This book will never be widely read.

It’s not an easy read. At points it’s dense. theoretical, challenging. It is certainly not a page turner, except perhaps the chapters on the ‘Peer to Patent’ program (and that’s stretching the concept of ‘page turner’).

So why did I give it five stars in my Goodreads.com review?

Not because I know and like author Beth Noveck (a new friend of mine as well as a colleague of sorts of my wife’s) but because I think what she has done both in her creation of the ‘Peer to Patent’ program and in writing this book is unusual (smart? revolutionary? radical?) and has the chance of making a genuine difference in how government can and could work.

The subtitle of her book - 'How Technology Can Make Government Better, Democracy Stronger, and Citizens More Powerful' - sounds naive. It is anything but, and that's a pretty strong statement for a sometimes cynic (about the possibility of improvements in government/democracy) such as myself.

Noveck understands the power of the new technologies. Although she's one of 'those academics,' she has actually done something with her knowledge, not just taught about her theories. She writes from her experience of having created a program that most inside the Beltway know=it-alls would dismiss if she presented it for their consideration to improve the workings of government.

Wiki Government tells the story of how Noveck and others were able to use the power of the internet to assist patent examiners in their usually isolated, often difficult, and sometimes impossible work. She brought 'together' folks from the public sector, from government, from business. She got lawyers talking with techies talking with bureaucrats, policy makers working with scientists and experts in disparate fields. She had students, professionals with years of experience, and retired folks involved with each other.  And most of these folks never met and never meet face to face.

If it all sounds a bit far fetched, it was.

At first.

But if you are interested in how technology and citizens can work together to strengthen democracy, at least read the chapters on the ‘Peer to Patent’ program.  Minimally, you will be pleasantly surprised. You might even get excited.

And I bet you'll want to read the rest of Wiki Government, which is also worthwhile as Noveck explores how the ideas and/or variations of the ideas used in ‘Peer to Patent’ can be used in many other areas of our society, in federal, state, and local government for starters. She cites specific areas where these ideas are already at work and suggests many other areas in which they could work.

It's beyond refreshing to know that the new Administration in Washington embraces and is pushing ideas such as those found in Wiki Government.