While the timeframes for developing and distributing publications, media releases, and even website news items is extremely well understood by government departments, often there is a much lower understanding of the level of effort (in time) required to engage communities online via different channels. Fortunately there are now several guides available to provide insight into…
Etiquette is important in every form of social engagement. When Australians meet others for the first time we exchange names, shake hands and make light conversation before getting down to the main topic of conversation. Other cultures have different social etiquette. Many hug or kiss cheeks on first meeting, exchange business cards (sometimes with two…
Crispin has published a post, Why (Government) Organisations Should be Engaging their Community Online, over at his Online Community Engagement blog providing eleven reasons why government should be engaging its community online. This is a nice piece and I thought I might add a few more that spring to my mind. Global reachThere are many…
Are many heads better than one (or a few)? In the past the answer was often no, because the mechanisms used to collect, collate, rate and assess the suggestions and recommendations of hundred, thousands or millions of people were cumbersome and time-consuming. In fact whilst our society was originally built on the democratic principle of…
I’ve been reading a post by James Dellow at his Chieftech blog, Using Twitter as a benchmark for Australian local government use of social media. He compared the 90 out of 468 (approx. 20%) UK councils using Twitter to the 3 out of 677 (less than 1%) Australian councils using the tool to engage online,…
In case you’ve not seen the buzz around mailing lists, the second Canberra BarCamp is on next weekend, 28 March, at the Australian National University. What’s a BarCamp? Think of it as an impromptu conference featuring talented designers, developers and other online professionals. They gather to share their knowledge and expertise in a series of…
The US business.gov website has launched an online community for small business owners, providing a place where they can discuss business-related issues across a range of topics. While there is a slant towards topics related to business engagement with government – from registration processes through to how to successfully do business with government, the topics…
The Tribalisation of Business is holding its second annual survey on social media use within organisations. If you run communities or leverage social media as part of your business you can participate in the 2009 survey here. Sponsored by Deloittes, Beeline labs and the Society for New Communications Research, the 2008 survey had some very…
Some of the practical benefits for government of online social media are beginning to emerge from various jurisdictions around the world. One that has particularly struck me as very positive is the use of online media by Washington DC to convince felons to voluntarily turn themselves in. Written about in Using Social Media to Improve…
The second BarCamp Canberra has been confirmed for 28 March, to be held at the ANU. In case you’re not familiar with the concept (quoting from the official site), A BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with…
This archive mirrors the original eGov AU blog — Craig’s professional commentary on AI, digital government and technology in public life, running since 2006.
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