Friday 20 July 2012

I am a Citizen Informaticist

I have found an all encompassing title for my purpose in life. I am a citizen informaticist. This is the belief that the best way to improve the lives of citizens is to improve the flow of information.

This includes:
* information about government services; and 
* information about the citizen and their specific needs

My vision is that citizens throughout the world will share information to ensure ethical leadership. 
In this regard, I define ethics as being the code of values that guide a person's choices and actions — the choices and actions that determine the purpose and the course of their life.

The vision being clear, I can better understand my mission:
“Develop the tools and systems to assist the management of countries (government, civil society and private sector) in providing access to services and technologies to allow maximum quality of life to all who live there.”

Once the vision and mission are clear, I have to develop SMART objectives that ensure that vision is met. Looking back at the past ten years of my life, I realise that most of my actions (projects) have been guided by my choice to be a Country Informaticist.
These include:

  1. Future Namibia - a book identifying that discrimination is not based only on race, culture, gender, or geographical location, but more importantly in access to services (and technology).
  2. Milton Louw blogs - This blog has been used to share my ideas - and led to articles in newspapers and interviews on television to further share the ideas of an empowered citizenry.
  3. Government of Namibia Blog - A Directory of the Government of Namibia. That includes
  • Contact details of Ministers through to Directors of each Ministry 
  • Vision, Mission and Objectives
  • Strategic plans 
  • Description of focus areas
  • Explanation of work processes
  • Recent press releases
  • Press articles about the Ministry


My next project is co-authoring a book "THE ETHICAL WAY TO WIN ELECTIONS: The Essential Guide to Building a Successful Value-based Campaign".

Would you join me in being a citizen informaticist in your country?