Cities using tech to cull citizen ideas -- Memphis, Chicago part of trial program

NEW YORK - In a city of millions, how many people go knocking onthe door of City Hall?

Most citizens know that, at least in theory, they can bring theirproblems and ideas to elected officials. But in reality, speaking ata public hearing, calling a complaint line or writing a letter canbe time-consuming and seem to make little impact, with small-scaleconcerns getting bogged down in dense bureaucracies.

Now, Memphis and other cities around the country are trying to un-bog the bureaucracy. Following the example of private companies,they're employing technology to harness the wisdom of citizens, makeuse of their skills and create virtual civic forums.

"The solutions to urban problems are not just the city governmenthanding down ideas from on high. It's about collaborativecitizenship," says Jake Barton, founder of Local Projects, which ispartnering with New York City to gather citizen input onenvironmental improvements.

The Give a Minute program has undergone trial runs in Memphis andChicago, where it asked residents to answer questions about how toincrease public transit usage and about developing theirprofessional skills.

New York will soon be asking the public to make suggestionsonline and by text message about how to make the city greener andmore sustainable; people who submit ideas will be invited to joinwith others to make similar changes happen.

In California, the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection Districtrecently released an iPhone app that will alert citizens trained inCPR when someone nearby is having a heart attack.

San Francisco city employees joined forces online to propose andvote on thrifty ideas, leading the city to stop paying $900 a monthfor the music callers heard when they were put on hold. New YorkCity began a similar employee program last month.

Government officials tout such projects as money-savers thatincrease efficiency and improve transparency. Citizen advocates forthe programs argue they offer something deeper - an opportunity toreignite civic responsibility and community participation.

In some ways, the new approach is simply a high-tech version ofan old concept, says Ben Berkowitz, the CEO of SeeClickFix, whichhelps citizens post pothole-type complaints and track whetherthey've been addressed.

"It's participatory democracy," he says. "Open government ... issomething that was laid out by Thomas Jefferson pretty early on.This is just a way to realize that vision."

In recent years, businesses have used the Internet to cull thewisdom of crowds to do everything from design shoes to publishbooks, a practice known as "crowdsourcing." As the approach hascaught on in the civic sphere, entrepreneurs and activists whosupport it have begun calling it "open government" or "Gov 2.0."