What’s your idea?

AutonoMe- Giving people the ability to manage ‘the man’ using an online tool.

People interact with government agencies in complex ways but can’t take charge of the information and data that these interactions create. This means:

1. They have little choice over how their data is used

2. They don’t benefit from the complete picture that their data creates and can’t draw on the trends that the fuller picture shows.

3. They are victim to data inaccuracies and losses and have to repeat the same information to different organisations.

AutonoMe will help people build and learn from an accurate picture of their interactions with government agencies in their own online space, helping them regain control in their dealings with institutions.

Once AutonoMe is built I would like to pilot the idea with some willing citizens and council workers. My guess is that they’ll build up a much more accurate picture of what citizens want and need, and all without having to deal with the hassle of securely storing the data (mislaid memory stick, anyone?)

Geeky bit: The application will be built to work with an online tool that is currently in open source development called the ‘Mine!’ which provides the nuts and bolts for helping users:

1. Take charge of their data (content, relationships, transactions, knowledge),

2. Arrange (analyse, manipulate, combine, mash-up) it according to their needs and preferences and

3. Share it on their own terms

4. While connected and networked on the web.

Here are two examples that show how this can work:

Asif is 16 and is due to take his GCSEs this year. A regular user of Bebo, he knows the importance of trusted relationships with others via the web.

He enters stuff about himself and his education into the application – his school timetables, the results of his GCSE mocks and his predicted grades (he’s particularly good at maths and information technology but terrible at history).

He also enters his school notes via the application so he can share them with his useless mates who never listen in class.

He enters the after-school stuff he does too – football is a big passion, and so is music (grade 6 piano and grade 4 guitar) and he’s made a list of his favourite songs, linked to his last.fm profile.

Asif wants to go to college, but isn’t sure what to do. His parents are pushing him towards maths and although he’s good at it he suspects it might be a bit boring.

He creates an RSS feed of his data which contains his grades and his after-school stuff, and he shares it with a few people – the careers counsellor at school, the local college and his football coach.

The careers counsellor looks at it in detail to get a clearer picture of Asif, and starts to think about what sorts of options might be good for him – she thinks he could combine his talent for information technology with his passion for music and go into music production.

She also spots that he’s changed his mobile phone number, but that’s fine because the school’s records have been automatically updated as a result of the feed he has sent.

The local college comes to a similar conclusion about Asif’s options. They email him a list of courses in music production and related fields that he might consider doing after his GCSEs. They also chuck a few maths-related courses in the list, just in case.

The football coach looks at the grades, and gets a bit worried. They’re good, but he doesn’t think Asif is reaching his academic potential as the grades are in decline.

Maybe it’s because he’s out playing football every evening instead of revising. At the next practice he pulls Asif aside and does a bit of mentoring, which helps Asif to see that he needs to adjust his priorities for a short while so he can get the grades he needs to do that course in music production at the local college.

John is 50 and was diagnosed with stomach cancer 6 months ago. He is undergoing chemotherapy and suffers a range of associated symptoms.

He has a laptop that’s on its last legs, but uses Last.fm to feed his music obsession and grudgingly has a Facebook account which he uses to keep in touch with his 2 daughters. He shops online using Tesco, Amazon and Ebay, and has recently become a regular user of patientslikeme.

John is entitled to Incapacity Benefit, Disability Living Allowance, and a grant from the Independent Living Fund, issued by his local council in the form of an Individual Budget. He has regular contact with a Macmillan nurse, an oncologist and his GP, as well as receiving support from friends and family.

John enters his medical records via the application as well as his symptoms, and also keeps track of his diet, exercise, stress levels and other factors so that he can do things to keep as healthy as possible during treatment.

He keeps track of his appointments and the notes he makes, as well as research and information about stomach cancer. He also organises his financial information through the same application including the spending of his Individual Budget.

He can analyse trends in his symptoms and treatment pattern and then map this against his budget so that he can spend the money at the right time, on the right kind of support.

John creates three different RSS feeds which he shares with different people:

1. His medical records, symptoms and other information is shared with his Macmillan nurse and other health professionals, as well as his family, who can use the information to see how he’s doing and offer extra support when needed.

2. His financial information and spending as well as some limited health information is shared with his local council who can see how he’s spending his money and send him information on other help he might be entitled to – they can also be sure that when his circumstances change, all of their records will be updated.

3. His symptoms and his wish-lists are shared with trusted vendors in the market place who can recommend and offer products that will help him manage his illness better, enabling him to spend his Individual Budget on things that will make a real improvement to his life (one of which could well be a new laptop).
What is the social need or challenge your idea could address?

Government agencies have a hard time keeping track of citizens’ data and can never benefit from a fuller picture of the people they serve, who can be residents, citizens, customers, clients, patients, victims, criminals, volunteers, donors, and many more things all at the same time. Each agency only gets a view of one or two of these, making service design a bit of a shot in the dark.

Meanwhile, people interact with the state in a complex variety of ways but can’t take charge of the information and data that these interactions create. This means:

∑ they have little choice over how their data is used and interpreted
∑ they don’t benefit from the picture that their data creates
∑ they are victim to data inaccuracies and losses

AutonoMe effectively outsources the management of citizens’ data to the citizens themselves, while empowering them to become more active and articulate.

What’s really new about your idea?

This approach goes way beyond being a passive personal data store as it equips individuals with the analytical and other tools to understand themselves better and give them an online springboard to gain a bit more control in their relationships with the state, ultimately benefitting both the individual and the state.

To have citizens share their data in their way holds massive potential for service design, and by sticking a bit of a challenge in there – how are you going to use my data to help me? – I’m hoping we’ll see more accountability from the public sector. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll have services designed BY users, not FOR users…

What inspired you to come up with your idea in the first place?

Working in the public sector I get cross when I see how citizens feel like they have no power to influence the very services that exist to serve them.

The government talks about ‘citizen empowerment’, but technically speaking we’re the ones who give them the power through the democratic process. It’s time to redress some of the balance to create a more equal relationship between citizens and the state – something that will ultimately create a virtuous circle.

From 1-5, what stage of development would you say your idea was in?

2 – It’s a solid idea that has been discussed with a bunch of people and has had positive feedback. There are a number of use cases that allow me to take it further to implementation.

What can we do for you?

This project really needs a mentor. I could do with some public sector contacts and willing participants for a pilot. Cash will be crucial at some point but I’m hoping to prove that this can be done on a shoestring. There are some geeks in the frame, but more would definitely help.

If Social Innovation Camp is able to help push your idea forward, do you have the time or desire to take ownership of it?

Yes – I work four days a week, and I’d like this idea to be the thing that purifies me on the 5th day.

This idea was submitted by Carrie Bishop.

Carrie is a management consultant for the public sector and has a growing collection of trainers.