The term Government 2.0 is often used to describe examples in which the tools, lessons, and ethos of the tech community are applied to help government and other organizations tackle big problems. By Josh Goldstein's account, Government 2.0 has an especially large potential for impact in Africa, a fact that can be seen through examination of case examples at the local level. In an effort to better understand and communicate the link between technology and actual tangible impacts on people's lives, Goldstein focused his talk on an organization called Map Kibera that represents an example of Government 2.0 that is playing out in Kibera, one of Africa's largest slums.

Map Kibera was conceived by the Ground Truth Initiative when the organization's founders realized that Kibera--a dense community with a population estimated at 150,000-750,000 people--was blank on maps. The community had few roads, so the satellite data that did exist could not yield much useful information. With the help of various local partners and allies, including NGOs and CBOs, broadcast and community media, as well as members of the tech community, the movement first began to cohere with the goal of mapping the community.  In the first stage of the project, eighteen young people were recruited from within the community to be "mappers;" they learned how to use GPS devices and began identifying and mapping points of interest. Although this initial effort represented a valuable learning opportunity for the community youth who took part in the mapping exercise, other members of the movement began discussing the question of what the good of the map could be for the broader community of Kibera.

 In the next phase, the Map Kibera group focused its work on gathering massive amounts of health data. As more and more data points were identified throughout the community, maps were made data rich; each data point on the map (i.e. a health clinic or other facility) was fleshed out with useful information, such as working hours or services provided. Through informal discussions, low-tech mapping, and conversations with community members, the group was able to identify community needs for safe spaces and lights, and thereby add other layers of information to the map.

Over time, the group is expanding its online presence and adding new tools to the initial map. Using the basic Ushahidi platform, for example, the group created a site called Voice of Kibera to collect local news reports and postings. This has become a community website for sharing relevant information, and has the potential to be useful for an emergency response or as an advocacy tool.  Map Kibera has developed another application for tracking public funds. The Kenya Constituency Development Fund's Community Tracking and Mapping group uses simple tactics, like taking a picture of a bridge to prove it is incomplete, to improve local government accountability.

Goldstein observed that Map Kibera faced some early challenges in finding ways to create value for community-members, but also suggested that the case offers some insights for improving Government 2.0.

• First, he suggests that it is important for these movements to bring government to the table more. One successful example of such collaboration is Civic Commons, which enables information sharing between local governments around the world. Goldstein notes that it might also be a good step to bring together leaders from around the developing world to share strategies that have been successful in their work.
• Second, Goldstein recommends that future movements engage the tech community more directly as well. Technology-related competitions like the recent Apps4Africa competition that brought together thinkers from Kenya, Uganda, and across East Africa, represents one good example. The competition was platform agnostic, and brought rise to many interesting ideas, including iCow, a mobile tool for farmers to use to synchronize the gestation schedule of cows. Providing incentives for local innovators to make change has been shown to be very valuable, and Goldstein posits that there is plenty of opportunity to engage the private technology sector in East Africa (and throughout the developing world) through this approach.