With the permission of Geoff Mason (@grmsn), I’ve republished his blog post Don’t dumb me down! from 21 March this year below. I thought this was a very good post on a topic that, as increasing amounts of information and discussion only appear online, is increasingly affecting how effective public servants can be and theRead… Read more »
I’ve finally been able to let the cat out of the bag today and publicly announce my primary post public sector project. I have been officially appointed the Managing Director for Delib Australia (and are a shareholder too). So, effective immediately, I will be working full-time with Delib in the UK and with associates andRead… Read more »
With the widespread availability of phones in cameras and tablet devices – in fact it is hard to buy one today that doesn’t include a camera – it is inevitable that people will take them out and take a snap of their most – or least favourite – public figures. These photos and video getRead… Read more »
At BarCamp Canberra on Saturday I led a discussion asking how we can help governments take the step from open data (releasing raw datasets – not always in an easily reusable format) towards usable and useful data (releasing raw datasets in easily reusable formats plus tools that can be used to visualise it). To frameRead… Read more »
On Tuesday Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. announced that the company would cease printing a paper edition of their iconic Encyclopedia Britannica, after 244 years. The last paper version – the 32-volume, 2010 edition – will be unavailable once the existing stock of about 4,000 copies runs out. I can see it becoming a collector’s item overnight.Read… Read more »
LinkedIn has just announced to members that it has reached three million Australian members, slightly over 10% of the population and roughly 30% of our working population. I hope People Services and Human Resources people across government are beginning to recognise the potential of the service for reaching professional people as potential hires and toRead… Read more »
There’s a lot of the work and lag involved in releasing emergency alerts using old fashioned approaches such as media releases. Even when an agency’s systems are tuned to fast-track emergency approval processes, when the media release gets distributed that may only be the beginning, not the end, of the process. The release need toRead… Read more »
I’m a big supporter of Freedom of Information (FOI) laws and the rights of citizens to access information from their government to better understand the processes and data considered around how decisions are made and policies formed. I am also a big supporter of FOI as a tool for public good – including for sharingRead… Read more »
In case you’ve not read it yet, Steve Davies wrote an interesting piece on the government’s grapple to adapt to and adopt Gov 2.0 thinking and practice. Published in the Canberra Times and Brisbane Times, the piece highlights that the elephant in the room is the culture of the APS, which is not always supportiveRead… Read more »
While there’s many organisations now actively beginning to experiment with social media channels and tools, just as many – if not more – are still cautious about even putting a toe in the water. “It’s not right for us”, they say, “our audience isn’t online” or “doesn’t want to engage with us” or “we don’tRead… Read more »