Thursday, April 20, 2006
Form Up Information Militias ?
My last post talked about some new activities on the Milblog front and the potential for bloggers to be an information age militia. It's not a very new concept; one could say it's already a work in progress. But the theme for this year's DSB Summer Study begs the question of whether it would be desirable to form a more collaborative government - blogosphere arrangement and if so how.
A good example is the ongoing translation of the (finally) released Iraqi documents on the web with blogs providing results and analyses ( see Captain's Quarters blog for some good coverage). Like the blog swarm of expertise and coverage that marked RatherGate, this is being done by an instantly formed community with pertinent interest and expertise focusing on a specific problem. The community forms up, works at its own initiative under mutually collaborative guidance, and disbands when the mission is accomplished. Sounds pretty much like the classic modus operandi for a militia.
Of course, these on-line communities or information age militia aren't formally organized and controlled; they form themselves as participants and experts discover a mutual interest and join in a collaborative solution. This is a key advantage that needs to survive any more robust cooperation or joint operations with the government. It's also been largely true that, as in the above example, the government's participation has not been very forthcoming and the leadership has come form the other side ( e.g. Stephen Hayes).
What's not being addressed is how to set up a cooperative endeavor between the blogger and government communities to address a few key national problems ammenable to blogging solution. Off hand, that might involve these kinds of activities:
* Seek help on high priority needs ( mostly Gov)
* Publicize the needs (Both) and free up data access (mostly Gov)
* Coordinate a voluntary effort (mostly Blogs)
* Do the work and keep it open (Blogs)
* Decide on results and and take action (mostly Gov).
There are many "mostly" items because there shouldn't be overly rigid roles. For example, the blog community may see an important need and engage with the government adjusting to help and use the products. Or the action may be simply the making the public aware of what's been done or learned. The objectives of a cooperative arrangement may include uncovering new facts or analyzing critical data; maintaining the American people's resolve by providing credible information; or influencing other nations or peoples by information exchange.
The real question is whether there is mutual advantage to such an arrangement. Is it better to let things evolve as they are or should we form up the Information Militias?
A good example is the ongoing translation of the (finally) released Iraqi documents on the web with blogs providing results and analyses ( see Captain's Quarters blog for some good coverage). Like the blog swarm of expertise and coverage that marked RatherGate, this is being done by an instantly formed community with pertinent interest and expertise focusing on a specific problem. The community forms up, works at its own initiative under mutually collaborative guidance, and disbands when the mission is accomplished. Sounds pretty much like the classic modus operandi for a militia.
Of course, these on-line communities or information age militia aren't formally organized and controlled; they form themselves as participants and experts discover a mutual interest and join in a collaborative solution. This is a key advantage that needs to survive any more robust cooperation or joint operations with the government. It's also been largely true that, as in the above example, the government's participation has not been very forthcoming and the leadership has come form the other side ( e.g. Stephen Hayes).
What's not being addressed is how to set up a cooperative endeavor between the blogger and government communities to address a few key national problems ammenable to blogging solution. Off hand, that might involve these kinds of activities:
* Seek help on high priority needs ( mostly Gov)
* Publicize the needs (Both) and free up data access (mostly Gov)
* Coordinate a voluntary effort (mostly Blogs)
* Do the work and keep it open (Blogs)
* Decide on results and and take action (mostly Gov).
There are many "mostly" items because there shouldn't be overly rigid roles. For example, the blog community may see an important need and engage with the government adjusting to help and use the products. Or the action may be simply the making the public aware of what's been done or learned. The objectives of a cooperative arrangement may include uncovering new facts or analyzing critical data; maintaining the American people's resolve by providing credible information; or influencing other nations or peoples by information exchange.
The real question is whether there is mutual advantage to such an arrangement. Is it better to let things evolve as they are or should we form up the Information Militias?
