g0v (2018)
Introduction
g0v (pronounced “gov zero”) <https://g0v.tw> is a polycentric civic tech community based in Taiwan. Established on the spirit of free speech, open source, and grassroots activism, g0v uses technology in the interest of the public good, eliminating information asymmetry while always facilitating independent thinking and collaboration. g0v is about trust in the power of the People. Substituting the “o” in “government” with “0”, g0v reimagines politics with the worldview of the digital natives and builds new mechanisms for all to g0vern together.
Out of the discontent with bureaucracy and the disconnect between government and the People, g0v was born in Taiwan in 2012. Since then, a sense of openness has gathered people from all walks of life, generating ideas that are poetic, progressive, useful, and radical. Engineers and designers, coders and artists, activists and professors, students and teachers, g0v is an open platform and its hackathons are safe spaces for ideas and values to be shared and debated, for old relations to be renewed and new connections to be made.
The name “g0v” entered the public consciousness during the “318” occupy movement (a.k.a. Sunflower Movement) in 2014. g0v contributors brought power cables, WiFi access points, and video equipments so that the movement could be live-streamed from inside the occupied hall of Taiwan’s Congress, as well as outside on the occupied streets. They also introduced digital tools such as Hackpad and Hackfoldr to many outside the tech community so event transcript, research material, or disaster relief information can be co-created, gathered, and shared with ease in real-time.
As the public demand for openness and transparency from the government grows, g0v grows with it. People have become active citizens, looking for ways to understand and supervise the government and their own representatives. Open data projects like “Taiwan Environmental Dashboard” raises awareness about our air, “Amis Moe Dict” fights to revitalize one of Taiwan’s most used native language, and “Open Political Contribution” and “Voting Guide” provided useful context before people cast their vote. Because of the work done by countless g0v contributors, coders or not, credited or anonymous, open government and civic participation have both become important symbols for progressivism in Taiwanese politics.
Biography
We are “nobody”. We were born at the first utterance of the words “Ask not why nobody is doing it. You are nobody”. That is g0v’s motto. We are g0v and g0v are us.
We came into this world in 2012, when the founders merged their shared values of free speech, open source, and an everlasting pursuit for the public good and a rough consensus was formed. We are now, and have always been, everywhere, in companies, governments, and local communities. Since inception, we have grown to become 3600 people on Slack. We are doers. We make things. We have hosted 31 bi-monthly hackathons to this day, out of which many impactful projects have grown. We are open by default. We have built a civic tech news platform and made many international exchanges. We are about to host our third biennial global summit to continue reaching out to the world, and reaching in to reexamine our values and strengthen our bonds.
We know that the world is full of challenges. We welcome them. We, “nobody”, will never stop collaborating, developing new tools, exploring new models of organization, experimenting on new forms of media, and creating new, meaningful relations.
This is a public service announcement.
g0v Summit 2018 is calling for proposals. Submit your proposal. Make your ideas a reality with g0v. Be a nobody.
