Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government

By integrating democratic government with cutting-edge American innovation, the lieutenant governor of California charts a bright future for open-source America.

Citizenville is the story of how ordinary citizens can use new digital tools to dissolve political gridlock and transform American democracy. As social networking and smart phones have changed the way we communicate with one another, these technologies are also changing our relationship with government.

Drawing on wide-ranging interviews with thinkers and politicians, Citizenville is the first book by Lieutenant Governor Newsom. He broke new ground as the mayor of San Francisco, one of the most high-tech, experimental, and progressive municipalities in the nation. But when Newsom's tenure as mayor began, he found that San Francisco was behind the likes of Estonia and South Korea in terms of digital governance. Newsom's quest to modernize one of America's most modern cities-and the amazing results he achieves-form the backbone of this far-reaching book.

Lieutenant Governor Newsom explains how the problems of twenty-first-century America are too big and too expensive for the government simply to buy solutions. Instead, we must innovate our way out. Just as the post office and the highway system provide public infrastructure to channel both personal and private enterprise-a platform upon which citizens can grow-so too could a modern digital government house the needs, concerns, information, and collaboration of an enlightened digital citizenry.

KQED's Forum host Michael Krasny will do moderating honors tonight.  The Museum is proud to welcome California's Lieutenant Governor and Michael Krasny to our stage for what is certain to be a captivating conversation.  Please join us.