Posts Tagged: Gov

What are the best blog platforms for Australian government departments?

Republished from eGovAU. If your Department or agency is considering getting started in blogging it’s worth considering the platforms that others in government are using to meet their needs. Looking across the Australian government, there are now at least several different platforms used to deliver successful blogs. For example the ABS’s Statistically speaking blog usesRead… Read more »

The Catch 22 of government online participation

Republished from eGovAU. Government often has a narrow path to walk when engaging online, some of the measures in place to protect the privacy and security of citizens and government officials can conflict with efforts to improve the transparency and openness of government processes. Hence this article from the New York Times, Government 2.0 MeetsRead… Read more »

A method to measure the level of government 2.0 in a government site – egovernment index

Republished from eGovAU. Andrew Krzmarzick has posted an interesting article on his “”>Generation Shift blog regarding a method to measure the level of government 2.0 services included in a government site. Developed by the Brookings Institute, the approach involves scoring agencies against a set of criteria and tracking them over time. The Institute has analysedRead… Read more »

Why Doesn’t Government Use the Web to Organize Its Work?

I’ve been reading Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky. It’s a brilliant book on the information revolution that we’re going through. He believes that this revolution is as momentous as the development of the printing press, which triggered the Reformation and religious wars. The rise of amateurs and the expansion of consumer choice has meantRead… Read more »

The power of raw government data

Republished from eGovAU. In the US President Obama’s newly appointed (and first) Federal Government CIO Vivek Kundra has committed to finding new ways to make government data open and accessible. The Computer World article, First federal CIO wants to ‘democratize’ U.S. government data, discusses how, In a conference call with reporters, Kundra said he plansRead… Read more »

eGovernment interoperability is a cultural, not a technical issue

Republished from eGovAU. This post from Oliver Bell’s OSRIN blog, eGovernment Interoperability Frameworks, time for a rethink?, served to crystalise thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head for awhile. Oliver contends that most of the technical standards for interoperability via the internet have been resolved, with commercial and citizen usage of the internetRead… Read more »

A Suggestion for what “Transparency” looks like

Transparency. It’s the buzz word around the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the planned disbursement, tracking and reporting of the $787 billion federal stimulus package to states. Every state and many local jurisdictions have responded in some way to the transparency requirements (page 9) outlined by the federal government. As transparency can beRead… Read more »

What form should a government blog take?

Republished from eGovAU. There’s an excellent and very active discussion over at Adriel Hampton’s blog regarding, Templating a Government 2.0 Blog. The discussion ranges beyond the pure technical and moderation challenges of establishing a blog (which are very easy to overcome) and into the mindset of government. In fact my view of the discussion isRead… Read more »

I Hear America Singing — Walt Whitman at the Karaoke Café

Every couple of years America’s diplomats overseas are expected to come back to the U.S. for at least one month on “home leave” “to ensure that employees who live abroad for an extended period undergo reorientation and re-exposure in the United States on a regular basis.” During my home leave last summer I visited familyRead… Read more »