Jennifer Pahlka: Coding a better government

Translator: Aries Eroles Reviewer: Schubert Malbas

So a couple of years ago I started a program

Ilang taon na ang nakakaraan nang inumpisahan ko ang isang programa

to try to get the rockstar tech and design people

na hinihikayat ang ilang sikat na tao sa larangan ng teknolohiya at disenyo

to take a year off

upang liban ang kanilang trabaho ng isang taon

and work in the one environment

at magtrabaho sa isang kapaligiran

that represents pretty much everything they're supposed to hate;

na kanilang kinasusuklaman sa bawat aspeto:

we have them work in government.

pinagtatrabaho namin sila sa gobyerno.

The program is called Code for America,

Ang programa ay tinatawag na Code for America,

and it's a little bit like a Peace Corps for geeks.

at tulad ng Peace Corps para sa mga geeks.

We select a few fellows every year

Namili kami ng ilang kasapi kada taon

and we have them work with city governments.

at pinagtatrabaho namin sila sa mga pamahalaang panlunsod.

Instead of sending them off into the Third World,

Sa halip na ipatapon sila sa Third World,

we send them into the wilds of City Hall.

pinadala namin sila sa mga kagubatan ng City Hall.

And there they make great apps, they work with city staffers.

At doon sila gumagawa ng magagandang apps, at nagtatrabaho kasama ang mga kawani ng lungsod.

But really what they're doing is they're showing what's possible

Ngunit ang tunay nilang layunin ay ang ipakita ang lahat ng posible

with technology today.

gamit ang teknolohiya ngayon.

So meet Al.

Ipinakilala ko si Al.

Al is a fire hydrant in the city of Boston.

Si Al ay isang fire hydrant sa siyudad ng Boston.

Here it kind of looks like he's looking for a date,

Dito ay mukhang naghahanap siya ng ka-date,

but what he's really looking for is for someone to shovel him out when he gets snowed in,

pero ang talagang hinananap niya ang isang taong magtatanggal ng niyebe tuwing taglamig,

because he knows he's not very good at fighting fires

dahil hindi siya magagamit sa pag-apula ng apoy

when he's covered in four feet of snow.

kung natatabunan ito ng niyebeng may apat na talampakan ang lalim.

Now how did he come to be looking for help

Kaya paano siya nakapaghanap ng tulong

in this very unique manner?

sa ganitong kakaibang paraan?

We had a team of fellows in Boston last year

Meron kaming mga kasapi sa Boston noong nakaraang taon

through the Code for America program.

sa Code for America.

They were there in February, and it snowed a lot in February last year.

Nandunn sila noong Pebrero, at umulan ng maraming niyebe ng mga ilang buwan.

And they noticed that the city never gets

Napansin nila na hindi tinatanggal ng mga taga-Boston

to digging out these fire hydrants.

ang mga niyebe sa mga hydrant sa kanilang lugar.

But one fellow in particular,

Isa sa mga kasamahan namin,

a guy named Erik Michaels-Ober,

si Erik Michaels-Ober,

noticed something else,

may napansin siya,

and that's that citizens are shoveling out sidewalks

na tinatanggal naman ng mga taga-Boston ang niyebe sa sidewalk

right in front of these things.

sa harapan ng mga hydrant.

So he did what any good developer would do,

Kaya gumawa siya ng aksyon na sasang-ayon ang sinumang developer,

he wrote an app.

at gumawa siya ng app.

It's a cute little app where you can adopt a fire hydrant.

Ito'y cute at maliit na app kung saan makakapag-adopt ka ng fire hydrant.

So you agree to dig it out when it snows.

Kung sakaling magka-niyebe, ikaw ang magtatanggal nito.

If you do, you get to name it,

Kung gagawin mo ito, ikaw ang magpapangalan sa hydrant,

and he called the first one Al.

at ang pinakauna ay tinawag niyang Al.

And if you don't, someone can steal it from you.

Kung hindi mo siya gagawin, may ibang magnanakaw nito sa'yo.

So it's got cute little game dynamics on it.

Hindi ba cute ang game dynamics nito.

This is a modest little app.

Maliit lang ang app na ito.

It's probably the smallest

Ito marahil ang pinakamaliit

of the 21 apps that the fellows wrote last year.

sa 21 app na ginawa namin noong nakaraang taon.

But it's doing something

Ngunit may katangian ito

that no other government technology does.

na wala ang ibang teknolohiyang ginagamit gobyerno.

It's spreading virally.

Iyon ay ang paglaganap nang mabilis, virally kung tawagin.

There's a guy in the I.T. department of the City of Honolulu

Halimbawa, sa I.T. department ng Lungsod ng Honolulu

who saw this app and realized

may nakakita ng app na ito at naisip niya

that he could use it, not for snow,

na gamitin ito, hindi para sa niyebe,

but to get citizens to adopt tsunami sirens.

kun'di para makapag-adopt ang mga mamamayan ng tsunami siren.

It's very important that these tsunami sirens work,

Mahalaga na gumagana ang mga tsunami siren,

but people steal the batteries out of them.

pero madalas ninanakaw ang mga baterya nito.

So he's getting citizens to check on them.

Kaya ang mga taga-doon mismo ang titingin sa mga ito.

And then Seattle decided to use it

At ginamit din ito ng Seattle

to get citizens to clear out clogged storm drains.

para tanggalin ang mga nakabara sa drainage.

And Chicago just rolled it out

Ginaya din ito sa Chicago

to get people to sign up to shovel sidewalks when it snows.

para magtanggal ng niyebe sa mga sidewalk.

So we now know of nine cities

Sa ngayon may siyam na siyudad

that are planning to use this.

na may balak gamitin ito.

And this has spread just frictionlessly,

At napakabilis ng paglaganap nito,

organically, naturally.

napaka-natural ika nga.

If you know anything about government technology,

Kung may naririnig ka man tungkol sa teknolohiyang gamit ng gobyerno,

you know that this isn't how it normally goes.

alam mong hindi ito madalas mangyari.

Procuring software usually takes a couple of years.

Umaabot ng ilang taon ang pagkuha ng software.

We had a team that worked on a project in Boston last year

Sa Boston, may pangkat kami noong isang taon sa isang proyekto

that took three people about two and a half months.

na may tatlong tao lang sa loob ng dalawa at kalahating buwan.

It was a way that parents could figure out

Ang proyekto ay para sa mga magulang doon

which were the right public schools for their kids.

upang matukoy ang pinaka-angkop na pampublikong paaralan para sa kanilang mga anak.

We were told afterward that if that had gone through normal channels,

Nasabi na sa amin na ang normal na prosesong ito

it would have taken at least two years

ay aabutin ng halos dalawang taon

and it would have cost about two million dollars.

at gagastos ng dalawang milyong dolyar.

And that's nothing.

At maliit pa ang halagang 'yan.

There is one project in the California court system right now

Isang proyekto para sa mga korte ng California

that so far cost taxpayers

ay nagkakahalaga ng

two billion dollars,

dalawang bilyong dolyar

and it doesn't work.

at hindi pa iyon epektibo.

And there are projects like this

At marami pang proyektong gaya nito

at every level of government.

sa bawat sulok ng pamahalaan.

So an app that takes a couple of days to write

Kaya ang app na ginawa sa loob ng ilang araw

and then spreads virally,

at lumaganap ng mabilis,

that's sort of a shot across the bow

iyan ay parang malaking sampal

to the institution of government.

sa mga institusyon ng gobyerno.

It suggests how government could work better --

Mensahe ito na maaring maging mas epektibo ang gobyerno --

not more like a private company,

hindi sa paraan ng mga pribadong kompanya,

as many people think it should.

gaya ng iniisip ng maraming tao.

And not even like a tech company,

At hindi rin tulad ng isang tech company,

but more like the Internet itself.

kundi kagaya ng Internet mismo.

And that means permissionless,

Ibig sabihin, malaya,

it means open, it means generative.

bukas, nakakalikha.

And that's important.

At lahat ng 'yan ay mahalaga.

But what's more important about this app

Ngunit ang mas mahalaga sa app na'to

is that it represents how a new generation

ay ang paraan kung paano tinutugan

is tackling the problem of government --

ng bagong henerasyon ang problema ng gobyerno --

not as the problem of an ossified institution,

hindi bilang suliranin ng isang institusyon,

but as a problem of collective action.

kundi bilang suliranin ng pamayanan.

And that's great news,

At iyan ay magandang balita,

because, it turns out, we're very good at collective action

dahil alam natin na magaling tayo sa sama-samang pag-aksyon

with digital technology.

gamit ang teknolohiyang digital.

Now there's a very large community of people

May malaking sangay ng komunidad

that are building the tools that we need

na gumagawa ng mga kagamitang gaya nito

to do things together effectively.

upang mas maging mabisa ang ating sama-samang pagkilos.

It's not just Code for America fellows,

Hindi lang Code for America ang gumagawa nito,

there are hundreds of people all over the country

may daan-daan katao sa buong bansa

that are standing and writing civic apps

ang gumagawa ng mga app pang-sibiko

every day in their own communities.

bawat araw sa kani-kanilang komunidad.

They haven't given up on government.

Hindi pa sila sumusuko sa ideya ng gobyerno.

They are frustrated as hell with it,

Galit at pagod na sila dito, oo,

but they're not complaining about it,

pero hindi sila nagrereklamo,

they're fixing it.

bagkus gusto nila itong ayusin.

And these folks know something

Alam nila ang isang bagay

that we've lost sight of.

na matagal na nating nakalimutan.

And that's that when you strip away all your feelings

Kung tatanggalin mo ang iyong nararamdaman

about politics and the line at the DMV

tungkol sa pulitika, DMV

and all those other things

at lahat ng bagay

that we're really mad about,

na kinasusuklaman natin,

government is, at its core,

ang pamahalaan, sa tunay na kahulugan ng salita,

in the words of Tim O'Reilly,

ayon kay Tim O'Reilly, ay

"What we do together that we can't do alone."

"Ang magagawa natin nang magkasama na hindi natin magagawang mag-isa."

Now a lot of people have given up on government.

Sa ngayon maraming tao na ang sumuko na sa gobyerno.

And if you're one of those people,

At kung isa ka sa kanila,

I would ask that you reconsider,

gusto ko sanang tingnan mo ito ulit,

because things are changing.

dahil may pagbabagong nagaganap.

Politics is not changing;

Hindi politika ang nagbabago;

government is changing.

ang gobyerno ang nagbabago:

And because government

Dahil nagmumula sa atin

ultimately derives its power from us --

ang kapangyarihan ng isang pamahalaan --

remember "We the people?" --

natandaan mo ba, "We the people?" --

how we think about it

kung ano ang tingin natin dito

is going to effect how that change happens.

ay nakakaapekto sa nagaganap na pagbabago.

Now I didn't know very much about government when I started this program.

Bago nagsimula ang proyektong ito, wala akong gaanong alam tungkol sa gobyerno.

And like a lot of people,

Gaya ng marami sa atin,

I thought government was basically about getting people elected to office.

akala ko ang gobyerno ay tungkol sa paghalal ng mga tao sa pwesto.

Well after two years, I've come to the conclusion

Matapos ang dalawang taon, napagtanto ko

that, especially local government,

na, lalo na sa lokal na pamahalaan,

is about opossums.

ito ay tungkol sa mga opossum.

This is the call center for the services and information line.

Ito ang call center para sa serbisyo at impormasyong pampubliko.

It's generally where you will get

Dito dumadaan ang tawag

if you call 311 in your city.

kapag pinindot mo ang 311 sa inyong lugar.

If you should ever have the chance

Kung ika'y may pagkakataon

to staff your city's call center,

na mag-staff sa call center ng siyudad,

as our fellow Scott Silverman did as part of the program --

gaya ng ginawa ng kasamahan naming si Scott Silverman, bilang bahagi ng programa --

in fact, they all do that --

sa katunayan, ginawa nilang lahat iyan --

you will find that people call government

malalaman mong maraming dahilan kung bakit

with a very wide range of issues,

tinatawagan ng mga tao ang gobyerno,

including having an opossum stuck in your house.

kabilang na ang tungkol sa opossum sa kanilang bahay.

So Scott gets this call.

Nakatanggap ng ganitong tawag si Scott.

He types "Opossum" into this official knowledge base.

Ti-nayp niya ang "Opossum" sa kanyang opisyal na database.

He doesn't really come up with anything. He starts with animal control.

Walang laman sa database. Inumpisahan niya sa animal control.

And finally, he says, "Look, can you just open all the doors to your house

'Di nagtagal, sabi niya, "Subukan mo kayang buksan lahat ng pintuan ng bahay

and play music really loud

magpatugtog ka nang malakas

and see if the thing leaves?"

at tingnan mo kung lalabas siya?"

So that worked. So booya for Scott.

Gumana nga. Booya para kay Scott.

But that wasn't the end of the opossums.

Pero hindi dito nagtatapos ang kwento ng opossum.

Boston doesn't just have a call center.

Hindi lang call center ang meron sa Boston.

It has an app, a Web and mobile app,

Meron silang app, isang Web at mobile app,

called Citizens Connect.

na tinatawag na Citizens Connect.

Now we didn't write this app.

Hindi kami ang gumawa ng app na ito.

This is the work of the very smart people

Gawa ito ng mga matatalinong tao

at the Office of New Urban Mechanics in Boston.

mula sa Opisina ng New Urban Mechanics ng Boston.

So one day -- this is an actual report -- this came in:

Kaya isang araw -- ito'y isang aktwal na ulat -- ganito ang nangyari:

"Opossum in my trashcan. Can't tell if it's dead.

"Opposum sa aking basurahan. 'Di ko alam kung patay na.

How do I get this removed?"

Papaano ko siya papaalisin?"

But what happens with Citizens Connect is different.

Iba ang paraan sa Citizens Connect.

So Scott was speaking person-to-person.

Si Scott, kinakausap niya ang taong nag-ulat ng problema.

But on Citizens Connect everything is public,

Pero ang Citizens Connect ay bukas sa lahat,

so everybody can see this.

kaya nakikita ito ng lahat.

And in this case, a neighbor saw it.

At sa kasong ito, isang kapitbahay ang nakakita.

And the next report we got said,

Kaya ang kasunod na ulat ay ganito,

"I walked over to this location,

"Pinuntahan ko na ito,

found the trashcan behind the house.

nakita ko ang basurahan sa likod ng bahay.

Opossum? Check. Living? Yep.

Opossum? Tama. Buhay? Oo.

Turned trashcan on its side. Walked home.

Tinaob ko ang basurahan. Umuwi na'ko pagkatapos.

Goodnight sweet opossum."

Magandang gabi mahal na opossum."

(Laughter)

(Tawanan)

Pretty simple.

Simple lang 'di ba.

So this is great. This is the digital meeting the physical.

Napakaganda nito. Pagtatagpo ng digital sa pisikal.

And it's also a great example

At maganda din itong halimbawa

of government getting in on the crowd-sourcing game.

sa paggamit ng crowd-sourcing para sa gobyerno.

But it's also a great example of government as a platform.

Maganda rin itong halimbawa bilang plataporma ng gobyerno.

And I don't mean necessarily

Hindi lang teknikal na plataporma

a technological definition of platform here.

ang tinutukoy ko dito.

I'm just talking about a platform for people

Ibig kong sabihin maaari itong plataporma ng mamamayan

to help themselves and to help others.

para magtulungan.

So one citizen helped another citizen,

Dito, isang tao ang nakapagbigay-tulong sa kanyang kapwa,

but government played a key role here.

kung saan may mahalagang papel na ginampanan ang gobyerno.

It connected those two people.

Ito ang nagdurugtong sa dalawang tao.

And it could have connected them with government services if they'd been needed,

At maaari din naman magbigay serbisyo ang gobyerno kung kinakailangan,

but a neighbor is a far better and cheaper alternative

ngunit mas mura ang tulong mula sa isang kapitbahay

to government services.

kumpara sa serbisyo ng gobyerno.

When one neighbor helps another,

Kung tinutulungan ng mamamayan ang kanilang kapitbahay,

we strengthen our communities.

pinapatibay nito ang komunidad.

We call animal control, it just costs a lot of money.

Kung tatawag pa tayo sa animal control, gagastos pa tayo.

Now one of the important things we need to think about government

Isa sa mga dapat nating tandaan tungkol sa gobyerno

is that it's not the same thing as politics.

ay hindi ito katulad ng pulitika.

And most people get that,

Alam iyan ng karamihan,

but they think that one is the input to the other.

pero alam din nating na 'yung isa ay input dun sa isa.

That our input to the system of government

At ang ating input sa sistema ng gobyerno

is voting.

ay halalan.

Now how many times have we elected a political leader --

Ilang beses na ba tayo naghalal ng mga lider natin sa pulitika --

and sometimes we spend a lot of energy

at minsan nang naglaan ng oras at enerhiya

getting a new political leader elected --

para ikampanya ang napiling lider --

and then we sit back and we expect government

at pagkatapos uupo nalang tayo at aasa sa gobyerno

to reflect our values and meet our needs,

na alamin at tugunan ang ating pangangailangan,

and then not that much changes?

tapos walang pagbabago?

That's because government is like a vast ocean

Dahil ang pamahalaan ay parang malawak na karagatan

and politics is the six-inch layer on top.

at ang politika ay tapyas lamang ng tubig sa ibabaw.

And what's under that

Sa ilalim nito

is what we call bureaucracy.

ang tinatawag nating bureaucracy.

And we say that word with such contempt.

At binibigkas natin ang salitang iyan nang may pag-aalipusta.

But it's that contempt

Pero ang ugaling 'yan

that keeps this thing that we own

ang pumipigil sa pamahalaang pagmamay-ari natin

and we pay for

at binabayaran natin

as something that's working against us, this other thing,

na magtrabaho para sa atin, itong isang bagay,

and then we're disempowering ourselves.

at ito ang naglulugmok sa atin.

People seem to think politics is sexy.

Iniisip ng mga tao na sexy ang mundo ng pulitika.

If we want this institution to work for us,

Kung gusto nating maging epektibo ang institusyong ito para sa atin,

we're going to have to make bureaucracy sexy.

gawin din nating sexy ang bureaucracy.

Because that's where the real work of government happens.

Dahil diyan nagaganap ang tunay na pamamahala.

We have to engage with the machinery of government.

Dapat tayong makiugnay sa makinarya ng gobyerno.

So that's OccupytheSEC movement has done.

'Yan ang ginawa ng OccupytheSEC movement.

Have you seen these guys?

Nakilala mo ba na sila?

It's a group of concerned citizens

Grupo ito ng mga mamamayang nagmamalasakit

that have written a very detailed

at nagsulat detalyadong ulat

325-page report

na may 325 pahina

that's a response to the SEC's request for comment

bilang tugon sa hiling ng SEC na opinyon

on the Financial Reform Bill.

tungkol sa Financial Reform Bill.

That's not being politically active,

Hindi 'yon pangingialam sa pulitika,

that's being bureaucratically active.

iyon ay halimbawa ng pangingialam sa bureaurucracy.

Now for those of us who've given up on government,

Kaya sa lahat ng taong isinuko na ang pag-asa sa gobyerno,

it's time that we asked ourselves

oras na para tanungin ang inyong sarili

about the world that we want to leave for our children.

tungkol sa daigdig na iiwanan natin sa ating mga anak.

You have to see the enormous challenges

Makikita mong mabibigat ang mga hamon

that they're going to face.

na ating hinaharap.

Do we really think we're going to get where we need to go

Iniisip ba nating makakatungo tayo sa ninanais nating landas

without fixing the one institution

nang hindi isinasaayos ang isang institusyon

that can act on behalf of all of us?

na maaaring kumilos para sa ating lahat?

We can't do without government,

Kailangan natin ang gobyerno,

but we do need it

ngunit kailangan nitong

to be more effective.

maging mas epektibo.

The good news is that technology is making it possible

Napakagandang balita na may mga teknolohiyang

to fundamentally reframe

maaring baguhin at ayusin

the function of government

ang trabaho ng gobyerno,

in a way that can actually scale

sa paraang nararamdaman ng mga tao ang epekto nito,

by strengthening civil society.

sa pamamagitan ng pagpapatibay ng lipunang sibil.

And there's a generation out there that's grown up on the Internet,

At ito ang henerasyong lumaki na sanay sa Internet,

and they know that it's not that hard

at alam na hindi mahirap

to do things together,

gawin ang mga bagay kung magkakasama,

you just have to architect the systems the right way.

kinakailangan lang na angkop ang disenyo sa bawat sistema.

Now the average age of our fellows is 28,

Karaniwang 28 ang edad ng mga kasamahan,

so I am, begrudgingly,

kaya ako ito, naiinggit,

almost a generation older than most of them.

halos isang henerasyon ang itinanda kaysa sa kanila.

This is a generation

Ito ang henerasyong lumaki

that's grown up taking their voices pretty much for granted.

nang hindi pinahahalagahan ang sariling boses.

They're not fighting that battle that we're all fighting

Hindi gaya natin na kinailangang ipaglaban

about who gets to speak;

ang karapatang makapagsalita;

they all get to speak.

lahat sila ay malayang nakakapagsalita.

They can express their opinion

Nakakapagbigay sila ng mga opinyon

on any channel at any time,

sa anumang paraan, kahit kailan,

and they do.

at ginagawa nila 'yan.

So when they're faced with the problem of government,

Kaya pagdating sa mga suliranin ng pamahalaan,

they don't care as much

hindi nila iniisip

about using their voices.

na gamitin ang kanilang boses.

They're using their hands.

Bagkus ginagamit nila ang kanilang kamay.

They're using their hands

Ginagamit nila ang kanilang kamay

to write applications that make government work better.

upang lumikha ng mga application upang maisaayos ang gobyerno.

And those applications let us use our hands

At ang mga application na ito ay ginagamit natin

to make our communities better.

para maging maayos ang ating komunidad.

That could be shoveling out a hydrant, pulling a weed,

Ang pagtanggal ng niyebe sa hydrant, pagtanggal ng damo,

turning over a garbage can with an opossum in it.

pagtanggal ng opossum sa basurahan.

And certainly, we could have been shoveling out those fire hydrants all along,

Siyempre, maari namang alagaan ang mga hydrants nang walang app

and many people do.

at maraming tao din ang gumagawa non.

But these apps are like little digital reminders

Pero ang mga apps na ito ay maliliit na paalala

that we're not just consumers,

na hindi lang tayo kostumer,

and we're not just consumers of government,

at hindi lang tayo mga kostumer ng gobyerno,

putting in our taxes and getting back services.

na nagbibigay ng mga buwis at umaasa ng sebisyo.

We're more than that,

Higit pa tayo doon,

we're citizens.

tayo ay mga mamamayan.

And we're not going to fix government

Hindi natin maisasaayos ang gobyerno

until we fix citizenship.

hangga't 'di natin aayusin ang ating pagiging mamamayan.

So the question I have for all of you here:

Kaya ang tanong ko sa inyong lahat na nandito:

When it comes to the big, important things

Pagdating sa mga malalaki at mahahalagang bagay

that we need to do together,

na nangangailangan ng sama-samang pagkilos,

all of us together,

tayong lahat ang magsasama-sama,

are we just going to be a crowd of voices,

tayo ba ay magiging lipon ng mga boses,

or are we also going to be

o maari ba tayong maging

a crowd of hands?

lipon ng mga kamay?

Thank you.

Salamat.

(Applause)

(Palakpakan)