Occasionally I encounter proposals from groups whose plan requires first making government release some data, or pass some law. Then, once that happens, they can build something really cool and useful. There are lots of crazy ideas in this field, but this approach is amongst the craziest. As Micah Sifry explained to the attendees at PDF Europe this afternoon1, in a neat prelude to this post, one of the reasons the US (and by implication also the UK) is further ahead with these sorts of sites than most countries, is simply because they hacked Congress rather than waiting to be given what they wanted.
The approach here is straightforward: simply act the way you want the world to be, then wait for reality to catch up.
2 sylw
Mae'r sylwadau wedi cau.
Waaa mae hwn yn wych hefyd os oes gyda ti diddordeb yn declynnau democratiaeth
Mae’r ail ddolen, ynglŷn ag addysgu ac arwain drwy esiampl yn wir. Galla i ddeall nad yw rhai newyddiadurwyr eisiau defnyddio WhatDoTheyKnow rhag dangos i’r byd pa stori maent yn ymchwilio iddo, ond dylai unrhyw unigolion a mudiadau eraill wneud defnydd llawn ohono.
Sgwn i os oes gan Cymdeithas yr Iaith er enghriafft ‘bolisi’ lle dylai pob ymholiad fod drwy’r wefan? Mantais hyn yw, hyd yn oed os nad oes gan ddefnyddiwyr eraill WDTK ddiddordeb yn y Gymraeg, efallai cawn nhw sioc (eu haddysgu) drwy weld pa foth o gwestiynnau sy’n cael eu gofyn a pha fath o atebion syn cael eu rhoi.