Friday, April 09, 2010

Open Gov Day - 30+ US Federal agencies release their Open Government strategic plans

In the last 24 hours, over 30 US Federal agencies have released their Open Government plans in a strategic outpouring that demonstrates some of the best whole-of-government Gove 2.0 leadership in the world.

Govloop has published a complete list of these Open Government plans via the free online public database service Socrata (a 3rd party provider of data.government sites), so you can review all the plans in a single location.

Reading through some of these plans I am very impressed at the level of strategic thought and time that has gone into their development. They are a fantastic reference for Governments around the world seeking ideas and structure in their own strategic planning for openness and transparency.

To me this release also brings home one of the major challenges that I see in Australian government - we don't consistently resource for online strategy.

In my experience Australian Government Departments are funded for the bare minimum level of effort on web - maintaining existing websites to some level of currency, accessibility and quality. Often online teams are fully occupied with content changes, and as 50% or more of the content of a Government website is likely to change each year this a big task in its own right.

Departments receive occasional bursts of funding for new technology, usability and content reviews or for the launch of new websites. However ongoing funding for strategic planning to craft and shape Departmental online channels over time or lead continual innovation is, to my knowledge, uncommon.

Many Departments employ ongoing IT Architects to lead the strategy and ongoing development of Departmental IT infrastructure (a critical task). Few Departments employ strategists for leading the strategy and ongoing development of their online channel from a business perspective.

In my opinion this is a business role, not a technical one as it is not about the 'plumbing' but about how the overall 'building' (online presence) is structured and presented.

Also it doesn't simply involve Communications-type areas for outbound messaging via the web or intranets. HR, Procurement, Legal, Policy, ICT and other business areas also have major stakes in online channels for a variety of business needs, both outbound and inbound. An online presence enables virtually everyone in an organisation.

Existing website maintenance remains a very important task and needs to continue to be appropriately funded and maintained.

Equally critical is funding strategic online planning. The ongoing development, implementation and adjustment of comprehensive Departmental online strategies, particularly for Departments with large families of purpose-driven websites that need to meet changing audience needs.

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By Craig Thomler at 8:26 AM 0 comments Bookmark and Share
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Thursday, April 08, 2010

The meaning and value of Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality is a topic of considerable interest and discussion in the US, but rarely a topic in Australia.

However it could significantly impact how the internet operated in Australia, and all other countries around the world, if the US moved away from the principle.

The video below provides a definition and view in support of Net Neutrality and covers the issues of interest to those who oppose abandoning the principle.

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By Craig Thomler at 4:04 PM 0 comments Bookmark and Share
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Dept of Finance releases Social Media 101 for staff, unlocks social media tools for use

The Department of Finance and Deregulation has announced on its Web Publishing Guide blog that it has opened its internal network to Facebook, Twitter and other social network tools and released a guide for staff, Social Media 101: A beginner’s guide for Finance employees.

Social Media 101 includes guidance for staff use of social media as well as specific guidance around the use of Facebook and Twitter.

It draws a very clear line as to what staff may or may not do online, stating that,

Finance employees do not need to seek clearance when talking online about factual, unclassified and uncontroversial matters related to the Department. You must have authorisation from your manager (including following any necessary clearance processes) before publishing any wider information relating to the Department, especially any comment that:
  • commits Finance or the Government to any action or initiative
  • attempts to speak, or could be interpreted as speaking, on behalf of Finance or the Government
  • relates to controversial, sensitive, confidential or political matters
  • could be interpreted as a personal political view or political advocacy;
  • could bring Finance or the APS into disrepute.
To my knowledge, Finance is the first Australian Government department to put a social media policy and guidance in place.

I don't expect them to be the last.

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By Craig Thomler at 8:26 AM 1 comments Bookmark and Share
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Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Excellent "Getting Started with Gov 2.0" Guide

Steve Radick has written an excellent "Getting Started with Government 2.0" Guide.

Designed for those new to the Gov 2.0 space, Steve's guide provides a great range of information from what Gov 2.0 means through how to take baby steps into the area to good blogs and sites to read.

Read it and share it!

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By Craig Thomler at 8:47 AM 0 comments Bookmark and Share
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Tuesday, April 06, 2010

UK Government switching Crown Copyright to be Creative Commons friendly

The UK government has announced that the UK will be phasing out the 'Click-Use' online licenses for the reuse of Crown and Parliamentary Copyrights by May this year with a new license modelled on Creative Commons 3.0.

A review by the UK Office of Public Sector Information in 2009, reported in an article in CreativeCommons.org, Public (UK) perception of copyright, public sector information, and CC, found that,

Among the general (UK) public, 71% agree that government should encourage re-use of content it provides, and only 4% disagree.

Developed by the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) for use in data.gov.uk, the revised Click-Use license will allow the public to reuse and mash-up government data in a more active way.

More background about the move is covered in Personal Computer World's article Crown Copyright switches to Creative Commons.

More information is available at the OPSI's Perspectives blog.

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By Craig Thomler at 8:18 AM 0 comments Bookmark and Share
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Monday, April 05, 2010

Canberra University moving towards Gov 2.0 post-graduate and under-graduate course

We've seen a boom in Gov 2.0 seminars and events over the last year and several prestigious US Universities already offer post-graduate courses on Gov 2.0 topics.

However, to my knowledge, Australia's formal educational institutions have largely been silent on when (if ever) they might begin offering courses that aid public servants, potential public servants and the many companies and professional individuals that are now working with Australian governments any formal qualifications on Gov 2.0 related matters.

I've long been an advocate for having more formal training options such as these available, particularly for more senior public service members, to help them fully consider the strategic consequences and accurately model risks for Gov 2.0 initiatives in light of emerging best practice.

While formal education isn't the only way to learn how to employ Gov 2.0 techniques, having university-scrutinised recognised courses provides a level of implied guarantee of quality of learning, which is useful when suggesting new and innovative approaches to conducting government business.

While it is entirely understandable that universities tend to lag workplace education needs - the drought in Gov 2.0 qualifications might be about to end. The University of Canberra (UC) is beginning to explore the opportunity to provide professional education in this area.

As a Canberra-based university which is already notable for its social media commentators such as Michael de Percy and Julie Posetti, I personally feel that UC is well-placed to lead in this space.

To be fair, the ANU also has at least one high-profile social media lecturer, Tom Worthington, who has also been running some notable courses.

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By Craig Thomler at 8:29 AM 2 comments Bookmark and Share
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Thursday, April 01, 2010

Growth of Twitter in Australian governments - 155 accounts

I've conducted a quick review of Australian government Twitter accounts this morning, national, state and local, drawing on lists that others and I have compiled.

With a margin for error (some may have been missed or not be official accounts), I've found that there are about 155 Australian government Twitter accounts registered, 26 Federal, 79 State and 50 Local.

UPDATE: I've added new accounts flagged by commenters, taking the total to 196 Twitter accounts from Australian governments.

Note that I've not screened these accounts for whether they are still live, or how actively they Tweet.

If you want to subscribe to some of these lists please see:

There's also a Victorian government Twitter list.

I've provided a full list of the accounts I looked at online in Google docs as a spreadsheet, open for anyone to view, download and modify at: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ap1exl80wB8OdHNKVmQ5RVlvQWpibDAxNHkzcU1nV2c&hl=en

There's also a full list below.

National
ACT

NSW State
NT State
QLD State
SA State

TAS State
VIC State
WA State
NSW Local
QLD Local
SA Local
VIC Local
WA Local

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By Craig Thomler at 9:07 AM 10 comments Bookmark and Share
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