Picture by Alper
Hack de Overheid is part of the Open State Foundation. The Open State Foundation aims to create an open and transparent society for the whole of Europe. In order to accomplish this, our goals are to stimulate democratic transparency, accountability as well as participation within society.
On Saturday April 7, Hack de Overheid organized the Open State Brainstorm Day. This gives all members of the organization, currently consisting of mostly volunteers, a chance to reflect on the past year as well as give their views on what course our organization should set sail.
There was a lot to discuss as fundamental changes lie on the horizon. This is why an important deliverable of the Brainstorm Day was to determine the Open State strategy for the next five years.
After an introductory, reflective round with short presentations by our projects, the group was divided into three sub-groups in order to tackle the Open State strategy. By using the so called ‘Scenario Planning‘ methodology, the groups were asked to answer two questions in two rounds: 1) What will the Open State Foundation definitely be five years from now? and 2) What will the Open State Foundation definitely have lost five years from now?
Both questions deal with a definitive outcome, which, of course, one can never be sure of as it lies in the future. However, by choosing such a method of looking at a complex development this becomes a lot more tangible and understandable.
The first round focused on only positive developments, whereas the second round placed negative loss in contrast with the positive loss. Interesting conclusions were reached. Most importantly, we need to decide whether or not our organization should maintain a broad view with emphasis on multiple networks, as opposed to a more focused view based on a smaller network.
Tendency is to lean towards a more focused approach, which requires a clear view of what audiences we are targeting. In doing so, we need to ensure to keep our link with modern, civil society as we grow and professionalize further.
The coming weeks, the conclusions reached on the Brainstorm Day will be worked out in the final Open State strategy. This will bring our organization much closer to anticipated structural change, which we are very excited about.
