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Comment on #TCamp12 – Or How I Spent My Weekend. by Building Bridges Between Policy and Tech at “Transparency Camp” | The Transparency and Accountability Initiative

Thu, 24 May 2012 15:39:44 +0000

[...] members of the group posted their own thoughts on the session here and here. To get the latest news from the #TABridge network, go [...]

Comment on #TCamp12 – Or How I Spent My Weekend. by ashaw07

ashaw07 — Wed, 02 May 2012 03:34:00 +0000

Point well taken! I think I was trying to convey the three-pronged analogy – but apparently mixed up the roles so it didn’t come across as neatly as your description. Without being too literal, the missing link is the all important bridge between the NGOs and software developers. Both sides need to work towards the middle, but there will almost always be a gap in understanding between those two groups without an intermediary.

Thanks very much to you and Hollie for holding one of (in my humble opinion) the best session this weekend! I can’t wait to see what other great work you guys will do!

Comment on #TCamp12 – Or How I Spent My Weekend. by Jed Miller (@jedmiller)

Jed Miller (@jedmiller) — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:47:42 +0000

Anna, thanks for being part of our Mars/Venus session and for this great distillation of the points. (Plus the change to share the thumbnail spotlight here with @Todd_Park!)

In the open source spirit, I’d amend the analogy above to reflect the three-part comparison we made on Saturday, where an NGO/non-profit is the architect of a campaign, a developer is the carpenter or subcontractor that does the labor, but it’s the contractor whose all-important work is often missing. The work of bridging the gap between program goals and technical features, that sometimes falls to a project manager, but sometimes goes neglected, leaving the “clients” and the “vendors,” further apart in shared language, shared goals than they ought to be.

I found a small diagram that illustrates where the contractor sits in the building process:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vyGPb0qoh90/Tj1axZuNcLI/AAAAAAAAAFI/mIxKPzRMyKo/s1600/blinders.jpg

… ironically, the post with that image, from architect Matt Ostanik (www.submittalexchange.com), is part of a chart showing how software can bring all members of a process into better collaboration.

There’s more about our session in the notes belownfrom #TCAMP12. Thank you so much again for joining in and sharing the message.

http://pad.transparencycamp.org/p/code-mars-and-policy-venus

Jed