The gap between information and presentation is a wide one even when information is simple and presentation simply means choosing the right words. If you're working with complex policy issues and technologies like cell phones and web charts, then that gap gets even wider.
To bridge divides between groups like ours—those that focus on oil and mining policy—and experts in digital tools, Revenue Watch has been working with the Transparency and Accountability Initiative to create new chances for tech experts and natural resource NGOs to learn from each other.
Last week our plans reached an important milestone, when more than 20 advocacy groups and tech experts met for a "Bridging Session" designed to go beyond talk of "shiny" tools and oversized PDFs about policy, to thoughtful conversations about when a cutting edge web tool will or won't make a difference, and how the busy staff of an average-size NGO can plan ahead for sustainable tech successes.
Organizations including RWI and Global Witness joined local groups from Latin America and Nigeria, among other places, to exchange ideas with technologists from DevelopmentSeed, the Open Knowledge Foundation, Sunlight Labs and a community of hackers reaching from Uruguay to Estonia.
Groups with expertise in natural resource governance got what "clients" so often miss when they try out digital tools: the chance to discuss what fits their work best, and not just what is possible. One common theme that emerged was that groups will benefit from more preliminary planning discussions regarding which web and mobile efforts will reach the audience that matters most.
We were happy to find intense interest in the substance of our work. Not only were many "techies" intrigued by the linkages between oil policies, social conflict and poverty, they also stressed that without understanding the background of our work, they wouldn’t know what "hacks" work best.
Literally dozens of ideas came out of the three days, along with vivid examples of how online dissemination can make policy information more useful (see here and here, for instance). Some of the discussions may yield new web tools, some may result in new networks for future collaboration. We'll be posting responses from participants and progress reports throughout the coming weeks on the T/AI web site.
RWI was excited to see one simple demonstration of the power of hacking when colleagues from DevelopmentSeed and Open Knowledge Foundaton grabbed a few oil spill reports on Shell's public web site and built a map showing the location of each spill. Locked in a PDF file buried on a corporate web site, the data only means so much. But in under an hour, with some guidance from groups like Stakeholder Democracy Network, a map took shape that turns information into more of a story. As importantly, the map is based on newly-organized data that anyone can use to build up new knowledge about oil in the Niger Delta.
Convened by the T/AI in collaboration with Revenue Watch, Harvard University and Aspiration, this event is meant to be the beginning of a conversation, not a one-time encounter. When the right kinds of conversations happen, policy advocates and techies can create not only better tools, but better ways of working together.
