Rather than posting in my blog today, I am breaking one of the rules of blogging (always pull people back to your own blog) by pointing people to an opinion piece in Mumbrella that I wrote recently after reading a couple of other opinion pieces attacking the basis for allowing anonymous commentary online. Toughen up…
“We are all cyborgs now” claims Amber Case in her January 2011 TED Director Talk (see her video below). The concept of humans as purely biological beings ended long ago, potentially 3,000 years ago, with the first documented prosthetic limb on an Egyptian Mummy. However the widespread use of mechanical or electronic devices to aid…
The EU Government’s 2009 Directive banning “unnecessary” cookies in websites (if the site doesn’t ask users to accept the cookie first) has just begun coming into effect – causing havoc and distress amongst European webmasters. Cookies are small text files that websites store on a user’s computer in order to reduce the need for users…
It can be difficult to get a perspective on the Government 2.0 activities in non-English speaking countries. However thanks to Francis Irving, who posted an account in the My Society email list in the UK, forwarded to the OpenAustralia Community list in Australia, here’s a very interesting mini case-study on one initiative in Latvia. In…
It has been an interesting experience working with advertising and digital agencies, web developers and printers while in government – particularly having been on the other side myself for more than ten years. While some are very good, others definitely ‘need development’ – particularly in the web delivery space. Government has a number of requirements…
I remember the great demonstration of November 1997. A plea went out asking citizens to gather outside their leader’s home to protest about major problems with the system. They were requested to be peaceful and law-abiding, to simply chant slogans, drink beer and remove their clothes. This demonstration was to be in Ultima Online, a…
Listening to the US’s National Public Radio (NPR) last week, I caught a story about how Chinese citizens are now using micro-blogging services (similar to Twitter) to communicate about missing or stolen children and, in some cases to locate them. According to The Guardian article, Chinese parents turn to microblogging in hunt for missing children,…
Today telecommuting often refers to people who work from home, logging into computer networks to prepare documents and exchange information remotely. However across the world we’re starting to see examples of much broader and more intense forms of telecommuting. Warfare Take for example the RQ-1 Predator, an unmanned aerial vehicle that has been used since…
It used to be said that no-one ever got fired for buying IBM products. More recently much the same sentiment has been expressed about Microsoft. However that perception now appears to be under challenge. ReadWriteWeb reports in its article Google Sues US Government Agency Over Using Microsoft Only that, Google has filed a lawsuit against…
I’ve been speaking with a few lawyers and solicitors lately regarding the risks of various social media initiatives and tools. Today, over lunch, it struck me that lawyers rarely – if ever – speak about the legal benefits of social media, the ways in which the use of social media can provide better outcomes for…
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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