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Accenture has released an international report, Leadership in Customer Service: Creating Shared Responsibility for Better Outcomes looking at the opinions of 8,600 citizens in 21 countries towards their governments.
Australia, one of the countries studied, performed moderately well. Australians were almost evenly split amongst those who felt that government was good at seeking their opinions, with 34% saying Australian government was good or very good and 38% stating bad or very bad.
The entire report, which is very comprehensive, suggested a range of options for government to improve their ability to collaborate between departments or with non-government and commercial organisations, as well as options to improve accountability, transparency and consultation.
Without going into detail, a number of these recommendations hinged on use of the internet and Web 2.0 technologies to enable faster and more comprehensive engagement.
The report is well worth a read - but prepare to spend a few hours absorbing it.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
How accountable, transparent, collaborative and consultative is government? Could do with improvement according to latest report | Tweet |
Monday, January 19, 2009
A place to start for those totally new to Web 2.0 | Tweet |
A great resource has been released via the Public Works Group to support people totally new to the concepts of Web 2.0 or social media.
Named, Your Social Media Journey Starts Here, the publication provides a basic guide to the latest online trends and how people are using the web to achieve their business and community goals.
Written by a public servant, it has very useful information for anyone in the public or private sector trying to get an understanding on online media.
The publication has been released under a Creative Commons copyright, meaning that you can modify it for use within your own workplace provided the author, Pam Broviak, is credited.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Benefits of universal broadband - "enormous" - UK Minister | Tweet |
I continue to be impressed by the UK government's approach to egovernance, and the understanding they have of the importance of broadband infrastructure to their nation's future.
Lord Stephen Carter, the minister for communications, technology and broadcasting in the UK, has discussed the importance of broadband access at a Westminster eForum and Westminster Media Forum Keynote Seminar on Digital Britain in London.
Reported by Silicon.com, the Minister made it clear that for him fixed wire broadband was only part of the mix, with mobile broadband also being a very important approach for the UK's future.
He also commented that,
"There is a convergence of need and opportunity that calls on government to make its contribution [to digital infrastructure]," Lord Carter said.
If the UK has an array of technologies delivering next-gen services, there is an opportunity for the government to change the way it delivers services to the public, he continued.
UK Telcos are already in the process of rolling out 50Mb internet connections (up from a slow 20Mb) and laying fibre to millions of homes to provide 100Mb access by 2012, and 1,000Mb access (or 1Gb) in the future.
I worry about Australia's ability to remain internationally competitive with our current broadband situation - or a future scenario when Australia proudly launches a 6-12Mb broadband network when other developed nations are already enjoying 50-100Mb speeds.
Mosman council had launched online consultation site - Mosplan | Tweet |
Mosman Council is well known to online advocates in government as one of the leading public sector organisations in adopting online tools for consultation and engagement with their public.
As reported in the Online Community Consultation blog, Mosman has launched its 'Planning Mosman's Future' online consultation site with video and forums.
It's a great example of how a public sector organisation can use cheap or freely publicly available tools to begin a process of engagement with their constituents.
Sometimes I wonder if large government agencies, with correspondingly sized IT groups, overengineer expensive custom solutions when they could instead meet Ministerial, business and customer needs quickly and cheaply with currently available third-party online tools.
After all we are spending money from the public purse and it behooves us to spend it scrupulously.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
If you can't join them, at least counter them - US Airforce devises 'counter blogging' guide | Tweet |
Nextgov has reported in the article AF Counter-Blogs with Trolls that the US Air Force has developed a comprehensive 'counter-blogging model' to help Air Force blog commenters categorise the type of blogger and respond appropriately to negative feedback.
While I'd suggest that it's better to join the conversation, as a fallback strategy it's a good idea to have this type of framework to help agency staff understand the tone of the blogs they are reading and guide their responses. The Air Force model isn't a bad one to start with - and is available publicly online.
According to the Air Force's model,
if an Air Force member wants to respond, the model suggests he or she consider five things, which are always good advice to follow:
1. Be transparent. (Disclose that you are a member of the Air Force.)
2. Site sources. (Use links to video, documents and images.)
3. Take your time to create meaningful responses.
4. Be aware of your tone. (Respond in a way that "reflects the rich heritage of the Air Force.)
5. Influence. ("Focus on the most used sites related to the Air Force."
