DemocracyLab
Meeting Notes
Here are Chris DeFreitas' meeting notes for DemocracyLab meeting on 4/9/2008.
In attendance:
Bram, Chris, Derrick, Mark and Scott (by phone)
1. The meeting started with a discussion of the various needs we encounter while collaborating on DemocracyLab.org projects and possible tools to solve these problems. While a web based project management tool would probably be best, the consensus was that a variety of tools are typically required to meet all needs. The discussion will continue.
Tools offered as possible solutions (in no particular order):
Project Pier http://www.projectpier.org/ Project Management Tool
Word Press http://wordpress.org/ Blogging Tool
About Us http://www.aboutus.org/ Wiki
OpenPlans http://www.openplans.org/ facilitates group collaboration with wiki, mailing list, tasks, blog
Clearspace http://www.jivesoftware.com/products/clearspace "Clearspace is enterprise collaboration software built from the ground up for teams, companies, and communities looking for an easy and productive way to work with each other"
Google Project Hosting http://code.google.com/hosting/ Google project creation/hosting support which includes some project mgmt features
Bugzilla https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/ bug tracking system
Fog Creek Software http://www.fogcreek.com/ commercial
Eclipse Mylyn http://www.eclipse.org/mylyn "Mylyn is a Task-Focused Interface for Eclipse..."
Jira http://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/ "JIRA is a bug tracking, issue tracking, and project management application..."
Blogger http://www.blogger.com/home Blogging tool
2. There was a wide ranging discussion around the creation of a new Flash demo
for the democracyLab.org website. Ideally, an interactive demo is required.
However, we agreed that due to limits on time and the many unresolved questions
about the website's functionality, the best solution would be a narrative that
walked the viewer through the key features of the website.
3. The nature of that narrative will be determined through an online discussion involving the meeting participants. Another meeting will be held to create an action plan based on the outcome of the narrative discussion.
4. The participants were willing to conduct the narrative discussion using an online tool if one presented itself in a timely manner.
Chris.
Websites
- DemocracyLab.org -- DemocracyLab is an experiment in direct democracy, powered by open source software, and built on the idea that technology can empower us to harness freedom of speech and the power of the vote to solve today’s most challenging problems. When fully developed, DemocracyLab will use participants’ posts and votes to build a dynamic map of political thought designed to facilitate consensus building and collaborative problem solving. The result will be an engaging public forum where the best thinking rises to the top, creating a community-driven alternative to traditional politics.
Other Websites of Interest
- Debatepedia -- part of the International Debate Education Association (sponsored in part by Soros’ Open Society Institute, which has expressed a desire for collaboration.
- Essembly -- which asks users to vote on Resolutions and appears to have good community participation.
- Debatemapper -- which creates a logic structure for in depth analysis of topics
- Dotmocracy -- which is a facilitation method for collecting and prioritizing ideas among a large number of people.
- ConvinceMe -- a fun interface for those who like debating and convincing others of their point of view.
- GlobalAssembly -- which has a methodology somewhat similar to dLab.
- ReframeIt -- which has an interesting tool for annotating web pages.
- The Open Lobby -- An effort to use wiki technology to (a) develop information resource about government functions, etc.; and (b) develop policy proposals, form broad consensus, and deliver to them to legislative bodies. Core values are transparency and open participation.
