Why bother improving our web analytics?

I get a number of colleagues asking ‘have you got the web stats on our report?’ To which I answer ‘of course I have, if I give them to you what are you going to do with them?’ Naturally I am being slightly flippant. Google Analytics is great for providing stats on individual outputs andRead… Read more »

Marketing and Sales: Harsh Realities

There is a huge assortment books on the market about marketing and sales. So much so that the category needed to be divided into two. While closely related there are harsh differences. When I initially joined IBM, it was known for its service orientation and its marketing organization. In hindsight, it was really its salesRead… Read more »

Infographic of the Month – September 2013

This month we have a bike-related infographic supplied by Online Masters in Public Health. Whether it’s to improve health or save money, people seem to be hopping on their bikes more than ever. And cities and states are working to accommodate these increased demands for bicycle facilities. As the Infographic shows, one initiative experiencing greatRead… Read more »

What public consultation can look like

I’ve been a bit grumpy lately that use of digital tools to engage the public creatively around policy consultations has stalled. Sure, there’s some good tweeting, and some creative ministerial webchats, but not much that tackles the showstopping barriers of impenetrable language, lengthy response forms and boring or loaded questions. What BIS has done withRead… Read more »

One Team, One Goal

I was at the gym the other day when I saw a t-shirt with this quote on it: “One team, one goal.” While it apparently was the motto that had been adopted by a group of employees at a local business, it could (and should) be the motto that guides almost any team or group.Read… Read more »

Structure Wiring System

Spend entire day tracing cabling throughout the house and out-buildings. Main Panel is now labeled nicely; expect three cables. Tomorrow I’ll move the modem, router, switch, and three servers from secondary wiring closet to main utility room. Then add a secondary Linksys wireless router to the secondary closet and cascade it to the main router.Read… Read more »

What does the election of a Coalition government in Australia mean for federal Government 2.0 and open data efforts?

As I’ve blogged previously, when state governments in Australia have changed ruling parties there’s often been a temporary hiatus in Government 2.0 and open data activity, if not a series of backsteps – however in almost every case the trend towards greater digitalisation, engagement and openness has resumes. With the transition from a Labor toRead… Read more »

When Government Joins the Internet of Things

What happens when public infrastructure becomes part of the “Internet of Things?” In an opinion piece in the New York Times today, former Chicago Chief Data Officer Brett Goldstein explores the policy and privacy implications of smart cities: We all interact daily with public infrastructure — roads, parks, mass transit, water supplies. Increasingly, this infrastructureRead… Read more »