The World SpeaksWebRTC

Mobile Social Innovation Manifesto

Ted RitzerFirst Draft

V1 July 1, 2015

Foreward

• To me the 21st century is one of extreme promise in the use of technology to help make the world a better place.

• The 21st century has and is learning to tap the intelligance and ability of the world’s best and brightest!

• Through the wisdom of the crowd and the world’s best and brightest lies the potential to solve the world’s most ‘wicked’ problems.

• Music video captures the spirit of this paper:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuldtvFnhv4

Introduction

• To stay relevant to your audience you must use the communication medium that your audience uses.

• Recently all sectors of society are embracing the use of social media compatible mobile approaches.

• Open source approaches are being adopted by all sectors of society.

• Core design principle – making things open because it makes things better.

Major Points

• I. It’s a mobile world• II. Micro level-proposed mobile citizen

engagement platform• III. Macro level-proposed mobile social

innovation manifesto

I. It’s a mobile world

• In 2015 nearly two-thirds of Americans are now smartphone owners, and for many these devices are a key entry point to the online world

• Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/us-smartphone-use-in-2015/

Mobile Devices for Life Events

• 62% of smartphone owners have used their phone in the past year to look up information about a health condition.

• 57% have used their phone to do online banking.• 44% have used their phone to look up real estate listings or

other information about a place to live.• 43% to look up information about a job.• 40% to look up government services or information.• 30% to take a class or get educational content.• 18% to submit a job application.Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/us-smartphone-use-in-2015/

It’s a mobile world

• On Friday, June 26,2015 I met with a person responsible for planning one of the largest Internet compatible networks in Alberta.

• The key take away from that meeting was that from this point in time forward it is very much a mobile world!

• Now the driving technology is what people have in their hands to communicate with wherever they are at any moment in time!

It’s like Serge from Google says:

• Recently Dr Serge Lachapelle of Google was asked, Serge what are your top three priorities, to which he replied:

1. Mobile2. Mobile3. Mobile

It’s a mobile world for everyone

• So regardless of what sector of society you belong to;

• Whether the private sector, the public sector or the not-for-profit sector;

• Everyone is now using mobile devices to communicate, whether in real-time like a phone conversation, or non-real-time like a text or email.

• Likely the technical means for that communication is a social media compatible mobile device of some sort.

All sectors must embrace the mobile medium

• Since it is now a mobile world;• All sectors of society must embrace the mobile

communication medium to stay relevant;• And to best serve their communities.

II. Micro level-proposed mobile citizen engagement platform

The World Speaks MOOC Project

• The origin of this idea was sparked by a World Bank MOOC on the topic of citizen engagement & ICT:

• https://d1a2y8pfnfh44t.cloudfront.net/e97db630804b11e4ad93ab8cc3583ec4/full/540p/index.mp4

The World Speak-Virtual Public Square:

• The World Speaks Virtual Public Square concept

• The World Speaks was inspired by America Speaks & Uses WebRTC for people to speak out from where they are, & Uses Jitsi to capture that input. That people not only speak out, but they also listen to each other, and are heard by government.

The World Speaks MOOC Project Links

• The World Speaks Prezi:https://prezi.com/hbebrdwkr5ax/the-world-speaks-virtual-public-square/

• The World Speaks YouTube Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLN_zD14Oe6QFNXuhh2yStaIg_nZgH9PYN

Citizen Engagement???

• Till I took a World Bank MOOC course on the topic of citizen engagement I have had no direct experience with citizen engagement of any kind.

• I don’t know citizen engagement• But what do I know that is relevant to this

topic

What do I know or can do that is relevant?

• I know technology• I am a good technical strategist

The New Reality

• For example despite the fact that Blue Ray DVD players deliver a much higher resolution TV experience of movies, Apple iTunes & Netflix are becoming dominant

• Sometime in 2016 Netflix will eclipse traditional TV networks for viewers

Face to Face for an Ideal World

• Face to Face two-way communication is the ideal

• But can we afford it? • Can our planet support it?• Does it have the reach mobile approaches

do?• To reach citizens we have to adopt the

communication platforms our citizens use.

Mobile Citizen Engagement

• Most people have smartphones and tablets• Now to connect with people you have to go

where they are at any moment in time, forget about travelling for hours for face to face discussions.

• That means, you use a medium compatible with mobile devices!

World Bank MOOC on Citizen Engagement-16,000 people world wide participated

• Link to course:https://www.coursera.org/course/engagecitizen

Course ProjectInspired by America Speaks

• AmericaSpeaks:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJBgTFm8ZPQ

Mobile “America Speaks”

• What if you combined the America Speaks process and somehow put it into a mobile WebRTC browser?

• That is, what if you could speak into your mobile device and provide direct citizen input

• What if you could vote on things using your mobile device?

• That is the essence of “The World Speaks” concept is creating an open source mobile citizen engagement platform.

What else can I do that is relevant

• I know how to do cold calls.• Those calls get people excited about

volunteering their expertise to make the world better through the use of their technology, knowledge and skills.

Brightest Technologist’s Input

• I asked two of the brightest technologists I know Dr Peter Parnes of Sweden and Calgary based tech venture capitalist Shawn Abbott;

• What is the next big thing in technology?

WebRTC

• They both responded with “WebRTC”.• Why WebRTC?• Because it represents the easiest way on the

planet to communicate with people via both audio and video via your mobile device!

• No installation required.• No worries re firewalls.

Who knows WebRTC?

• To which Shawn responded you have to talk to world leader Calgary based Hookflash CEO Trent Johnsen:

Trent’s Response

• To build the next WebRTC compatible mobile citizen engagement platform you have to talk to Emil Ivov who has developed the world’s only free WebRTC compatible open source multiparty server called Jitsi:

World Speaks Mobile Citizen Engagement Project

• Ted tested the Jitsi server with Emil Ivov for use in the World Bank MOOC project:

Jitsi on GitHub:

• The same open source innovation is suggested for “The World Speaks’ use of the open source Jitsi WebRTC compatible platform on GitHub at:

• https://github.com/jitsi

WebRTC Leaders lend support

• Ted approached and received support for the World Speaks concept from two Canadians who just happen to be responsible for WebRTC development at Google & Cisco.

Dr Serge Lachapelle-Google

• Product Manager in Stockholm where he leads Google's WebRTC platform. Real Time Communication (RTC)

Google’s Top 3 Priorities

• In a recent interview Dr Serge Lachapelle was asked what his top 3 priorities were:

• To which Serge replied1. Mobile2. Mobile3. Mobile

Dr Cullen Jennings-Cisco Fellow

• Leads international Internet working group on WebRTC, spends winters in Calgary

The World Speaks Concept

• The World Speaks was inspired by America Speaks & Uses WebRTC mobile browsers for people to speak out from where they are. And uses the free open source Jitsi server to host multi-party conversations and capture that input for later use.

The World Speaks-We listen!

• Create a medium that is easy for people to express themselves by simply talking.

• The chosen medium captures their talk and archives it for future analysis, no typing, just press record, and let them talk!

• You analyze their input later from the archived input file.

Why

• Time, money & convenience trumps absolute best approaches

• People want/demand services where they are and through their mobile devices

• Face to face meetings contribute to an increased carbon footprint

• Our planet cannot support face to face meetings by the world’s population

• The World Speaks concept was defined for the above new mobile reality

Post Script

• Erik Lagerway of Hookflash to Co-Chair W3C WebRTC Working Group

III. Macro level-proposed mobile social innovation manifesto

• Increasingly the most logical interface between government and citizens is the social media compatible mobile device that people have in their hands wherever they happen to be at any moment in time!

• It’s a mobile world, so we should use this new mobile medium for the benefit of our citizens and the improvement of the public services they receive!

Mobile Social Innovation Functionality

• Use Open Source: Using open source approaches that any government in the world can access, mobile social innovation functionality would include:

• Simply Talk: The ability for citizens to communicate with government using their mobile devices to simply talk into their mobile device, and have that conversation (audio/video, etc.) recorded by government for later analysis of the input the citizen offered government.

The ability for citizens to use their mobile device to:

• To send government feedback via email, texting, sms, online chat, social media, all digital approaches.

• To use the built in camera of the mobile device to send government images that have GPS coordinates built in to the meta data of the images.

The ability for citizens to use their mobile device to:

• Vote on, express opinions, provide input/feedback related to proposed government policy, concepts, or services.

• What was once facilitated using electronic voting keypads at bricks and mortar public participation sessions, citizens will now be able participate from where they are, and provide location independent input to government via their mobile device.

Who Knows Government & ICT?

• To me the single best articulation of the improvement of government services through ICT is Gavin Newsom & his book Citizenville

• Best single Newsom on Google Talks:• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl1i8bNV

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Clay Shirky’s Social Web Insight:

• Clay Shirky’s Social Web insights playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZIVGxSkBDc2fPdqjirN040mdoUwQUF9C

The Social Government-Clay Shirky

• Clay thinks that GitHub like innovation in government will succeed, grow and spread.

• Listen to this talk here:• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7vdBcH

ny14&feature=iv&src_vid=omK0Hv80Qf0&annotation_id=annotation_1606032031

GitHub Clay Sharky InsightCooperation Without Coordination:

• In a TEDtalk by Clay Shirky, he introduced the other major innovation that open source Linux developer Linus Torvalds developed: “GitHub”

• Clay said the strategic importance of this was ‘cooperation without coordination’ for Linux developers

Open Government Partnership

• Open Government intro video:• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ursu7GP

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European Union’s Digital Social Innovation Video:

• Link to the NEST intro video on “Digital Social Innovation”:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSijSS7MKN4

Social Innovation

• Canadian effort in social innovation video:• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtrtURiz9

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Top 5 Issues Identified by the Open Government Partnership

• Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kvL42Q-grQ

Mobile Social Innovation Outcomes

Worldwide people are asking for governments to be more:

» Open» Transparent» Responsive» Accountable» Approachable» Citizen friendly & support grassroots citizen input

Mobile Social Innovation Manifesto

• Increasingly the citizens of the world are using mobile devices to improve the quality of their lives.

• Therefore for governments and civil society organizations to make it easy to work with citizens, to seek their ideas and to work with people to get things done and make the world a better place mobile mediums must be embraced.

• All sectors of society must embrace the use of mobile media and approaches that can be used to make the world a better place for all!

Mobile Social Innovation Means

• GitHub: As Clay Sharky has suggested & as the technology sector has learned through open source technology approaches like GitHub, it is possible to have ‘cooperation without coordination’, therefore an area of GitHub will be established to house mobile social innovation approaches.

Mobile Social Innovation Principles

• Open source technical approaches, where everyone is encouraged to share their approaches for use world wide.

• Open source approaches float all boats in the world wide goal of a better world through responsible and innovative governments and civil society organizations.

• Open data and best practices sharing world wide.• Support for net neutrality for innovation and sharing

world wide to prosper we must have fair and equitable access to the Internet and relevant technologies for citizens around the world to prosper.

Conclusion

• This is just the first draft concept.• As such it is a very rough approximation of the

potential good that such an approach could do.

• As imperfect as this first draft is, it is the sincere hope that other people will contribute to making the concept a reality and in the process make the world a better place for all!

Afterword

• My thanks to all who provided input that led to the development of this paper.

• Each and every person referenced in this paper, could on their own do a better job than I have done.

• In particular, special thanks go to:• Shawn Abbott, Emil Ivov, Trent Johnsen of

Hookflash, Dr. Peter Parnes, Dr. Serge Lachapelle of Google, Dr. Cullen Jennings of Cisco.