The League of Technical Voters

1. The League of Technical Voters Project Overview February 2007 Contact: Silona Bonewald / silona@leagueoftechvoters.org

2. The League of Technical Voters (LoTV) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of technical experts dedicated to facilitating effective communication between government and the public through Internet technology. What is the League?

3. What are our goals? • Transparency of government budget and legislation • Influence of individual citizens in the legislative process • Collaboration within the activism community

4. Contents • Project Overview • Rollout and Adoption • LeagueOfTechVoters.org • Sustainability

5. Identity and reputation info Next-generation social networking and Wikipedia-style databases get us there. Meta-network Budget & legislation community database Reuniting America social network MoveOn social network Christian Coalition social network Addtional social networks

6. Our meta-network incorporates fundamental differences from today’s social networks. • Entity-based architecture • Identity & reputation • Social network interoperability • Collaboration tools Meta-network Reuniting America social network MoveOn social network Christian Coalition social network Additional social networks

7. An entity-based architecture brings groups into a social network. ACLU social network • Entities in the network can be individuals or groups • Network can reflect diverse relationships such as membership or group partnership • Provides a meaningful basis for groups to collaborate in the network Sarah Friend Bob Red’s Firing Range Friend Customer Julie Member Sponsor Member ACLU Partnership NRA

8. Identity and reputation let users understand who they are dealing with. • Entities (individuals or groups) receive identity and reputation authentication from other entities on the network. • Objective: Name, job history, titles, etc. • Subjective: Testimonials • Reputation becomes a part of network interactions • Identity fraud mitigated • Real-world influence starts to translate online • Validates budget & legislation database content

9. Social network interoperability allows many networks to act as one. • Reach: Collaborations become possible between users who would not otherwise be connected • Growth: Less need to fight other networks for users; everyone wins • Sustainability: Meta-network stays healthy even if an individual network fails Meta-network Reuniting America social network MoveOn social network Christian Coalition social network Additional social networks

10. Collaboration tools will help users actually get work done. • Event calendars facilitate online coordination and real-world events • Consensus wikis(“c-wikis”) facilitate collaborative authoring (e.g. whitepapers) • Voting mechanisms supported for formal collaboration • Event calendar integration to organize proceedings • Other tools include forums, blogs, petitions, and more

11. Identity and reputation info The budget and legislation database will be built upon the success of the meta-network. • A Wikipedia-style database will house the budget and legislation data. • Data entry will be crowdsourced -- populated by the meta-network community of activist individuals and groups. • Identity and reputation information from the meta-network will maintain the quality and accuracy of the data. Meta-network Budget & legislation community database

12. The database will contain data facilitating a number of meaningful applications. • Text of bills • Fragmentation data: splitting bills into manageable pieces for action and discussion • Bill sponsor and campaign funding information • “Tagging” (human categorization) for easy searching and RSS feeds

13. Crowdsourcing is a proven model which the meta-network will drive. • Fragmentation of legislative bills breaks work into manageable chunks. • The meta-network community can be tapped for manpower. • Reputation credit within the meta-network will provide an incentive for ongoing contribution. • Contributors can be engaged at the city, state, and federal levels.

14. Complementary efforts will drive the meta-network to critical mass. • Bootstrap the meta-network • Open source software development • Marketing and community outreach User acquisition Network utility Network size

15. We will bootstrap the meta-network using a “seed” network and free software. • Launch “League of Technical Voters” social network to seed the meta-network • LoTV develops and releases the social network software for free to encourage adoption • Interoperability standards • Organizations may join the meta-network later if they do not want to integrate at first Reuniting America social network MoveOn social network Meta-network (early) Christian Coalition social network LoTV social network

16. Open source software development will help build a community and increase adoption. • Community building will begin at start of development • Open source community is technologically savvy and politically active -- our ideal early adopter demographic • An open source approach will also maximize software security, vital for identity and reputation functionality New social networks Meta-network (later) Reuniting America social network MoveOn social network Christian Coalition social network LoTV social network

17. Marketing and community outreach efforts will take us to critical mass. Meta-network (mature) • Presence at key technology, political, NPO conferences • Personal outreach tp key community members • Online advertising • Free technical training under Creative Commons • Volunteer code-a-thons • Online community for network hosts New social networks Reuniting America social network MoveOn social network Christian Coalition social network LoTV social network

18. LeagueOfTechVoters.org, the meta-network seed, is ambitious and exciting by itself. • The LoTV.org social network will: • Seed the meta-network • Provide a new bridge between the public and legislators • Become increasingly useful as the meta-network and data repository grow

19. LoTV.org will help bridge the public and legislators in myriad ways. Sample Scenario Lawmaker drafts legislation Discussion on LoTV.org Lawmaker uses c-wiki as quality, informed public opinion C-wikis used to propose amendments This is only one of countless use cases!

20. Revenue will come from membership fees for the LoTV social network.

21. The LoTV and the meta-network will help sustain each other. LoTV network growth Membership fees LoTV revenue Mutually reinforcing growth Software maintenance Training efforts Community programs Meta-network growth

22. Fin