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A concern I often hear raised in the public sector is that they can't release public data yet because it may not be 100% perfectly accurate, or it needs to be accessible to 100% of the population, or it needs approvals from all the involved areas first.
The UK has taken a clear step to solving all of these issues in one fell swoop.
It has mandated that all 434 local councils in the country release details of all of their financial transactions over 500 pounds publicly, in machine-readable format and it is OK if they don't get it 100% correct the first time (data can be updated later).
The Guardian's article, Local government data: how to make it really open details how pressure from Downing Street - directly from the UK Prime Minister - is shortly going to result in a flood of public sector data from councils.
This is an excellent approach to opening the floodgates. Once they are open, and data starts streaming out, councils and agencies will work hard to ensure that the data released is as accurate and timely as possible.
Where data isn't completely accurate, as has been the experience of agencies in Australia releasing geospatial datasets, there's a plethora of organisations and individuals happy to point out inaccuracies which can then be corrected - improving the overall data quality and improving government's capability to make good decisions.
So will we see an Open Data Declaration in Australia from our Prime Minister, which mandates that government agencies and councils just get their data out there?
While Australia has a Westminister system, there are major differences between our system and that of the UK government.
Within our Federation, with States and Territories holding many of the powers, this type of cross-government declaration can't simply come from Canberra, it requires the support of the States.
That can make it much harder for Australia to rapidly and holistically move in the same direction (as the UK is doing). In certain regards we are more like the US where a patchwork of states are moving in roughly the same open data direction, at different speeds and with different levels of expertise and resourcing.
Perhaps this video explains the process best.
Friday, July 09, 2010
Making Public Sector data happen - just do it | Tweet |
Thursday, July 08, 2010
100 Ideas to Help Engage your Community Online - the book and the wiki | Tweet |
Bang the Table has released a fantastic little handbook for online community engagement.
Titled 100 Ideas to Help Engage your Community Online the book provides 10 ideas in each of 10 topics.
The book has been released under Creative Commons (BY) - allowing organisations to reuse, share and mash it up for their own needs - provided they attribute the creators.
To help this along, and in recognition that online community engagement is a living topic, I have converted the book into a wiki, allowing anyone to add their own topics and ideas.
I hope this proves useful, and becomes a living resource for online community managers across governments and the private sector.
View the wiki at: http://engageonlineideas.pbworks.com
Or download the original book from: 100 Ideas to Help Engage your Community Online
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
The most popular eGovAU posts for 2009-10 | Tweet |
I've been looking over my posts for the last year and thinking about how many people may have missed some because they didn't notice them for the few days they were on the front page.
So I thought I should highlight some of the most read posts in my blog over the last year. How many had you read?
Where's the payoff? Convincing citizens to engage with government
Governments regularly hold consultations. However what's the payoff for the public? This post explores some of the reasons people engage and how to build online mechanisms that encourage participation.
28 reasons why organisations avoid social media - (try it as bingo)
There's many reasons - good and otherwise - that organisations give for avoiding use of social media. This post provides a guide to 28 of them - designed to be used as 'social media bingo' in your meetings. See if you can address all of them!
Australian government Twitter accounts
One of the most popular posts on my blog isn't a post at all, it's a page listing as many government Twitter accounts from Australia that I can find. Listing around 200 accounts it's a strong reminder that government is already actively engaging online.
Australian Gov 2.0 Taskforce publicly releases final report - and most project reports
The Gov 2.0 Taskforce broke ground internationally in providing recommendations on Government 2.0 to a sitting government. Their final report received accolades globally and the project reports released alongside it have been a treasure trove for aspiring Gov 2.0 professionals.
Youtube offers free branded channels to government departments globally
The news that YouTube was giving away free branded channels to government departments was not widely discussed, however my blog post on the topic has been of ongoing interest to government agencies around the world.
What does 'transparent' mean for government?
This post looks at what transparency really means for Australian governments. It discusses what should and can be transparent and what needs levels of secrecy to run effectively.
Creating a social media policy for your department - here's over 100 examples to draw on
If your agency is engaged via social media you need to consider whether your staff need guidance on when and how to effectively engage to protect both them and you. This post raised awareness of the resources available to develop such guidance.
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Recognising the first followers in Gov 2.0 | Tweet |
When I started this blog the level of online discussion in Australia around Government 2.0 was almost nil.
I didn't set out to be one of the leaders in the Gov 2.0 space, I simply wanted to have good conversations with my peers, to share expertise and knowledge and thereby improve our collective professional skills.
Now there is significantly greater involvement with hundreds of people getting involved in developing and introducing Gov 2.0 initiatives across government and in the not-for-profit and private sectors.
Mandates, to varying degree, are in place at federal, state and local levels and while not all public servants embrace or understand Government 2.0, almost all are aware of it as something they must consider in their planning and future programs.
Government 2.0 could be seen as a movement, beginning overseas and now embraced in Australia. However how does a movement start?
The below three minute video from Derek Silvers's post, Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy was brought to my attention by Tim Longhurst.
In my view it demonstrates how movements may grow, recognising the vital importance of the first followers - those who are willing to stand alongside a leader and embrace a new movement before it is popular. Those who dare to risk ridicule (or worse) in order to support something that they believe in.
Have you ever dared to be a leader or a first follower? If so this video recognises the risk you took.
And if you're someone who has always hung back until you'd look ridiculous by not joining in - consider being a first follower in the future. You might find it liberating.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Still on the Internet Explorer 6 web browser? Microsoft tells organisations to ditch it | Tweet |
Microsoft has just released a beta version of Internet Explorer 9, however is still having to ask organisations to stop using Internet Explorer 6 (IE6).
Despite lacking the ability to fully view the modern web IE6, released nine years ago, is still used by a number of Australian organisations, including some government agencies.
The Sydney Morning Herald, in the article Microsoft begs users to ditch IE6 quotes Microsoft Australia's chief security officer, Stuart Strathdee as saying “IE6 has a lifecycle. We’re well beyond its expiry date”.
The article also stated that,
Strathdee said corporate users who haven’t yet upgraded to IE8 fearing the loss of customised ERP and CRM systems were probably running outdated versions of those and should look to upgrade them all. He said the company would be happy to help customers do so.
“It’s only a very small number of queries on those systems that would be locked to IE6,” he said.
“For us security and privacy are closely related. We’re really pleading with people to upgrade.”
Is your agency still using IE6?
If so the question becomes, are your senior management aware of the security and reputation risks they are taking by doing so?
