Civic Applications

In the first two sessions we looked at access to computing and networks. In the next two sessions we looked at information systems support for organizations that act in the public interest. Now we turn our attention to information systems that directly serve the public interest. They may be independently operated or operated by an organization with a broader public interest mission. These civic applications can serve functions such as:

• political mobilization. E.g., MoveOn CitizenSpeak
• coordination of collective action. E.g., PledgeBank
• Coordination of favor sharing. E.g., Freecycle, or RideNow
• public dialog. E.g., E-thepeople
• citizen journalism. E.g., IndyMedia OhMyNews
• peer production. E.g., Wikipedia

Please take a look at the sites and also post suggestions of other examples or, even better, other types of civic applications. In the past year or so, Drupal (on which this CIC site is built) has become the platform of choice for many civic applications. George Hotelling, winner of the first Pizzigati prize for his work on CitizenSpeak, will be here on Friday. We'll also have class member Lev Rickards talk about his summer internship working with , a consulting company in the political realm that makes extensive use of the Drupal platform, though that might wait until next Friday.