Beyond Frequency

Social Media, Apps & Government: It's Time To Really Embrace The Power

Tim O'reilly wrote a nice article in Forbes about the merging of government with open data and the applications world that we have all embraced. I have copied the opening below in addition to the link.

I am a tremendous believer in the power of technology to drive democracy and hope to hear and read thoughts from anyone on this piece and the idea in general.

For me, the core value here is not in the data or tech or apps or even political objectives, it is in the concept of collaborative innovation to truly combine public service with customer service.  In a time of fiscal, economic & financial crisis, the capacity to contribute intellectual power should never diminish.

If anything, it is in those times that it should accelerate and in models that combine governance with data transparency, create public & private partnerships and allows citizens to create the tools of their own prosperity instead of simply relying on the "someone" to provide them I find hope and excitement.

I look forward to your thoughts as this is a conversation that should never end.

Gov 2.0: The Promise Of Innovation Tim O'Reilly

08.10.09, 06:00 PM EDT Can government become a platform of, for and by the people?

Over the past 15 years, the World Wide Web has created remarkable new business models reshaping our economy. As the Web has undermined old media and software companies, it has demonstrated the enormous power of a new model, often referred to as Web 2.0.

Now, a new generation has come of age with the Web and is committed to using its lessons of creativity and collaboration to address challenges facing our country and the world. The Facebook Causes application has more than 60 million registered users who are leveraging the power of social networks to raise money for charity. Meetup.com helps interest groups formed on the Web get together in person--and a remarkable number of groups do so for civic purposes. A quick search turns up nearly 20,000 meetups devoted to cleaning up local parks, streets and neighborhoods. Twitter and YouTube have played major roles in helping organize political protests in Iran's recent election. Everyblock and Stumblesafely take government crime statistics and turn them into public safety applications for the Web or iPhone. The list goes on.

Meanwhile, with the proliferation of issues and not enough resources to address them all, many government leaders recognize the opportunities inherent in harnessing a highly motivated and diverse population not just to help them get elected, but to help them do a better job. By analogy, many are calling this movement "Government 2.0."

Click here to read the rest of the article

Connect With Or Without Connectivity

The NYT on Saturday August 9 published an article about US congressional leaders beginning to see climate s change as a potential national security threat.  You can read it here and I think they make a good argument.

I think a similar argument could easily be made about the lack of access to technology.  With connectivity certainly a problem in many parts of the world, I do not think that Internet access as we think of it in developed nations is the answer at all.

Instead, the combination of simple mobile access via SMS (or feature phones if available) with a cloud computing & software-as-a-service philosophy can serve to advance those areas with only basic media capabilities and limited broadband.  A few ideas based on technology that exists now include:

A hosted platform that connects multiple media outlets (mobile, radio, TV) together would improve the reach, capacity and sustainability of community radio and other journalistic programs.  In addition, simple interactive content tools can connect radio to mobile &, if available, web, along with complimenting basic IVR systems for mobile phones.

The key is getting the content to the cloud, which can be done with or without 24/7 connectivity.  Once in the cloud, the SaaS platform can push it to any available outlet, which is mostly basic. 

For example, we can connect SMS messages to a central system to (a) directly connect to audio & video provided by the journalist or other contributors, (b) simultaneously post messages and content t to shared digital outlets like social networks, blogs and microblogs to expand reach and (c) analyze the activity data in order to see the impact of the information, broken down by any categories and variables deemed important.

To further support the expanded delivery of content regardless of radio or TV reception, we can connect broadcasts and journalist audio or video recordings to a SMS keyword and short code database.  That will allow any broadcast in any location to trigger content delivery to followers and support dynamic delivery of content during a live speech or  broadcast .  The journalist can set up the trigger based on keyword subscription or manual SMS from a citizen.

Such a platform for nascent media & information companies would help them interact more directly with citizens at any level and, ultimately, support sustainable growth through revenue models that can be tailored to the needs of the nation & community.  Moreover, by using a SaaS model partners from nations further down the path can manage the technology initially while training those on the ground so there can be a handoff to truly launch media independence, which is good for everyone.

Broadcaster Delusions And The Fear Of Revenue

I just finished reading a few articles, that when examined together, in context of one another, literally made my blood boil. They are:

• Dialing Down: Saga, Radio One, Entravision - Saga, Radio One and Entravision all reporting double-digit revenue declines compared to the same period last year
• Saga Draws Line On Cost Cuts - Cash flow margins at Saga have fallen to the 26-27% range, so CEO Ed Christian was asked if Saga can pull more cost-cutting levels to get those back up as some other radio groups have bragged about of late. “Yeah, we could, but probably not on my watch..."
• Google Is No Match For The Digital Spectrum - Michael Kokernak, a 20-year television industry veteran, why Google’s search technology is becoming obsolete and that within the next five years digital broadcast television could emerge as the superior form of search.

The context that infuriates me here is short-sightedness and innovation denial.  All 3 messages come out of the broadcast industry, arguably the most efficient way to reach thousands, even millions of people at once. 

Yet what we see here is an industry plummeting off a revenue cliff and instead of leveraging their massive audience with cost-efficient web and mobile social  media strategies to expand their relationship with listeners & advertisers to stop the fall, they cumt costs to hit the bottom faster.

With that in mind, I appreciate what Mr. Kokernak and his company, BackChannel Media, are doing as they are attempting to re-define the broadcast experience, but to simply list reasons why Google is obsolete without a clear path now for how broadcasters stop that fall now, to generate new revenue today, those remarks sound like sour grapes.

The fact is that there are cost-effective, actually just plain cheap, ways for broadcasters to build the top line instead of stripping out their soul by simply tearing down operations.  What it requires, however, is a re-examination of what your relationship is and should be with your audience.

For radio, it is essential that stations, groups, personalities accept that the medium is not the core value; it is just one vehicle.  The core values are the community connection, the brand trust and the content & information that makes it possible.

From there, the business models increase tremendously.