The complexity of screens and the registration and sign-in processes for some Australian egovernment (online) services disturbs me. In the commercial world I lived by a simple rule of thumb, on average each hurdle I erected between a customer and their goal reduced the overall number of customers who reached their goal by 30%. To…
The Waseda university in Japan has released its 2009 Waseda University International e-Government Ranking, the fifth consecutive report on how 34 leading countries are progressing in their egovernment activities. Australia managed to reach 13th position, down from 7th in 2008. In fact Australia experienced the second greatest year-on-year fall in ranking of any country (only…
The US government has taken the first holistic step towards making federal data available online in bulk. This would allow the public to reuse the data, mash it up with other sources and repackage it online in innovative ways – potentially uncovering relationships and new uses that were never conceived of by the government. Reported…
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…
I’ve previously applauded the efforts of the Human Rights Commissioner to draw attention to government websites who provide inaccessible content via WebWatch. Even where an agency’s overall site may be designed according to accessibility guidelines, when certain key information is presented only in PDF format, this information can be inaccessible. However I’ve also been a…
Over in the UK councils are being to adopt micro-blogging in a major way, with over 100 councils now using Twitter to make announcments and have two way conversations with their constituencies. The UK council association has published an article, Councils turn to new media, which discusses the uses councils are making of the service…
I’ve been too busy and tired this week to really commit to putting much content into eGovAU – which doesn’t mean I’m not listening and thinking about what is happening in the wider egovernment world. So instead of a regular post I thought I’d share some thoughts that have particularly stuck with me this week….
I’ve come across some interesting situations recently where technology is far in advance of legal frameworks, placing governments in a position where agencies may be breaking – or at least bending – laws by using certain online tools. Twitter is a case in point. The technology was invented after the Spam Act was passed and…
A report has been co-published by the Hansard society and Microsoft discussing how UK Members of Parliament are using the internet and providing strategies on how they can better use the internet to engage with their constituencies and with interest groups. It’s been highlighted already in the Victorian eGovernment Resource Centre, and discussed widely in…
This is my first go at liveblogging so bear with me. A more professional liveblog of this event is on over at Stilgherrian’s blog. Politics and Technology Forum Here’s a picture of the panel
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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