Abstract Sessions: GovTech: Evolution & Standardization

The relationship between “government” and “technology” is one that has grown expeditiously over the past decade; so much so, that we now refer to their union as “GovTech.” This week’s webinar guest, Daniel X. O’Neil has seen growth in the GovTech space more so than most people. Having acted as a board member for the Sunlight Foundation, O’Neil has always been committed to achieving government transparency and accessibility. As the former founding CEO of Civic Elevator and current Principal at Civic Operator, Daniel has worked to introduce technology to the Civic and Government realms to actualize said transparency and accessibility.

When it comes to the conversation of GovTech and CivicTech, O’Neil makes it clear that data is everything. How government data is harvested, structured, and standardized greatly impacts how consumers can interpret and understand the laws, bills, codes, regulations, amendments, etc., being passed and proposed daily. The issue is that much of this data is still not harvestable, structured, and/or standardized despite the efforts of leaders and technologists in the government and civic spaces. Although there have been movements to standardize government data, history has shown that progress is only made when it favors the government. In other words,

“The government structures data when they need to. They do it for different reasons…[but mainly] for executives to gain and maintain power.”

At Abstract, we share O’Neil’s goal of making messy government data digestible for individuals and businesses, as they deserve to have a pulse on our government. However, it is crucial that the GovTech space remains balanced in its approach to achieve transparency. As Daniel mentioned in his conversation with Patricio, “People don’t want to think about the government all the time.” By ensuring our solutions are user-friendly and unobtrusive, we can help people stay informed without feeling overwhelmed.