GovDirectory

The Government Online Presence Directory sets out to create an open platform that gathers and makes publicly available all governmental online accounts and services. These may be official websites or social media accounts sorted in an online directory creating easier access for the general public. 

As a crowdsourced and fact-checked tool the directory not only guarantees transparency, but also the rightfulness of information provided: The directory will build on the open database Wikidata. Wikidata’s large and trusted community, its sourceability and versioning form an integral part of ensuring that all information provided will be correct. Contribution tools and decentralized workflows will be established to involve crowdsourcing and validation through users.

Project documentation

Link:

Social media:

License:

Interim report from September 2021:

Showcase at the UNLOCK Demo Day in October 2021:

Project description

What problem does the project solve?

Tracking governmental doings and activities might be a challenge, not only in your own home country, but particularly across the globe. As each agency might be using different communication channels to share official statements and activities, finding these amongst the many platforms available is not an easy task. With the rise of false accounts spreading misleading information, identifying the official channels also proves increasingly difficult. Further, access to information might still be limited due to a missing account of your own on the respective platform.

What is the intended purpose of the project?

“Our vision is a world where people are empowered to engage with their government to ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels.”

The Government Online Presence Directory aims to help the public identify the official Twitter accounts for all provinces in Chile, or the Instagram accounts for all environmental protection agencies across all EU countries. The online presence of every public organization should be findable, queryable and trustworthy. Creating more accessibility and transparency will make political participation and understanding easier by

• supporting the direct and timely retrieval of official information and contact details,
• holding political bodies accountable for the information they provide,
• enabling easier archiving of communications for future purposes.

Which target groups does the project address?

While the platform serves as a source for the general public seeking contact details or information on political activities, the Government Online Presence Directory is also intended to be a reliable source for further target groups by lowering access barriers for journalists, web archivists, or activists.