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One of the more curious things about Government 2.0 is how differently it is interpreted and delivered around the world.
For example the map below (clickthrough to more information at Google Maps) illustrates how widespread Participatory Budgeting (PB) is - an approach whereby a government allocates some or all of its budget based on direct citizen participation.
The practice has become extremely popular in Europe and in South America, however has not thrived in North America or Australia.
Is this due to different political conditions, cultural factors or Gov 2.0 maturity?
I'm not sure - I would welcome your thoughts.
However the differences do emphasise the breadth of Government 2.0 and the many uses it can be put to in a nation.
If you are interested in participatory budgeting, also see the Facebook group at: http://groups.to/pb/ and the post from Bang the Table exploring at 10 Ways Participatory Budgeting has been used Around the World.
Participatory Budgeting Google map (click for more information)
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Participatory budgeting - big in Europe and South America, but not in Australia - why? | Tweet |
Friday, November 05, 2010
It's now so easy to establish a social network - is this a good thing? | Tweet |
I've recently been looking around some at some of the 'white-label' social network services.
They allow anyone to establish their own branded social network at little or no cost. Most include features such as personal profiles, blogs, forums, newsfeeds, photo and video libraries, live chat, email lists, calendars as well as widget markets (with custom features you can add) and more - much more.
These services have made it incredibly easy to set-up and manage social networks. In fact you can have one branded and live within five minutes for less than it costs for a coffee per day.
But is this a good thing?
I wonder sometimes if it has simply become too easy.
Successful social networks need a purpose and regular nurturing (particularly in their infancy). Given how easy it is to now set them up, are there many that were established without a clear purpose or need?
And do organisations have the skills and experience to manage successful social networks. Sure everyone HAS personal experience through a social network of their own but, as anyone moving to a new city appreciates, it takes time and effort to turn strangers into friends - even virtual ones.
I'd like to think that organisations largely follow a strategic approach. In this case they'd start by defining their goals, identifying their audience and seeking existing communities to engage with before considering establishing a new one.
They would then employ the right tools and tactics, deploying the correct functionality and nurturing their social network until it was capable of standing on its own feet.
If you are going about community building - social network building - in this way, let me know.
If you are new to the area and want to know what's out there, I've included a list of some of the white label social network providers below. I haven't provided a review of the services, as I've not used all of them however I have seen good executions of Elgg, Ning, Groupsite and SocialText.
- AffinityCircles
- Blogtronix
- Boonex
- Converdge
- Elgg
- GMI
- GoLightly
- Groupsite
- Kickapps
- Liveworld
- Mixxt
- Mzinga
- Ning
- OneSite
- Plum
- SixApart
- SocialEngine
- SocialGo
- Social Network Server
- SocialSpring
- SocialText
- Sparta
- Userplane
- Webcrossing
Thursday, November 04, 2010
CEBIT Gov 2.0 conference Twitter stream | Tweet |
As a record of the event, below is a link to the Twitter stream, for the CEBIT Gov 2.0 Conference (#gov2cebit) from the record at wthashtag.
In all there were 1,416 tweets by 231 participants during the two days.
Note that the times are US Pacific Time. Add 18 hours for the correct tweeting time.
View twitter stream.
Photos of the event are also available at the CEBIT Flickr group.
Citizen 2.0 - future projects (Workshop 2 CEBIT Gov 2.0 Conference) | Tweet |
We've finished up Pat's workshop with a discussion of potential future projects, working on a Citizen 2.0 basis.
Three we discussed are listed below...
Future project ideas
Save me
Personal safety initiative – a smartphone application with a single red button 'save me'.
If you believe you are in danger you press the button. It is linked to your friends (via Facebook, etc) and sends an alert out to all your friends via Facebook or SMS so they can come and help you, providing mapped GPS coordinates.
Also allow people to opt-in to receive nearby 'Save me' alerts – to become a 'saver'.
When the button is pressed it should also makes a really loud noise.
Rate my employer
Website people can go to to rate their employer, report bad experiences and talk about good ones.
Personal transport tracker
Mobile app that people can click when boarding a bus, train or tram, to let people know it has come. So that people know if they've missed it or not, like a mobile 4Square.
(Apparently one of the originators of this last idea is Mark Pesce, who is not in the room.)
Citizen 2.0 - what does social media mean for government? (Workshop 2 CEBIT Gov 2.0 Conference) | Tweet |
In Pat's Citizen 2.0 workshop we've been discussing how citizens have changed - their expectations and behaviours.
Below is the list we came up with, and a video from William Perrin (given for Public Sphere) on how these changes are affecting government.
Changes in citizen expectations and behaviours
- Instant access to information - instant response
- Ease of reporting problems
- Ease of finding like-minded people
- More informed consumers/citizens
- Access to info/mis-info online
- Expectation to communicate solutions
- Willing to share personal information
- Willingness to pitch in and improve public sector information
- Expectation privacy is being eroded
- People expect to be heard in multiple ways
- Viral expectation of spreading news
- Increase importance on peer to peer
- Expectation to be known by how you interact (portable identity)
- Ability to communicate in multiple ways
- Expectation that knowledge of data is free (accessible and costwise)
We've also looked at a video of Park(ing) day - an example of how people are taking action to change their civic environment outside of government.
