AN interesting outside
perspective: Experts asked if the mission was to create a platform upon which
others can innovate, or was the mission to create a closed system where
information is only exchanged through trusted entities? As we discussed the mission, experts noted a
divide between the mission for safety and the one for mobility and
environmental performance, and asked if we thought we should keep
those two separate. This will come up
as we go through these slides and through our exercises today. Importantly, experts stressed that we not lose sight of
the mission once it is established and gave us a good example. They said,
remember that it is not about adopting technology; instead it’s about what you want
to do with the technology. For example,
the electronic medical records initiative is not about the
technology for collecting records, but about improving health. The performance measures or goals developed
for this initiative should be based on improving heath in this case. Records are only the technological tool.
Using the mission as a guide,
establish the principles that form the basis for establishing Governance. Some principles to consider are:
Participation / Voice – Those
who will be impacted by the system will need to be part of the decision making
process
Accountability – How do you
deal with disputes?
Representation – Recognize
stakeholder participation and interests
Transparency – Need to be
clear on how and why decisions were made
Efficiency – Recognize that
there are trade-offs with participation
Flexibility – Don’t lock into
decisions that may lead to stalled innovation
With the list of principles,
we can conduct two further analyses:
Evaluate and prioritize these (and other) principles so
that we can look at the vulnerabilities and risks and decide where flexibility is
desired. Note, also, that there
may be important trade-offs in this principles. For instance, transparency and efficiency
are usually in conflict.
And, Identify best practices to use as models when
developing principles. As questions such as
“What are models for accountability? Dispute resolution? Transparency? Participation? Voice?
Efficiency and effectiveness?”
Finally, define the level of
failure that is acceptable and /or the tolerance of failure. This will help define
where government roles are needed most.
Experts noted that our
processes will likely result in a blend of models to create the program best suited to
meet mission and goals. Also, they said
to separate goals from regulatory tools.