Author: Nonprofit Commons

This Thursday, August 6, at 6:30am PST / 9:30am EST, there will be a Second Life simulcast of an FCC Workshop on the subject of “E-Gov/Civic Engagement.” The goal of this workshop is to evaluate how broadband can improve the performance of government specifically in terms of transparency and citizen participation and more generally in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. The workshop will consider various ways all levels of government, as well as governments in other countries, have used broadband to improve its performance in these ways and how those lessons might apply for purposes of developing the national broadband plan. The workshop will also consider the potential benefits of universal broadband in enabling various government operations to move to a digital platform in terms of improved performance, cost savings, and strategic benefits to the communications infrastructure.

Hosted on MacArthur Island in Second Life ( click here to teleport ), this video simulcast of the workshop is open to the general public to attend. Key constituents of particular interest to the FCC include service providers, equipment providers, applications providers, community groups, and other groups that have a stake in the future of broadband. Virtual event hosting, moderation and technical support provided by Global Kids.

Background on the Workshop
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into law on February 17, 2009. The Broadband Initiatives funded in the Act are intended to accelerate broadband deployment across the United States. The Recovery Act authorizes the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to create the National Broadband Plan, that “shall seek to ensure that all people of the United States have access to broadband capability and shall establish benchmarks for meeting that goal.” From August to September, the FCC will be holding workshops on key issues relevant to broadband deployment in the United States. The goal of the workshops will be to promote an open dialogue between the FCC and key constituents on matters important to the National Broadband Plan.

For more information about the upcoming workshop see http://broadband.gov/ws_egov.html . For information about the in-world event, contact rik@globalkids.org

Written by: rikomatic

It is with great excitement that I announce a project I have been wanting to launch for some time now: Betterverse.org. The site is dedicated to covering and aggregating the most exciting experiments in nonprofit and public good applications of virtual world technology from across the metaverse. For the past four years, I have been following and writing about the growing nonprofit sector in Second Life, and witnessing its expansion into worlds like Habbo, ActiveWorlds, Whyville, and Metaplace.

These are exciting times. I believe we are witnessing a very real broadening of our definitions of the public sphere, civic engagement, education, and community through this new medium. Everyday, people in virtual worlds are changing lives, opening minds, rallying for change, and building bridges across cultures and borders. I hope you will help me in bringing the most dramatic examples of this to light. Just a couple of recent initiatives:

• President Obama’s speech in Accra, Ghana was simulcast into Metaplace and Second Life, with an international audience conversing live across worlds
• Tens of thousands of young people in the virtual world of Whyville have learned about ecology, marine biology and coral reefs through the “Whyreef” experience
• The Relay for Life raised more than $270,000 for cancer research in Second Life

Betterverse itself is, of course, a non-profit venture. Your help getting the word out to your networks is much appreciated. The site has an RSS and Twitter feed for keeping up to date on what’s happening.

Please send any relevant news that you come across to rik@betterverse.org.

Written by: rikomatic

Please join a Second Life simulcast, from the Markle Foundation, of Beth Simone Noveck, now the deputy Chief Technology Officer at the White House responsible for Open Government, presenting her new book, WIKI GOVERNMENT: How Technology Can Make Government Better, Democracy Stronger, and Citizens More Powerful. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A, in which participants from both Second Life and in person can ask questions of the author.

In the digital age our lives are constantly being transformed by the way in which we connect and collaborate with one another, affecting the way we make decisions – on a personal level, an institutional level, and a national level. Drawing on her expertise, and more directly her experience in creating Peer-to-Patent, the federal government’s first social networking initiative, Ms. Noveck’s Wiki Government insightfully demonstrates how technology, along with citizen participation, can help the government become more open and effective at solving the complex social and economic problems we face today.

The event will begin at 12:00pm EST/9:00am PST on Monday, July 20, 2009 and will take place in Second Life on MacArthur Island (click here to teleport http://slurl.com/secondlife/Foundations/109/231/34).

Further information

WIKI GOVERNMENT: How Technology Can Make Government Better, Democracy Stronger, and Citizens More Powerful

In the digital age our lives are constantly being transformed by the way in which we connect and collaborate with one another, affecting the way we make decisions – on a personal level, an institutional level, and a national level.

Beth Simone Noveck’s book provides a coherent and compelling “new vision of governance in the digital age – collaborative democracy – government with the people.”

Drawing on her expertise, and more directly her experience in creating Peer-to-Patent, the federal government’s first social networking initiative, Ms. Noveck’s Wiki Government insightfully demonstrates how technology, along with citizen participation, can help the government become more open and effective at solving the complex social and economic problems we face today.

About the Author:
Beth Simone Noveck is the United States deputy chief technology officer for open government and leads President Obama’s Open Government Initiative. Based at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, she is an expert on technology and institutional innovation. Previously, Noveck directed the Institute for Information Law & Policy and the Democracy Design Workshop at New York Law School. She is founder of the “Do Tank,” and the State of Play Conferences, and launched the first of its kind Peer-to-Patent Community Patent Review project in collaboration with the United States Patent and Trade Office. As a professor of Law at New York Law School, she has taught in the areas of intellectual property, innovation, and constitutional law, as well as courses on electronic democracy and electronic government.

To read more, please go to http://www.nyls.edu/faculty/faculty_profiles/beth_simone_noveck.

Written by: rikomatic