In 2011 an IBM computer, Watson, beat human competitors at Jeopardy! This was a new landmark in artificial intelligence – a computer capable of correctly responding to plain English questions, in real time, by figuring out their intent. At the time Watson was a computer as big as a room, and it was the only…
Australian internet usage has just reached a tipping point, with more Aussies accessing the internet via their smartphones and tablets than via laptops and desktop computers. This has been reflected in web usage statistics, with several agencies I talk to reporting that they now receive more of their website traffic from mobile devices than from…
A few years ago I heard it said by political advisors that one hand-written letter to a Minister counts for more than 100 emails on the same topic. The perception was that if someone sat down and wrote their thoughts in long-hand it showed more interest and commitment than if they typed and posted them…
Having centralised systems for voting is the standard approach for countries around the world. In most places it is simply accepted that the government funds the system for election and referendum voting – funding the polling places, ballot boxes, officials and vote counting systems, whether this be directly or at arms length via a body…
An interesting situation has arisen in Italy, with the country’s Agenzia delle Entrate, the Italian revenue service and taxation authority, accused of copying OpenStreetMap without respecting the site’s copyright license. As documented on the Open Street Maps discussion list, Italy’s OpenStreetMap community discovered a little over three months ago that the maps used by the…
It’s difficult for governments to remain effective when the support of citizens evaporates. History is littered with failed states, civil wars and insurrections resulting from society’s loss of trust in their rulers and governance systems. In authoritarian states this support is often built on fear, coercion and control, which can prove to be very fragile…
One of the most frustrating and, I think, silliest things I found when working in Australian government agencies was how almost every department, agency and statutory body developed almost all of its own policies, procedures, software and tools. There was often ‘undercover’ sharing – where people in agencies would ask their colleagues in others for…
The UK Government has just released the alpha version of data.parliament.uk – – a site designed to host open data on the UK Parliament and its proceedings. (An Alpha for those who don’t understand the term is a first release of a software product that is usually tested only by the developers). The alpha release of…
The United Nations is currently running a very interesting global consultation asking people about the six issues that matter most to them. Named myWorld2015 (vote.myworld2015.org), the consultation has attracted over 2.1 million responses from around the world. Of these, there have been 14,896 responses from Australia (viewable through the data page) – and it is very…
Below is the video from the live webcast on Content Marketing for Government that Content Group managed, hosted by David Pembroke with Gina Cianco of the Australian Government Department of Human Services, Kanchan Dutt and myself as guests. It’s an interesting watch. I’ll buy a drink for anyone who accurately counts the number of ‘ums’…
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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