It Comes from People
"...democracy requires much more than Facebook revolutions and ballot boxes. It demands active citizens, effective bureaucrats, and enlightened leaders."
-- Kentaro Toyama, Geek Heresy: Rescuing Social Change from the Cult of Technology
I see a lot of hopeful people looking for the technology that is going to change their world. They usually look to me to help them identify the technology that will help spark change. But technology isn't the answer to the question.
It's active citizens, who are empowered to engage their leaders. It's leaders, who empower their citizens to engage with them. It's realizing people, not technology power change.
So why do we put so much focus on the technology? It's easy. And we want to believe that there is a magic tool that can solve problems. But even with technology, behavior change is difficult and complex. It takes years of work from dedicated citizens, to government leaders, to make these changes.
Sure, the technology can help. Just like any tool can help make something more efficient or cheaper. And I am interested in testing these small tools to see if they can spark something. To see if the tools can help increase people's efficiency to engage. And give the government the tools they need to serve their communities better.
But real change, lasting change, comes from people, not machines.