Civil Access is as much a Human Right as Civil Rights are in a Civil Society. Civil Access is our ability to read and write our Civil Information such as our Social Security Number, our Contact Information, as well as the sum total of every detail our Government stores that pertains explicitly to us.
That is Civil Access, and it should be viewed not only as a Right, but as a Reality that you assumed you had all along. That is what makes the Internet Banking Challenge such a wonderful meme, as it illustrates specific limitations in our own government such as the ability to view my tax account.
The best part of the Internet Banking Challenge is that most if not all of it already exists on the web. By that I mean that the debates, decisions, and contact information of our city officials is already available on the Internet. Opening the doors between this information and the public is one of the accomplishments of the Great Ralph Nader.
As for my own accomplishments, I plan to squat on CivicAccess.us until I find the time to illustrate the framework for a Civic Access Portal. I see this not only as the first step in achieving a truly Open Government, but more importantly, a realistic step into our current form of Government. (Note the US on the back of the domain name. And please feel free to contact or comment to get the thoughts rolling!)
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