The Opposite of Better Faster Cheaper

By Steve Poftak
October 22nd, 2008

A colleague told me the other day that I needed a Facebook page. I don’t know much about social networking, but I know its the hot technology of the moment.

So, I’m amused to see that the City of Boston is funding its own version of a social networking site, using public money. Its launching a non-profit (packed with a board of the great and the good) with $1 million of BRA funds and claims that its version of the site integrates (and doesn’t compete) with other social networking sites. Which begs the question of what the $1 million is being used for. Potential Mayoral candidate Michael Flaherty asks some of the same questions today.

One does not need to look far to see how the City fares when competing with the private sector on the latest technology. Remember the Boston Wireless Task Force? Launched with great fanfare back in 2006 (packed with a board of the great and the good) with a mission of bringing free wi-fi to the city. It has succeeded in reaching a bit more than 2% of that goal in the intervening period. The website of the non-profit leading the initiative has its last press update from March 2007, so I’m guessing not a lot is going on.