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Seeing the Invisible; setting the wheels in motion
Read more: Seeing the Invisible; setting the wheels in motionI walked into the Prime Minister’s Office as an outsider. I had no civil service rank, no bureaucratic pedigree, no political patron. What I had was a passport horror story, eighteen years of reformatting systems abroad, and a foolish conviction that the government could be nudged to serve the people it had been designed to…
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The Sixteenth Participant
Read more: The Sixteenth ParticipantAt the end of the five days, I thought I would evaluate what we had learned, the usual thing to do before concluding a workshop. As expected, the fifteen participants commented on very positive things about what they had learned about digital technologies and how they would go back to their workplaces and start forming…
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Fools Rush In…
Read more: Fools Rush In…My role was first to convince the politicians and civil service that it was possible, then to design the interventions in various ministries, and finally to roll them out and demonstrate that common people benefited.
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“In Line” to Online
Read more: “In Line” to OnlineThe inside of the Prime Minister’s Office in the capital was just like any other government office. Similar desks and chairs and computers. Similar cars going in and out. Similar trees and flowers adorned the campus. However, three things were absolutely different: security, people and decisions. The security was the highest in the country for…
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UN Open Source Week Begins: The Audacity of Hope
Read more: UN Open Source Week Begins: The Audacity of HopeI packed my bag the night before UN Open Source Week with the same mixture I always carry to these things: hope, and the memory of every previous hope.
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Did They Burn the Forms?
Read more: Did They Burn the Forms?The funny thing was that all the information I provided to the passport office on my application form already existed with the Ministry of Education. All the information Stitchwel provided already existed with the Ministry of Local Government at the birth registration office. So, why couldn’t they share this information with the passport office? Was…
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It only gets worse for the poor
Read more: It only gets worse for the poorAithorix compares his journey with Stitchwel’s and discovers how unequal the system really is
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“They didn’t push me out. The system did.”
Read more: “They didn’t push me out. The system did.”Last episode had Aithorix reminisce his first time at a passport office in Bureaunia as he waited more than eight hours to collect a passport form. This week, he concludes his memories about the entirety of the passport process and how he felt as he left Bureaunia to go for higher studies.


