Top ten announced for The Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics

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:

1. The Democracy Center, represented by Jim Shultz, Executive Director (Bolivia)
2. CLIME, Center for Liberty in the Middle East, represented by founder Eleana Gordon (USA)
3. DiploFoundation, represented by founder Jovan Kurbalija (Malta)
4. EUProfiler, represented by project manager Alexander Trechsel (Switzerland)
5. Peter D. Greenberger, Team Manger “Elections and Issue Advocacy”, Google Inc. (USA)
6. The Iranian protesters (Iran)
7. Nazaha, the Arab web portal in the fight against corruption, represented by founder Ibrahim Fahmy (Egypt)
8. Pollitika.com, represented by founder Marko Rakar (Croatia)
9. Joe Rospars and Obama’s New Media Team (USA)
10. 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.

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Gov 2.0 Taskforce announces second project round - asks for quotes

The Gov 2.0 forum has released a second round of projects for quotes including for a Whole of Government Information Publication Scheme, Online Engagement Guidance and Web 2.0 Toolkit for Australian Government Agencies, Framework for Stimulating Information Philanthropy in Australia and Hypotheticals — Ethical and Cultural Challenges of Digital Engagement by Government - amongst other projects.

Full details of the projects are available at the Gov 2.0 Taskforce's blog in the post, Submit a quote for our round two projects.

If only I didn't have a full time job already :)

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Encouraging government departments to embrace accessibility standards (WCAG2)

Some things are better communicated by song than words, for example the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.0 (WCAG2).

If you're struggling to get your department to understand the importance and detail of the WCAG 2.0 standard, why not send them this video.



Note that WCAG 2.0 has not, to my knowledge, been endorsed yet by the Australian Human Rights Commission, whose latest World Wide Web Access: Disability Discrimination Act Advisory Notes dates back to 31 March 2009.

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Google launches site for Australian public sector

Google has launched a Google Public Service site for Australia showcasing some of the tools they provide and how they can and are being used by government agencies around the world to engage with citizens and empower public servants and politicians.

If it interests you, you may also find Google's public sector blog worth reading.

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Vic government releases report on Australian Gov 2.0 initiatives and online take-up

Information Victoria, in the Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development for the Victorian Government has released a report, Web 2.0: The New Tools for Democratic Conversations – A snapshot of Initiatives in Government.

Available at Victoria's eGovernment Resource Centre (using the link in last paragraph), the report provides an excellent snapshot of many of the different Gov 2.0 initiatives currently in operation across Victoria and Australia, plus a couple of prominent international examples.

The report also provides a great overview on Australian use of online social media - demonstrating how it is permeating our culture.

If you're seeking examples to justify that your proposed Gov 2.0 initiative has local precedents, or that there is a large and growing audience for the online medium, this report is an extremely useful reference.

I was alerted to this report by David, who posted a comment on my post on Tuesday about the New Zealand Draft Open Access and Licensing Framework.

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