community of users who analyze it, and a series of open resources for visualizing and analyzing it. In short, this site, created by Open Knowledge and built upon their previous project Where Does My Money Go?, allows any user to download or create and share data visualizations of public ex-penditure across 72 countries through 923 data sets.

Open Spending is a tool that has been widely used for academic research and data journalism —in fact, the site provides a series of guides to help journalists identify patterns of tax evasion, tools for understand public spending, and other resources.

WHY IT’S ON THIS LISTThe misuse of public money is possibly the first item in terms of priorities and interest of all efforts related to transparency at government level. This tool is the largest and most successful project in that sense, and its ultimate goal is to complete a single, global database where you can see—and compare—government expenditures. Along this goal, the project also proposes a standardization of public spending data.

In addition, thanks to this tool’s open architecture and API, others can use it as a database to build or derive other websites and tools. For example, if a journalist wanted to show spending in her country on a news website, she can create a sophisticated visualization taking data from the API and simply embed the visualization on a web-page, as if it were a video from YouTube.

KEY POINTS

Open Software






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http://wheredoesmymoneygo.org/




http://openspending.org/

http://openspending.org/

NOSSAS CIDADES, BRAZIL

7. PANELA DE PRESSÃO

Using this online application, citizens in several Brazilian cities that make up the Nossas Cidades (Our Cities) network can raise issues to get support from the community and directly impart pressure to politicians and authorities to bring about change. The name in English means "pressure cooker", and it could not be more ade-quate; the general goal of the platform is perfec-tly summarized on the website: "this is not a peti-tion website; the pressure here is direct!"

Any citizen can generate a campaign explaining a problem and presenting the position using text, video or photos. Initiatives are distributed by their promoters and they make it possible that any citizen email and even call the people (not offices or agencies) they want to push for the change.

WHY IT’S ON THIS LISTOf all the platforms that crowdsource signatures or petitions, this one achieves a more active and mobilizing profile, perhaps due to the somewhat combative tone, or maybe to the polished interfa-ce.

But its focus on pressuring specific people rather than organizations seems to be a factor that has helped achieve victory in plenty of the mobiliza-tions enhanced by the platform.

The success has also been a matter of timing, as Brazil recently lived a time of mass mobilizations promoted through social media, where the slo-gan "we came from the networks to the streets" was one of the central ideas.







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http://paneladepressao.nossascidades.org/

http://paneladepressao.nossascidades.org/

CIUDADANO INTELIGENTE, CHILE & MY SOCIETY, UK

8. POPLUS

This is not a specific tool, nor does it "do" one specific thing; in fact, it’s defined as a "open fede-ration with members all over the world". Poplus is something like a "meta tool" that offers compo-nents that perform very specific tasks (e.g., show searchable transcripts, save and publish lists of people, assigning a geographic point the local government) that are used in social applica-tions all around the world. They seek to be as ge-neric and universal as possible so that they can be reused without restrictions related to langua-ge, political system, or legislature.

In essence, this is a way to optimize time and re-sources for organizations working in the field of civic technology, giving a twist to the traditional model of free software and open source by crea-ting small, basic elements that are easy to reuse and share.

WHY IT’S ON THIS LISTIt is very likely that we are facing the most ambi-tious international effort (beyond the founding or-ganizations, others are already participating in various forms from all over the world) of collabo-rative work civic applications by civil society in the world. Its potential is huge and the results are beginning to show.

Beyond that, the basic idea of sharing "compo-nents" with high specificity—if successful—can be applied to many different fields related (or not) to civic technology. Perhaps before long, the governments of the region, or across the globe, can use this same concept to unite the various initiatives of Public Software they are pursuing.







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http://poplus.org/

http://poplus.org/

DATA, URUGUAY

9. POR MI BARRIO

There are dozens of applications that allow citi-zens to place demands of the city on a map and Por Mi Barrio is an evolution of one of the most successful and popular ones, Fix My Street. However, this one introduces a much deeper and unprecedented integration with local go-vernment systems. Each report entered through Por Mi Barrio, automatically generates a new Re-cord in the Single Claims System in the Municipa-lity of Montevideo.

From there the application also receives each update on this claim, such as the scheduled da-te for a commission visit or internal comments en-tered in the complaint entry, until it is resolved. The result is that it displays a comprehensive view of the entire resolution process,

from the internal timestamps to comments made by individual officials, allowing the complainant not only to obtain solutions but to also unders-tand their role in a broader process, while allowing the local government to show their work in detail.

WHY IT’S ON THIS LISTThe project is characterized by a holistic concep-tualization of the challenge to solve, which has important technology components but goes far beyond this area. The level of integration and trust in the local government, a complete revamp to the interface to improve its usability, the incor-poration the Office of the Neighbor (Neighbor Ombudsman) as guarantor of the processes and an intense fieldwork to take the platform to users of all socioeconomic levels, make this a broad vision project.







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http://pormibarrio.org/

http://pormibarrio.org/

http://fixmystreet.com/

http://fixmystreet.com/

LA NACIÓN DATA, ARGENTINA

10. VOZ DATA

The newspaper La Nación already had a data team with various projects under its belt when it launched VozData, an open collaboration platform that, unlike other applications of data journalism, does not focus in data visualization, but in transforming public documents (usually pu-blished as PDF documents) into open, computer-readable data, capable of being analyzed and published.

It is newspaper readers who, through this tool, read the documents and fill short forms with key data and confirm data uploaded by other users. A task that would be Herculean for the news team becomes achievable thanks to crowdsour-cing and even increases the transparency when the quality of public information is low.

WHY IT’S ON THIS LISTThis idea, enhanced by the fact of being suppor-ted by news media, was very successful in achie-ving open information in Argentine Senate expen-ditures. Its users have reviewed over 1,600 docu-ments, clearly making an impact on an audience interested in improving transparency by lowering greatly the access barrier to collaboration through a user-friendly system. Another strong point is the collaboration with civil society groups working on legislative issues, ensuring demand for "liberated" data.







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http://vozdata.lanacion.com.ar/

http://vozdata.lanacion.com.ar/

At GobApp, an idea lab supported by the Inter American Development Bank (IADB) and the birthpla-ce of the YoGobierno.org project, we are also creating new tools to build together the road towards development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

One of them is the Somos Afro platform, which connects African-descent citizens with the municipali-ties of their countries in the search of co-created solutions to local problems. For this, it uses an open system of collective proposal and online voting.

We also want to invite you to participate in Gob247, the first Virtual and Collaborative

Open Government Manual. On it, people around the world can collaborate with their knowledge, in the construction of a manual, thanks to innovative and intuitive tools for online collaboration.

OUR BIT

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http://gobapp.com/

http://gobapp.com/

http://yogobierno.org/


http://somosafro.org/

http://somosafro.org/

http://gob247.org/

http://gob247.org/

Once again, we extend a big thank you to the agencies and go-vernments that are part of theYoGobierno initiative: the IDB through its Division of Institutional Capacity, the governments of Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Paraguay, Pana-ma, Ecuador, Chile, Dominican Republic and the Organization of American States (OAS).

To the authors who publish on the site and to all users who sent contributions to the site.

To all platforms that are dedicated to spreading Government 2.0 initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean, thanks to those who disseminate content of enormous value.

AKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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GobApp 2014

Content under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Sha-reAlike

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http://gobapp.com

http://gobapp.com

10 apps for development

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