Open government is the governing doctrine which holds that citizens have the right to access the documents and proceedings of the government to allow for effective public oversight. I try to explain this concept with a historical anecdote plus an approach to the blue ocean strategy.

1. The Opportunity behind
Open Government
An unexplored ocean
Pablo Díaz
@pablodc

3. Vasco Núñez de Balboa:
The first European to make out the Pacific Ocean

4. He was also de the FIRST EUROPEAN to found a
lasting city on American continental lands.
Santa María la Antigua del Darién

5. In order to do this, he
established an
OPEN TOWN COUNCIL
Which elected a
MUNICIPAL
GOVERNMENT
(the first one in the
American continent)
We are hanging
around YEAR
1510!

6. OPEN TOWN COUNCIL?

7. TRADITIONAL OPEN TOWN COUNCILS used to
involve neighbor meetings in case of emergency.
They were usually summoned by the town council,
but only the most important ones would get such
invitation, thus leaving aside low class Creoles,
aboriginal people, women, slaves, people of mixed
race, and many others.

8. REVOLUTIONARY OPEN TOWN COUNCILS
The old tradition of open town councils came back
in 1810 after Napoleon held Ferdinand VII of Spain
under arrest in France.
The most well-known one is the one held on 22nd
May 1810 in Buenos Aires.

9. OPEN TOWN COUNCIL 22ND MAY 1810
CHRONOLOGY
Monday 21st May 1810: Four hundred and fifty
invitations were distributed among the most important
neighbors and authorities of the capital city. The guest
list was prepared by the Town Council with prominency
as the only criterion in mind. However, Agustín Donado,
mate to French and Beruti, the one in charge of printing
said invitations, printed so many more invitations that
he ended up distributing them among the Creoles too.
Tuesday 22nd May 1810: Out of the four hundred and
fifty invited neighbors and authorities, only around two
hundred and fifty attended. French and Beruti,
commanding six hundred armed men carrying knives,
blunderbusses, and rifles, managed to take control of the
access to the town square so as to make sure the town
council got taken by Creoles. That open town council
went on from morning until midnight. The main topic of
discussion was the legitimacy of the government and the
viceroy’s authority. It was eventually decided by the vast
majority that the viceroy was to be divested of his
power.

10. OPEN TOWN COUNCIL OF 22ND MAY 1810
CHRONOLOGY
Wednesday 23rd May 1810: After the Open Town Council
came to an end, several notices were posted across the
city to inform the population of the creation of a
committee and of the summoning of province
representatives while it also urged people not to cause a
breach of the peace.
Thursday 24th May 1810: The will of the Town Council
was not respected and a new committee was formed,
which gave the viceroy a “different post” but retained all
his authority. This caused unrest once again among the
working classes and the popular militias, which led to the
occupation of the town square by a mob that saw this
cunning argument as mockery towards the will of the
Open Town Council. Some soldiers rebel against this
decision and refuse to repress the agitators. Friday 25th
May 1810: Because of the delays in reaching a final
decision, in the course of the morning the mob gathered
around Plaza Mayor (currently known as Plaza de Mayo)
and started
yelling:

11. 21st MAY 1810
MAY REVOLUTION
The people want to know what it’s about
15th MAY 2011
15-M MOVEMENT

17. COMPARATIVE STUDY

18. OPEN TOWN COUNCIL
The people want to know what it’s about
OPEN GOVERNMENT

19. NEWS USED TO TRAVEL BY BOAT
VS
NEWS TRAVEL BY BITS

20. SLOW INFORMATION
TRANSMISSION
VS
FAST INFORMATION TRANSMISSION

21. THERE WERE FORBIDDEN BOOKS
PEOPLE WERE NOT PERMITTED TO
READ
VS
BOOKS YOU ARE NOT
PERMITTED TO DOWNLOAD

22. INFORMATION SHORTAGE
VS
INFORMATION WEALTH

23. BESIEGED BY NAPOLEONIC ARMIES
VS
BESIEGED BY THE CAPITAL MARKETS

24. GREED OVER THE LAND
VS
GREED OVER MONEY

25. IMPORTANT CITIZENS WERE
SUMMONED BY PERSONAL
INVITATION
VS
ANY CITIZEN CAN BE INVITED VIA EMAIL, WHATSAPP, ETC.

26. PROTESTS WERE HARD TO ORGANIZE
VS
PROTESTS ARE EASY TO ORGANIZE

27. FEW CITIZENS WITH PLENTY OF FREE TIME
NO
MANY CITIZENS WITH LITTLE FREE TIME

28. MORE TIME TO REFLECT
VS
LESS TIME TO REFLECT

29. OPENT TOWN COUNCIL
PARADOX?
OPEN GOVERNMENT

30. (LACK OF) INTEREST IN POLITICS
¿VS?
(LACK OF) INTEREST IN POLITICS

31. BLUE OCEAN?

34. CHANGING THE DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM?

35. CHANGING THE DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM?
Forced his way in in 1936…
Found his way out due to force majeure…
Finds his way in “digitally”
Finds his way out in XXXX due to
“big-game hunting”

36. WINNING THE ELECTIONS?

37. WINNING THE ELECTIONS?

38. CONNECTING WITH THE PEOPLE

39. CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE MEANS INNOVATING

40. INNOVATING MEANS RISKING

41. “I found it really sad, irritating, and
contemptible to listen to a socialist
spokesman showing off about the fact that
Spain is the third country, after Holland and
Belgium, to institutionalize gay marriage.”
“Abortion is not a legal right, just like gay
unions are not marriage”
RISKING MEANS MAKING PROGRESS

42. MAKING PROGRESS IS THE GOAL OF THE LEFT-WING FRONT

43. THE THREE PILLARS OF OPEN
GOVERNMENT

45. TRANSPARENCY JUST LIKE
INHIBITOR
FOR DEMOCRATIC DISAFFECTION

46. PARTICIPATION JUST LIKE
GAMIFICATION
OF THE DEMOCRATIC CULTURE

47. COLLABORATION JUST LIKE
CODEVELOPER
OF THE DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM

49. THE RAW MATERIAL OF THESE PILLARS

50. DATA

53. WITH THE PRESENT RAW MATERIALS AND TOOLS

54. WE MAY OBTAIN NEW WAYS OF CONNECTING AND TRANSMITING

55. EXAMPLES
OPEN GOVERNMENT

56. It provides updated information on empty properties so that communities are
allowed to find other ways of fitting these spaces.

57. It simplifies bureaucracy and all the requirements citizens need to register and start
new businesses by means of open-source software.

58. It is a simulator that helps people understand the impact public politics such as
health care reforms, changes in education, and education budget cuts will have on
local economies and communities.

59. It allows journalists, academics, and the general public to obtain, in an
uncomplicated fashion, Estate Court appeal papers summarizing in an approachable
language the desicions made, giving out free audio extracts, and much more.

60. It makes interaction with the government much easier by simplifying the hiring and
licensing processes so that SMEs may operate with the government in a much faster
and uncomplicated fashion.

61. It promotes governmental innovation by creating tools and servers that fulfill
government regulation so that developers can build and adapt new technologies
easily.

62. It is a tool thought to simplify information related to local planning projects. This is
done by means of a tool used by governments and contractors that provides a
simplified way of creating updated websites gathering the opinion of the people.

63. It provides Chicago’s most poverty-stricken neighborhoods with the tools needed to
access and demand their government to supply them with information on important
issues, such as education and housing.

64. EXAMPLES
OPEN POLITICAL PARTIES

69. It allows organizations to create real-time alerts for web or social media notices
regarding themselves or other relevant stakeholders and competitors. This service also
allows the electoral campaign team to respond to questions and comments efficiently.

73. It allows organizations to create real-time alerts for web or social media notices
regarding themselves or other relevant stakeholders and competitors. This service also
allows the electoral campaign team to respond to questions and comments efficiently.

75. It allows organizations to create real-time alerts for web or social media notices
regarding themselves or other relevant stakeholders and competitors. This service also
allows the electoral campaign team to respond to questions and comments efficiently.

80. Stu led the vision for the NGP VAN’s innovative new Social Organizing tool, which allows
campaign supporters to match their Facebook friends to the voter file. This way, a given
campaign may create target universes and supporters can use web-based tools like a
Virtual Phone Bank to engage their friends in that universe. Following the NGP VAN
merger, Stu led the launch of NGP VAN’s new Accelerator digital product, which is now
the most widely used website platform among Democratic candidates.

86. Thank you very much!
@pablodc