A startup company in Phoenix is beta testing a new search feature which will allow for greater transparency between government and the public.
Agenda Discovery is an Arizona-based local government agenda scanning startup which is looking to add a feature that will allow users to search through local government documents of nearly 50 local Arizona governments.
How it works
The users of Agenda Discovery simply select the search tab on their dashboard and enter a keyword of interest. The search may then be further refined by meeting date and selecting your preferred local government. The system will then show how many times that keyword appears in each local governments’ documents.
The search engine is looking to simplify the users experience, allowing them to access local government documents by searching key words instead of scanning through multiple agenda’s that have nothing to do with what the user is looking for.
The company started with the goal of making government more transparent. Their system is an effective way of doing so as it also includes a notification tool. The notification tool scans any keywords the user wants to be notified about, as well as the local government they are interested in and when that keyword appears on that local governments agenda, the system notifies them with an email and a copy of the agenda.
How it can change governance in Africa
On the African continent a system such as the one created by Agenda Discovery could be game changing in terms of enhancing transparency and weeding out corruption. The search engine would allow the public to actively participate in tracking local government agendas on service delivery, financial management, corruption, public housing and transport, the list goes on…
Dean Workman
