What is our VISION?
All people deserve a voice in the decisions that shape their world, and the key is governments that are responsive to the needs of their people. Today, the development and adoption of Internet communications is driving a paradigm shift in the relationship between governments and their people.
We are committed to ensuring that the result of this shift = Responsive Government. Globally. For every human being.
What do we DO?
We are leading the way to responsive government through:
- Development of Technology. We promote the use and development of technologies that enable inclusive and meaningful political dialogue, while lowering the barriers to entry for both citizens and government representatives.
- Educational Events and Resources. We educate, inform, and connect the elected leaders, government staff, technology developers, and organizations that are on the forefront of this transition.
- Research. We engage in research that illuminates the current state of affairs and proposes paths for a smooth transition.
What do we VALUE?
In everything that we do, we are:
- Transparent. Everything about us and our projects is publicly available on our website.
- Participatory. We actively engage citizens and government officials in our activities and support solutions that are built with the input and participation of those they purport to serve.
- Collaborative. We support and work with everyone in the space, including governments, non-profit organizations, and private companies.
- Neutral. We neither advocate for nor express opinions on issues that are not directly pertinent to our vision.
Last updated: November 29, 2009
First posted: July 5, 2008
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This is a great website and wonderful resource for everyone to voice ideas and bringing one common voice together!! I like how everything (overall mission statement, values, goals) are laid out as top priority. Keep up the great work!!
So, at first look, I had some questions. Maybe they’ve been answered elsewhere, but here it goes.
1. How would you equally represent conflicted and diametrical apposed views fairly and equally?
2. What is success for you? What are the metrics you will use to measure success?
3. Even non-profits need money to cover operating costs. Who pays for this?
4. Why is this forum more important/better/more effective than simply writting a letter to a legislator?
Thanks, Francis and great questions, JHC. Let’s see if I can provide sufficient answers:
1. In brief, conflicting views would be represented by providing a platform for discussion, and not the discussion itself (all the gory details are on the Project One Overview page). As far as making certain that all sides are represented: that is something that comes from maintaining neutrality and working to engage all of the players – an important part of our plans for Community building.
2. Success will be measured by a number of factors, but primarily by the number of users and by feedback from those users on each solution. The details on how this would work have been well-developed yet, but that’s the gist. If you have ideas on this, please contribute them on the Plan page
3. Details on funding can be found on the Foundation Funding page and the Project One Funding page. In brief however, no funding would be accepted from governments of corporations in order to avoid potential conflicts of interest, leaving the burden on the prime beneficiaries of the service: constituents.
4. As described in detail on the Statement of Need page, this all started with the realization that there is not currently effective way to reach your legislator and know that the message will be heard unless you are willing to devote significant time to hanging out on Capitol Hill.
I hope this fills in some gaps. If you look at the resources I mentioned above and find them missing, let your voice be heard in that section.
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
[...] They are the ones who have made this step possible, and it is their convictions and belief in the vision that have turned the Open Forum Foundation from an idea into a fully-operational reality (you can [...]
Having learned of you at http://gov20camp.eventbrite.com/, I took the liberty of converting your mission statement into StratML format for inclusion in our collection at http://xml.gov/stratml/index.htm#Nonprofits or, more specifically, http://xml.gov/stratml/OFF.xml Your mission is closely related to the purposes of the emerging StratML standard: http://xml.gov/stratml/index.htm#DefinitionPurposes