A Proposed Information Architecture for Civil Society
Background
The idea for this paper comes from discussions held as part of the brainstorming process for the Cybrarian project in early 2003. The specific ideas proposed here are designed to enable the wider take up of the Cybrarian tool once it is implemented. Obviously certain assumptions have been made concerning the actual functionality of the Cybrarian interface. I am assuming that the delivered resource will meet the functional specification as proposed as of today, September 2003.
Brief Outline of functional specification
Cybrarian will provide a personalised configurable intelligent user interface allowing users to access a range of resources identified as Cybrarian content. Cybrarian content will be wide-ranging but includes e-government service information, online information providing advice from Stakeholder groups and branded content such as the BBC. Stakeholder groups are typically voluntary organisations who represent a particular group of citizens who may be socially excluded. Cybrarian as a whole is tasked with bringing to the internet those groups who are currently identified as resisting or avoiding its use. These include those excluded from using the internet because of a disability that has not been provided for technologically or cognitively, the socially excluded and the untapped mainstream, namely people with skills and social standing but with no interest in the internet.
Using the Cybrarian interface
The Cybrarian interface will be layered and users will be able to access its services in a phased way which develops in line with their usage patterns. Typically a user might use Cybrarian to access information concerning, say pension rights. They then might use it to renew a bus pass online. At this point Cybrarian might prompt them with a bus timetable or journey planner. The journey may be to a library and information about the library may be offered, and so on. As a metaphor I am proposing using that of Cybrarian interface as being an ‘Amazon for e-gov’, holding personalised information, tracking usage patterns and suggesting other resources. It will also point citizens at other citizens with similar use profiles.
Stakeholder organisations and the modernising government agenda
A fairly unique, but apposite, aspect of the Cybrarian development is that up to 140 voluntary, community and charitable organisations have been involved from the beginning of the project because they represent the client groups that the project is trying to reach. This has meant some useful input from potential users into the requirements specification process. It also indicates their organisational interest in using e-government information to provide a better information service to their clients.
Trusted Intermediaries
The essential idea of this paper is that of the ‘trusted intermediary’. This concept is aimed at both reflecting the way that the Cybrarian resource will be used by the ‘Stakeholders’ involved in its development, who will become that ‘trusted intermediary’, and how they will encourage and promote its use.
Relationship between trusted intermediaries and citizens
Trusted intermediaries, such as Citizen’s Advice Bureau employees, will typically provide advice and guidance to citizens on the specific range of issues that people already rely on them for. So they act as a conduit between the citizenry and relevant information sources. Typically this information is in the public domain and will include much of the range of information being pushed as part of the modernising government agenda. The trusted intermediary typically acts as a broker identifying a citizens need and addressing it by providing the relevant information that answers that need. They therefore have a value-added role in the process because of their ability to match government information to user need.
Trusted intermediaries and Cybrarian Content
As trusted intermediaries regularly use central and local government information they have a professional interest in accessing the relevant information and presenting it in a format that is relevant to the user context that they are familiar with. Hence if Cybrarian provides a user-friendly interface into accessing that information and that facilitates its retrieval and records it for future use, the trusted intermediaries will be interested in accessing Cybrarian content. They will therefore be able to promote the use of Cybrarian content.
Who wants to use e-government information? (and why?)
Stakeholder organisations have an interest in Cybrarian if it promotes ease of use and access to relevant content for its client communities. In so doing they will add commentaries and interpretations to public information as well as commenting on Green and White Papers. They may well publish simplified guides for their client communities on how to access a new government support service or entitlement and so on. They gain respect and standing in Civil Society by providing advice and guidance that helps their client communities. Many stakeholder groups are now developing e-gov teams to prepare their advice services for this development in government information and service provision. If the use of Cybrarian helps strengthen the bonds of Civil Society its use will increase.
Mapping to existing information flows
The Cybrarian roll out and take up will be facilitated by the degree to which it maps to existing information flows. What has been outlined above has been a brief mapping of the information flows between citizens, stakeholder groups and governmental organisations as facilitated by the trusted intermediaries who actually broker these relationships. As this is a proven and effective way of disseminating information through civil society to disadvantaged groups the Cybrarian architecture and roll out should map to this information provision.
The advantages of distributed information
Cybrarian is a portal and will rely on other content providers to supply information to the service. ‘Branded’ content providers will ensure quality control on their content (including e-gif &OGS compatibility) and will add information matching to client need. Additionally stakeholder groups will add commentaries to public domain content interpreting and tailoring it to the client needs.
The value of civil society
Civil Society is a way of identifying and validating trusted intermediaries. It is the network of organisations, actors and representatives that articulate the needs, aspirations and desires of everyone against the formal requirements of living in a highly regulated democratic society. Typically they are voluntary, community and charitable organisation that focus on limited or single issues. Citizens turn to those aspects of civil society that represent them, like Age Concern, or form new elements, like Brixton Online). Civil society then represents a set of citizen-validated entities that represent citizen values.
Problems with ‘government information’ in the UK
Government information is not trusted – it is assumed that ICT is a way by which a Big Brother state has been operationalised (Office of the e-envoy 2003). There are complex reasons behind why UK subjects do or do not engage as citizens within civil society and generally throughout society. However unbrokered government information is seen as unreliable because it represents an ongoing hidden agenda to deprive the populace of its ‘rights’. The Cybrarian stakeholder groups are seen as providing information that citizens can trust and they can therefore act as brokers to the information being provided through the modernising government initiative.
Uploading and downloading Cybrarian Information
The Cybrarian architecture needs to enable relevant content from ‘branded’ agencies to be accessed, the ‘Cybrarian content’ of the initiative. However it must also provide for information from the trusted intermediaries to be uploaded to, or become accessible from, the Cybrarian portal. This interpretive information, user guides, summaries, comments, FAQs, riders, etc., from trusted intermediaries is critical in facilitating the use of Cybrarian content and the Cybrarian interface tool itself.
Using Cybrarian online communities
The ability to join, initiate and moderate an online community is an essential skill of the Knowledge Economy and Cybrarian should ensure that it enables citizens to do this. This would enable communities of practice and interest to coalesce around information and issues generated by the use of Cybrarian content. It would empower citizen debate around those issues that interest and affect the most.
The relationship between trusted intermediaries and the citizen
Hence Trusted Intermediaries tell citizens what e-gov means in the process of answering their information needs and they will do this by using Cybrarian.
Developing the Cybrarian skill set
These uses of Cybrarian, whether by trusted intermediaries or citizens, extend the skill set of the citizen to enable them to participate fully in the emerging Knowledge Democracy (Dr Andrew Cohill 1999). The skill set should be identified, codified and offered as training or education programs in UK online centres, stakeholder groups and other interested organisations.
Cybrarian CPD for advice professionals
Being a trusted intermediary is a professional skill. Cybrarian use will be part of the skill set for the knowledge economy. Cybrarian needs to produce user guides and manuals that map to CPD qualifications validated by e-skills UK and other relevant bodies (City & Guilds, RSA?).
Developing the Cybrarian skill set in citizens
Using Cybrarian should be part of a citizen’s entitlement and its use should be taught in Colleges, schools and universities. Part of the roll out should be Cybrarian courses in UK online and other centres.
A staged development plan for making Cybrarian work
This needs to be worked out in detail but should address the following;
Including this Architecture into the Final Cybrarian specification
Encouraging the take up and use of Cybrarian within the Stakeholder group.
Explaining how the information architecture of ‘trusted intermediaries’ works and identifying how they can add interpretive information to Cybrarian content.
Providing user guides to the interface aimed at the needs of BOTH Trusted Intermediaries and individual citizens.
Refine the model based on user feedback from the stakeholder groups
Provide information to teachers of citizenship related classes and courses how Cybrarian works and how it adds to their rights as citizens.
Summary
If the Cybrarian interface, and the information it facilitates access to, meets current specification then the following points are key guidelines:
Use Stakeholder groups as trusted intermediaries.
Trusted intermediaries will broker the use of government information with a range of client communities.
Trusted intermediaries are the essence of Civil Society and facilitate the process of social/digital inclusion.
Trusted intermediaries will add user guides and interpretive information targeted to the information needs of the specific client groups that Cybrarian aims to reach.
Trusted intermediaries will show citizens how to use their personalised interface and will encourage individual take up.
Make Cybrarian Content provision two-way, with trusted intermediaries’ also uploading interpretive information.
[…] INCLUDED! […]
[…] a key output in the Age of Anger. Knowing that its value was little understood I wrote “An Information Architecture for Civil Society” because digital computer-based initiatives are driven by business thinking and 3-level […]
[…] and, as part of building a social network for Civil Society, we needed to design what I called an Information Architecture for Civil Society as we were in an age in which public technologies were being built using business information […]
[…] realised we needed to design an Information Architecture for Civil Society if we were to build social networks not networked business systems. Public technologies were then […]
[…] https://architectureofparticipation.wordpress.com/included/ […]
[…] https://architectureofparticipation.wordpress.com/included/ […]