Posts By Craig Thomler

The perils of legislating channels (and the issue of website filters)

The Australian Parliament House recently released their new website – a major step-up from the previous site. However in reading an article about it on ZDNet I discovered that the APH had, in the process, decided to block an entire top-level domain (.info) from view by the Parliament and the thousands of people working atRead… Read more »

Living on the edge in social media – two case studies of Australian social media issues

Back in November 2010 I attended a Garner conference to speak about Gov 2.0. I was also able to attend a workshop about social media use in the banking industry. At the time I estimated that the banking industry was 2-3 years behind government in their social media effectiveness. That impression has been reinforced thisRead… Read more »

Share your public service war stories online anonymously

Everyone has war stories, observations and experiences working in or dealing with government agencies or departments. These aren’t necessarily whinges or complaints, they may be positive or learning experiences, or examples of where small changes could lead to large productivity gains. Previously there was’t really any way to share these stories, except by speaking withRead… Read more »

Have a drink with Vivek Kundra in Canberra

Vivek Kundra, former CIO of the US government, is in Australia next week and thanks to the efforts of Pia Waugh there’s an opportunity for public servants and others working in Gov 2.0 there’s an opportunity to meet him. For full details, see Pia’s post on the Gov 2.0 Google Group. Of course, if youRead… Read more »

Many national laws are increasingly irrelevant – how will governments adapt?

Facebook decides whether photos of nursing mothers are allowed to be displayed in its site (including in Australia and other nations where such photos are legal). Google leaves China to avoid complying with its national censorship laws. Gaming and gambling websites base themselves in jurisdictions where they are legal while attracting most of their customersRead… Read more »

How easy is it really to source information from Australian governments?

On behalf of a friend I’ve been looking into the contact information for Freedom of Information (FOI) requests across Australia’s Commonwealth and state/territory governments. While I believe that Australia has good Freedom of Information laws (though I know some would disagree), the real tests of this are whether people are aware of their rights andRead… Read more »

How easy is it really to source information from Australian governments?

On behalf of a friend I’ve been looking into the contact information for Freedom of Information (FOI) requests across Australia’s Commonwealth and state/territory governments. While I believe that Australia has good Freedom of Information laws (though I know some would disagree), the real tests of this are whether people are aware of their rights andRead… Read more »

How should agencies moderate their online channels?

While government agencies often have limited options in the approaches they choose to use for moderating third-party social media channels, there’s a number of ways they can choose to moderate channels under their control, including blogs, forums and wikis. There’s limited official guidance, and no real mandates or instructions for particular moderation approaches available acrossRead… Read more »

One week left to comment on the Information Commissioner’s issue paper on public sector information

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has extended the deadline for commenting on their Information Policy Issue Paper 2: Understanding the value of public sector information in Australia until 8 February 2012. If you wish to comment on the paper, visit the Consultations page of the OAIC website. eGov AU Craig Thomler’s personal GovRead… Read more »