User centricity and citizen centricity are not only about a proactive paradigm change on the part of providers and the government; it is about us as individuals as well, what we are actively willing to do in daily life in the same spirit that we have been preaching our providers and institutions to incorporate into their culture. Looking for fundamental change? The present day scenario is that we get civically active only on voting day. However, It’s we who have the key and can bring in the change by committing ourselves to it.
The change expected from organizations and governing bodies that till now have been holding their data and processes close to their chests, is to open up the flow of data, information and processes and make it accessible to us, citizens. What is required right now are transparency and collaboration along with managerial integrity that exceed political and power based interests. Exercising humanization and sensitivity is of utmost importance on the way to raise the declining curve of trust.
The values and priorities need to be realigned to make sense of the fundamental pact between providers, institutions and the clients/users. There is a need for more social and environmental involvement and this can only be achieved if the providers put the user at the center. Users need to be in control of data and activate bilateral communication, privacy and sharing settings. Digital natives are already used to work in a flattened hierarchy structure. In the same spirit, citizen centricity calls for opening government data, empowering citizens to transparently become part of the decision making process. It’s the wisdom of the crowd and the actions taken at the grass root level that will be effective in building the most powerful force that’s going to act in determining the paradigm shift and implement new measuring scales.
We need to embrace the same value set before we can advocate it to the government and organizations that are working in the ecosystem. WE need to commit to shifting from materialistic consumerism to a more value based lifestyle, to exercise self-restraint as the web presents a plethora of opportunities to compare prices, understand the economic ramifications and make compromises wherever possible and wherever required.
In the same spirit, citizen centricity should spell to us participatory awareness and activism, namely, not only do we have the right, but the obligation, to actively have a say on what we want our life to look like.
To know more about Edemocracy, E-government, Gov 2.0, Open Gov, Citizen, citizen engagement, government 2.0, e-democracy, open government feel free to visit : http://www.icentered.com/
