I’m seeing something that disturbs me happening in the innovation space across government. Something that suggests that ‘innovation’ is becoming more of a buzzword than a real change in organisational culture. On one front, as agencies ‘buy into’ the innovation mantra, they are developing processes for fostering innovation – systems designed to fast-track innovative ideas…
While travelling to and from the GovHack international awards red carpet event (which was great BTW), I’ve been reading ‘So you’ve been publicly shamed‘, the latest book by Jon Ronson (the author of The men who stare at goats), and was reflecting on some of the experiences he talks about. A common theme throughout the…
Below is a list of all of the GovHack 2015 International and National winners… The GovHack 2015 International categories had competitors across Australia and New Zealand: The International Best Disaster Mitigation Hack, iHelp by team Tremorz in New Zealandhttps://hackerspace.govhack.org/content/tremorz The International Digital Humanities Hack patentstori.es by team Patent Trolls in Canberrahttps://hackerspace.govhack.org/content/patentstories International Bounty for Best…
Alun Probert (formerly of NSW government) has written a good piece on how sometime digital decisions are simply good business. I think he’s spot on about this, and about the danger of treating digital as a silver bullet. Government is in the business of achieving great outcomes for society. Any government who fails to keep…
Australia’s Digital Transition Office (DTO) has finally lifted the covers on the personnel it’s seeking to hire to fulfil its ambitious transformation agenda. However, unlike traditional APS hiring, the DTO’s positions vacant use modern corporate job titles and each job description clearly and in detail explains what applicants will be expected to do in the role. There’s…
Last week the Digital Transition Office (DTO) released a draft of its API Design Guide for public review. An API, or Application Programming Interface, is an approach that defines consistent methods of inputting and outputting data into a software system based on internet protocols. APIs are regularly used by Web 2.0 services as a standard…
Traditionally governments have taken cues from banks and social networks for innovative ways to design online services to make them easier to use. However it may be time for public servants to think about online service design with their stomachs. I don’t know how many public sector digital design professionals have visited McDonalds lately, but…
One of the big distinctions I’ve noted between working in the public and private sector is in the level of friction when attempting to get things done. I define friction as the amount of red tape, process, procedure and protocols that slows down the achievement of a defined goal. The more red tape, the more…
Australia’s Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, has now announced the review panel for MP remuneration expenses, and in my view it’s close to becoming another missed opportunity to improve government engagement, accountability and transparency with the community. The panel will consist of five ’eminent’ individuals. Two will be former politicians (one Labor and one Liberal), one…
I’ve been reading about a new entrant in the government online consultation market – Balancing Act, a simulation tool for involving the public in government budget consultations. It joins a range of other tools for this type of ‘trade-off’ consulting online – including Budget Allocator from Bang The Table and, my favourite, Budget Simulator from…
This archive mirrors the original eGov AU blog — Craig’s professional commentary on AI, digital government and technology in public life, running since 2006.
'; loop.parentNode.insertBefore(w,loop); })();