Government as a Platform

Tim O’Reilly@timoreilly

NAGWSeptember 23, 2015

2008: Technology Changed Politics

Technology helped President Obama get

elected.

Could technology also help the nation do

a better job of actually delivering services

to its residents?

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Could it also change how government works?

What if we brought

together government

innovators and tech

innovators to work

together on finding

solutions to big

problems?

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Government as a Platform

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Government as a platform means an

end to the design of only complete,

closed “applications.” The

government should provide

fundamental applications, and

services on which we, the people,

can build additional applications.

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Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/263795/number-of-available-apps-in-the-apple-app-store/

Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956

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Dwight Eisenhower

High speed broadband

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Laying fiber under the streets is the 21st century equivalent of

building superhighways, electric grids, and modern sanitation

infrastructure

Weather Data

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Up to date weather info?

A marvel from Google?

Actually, by way of government

institutions such as NOAA (US)and

other government agencies around

the world.

GPS: A 21st century platform launched in 1973

Massive investment for uncertain return

Policy decisions can have enormous impact

Marketplaces take time to develop, and go in

unexpected directions

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“We’ve opened up huge amounts of

government data to the American people,

and put it on the Internet for free.... And

what’s happening is entrepreneurs and

business owners are now using that data

-- the people’s data --to create jobs and

solve problems that government can’t

solve by itself or can’t do as efficiently.”

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President Barack Obama

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Don’t make people find the data.

Make the data find the people.

Sixty per cent of the world's

railways use 4 ft 8 1⁄2 inch

standard gauge, developed by

George Stephenson in 1822.

Who sets the gauge rules the world

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http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/lnwrns305.htm

You standardize railroads by building tracks

“The strategy is delivery!”

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UK GDS Director

Mike Bracken

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"The legitimate object of government is to

do for the people what needs to be done,

but which they cannot, by individual

effort, do at all, or do so well, for

themselves.”

-Abraham Lincoln, July 1, 1854

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How Do You Build a Platform?

• Build something that

everyone uses that you

own and control

• Simple data standards

• APIs

• APIs

GTFS

LIVES

Road Closures

Parking

Lots more!

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“A platform beats an application every time.”

Tim O’Reilly and Jeff BezosPhoto: Duncan Davidson

Jeff’s Memo

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• “All teams will henceforth expose their data and functionality through service

interfaces.

• Teams must communicate with each other through these interfaces.

• There will be no other form of inter-process communication allowed: no direct linking,

no direct reads of another team’s data store, no shared memory model, no back-doors

whatsoever. The only communication allowed is via service interface calls over the

network.

• It doesn’t matter what technology they use.

• All service interfaces, without exception, must be designed from the ground up to be

externalizable. That is to say, the team must plan and design to be able to expose the

interface to developers in the outside world. No exceptions.

• Anyone who doesn’t do this will be fired.”

Create a modular set of fundamental services

that can be used like building blocks

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You must build on them yourselves.

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And only then open them up to the world.

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Wholesale vs. Retail

Wholesale Retail

Wholesale vs. Retail

Wholesale Retail

Write RFPs to require government sites to be built on top of

internal APIs that can also be used to support external 3rd

party sites.

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Language from the recreation.gov RFP

5.3. Public Interface Support Services

The system shall be designed in such a way that it is easy for third parties to access the data and

information contained within the Recreation.gov system in machine-readable formats, so that third

parties may easily integrate this information into their applications, websites, products and services.

All elements of Section 5.3. shall be included in the R1S system at “Go-Live”.

The Contractor shall make it easy for a user of a third party application or website that has chosen to

integrate with Recreation.gov to search for inventory and real time availability, and complete a

reservation.

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5.3.1. Information Sharing

Objective: Third parties and members of the public shall be easily able to receive access to the

sharing service following Government and industry best practices, such as self-provisioning. The

information will play key roles in attracting new and returning site visitors, informing and educating

visitors on a wide-range of topics and providing the basis of end-to-end travel planning experience.

The Contractor shall deliver automated and manual services in machine-readable formats for the

sharing of the consolidated recreation information described herein.

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5.3.1. Information Sharing (continued)

The Contractor shall ensure the data available via the sharing service represent the most current

data available on Recreation.gov, including (but not limited to) recreation area information, maps,

photos, activities, links to additional resources, specific reservable inventory availability, and – when

available – information about specific pieces of inventory (i.e. campsite descriptions). In general, all

of the information available to users of Recreation.gov itself shall be made available to third parties

via the sharing service.

The sharing service shall provide a method for third parties to search available inventory using

common search criteria such as date range, location, site type, and other attributes. In general, the

same search capabilities provided to users of Recreation.gov itself shall be made available to third

parties via the sharing service.

.

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5.3.1. Information Sharing (continued)

The Contractor shall ensure the following information / data is not available via the sharing service:

Personally-Identifiable-Information from individual users, such as name, address, and birth date

User financial information such as credit card or bank account number

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5.3.2. Third Party Sales Strategy

Objective: Users of the third party applications, websites and services shall be able to easily initiate

transactions and complete reservations in the R1S system with a minimum of hassle or

complications following travel and hospitality industry best practices.

In order to provide the best experience for the user and insure a clear path for future

innovation, the Contractor shall offer technology that facilitates the ability for users to initiate

and complete reservations from within third party services.

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The Government has identified interest by commercial travel and recreation planning companies

that help facilitate Recreation.gov transactions as a part of a commercial endeavor in which they

could earn commissions on the inventory they help sell. This indicates that such an arrangement

could benefit both the Government and the Contractor, by creating an additional sales & marketing

channel for increasing the number of reservations processed using the system.

The travel and hospitality industry, where such third-party sales channels and commission systems

are the norm, provides numerous examples of how such a commission system could work. Most of

these systems involve some sort of “per-transaction” fixed or percentage-driven commission paid to

participating third parties that originate reservations.

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Jeff Bezos had one big advantage

Jeff Bezos

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"No exceptions.

Anyone who doesn’t do this will be fired."

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Photo: Steve Jurvetson

c4a.me/dfd

c4a.me/dfd

c4a.me/dfd

Our Vision

Whether it's recyclables that we can use

again, yard waste that we can turn into mulch,

or items we haul to the landfill, we are always

looking for ways to keep the Bluegrass

beautiful. Our work is not just about getting rid

of things, it's about Lexington's quality of life,

its health, and the look of our community.

Lexington, KY - Before

AAfter

Not as pretty, but focused

on exactly what citizens

actually want to know

“A typical city website today is about the city, but the site should be the city, doing the people’s business online.”

- Cyd Harrell, Code for America

@timoreilly #BitcoinSummit

Photo: Steve Jurvetson

Most searched-for services1. Find contact information for city officials

2. Find the time and agenda for the next City Council

meeting

3. Use or reserve a public amenity (e.g. a rec center)

4. Make an online payment

5. File a public safety report (e.g. report a stolen bike)

6. Report a problem (e.g. request a streetlight repair)

7. Apply for a development permit

8. Apply for a business license

9. Find employment opportunities with the city

10. File a public information request

c4a.me/dfd

#Accela @timoreilly

52,000 CalFresh clients

2x Growth

30% Churn

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DRAFT

It’s no one’s job to

speak for the user.

It’s no one’s job to

speak for the user

but yours.

TITLE if you want