Gov 2.0 Expo Looks at Technology and Transparency
This week, technology leaders from the private and public sectors are headed to Washington, DC to explore how governments can use technology to become more transparent and better engage the public. This event Gov 2.0 Expo 2010 is one of a series of events hosted by O'Reilly Media and UBM Tech Web to look at the benefits and risks of strategies that local, state, and federal government agencies have used so far and to encourage more agencies to implement initiatives.
Access-to-justice community members may not recognize the Government 2.0 buzz word, but I hope they recognize how their work aligns with this movement.
Government 2.0 means doing more with small teams, and even the power of one. It means exploiting global creativity and changing workplace models and traditional designs for carrying out missions. It means infusing old processes with new technology. It means unlocking stores of data that can better inform and empower people about their communities, and governments about decision making. It means change has come to America. (From About: Gov 2.0 Expo)
Sound a little like what you are doing as you create legal information websites, automate 
documents, offer LiveHelp, and set up other technology initiatives to help people represent themselves? I think so.
I will be speaking, on behalf of Pro Bono Net, about the parallels during a Gov 2.0 Expo presentation called "Opening the Courts – Using Technology to Empower the Unrepresented." I'll have five minutes and twenty slides to convey my message to attendees in an Ignite-style presentation as part of the Keynote Kickoff.
I hope to introduce people outside of the access-to-justice community to the work that courts, legal aid organizations, and pro bono programs are doing to make the law more accessible to the public. Perhaps, I'll even be able to convince a few of them to try similar projects with their own customers.
If you are interested in learning more about Gov 2.0, I highly recommend viewing Tim O'Reilly's webcast "What is Gov 2.0?" and reading the "Government As a Platform" preview from the book Open Government: Collaboration, Transparency, and Participation in Practice. And of course, you can follow what Expo attendees and others are saying about Gov 2.0 on Twitter. - K
