Posts Tagged: open government

The Government and Social Networking

I have two questions: 1. How does the government feel about their employees using social networks while on the job; and 2. How does the government feel about their employees using social networks all together and having their personal information out there (where they work, what they do, etc.)? I am a student working onRead… Read more »

Kit Kat and Government Social Media – Lessons from the Nestle’ vs. Greenpeace debacle

If you follow the social media and PR news cycle you have probably heard by now about the mess Nestle’ has found itself in on its Facebook page while dealing with a coordinated campaign by Greenpeace against its use of palm oil in its products. There is already a host of blog posts and articlesRead… Read more »

Open Formats and Open Source for Better Government

The Government of Canada is currently reliant on proprietary file formats and proprietary software applications, which lock it into a licensing bind with a single software manufacturer — Microsoft. There is not only a question of cost — as we pay a monopoly corporation for per-seat licenses to run software that already dominates the marketRead… Read more »

Opening Up GovLoop So More Awesomeness

What if more government rockstars could find and join GovLoop? That’s the question I’ve been mulling over the past few months. You’ve probably seen the forum and blog posts from Community Manager Andy K: Should OpenGov Spark OpenGovLoop? Open GovLoop? You Decide. Your response was overwhelmingly positive to this idea of “opening GovLoop.” I wouldRead… Read more »

Gov 2.0 Efforts are Selfish, and Rightly Should Be

Last week at a Gov 2.0 event sponsored by Fedscoop I had great conversations with several government 2.0 rockstars. But one conversation and one statement in particular really resonated with me. Gwynne Kostin from GSA, in her brilliance, said: “Participation and collaboration are selfish activities. Most people don’t participate or collaborate without wanting to gainRead… Read more »

Brush that Dirt off Your Bike Lanes – Social Media for Spring Cleaning

Government of the people, meet the people. With technology making our world smaller and more closely interconnected than ever before, it seems only natural that new social media like SeeClickFix.com could link citizens and government in productive dialogue about issues affecting the public space. Recently we helped bicyclists in Lansing, Michigan help clean up debris-coatedRead… Read more »

Culture Change in Government (the blog series)

One of the most daunting challenges in Open Government will be in tackling cultural resistance. Culture is hard to define and see, and yet it’s effects can be profound and often frustrating. In January, I introduced the topic of culture and its many dimensions, citing insights of several Organizational Development (“OD”) thought leaders to helpRead… Read more »