Why should governments share data with tech organizations through APIs.
This week; a woman from Montreal (Canada) was issued a $169 ticket when a Montreal police officer stopped her for using the carpool lane, even though her daughter was in the back seat. I don’t know if she’s right or wrong as she will have to argue this in traffic court (update: from the articles below it seems that she was in her right.
Maybe the officer wan’t aware or didn’t receive proper training about this particular case. The mother could have tried to find the related rule of law using Google search…but that would take way too much time; she would need to probably go through a few links in order to find the information and under stress, with a daughter in the back seat, it is not optimal. Nevertheless, let’s imagine a world where:
1/ If the cop isn’t sure about the full application of the law; he/she can just wiped out his/her government provided work phone and ask Alexa/Siri or any other voice assistance technology (in the case law assistance technology) for clarification.
2/ Using the same concept the woman can access the clear and exact information about carpooling rules through a voice assistance technology, present the facts to the officer and avoid countless hours and headaches fighting the ticket in court.
Governments need to start investing heavily in structuring in a smart way all databases of information that can be useful by the societies they serve. Imagine knowing approximately how long you need to wait at the city hall counter if you are there in the next hour or getting information on service providers that have actual valid licenses to practice…unlimited applications.
Adelin S. Budarara.
