As part of the CodeAcross2014 series of global events (over 44 events in 9 countries), Code for Australia is holding a free event on Friday 21 March from 5:30pm in Melbourne. Featuring four guest speakers, the event will approach the “Beyond Transparency” theme by discussing how citizens, civil servants and entrepreneurs can move beyond open…
The Spatial Industries Business Association (SIBA) in conjunction with the Victorian Department of State Development, Business and Innovation (DSDBI), have launched a data competition to identify approaches using Victorian government open data to improve awareness and literacy for social and safety issues. The competition is open for registration, with entries closing 28 February and winners…
The right for citizens to express political views and to protest (within limits) against specific acts, or inaction, by politicians is one of the fundamental and defining principles of democratic government and has been in place for, well, as long as there’s been democracies. In fact this principle is one which democracies frequently use to…
Recently the World Health Organisation announced that cancer had overtaken heart disease as the number one killer of Australians, as well as being the number one killer of people globally. The WHO had another message as well. That cancer was a largely preventable disease. Humans have lots of medical data about cancer. With millions of…
It feels bizarre to me to use an argument popularised by pro-gun lobbyists to counter claims of the risks of social media, however there’s some very real parallels worth considering about when agencies and corporations debate the risks of social media. Yesterday there was a story in the Brisbane Times about a man who was…
My post yesterday on Has Gov 2.0 in Australia got too boring too fast? (thanks @sandihlogan for the title correction) attracted some good debate on Twitter and in comments, including from @chieftech who said: @sherro58 @grmsn @craigthomler rather that asking if #gov2au has got boring, ask if gov in AU has been disrupted by tech. I’d…
Clay Shirky once said, about social media, that “These tools don’t get socially interesting until they get technologically boring.” Over the past year I’ve seen extremely encouraging signs across government in Australia that the use of social media has reached this point, become boring, as it has been normalised into agency operations. Most federal and…
The concept of national sovereignty has evolved over the centuries however has retained at its core the notion that nations, defined by geography, have the right to manage their own affairs and movements across their borders as they see fit, as well as to interact as recognised state entities with other states and other legal…
Senator Abetz, the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service, has written a fantastic blog post commenting on the need for Australian Public Servants to be mindful of what they say (and how they say it) on social media. The post, Public Servants should exercise care with social media, is in the Senator’s blog…
Universities in Australia have lagged behind public and commercial use of social media and need for their staff to be trained in effective development and implementation of online engagement approaches. However this looks to be changing with the launch of Canberra University’s Graduate Certificate in Social Media and Public Engagement. As a one year part-time primarily…
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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