It is rare but not unheard off for Mayors (or other Councillors) to ask council officials to run their Facebook, Twitter or other social media accounts – or for State or Federal Ministers to ask agencies to run their social accounts for them. This can raise challenges for council staff and public servants – where…
As I’ve blogged previously, when state governments in Australia have changed ruling parties there’s often been a temporary hiatus in Government 2.0 and open data activity, if not a series of backsteps – however in almost every case the trend towards greater digitalisation, engagement and openness has resumes. With the transition from a Labor to…
CSIR Mk 1 with Hollerith equipment, Sydney 1952 Source: Museum Victoria The Australian government was one of the earliest adopters of computers and computerisation. CSIRAC (or CSIR Mk1), the first computer in Australia (and now the oldest surviving first-generation electronic computer), was used by scientists within CSIRO, by the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Authority and various…
About eighteen months ago the APSC released updated guidance for the use of social media by public servants. Designed to cover personal and professional use, the guidance was widely criticised at the time by traditional media and former public servants for its imprecise language and broad reach. I criticised it as well, and it was…
Opening up data is one thing, but using it in a productive way is another. Data may be released in formats that are hard to reuse, data may be ‘dirty’ (with mistakes) or incomplete. However when organisations release data in machine-readable formats, with a reasonable level of completeness, it can be surprisingly easy for even…
As an advocate for Gov 2.0 and open data I frequently encourage government agencies to work more closely with communities, tapping their expertise and experience to improve the operations of government. However I’m not blind to the risks of community involvement. Welcoming the crowd risks welcoming individuals, groups and organisations with agendas which may include…
Quiip and Delib Australia have launched the second annual online community management survey for Australia and New Zealand. The survey aims to help local organisations and individuals better understand the skills required to work in these professions, help uncover role challenges, training and support needs and the actual work and salaries that online community management…
Martin Stewart-Weeks, Senior Director, Public Sector, Cisco Consulting Services, has written a fantastic article on the potential for technology to disrupt and create new possibilities for governments and the public sector. The article discusses how technology is changing the shape and speed of government, as well as many jobs in the public sector, and looks…
Now that Australia has finally sent a letter of intent to join the Open Government Partnership, I’ve been reading examples of how other jurisdictions went about developing their National Action Plans (a requirement of OGP membership) to foster and support government openness. It is clear that one of the key attributes of the most meaningful…
With the change in Australia’s Prime Minister last week, the resignation of a large handful of Ministers, and the announcement of new Ministers this week, we’ve seen some interesting approaches to shutting down Ministerial Twitter accounts. Senator Jacinta Collins closed her Ministerial account with two very-matter-of-fact tweets, redirecting people to the new Ministers: This account…
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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