“Which is the best government? The one who teaches us to govern ourselves.”, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Since the creation in 1969 of the ARPANET computer network, the forerunner of what we currently know as the Internet, the network of networks has undergone numerous evolutions. Surely its creators could not foresee the true repercussion that the dizzying explosion that the Internet and everything related to the virtual has had for our lives, forty years later.
It is, without a doubt, the democratization of the network one of the most relevant developments and one that will continue to generate the greatest future impact. This phenomenon is born from the relationships between its millions of users through the network, where they coexist contributing opinions, collaborating, mixing, constantly improving the applications, ultimately growing together and turning the network itself into a giant that is increasingly solid, powerful and backbone.
The companies that have been able to interpret the sociological phenomenon that the Internet concealed have opted for an open, networked culture, capable of enhancing the capacity for innovation in products or services or of improving and optimizing management by competencies. of his collaborators. These companies have shown that the democratization of internal tools and processes is an essential link that has allowed them to boost intrapreneurial processes, improve internal and external relations, optimize their income statements and, ultimately, with their new ideas, products and services. , contribute to a healthy regeneration of the environment that surrounds them.
Once citizens, organizations Social networks and the companies themselves have understood the potential of the advances that the Internet has introduced, is it possible that these are also internalized by the forms of government?
Undoubtedly, a government concerned about its citizens should observe and analyze the processes that concentrate the opinion and efforts of hundreds of citizens, in which they coincidentally feel they are an active part. We have all felt the need, to a greater or lesser extent, to participate in the decision-making and reflection processes in the environments that surround us, whether through associations or at the university or in our jobs or simply in our family environment and friends. In all cases we want to feel part of the planning of the next holidays, the organization of the Christmas dinner or the fixing of the exam calendar. These examples illustrate how in our daily lives we are able to get involved in nearby governance processes. When we extrapolate this collaboration towards stadiums closer to the regional, national or European government, it seems that we are not able to find means beyond the vote or the tantrum in the media, but yes, always, and this is demonstrated by the statistics, with very little confidence in our ability to be heard or to influence the spheres of government.
Among the governments, their institutions and the citizens who participate in them, we have to explore new channels of information exchange, communication and for this there is no better example and testing ground than Internet< /strong>. Private initiatives have launched platforms such as Your Ideas Now that try to promote that communication. Advancing in this idea, led by the citizens and accompanied by the spheres of government, it would be necessary to explore the creation of forums for free participation for debate, the exchange of ideas, preparation of proposals,… An example to improve in this way are “Think tanks” which are organizations for research, analysis and implementation of public policies that allow, generally citizens linked to the academic or political world, a direct interaction with the government. The opening of this type of vehicle to all strata of society, as well as a complete disassociation from these channels, which do not give their opinions, any economic or political interest, will allow sharing ideas, thoughts and initiatives. In this way, we will achieve the generation of a democratic and shared thought that is vital for the health of our societies.
But our collaboration should not get bogged down in the mere list of proposals, but rather, if we really want open government to be a reality, we must get involved in the preparation of their proposals, actively assisting in the proposal of improvement proposals and corresponding action plans. For this, rulers must be able to open their virtual and real offices to citizens.
Of course we will find citizens who are not willing, a priori, to share ideas, provide solutions or adopt a critical spirit with their political co-religionists. For them, an open government, capable of exploring new formulas for government, citizen participation and collaboration, institutional cleanliness and administrative agility, must be a catalyst that repels this lack of co-responsibility.
As expected, this phenomenon begins to flourish in the areas of government closest to the citizen. Experiences like those of “Birmingham – Open City” makes us optimistic about its extrapolation to other layers of government that are not so close to the citizen. The day this happens, the government will no longer be the responsibility of a few, but rather we will all have assumed our joint responsibility in a government that looks to the future.
Apart from the necessary and constant presence on the Internet, from these lines we can highlight a series of actions to be explored and to which we can provide tools capable of stimulating the democratization of the government and its consequent opening to an increasingly participatory and co-responsible society:
• Open discussion forums, as valid or more valid than those opened by the media, which channel and encourage the desire to talk about things and contribute to improving social culture.
• Greater individual freedom in the adaptation of laws to the citizen.
• Monitoring of the data.
• Involvement of citizens in the development and application of laws.
• Collaboration of citizens, as promoters and end users, in the institutional architecture, as well as in the redesign of the administrative framework.