MASS LBP with national partners IPAC, the British Council and Deloitte, are pleased to announce the Canadian premiere of Us Now a new British documentary about the power of mass collaboration, government and the Internet.

We'd like to thank the Canadian premiere's sponsors: School of Public Policy and Governance, and Hart House of the University of Toronto, Junxion Strategy, and The Tyee.



Online networks and Web 2.0 applications like Facebook and Flickr have turned old business models upside down. But what about the public sector? Whether its fixing a pot hole on your street or tracking your MP, Us Now explains how many of these same technologies are about to change history by changing the way government works and the way citizens self-organize.



Director Ivo Gormley will be presenting the film and leading a spirited debate and discussion about the future of web-savvy government and its implications for Canada.

Ottawa: February 19, 2009, 10:30am
Toronto: February 19, 2009, 7pm
Calgary: February 20, 2009, 12pm
Vancouver: February 20, 2009, 7pm

Reserve your free tickets today, there is limited seating.

Follow MASS LBP on twitter or email usnow@masslbp.com.


SYNOPSIS

Us Now tells the stories of online networks that are challenging the existing notion of hierarchy. For the first time, it brings together the fore-most thinkers in the field of participative governance to describe the future of government.

In his student flat in Colchester, Jack Howe is staring intently into his computer screen. He is picking the team for Ebbsfleet United's FA Trophy Semi-Final match against Aldershot . Around the world 35,000 other fans are doing the same thing, because together, they own and manage the football club. If distributed networks of people can run complex organizations such as football clubs, what else can they do?

Us Now takes a look at how this type of participation could transform the way that countries are governed. It tells the stories of the online networks whose radical self-organizing structures threaten to change the fabric of government forever.

Following the fate of Ebbsfleet United, a football club owned and run by its fans; Zopa, a bank in which everyone is the manager; and Couch Surfing, a vast online network whose members share their homes with strangers.

The founding principles of these projects (transparency, self-selection, open participation) are coming closer and closer to the mainstream of our social and political lives. Us Now describes this transition and confronts politicians George Osborne and Ed Milliband with the possibilities for participative government as described by Don Tapscott and Clay Shirky amongst others.

CONTRIBUTORS
Saul Albert
Giles Andrews
Lee Bryant
Alan Cox
David Courtier-Dutton
Liam Daish
Becky Hogge
William Heath
Shane Kelly
Ed Miliband
Paul Miller
George Osborne
Sophia Parker
MT Rainey
Clay Shirky
Tom Steinberg
Matthew Taylor
Don Tapscott
Mikey Weinkove

Us Now is directed by Ivo Gormley and produced by Banyak films in association with the RSA.