SXSW: In Code We Trust

Although this wasn't the panel I was planning to attend (Mobile UX was full), In Code We Trust, which addresses technology's role (especially open source) in government, was pretty interesting. Here's some takeaways:

• When selecting a software solution for a project, it's important to make sure at least one open source solution is evaluated.
• Open source is best because the public can evaluate the code.
• Use contests to get help in generating solutions for as many platforms as possible.
• In government, there's a lot of data. The challenge is to organize and share the data in a user friendly way. Dashboards are a good example of this.
• By promoting open source you can build a community that interacts with the government day-to-day. An example would be making public requests open to the public...basically keeping everyone on the same page.
• To address the digital divide, multiple channels are used. SMS is typically the lowest common denominator for mobile.

Here's a few examples or references from the seminar:

• http://track.dc.gov/
• http://www.openmuni.org/
• http://open311.org/