What is Gov 2.0? A survey of Government IT pros

The term “Web 2.0”, and more specifically “Gov 2.0”, can be rather difficult to define. And although more than three-quarters of government IT professionals in our recent survey of government IT professionals on their feelings about the Gov 2.0 movement feel they know what Gov 2.0 entails, their definitions varied widely.

In response to our posting of the survey on GovLoop this week, we’ve seen a few different thoughts from GovLoop users on what the most important aspects of Gov 2.0 are. Daniel Bevarly noted that as we adopt Gov 2.0 structures within our government agencies, we also need to “harness the interest and engagement of constituents” to assure that citizens are motivated to use Gov 2.0 services. A number of respondents pointed out that there are still cultural issues with Gov 2.0. Joe Flood pointed out that while a “core group of government folks” have passion for social media, “the larger body of employees looks at it as just another requirement” and will still need to be educated to feel comfortable with Gov 2.0.

Some IT employees in the survey focused on the need for better collaboration in government, and saw the Gov 2.0 movement as a vehicle for that change. One respondent said that Gov 2.0 was “a helpful and quick way to get in touch with the government and connect employees and programs.” Another described Gov 2.0 as “giving users the choice to interact or collaborate in a social media dialogue as well as being in a virtual community.”

Others believed that the movement is more about the influx of new technologies that can be used to improve the government. One IT manager defined Gov 2.0 as “The emergence of IT innovation and the Web as a platform for fostering efficiencies within government and citizen participation”

Some government workers believe that the Gov 2.0 movement is allowing government officials to open up their offices to the citizens and be more transparent. One survey respondent said Gov 2.0 was the beginning of “The open government revolution”, while others described how social media and blogs are helping to let us learn more about our politicians.

What does Gov 2.0 mean to you? Do you think the most important part of the movement is the influx of new technology into government? Is it about transparency and openness in the government? Or is it really a combination of all of these things?