The Internet and the iPhone: A Citizen’s Best Friends?

January 15, 2010

"Philadelphians are not short of intelligence: they are chronically short of facts."

-- Citizens' Business #1836, April 6, 1948

A few months ago, my trusty, no-frills cell phone quit on me. Reluctantly, I made my way to the wireless store, fully aware that I was facing a fairly significant decision. I could stay the course and get another phone for just calls and texts, or I could take the plunge by getting an iPhone or similar digital factotum and subject myself to a never-ending wave of information and entertainment. I'd long been wary of unlimited access to a non-stop stream of information, but ultimately, my curiosity outweighed my concern. I steeled myself for a brave new world. I bought an iPhone.

What does this have to do with the opening quotation at the top of the page? At the time, I didn't see a connection. It took me a few weeks to sift through the myriad apps, most serving little purpose beyond distraction or amusement. (Admittedly, I was obsessed -- briefly -- by a light sabre sound effect app.) It wasn't long, though, before I realized that mobile devices such as the iPhone, in concert with increasingly sophisticated web-based applications, have extraordinary potential to transform the way citizens interact with government. (And to enable them to reenact battles on the Death Star.)

My appreciation of this potential began when I discovered apps offering what is known as "augmented reality." These apps  allow one to point a device at a location to see information about that place. The information appears as a graphic layer on top of a real-time image of the location, thus "augmenting" reality. Many layers of place-based information have been created, but the one that really grabbed my attention displays information about the allocation of federal stimulus funds. Equipped with this layer, iPhone users can walk down the street, aim their devices in any direction, and learn exact project locations, contract amounts, and the names of recipients of American Revoery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds for specific projects. In sum, users have fingertip access to staggeringly precise facts concerning how and where the federal government is spending stimulus money.  

And this is just the tip of the access iceberg. As public data becomes increasingly available, developers are building web-based applications that promise to make government more transparent than it's ever been.  The Washington, DC, non-profit that developed the ARRA-related augmented reality layer owes its whole existence to the mission of leveraging technology to make government more transparent, accountable and responsible. The DC government itself has warmed to the potential of web technology to transform the citizen-government dynamic. As a part of its Apps for Democracy initiative, the District government awarded prize money to software developers that built web, iPhone, and Facebook apps that both "engage the populace of Washington, DC to ask for their input into the problems and ideas they have that can be addressed with technology...[and] build the best community platform for submitting 311 service requests to the city."

The District's Chief Technology Officer has also launched Digital Public Square, a website designed to put residents "in the driver's seat to discover how District agencies work, participate in the democratic process and connect with [their] government."  The site's Discover, Participate, and Connect sections provide links to numerous data sets and maps, District-related interactive apps, and live Twitter feeds providing frequently updated information from District agencies.

All of these initiatives have sprung up within the past year, and countless others are in development. It's become clear that as web technology grows more sophisticated and digital mobile devices more widespread, citizens will have access to once-inconceivable levels of information about government performance and the state of their communities. For Philadelphians, as with all other Americans, this may spell the end of the chronic scarcity of facts bemoaned by the writers of Citizens' Business way back in 1948. Equipped with an abundance of facts, we will all be better prepared to make informed decisions about running our region as effectively and equitably as possible.  Who would have thought an iPhone had anything to do with that?

-- Nick Frontino, Project Manager