Check out this interview with OMF Executive Director, Tony Shawcross talking about our innovative platform, Open Media Project (OMP) for Government: an online transparency portal enabling governments to upload, tag and archive video of all proceedings.
Interview by Fast Forward, nonprofit technology accelerator program supporting the exciting development of OMP. Read excerpts below and the full interview here.
As we near the 2017 presidential election, we are faced with a critical dilemma around civic engagement. According to a recent report from The Knight Foundation, only 33 percent of millennial voters report strong trust in their local governments. What’s worse, only 29 percent of millennials think political engagement produces tangible results.
Government today lacks transparency and accessibility. We can access almost anything from our mobile phones, but what if you want to know your local government’s stance on a bill that’s important to you? Good luck. You’ll probably find yourself stuck laboriously searching through hundreds of pages of content, heading to the state capitol in person or watching hours of video to find what you’re looking for. And that’s only if your local government is open enough to post their proceedings online.
The Open Media Project (OMP) solves these issues through their SaaS solution for governments. The OMP software equips governments of all sizes with an online transparency portal, which allows them to upload, tag and archive video of all proceedings. This allows citizens to access proceedings from their laptop or phone in real-time, or search for bills based on specific keywords so they don’t waste hours sifting through video and documents. Check out our recent interview with Open Media Project CEO, Tony Shawcross, to learn more about OMP’s vision for increased civic engagement across the nation and why he believes open government is good government.
Can you describe how the Open Media Project works?
The Open Media Project is a SaaS tool that allows governments to achieve unprecedented transparency. Our platform gives governments of all sizes the tools needed to upload their proceedings to the Web, organize this video content and make it searchable. This enables citizens to directly engage – either by watching in real time or searching to find the content that matters most to them. As millennial influence continues to grow, it’s critical that we meet them where they are – online. We’ve seen a sharp drop-off in civic engagement in recent years, and we believe the Open Media Project is a way to allow anyone to effortlessly engage with local government and shape impactful political discussions. Our software not only makes proceedings available to the public in real-time, but also archives these videos in searchable format by topic thanks to technology like automatic transcription and voice fingerprint ID. What’s unique about the software is it’s built with an open architecture for compatibility with any streaming service. This makes it much cheaper and means we are able to leverage free and emerging tools from experts like YouTube.
How do you foresee this type of technology transforming the way governments operate and citizens engage with government?
Until recently, you had to physically leave work or home and go somewhere to engage in politics. The government has never met citizens where they’re at. Media is cutting coverage of local government, and If you want to be informed enough to influence policy, you have to invest a lot of time, maybe even travel to the Capitol or City Hall. Technology has increased convenience in most aspects of our lives, and government needs the same update if we want to heighten civic engagement. At the same time, trust in government is at an all-time low. People deserve to know what government is doing in their name, and the people demand transparency. If people can get involved from their cell phone or computer without a huge time commitment, we believe there will be much stronger political involvement especially among millennials.
One example is Ali Mickelson from the Colorado Fiscal Institute. Ali was pushing for a tax credit for Colorado’s most needy families, lobbying up against some very well-funded groups. Her opponents had the funds necessary to have multiple lobbyists at the Capitol every day, keeping an eye on the relevant legislation. Meanwhile, Ali was having her first child. Ali said it was already hard enough for her to go toe-to-toe against these big lobbying firms, and when she had a child and wasn’t able to spend hours and hours at the Capitol, she needed a tool that would enable her to still engage and stay informed of what’s going on without leaving home. The Open Media Project allows her to do this.
Read the full interview here!
