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The Gov 2.0 genie is well and truly out of its bottle in Victoria, with the Victorian Government recently advocating that the majority of Victorian public sector information be released for reuse under Creative Commons licensing.
Their latest initiative is the App my State competition, which builds on the (currently running) Apps4NSW competition and last year's Gov 2.0 Taskforce Mash-up Australia competition.
Victoria's competition is a little different from the others in that it doesn't require entrants to use Victorian public sector data (although around 100 datasets have been released for use) - entrants can use national and other publicly available data, produce applications without using this data that are useful to Victorians or even simply submit ideas, which broadens the competition beyond programmers (a very good thing I believe).
Also, unlike Apps4NSW, all the entrants are published online - a very good thing and in keeping with the entire approach to government transparency.
The one limitation I'm a little disappointed about is that everyone submitting an entry must be Victorian - which limits the scope of sourcing innovative ideas from around Australia and even around the world. I don't believe past Victorians can enter either - which leaves me out.
Regardless of this, it is great to see the Victorians getting behind innovation and I wish them all the best in this competition. Maybe it will become an annual event...
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Victoria launches App my State competition with $100,000 in prizes | Tweet |
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Get your entry ready for the Australian Excellence in e-Government Awards (from AGIMO) | Tweet |
AGIMO's Excellence in e-Government Awards are on again for 2010, with nominations opening on 1 February (and closing 1 March).
This year the categories have been revised. There are now five project specific Awards plus a team or individual Award for outstanding achievement in an Information Technology area within the Australian Federal Public Service.
Details of the e-Awards are available at AGIMO's section in the Department of Finance's website.
While nomination forms are not yet available, if you're considering entering the awards you may wish to get a head start in understand the project specific criteria.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Australiam Gov 2.0 Taskforce announces winners for its brainstorming and innovation competitions | Tweet |
Australia's Government 2.0 Taskforce has announced the winners of its structured brainstorming competition, which was held in September - October this year.
The competition involved public submissions and voting via an ideas market system with the final decision on winners being made by the Taskforce.
In the structured brainstorming category there were two winning ideas, both nominated by Brad Peterson,
In the Government 2.0 Innovators category, the Taskforce announced three winners,
- Large agency: ABC Pool
- Small agency: Mosman Municipal Council
- Individual: Craig Thomler (yes, that's me)
I'm honoured to both have been nominated and to have been selected amongst the winners and would like to commend the other winners for their efforts.
I'd love to see similar events run on a ongoing basis to help encourage the suggestion of good ideas, reward those innovating in government and inspire others to do likewise - similar to the US's SAVE award (introduced by President Obama in September).
Perhaps this would even inspire agencies to run similar awards/competitions internally to encourage innovation that improves their operations, as the US Transportation Security Administration does via its IdeaFactory tool.
It is very hard to manufacture innovation in a highly structured organisation, however it is relatively easy to recognise and reward it.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Have you entered the Webbys? | Tweet |
The world's top internet award, the Webbys, is now accepting early bird entries for their 2010 awards.
Early bird entries are accepted until 30 October (US time).
Monday, September 21, 2009
Top ten announced for The Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics | Tweet |
The finalists of the 2009 global egovernment award, The Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics have been announced.
Courtesy of Victoria's eGovernment Resource Centre, the top 10 finalists are:
- The Democracy Center, represented by Jim Shultz, Executive Director (Bolivia)
- CLIME, Center for Liberty in the Middle East, represented by founder Eleana Gordon (USA)
- DiploFoundation, represented by founder Jovan Kurbalija (Malta)
- EUProfiler, represented by project manager Alexander Trechsel (Switzerland)
- Peter D. Greenberger, Team Manger “Elections and Issue Advocacy”, Google Inc. (USA)
- The Iranian protesters (Iran)
- Nazaha, the Arab web portal in the fight against corruption, represented by founder Ibrahim Fahmy (Egypt)
- Pollitika.com, represented by founder Marko Rakar (Croatia)
- Joe Rospars and Obama’s New Media Team (USA)
- Twitter (USA)
Of the Australian nominees, Senator Kate Lundy was ranked 13th and I was ranked 15th out of the final 26 shortlisted.
I'd like to thank everyone who voted for me or voted for Senator Lundy.
Next year I hope we see more Australians and Australian sites nominated for the award.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Finalists of Apps for America 2 announced | Tweet |
The Sunlight Foundation has announced the three finalists for the Apps for America 2 competition.
These finalists represent the best online social innovation sites developed by Americans to make the US government more transparent.
I'm hoping that we'll soon see a similar competition held here in Australia.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Two Australians nominated for the international award 'The 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics' - vote for one of them now | Tweet |
In 2008 the Victorian eGovernment Resource Centre was one of the ten finalists for PoliticsOnline and World eDemocracy Forum's international award 'The 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics'.
Prior to that GetUp was in the Top 10 twice, in 2006 (David Madden & Jeremy Heimans) and 2007 (Brett Solomon). The ACTU was also in the Top 10 in 2007 for their Rights At Work site.
To quote the site, the award recognises,
the top 10 individuals, organizations and companies having the greatest impact on the way the Internet is changing politics.
This prestigious award seeks to recognize the innovators and pioneers, the dreamers and doers who bring democracy online. This year marked the toughest year ever in choosing the 25 finalists. The integration of politics and the Internet are reflected in this year's diverse, international nominees.
For 2009 two Australian nominations have reached the top 25, with public voting now open to select the final ten award winners.
The first is the Hon. Senator Kate Lundy MP for her series of Public Sphere events.
The second is embarrassing to mention, because it is me, Craig Thomler, for this eGovAU blog. Thank you to those who nominated me - it has come as a complete surprise.
It would be wonderful to see at least one Australian receive the award this year, so please go and vote for one of us at PoliticsOnline.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Nominations sought for global award, The 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics | Tweet |
As reported in the Victorian eGovernment Resource Centre, nominations are open for The 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics.
This is a highly prestigious international award designed to recognise the ten individuals, organisations and companies having the greatest impact on how the Internet is changing politics.
Last year the Victorian eGovernment Resource Centre was the only Australian nomination to make the final list of ten, which included the Mybarackobama site.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
European egovernment awards open for submissions | Tweet |
The European Union's annual egovernment awards are now accepting submissions (online only naturally) at www.epractice.eu/awards.
I find the various egovernment awards around the world a great source of inspiration as to different ways the online world can be used by governments to save money, improve access to services and information and involve citizens in the processes of government.
Incidentally the Australian e-government Awards (or e-awards) are holding their award ceremony tonight at CEBIT to announce the winner from 10 finalists.
Keep an eye on AGIMO's website tomorrow where I expect we will see the results.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Tourism Australia wins a Webby Award | Tweet |
Mumbrella has reported that Tourism Australia's www.australia.com website has won a People’s Voice Winner in the Tourism category of the 2009 Webby Awards.
More information is in Mumbrella's article, Webby Awards for Tourism Australia and Lonely Planet.
I'd like to congratulate the Tourism Australia team for doing a great job creating a world-class website.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Excellence in e-Government Award finalists announced | Tweet |
The Department of Finance has announced the ten finalists for the 2009 Excellence on e-Government Award (e-Award).
Having followed this award for three years, I believe that this is the best set of finalists I've seen to-date and represents the gradual maturing of Australian Government online initiatives.
I've linked to more information on each of the finalists below to make it easier to locate and review the various initiatives.
- CDATA Online (Australian Bureau of Statistics)
- Pre-filling of Income Tax Returns (Australian Tax Office)
- Tax Office eLibrary (Australian Tax Office) - Intranet application only
- Child Support Estimator (Child Support Agency)
- Parliamentary Document Management System (Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations) - Intranet application only
- Visa Wizard and the Citizenship Wizard (Department of Immigration and Citizenship)
- eVisitor (Department of Immigration and Citizenship)
- AusPat (IP Australia)
- Northern Queensland Wildfire Mitigation Project (Tablelands Regional Council)
- youthcentral (Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development)
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Winners of UK eGovernment awards 2008 announced | Tweet |
The UK has announced 11 winners and 10 highly commended initiatives in its annual eGovernment awards.
Selected from 68 finalists, there are many interesting initiatives that could be adapted and used by Australian governments to deliver better and more cost-effective services.
Friday, November 07, 2008
Excellence in e-Government Awards: 2008 Finalist Case Studies released | Tweet |
AGIMO has released their annual publication detailing case studies of the Excellence in e-Government Awards winners and finalists for 2008.
The publication is available via the link above on the Department of Finance's website, with hard copies available from AGIMO (contact details in the site).
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Intranet Innovation Awards come to Canberra | Tweet |
Step Two will be running a free information session discussing the winners of the 2008 Intranet Innovation Awards in Canberra on Tuesday 11 November from 2-4pm.
According to James Robertson of Step Two, the event will include a look at,
- Transfield Service's uniquely effective approach to rolling out
SharePoint team spaces.- Highly successful collaboration amongst cabin crew at British Airways.
- The rich suite of functionality delivered by this year's Platinum winner, Fuller Landau (Canada).
- The Competitor Wiki at Scottrade in the US.
- An intranet that speaks the news when postbus drivers ring an 0800 number in Swiss Post.
Registration for the event is available online at: www.steptwo.com.au/seminars/iia-canberra
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
588 nominations received in the UK e-Government National Awards 2008 | Tweet |
Considering the 30-40 nominations received in Australia's annual egovernment awards, it's staggering to consider than in the UK there were over 588 initiatives to be nominated in 2008.
Judging is underway and finalists in 11 categories will be published on 7 November.
If you're seeking a source of inspiration regarding egovernment initiatives, the e-Government National Awards 2008 finalists will be certainly worth reviewing.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Victoria's eGovernment Resource Centre a finalist in the global award for 'Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics in 2008' | Tweet |
Recognising over 10 years of reporting on egovernment topics from around the world, Victoria's eGovernment Resource Centre has been selected as one of the ten finalists for the 9th annual PoliticsOnline award for the top individuals, organisations and companies having the greatestimpact on the way the Internet is changing politics.
By being in the top ten, the eGovernment Resource Centre is being acknowledged alongside the Democratic Nominee for the US Presidency (mybarackobama.com) and is being recognised as more significant than the UK's Prime Minister's website (number10.gov.au)
I'd like to congratulate the team at DIIRD in Victoria who work on this site as probably the most effective and consistent voice in Australia on egovernment topics, helping to bridge the gap between policy and practice.
A representative from DIIRD has been invited as an honoured guest to the World Democracy Forum in Paris for the award ceremony, although I understand this will probably not involve the people who work every day to make the site a success.
The full announcement is at the eGovernment Resource Centre.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
The benefits of staff forums - two way communications with management | Tweet |
A challenge in any organisation is to foster two-way communications.
Many organisations have used suggestion boxes, 'chat with the CEO' email accounts, or other primitive tools to offer pseudo-two way communication, but without the immediacy or ability to readily expose discussions to the broader organisation.
These are often mistrusted by staff as they are essentially black boxes - suggestions go in from individuals and responses may come back, but there is no mechanism for others across the organisation to witness or participate in the conversation.
That's where staff forums can fill a major gap, providing a mechanism for organisations to unblock their communications channels, not only from staff to management, but between staff in different offices.
The following video illustrates how effective an online forum can be for engaging staff and improving customer service outcomes.
It is about British Airways, a 2008 Intranet Innovations Awards gold medal winner, who has engaged its 17,000 cabin crew in discussion around customer service and internal process issues via an online forum.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Intranet Innovation Award winners for 2008 announced | Tweet |
The Intranet Innovation Award winners for 2008 have been announced, and their details, together with an executive summary (PDF) containing two case studies of award winners is available at Step Two's website.
The case studies feature an example of collaborative information sharing via a wiki used by staff of one organisation to track competitors and an innovative intranet people finder that improves staff networking and discovery by combining elements of both Twitter and Facebook.
I was inspired by both of the case studies, but a little disappointed to see only one government site mentioned in the awards this year - the Department of Human Services (South Australia) was commended for their CEO blog.
I hope there will be a greater public sector presence next year.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Finding egovernment inspiration in Alabama | Tweet |
If you're looking for inspirational egovernment ideas, the CIO 100 Award from CIO magazine are a great place to start. The annual Awards honor organisations creating business value via technology innovation.
For 2008 the State of Alabama was the only state government to win an award, for its egovernment initiatives, involving the delivery of over 130 egovernment services via the Alabama.gov portal.
Some of these services include live online website help, a 'virtual Alabama' powered by GIS technology, the deployment of video conferencing for distance learning, a range of online processes for ordering and renewing licenses, online payment, and many other online services.
While Alabama is the only state to win, a number of US government departments were alsorecognised with awards, including,
- the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development
- the California Department of Health Care Services
- the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority
- King County, Washington
- the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council, and
- Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Victoria's eGovernment resource centre nominated as a global egovernment mover & shaker | Tweet |
The Victorian government's eGovernment Resource Centre has been nominated in the 9th annual global edemocracy award for the Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics.
The prestigious award seeks to recognise the innovators and pioneers, the dreamers and doers who bring democracy online. It is managed by PoliticsOnline and the World eDemocracy Forum.
The eGovernment Resource Centre is the only Australian nomination in the shortlist of 25 sites, alongside the UK Prime Minister's office, myBarackObama, the euObserver and other influential egovernment and edemocracy sites from around the world.
Vote for the eGovernment Resource Centre at PoliticsOnline
