Youtube hosting New Zealand election debate

The New Zealand government has become the latest to use Youtube to support an election debate, with Prime Minister Helen Clark and John Key to face questions posed by New Zealand-based YouTube users during a debate broadcast live on TV ONE on 14 October.

New Zealand YouTube users have been asked to submit video questions up to 30 seconds long, and a number will be selected to feature during the debate.

I'm still waiting to see YouTube used in a similar way as Howard's weekly radio spot by Ministers to respond to top-of-mind community issues, perhaps as an extension to Community Cabinets to allow a larger number of participants.

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Victoria's eGovernment Resource Centre a finalist in the global award for 'Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics in 2008'

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.

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The benefits of staff forums - two way communications with management

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.

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US women fleeing tech jobs due to glass ceiling

With a ICT staffing crisis already underway in Australia, it's interesting to read in USA Today that in the US Women (are) fleeing tech jobs because of (the) glass ceiling.

I've never understood why people discriminate at the office on the basis of gender, and I hope that with Australia having a female Federal Government CIO, that the ICT 'boys club' is not alive and thriving in Australia.

What do others in the industry think?

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Encouraging innovation in a collaboratively Google world

For an insight into the tools Google uses to create an environment suited to innovation and collaboration within the firewall, visit this presentation on Innovation @ Google.

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