The US has had a number of voting dramas over the last ten years, probably none so well documented as that of the Florida recount in the 2000 Presidential election that saw George Bush Jnr win. As a result of the paper ballet issues uncovered by this and other elections, the US has introduced e-voting systems,…
The Economist Intelligence Unit has published a special research report, Towards Seamless Administration (PDF), on the status and challenges of egovernment across South-East Asia, including commments on a number of Australia’s nearest neighbours such as New Guinea, East Timor, Singapore and Malaysia. While Australia and New Zealand are not included in the review, the maturity…
Forrester Research has released a report critiquing the navigation of the websites of John McCain and Barack Obama, claiming that both fail basic navigation tests by potential voters. Nextgov reported in the article, Web sites of both presidential candidates fail to connect with users, that, Forrester used five criteria in its evaluation: clear labels and…
Reflecting and building on the approach taken for last year’s Australian Federal Election, Google has developed a comprehensive election coverage site for the upcoming Presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain. Looking at how the site presents public interest information, I cannot help but wonder why this type of material is being provided by…
The UK has been operating an online ‘television’ channel for public servants, LocalGovTV, featuring government initiatives and egovernment examples for some time now. The service has now launched a regular news channel featuring the latest news on public sector developments within the UK. While it is necessary to register to view the service, it contains…
Just as electricity infrastructure is the lifeblood of an industrialised society, high-speed broadband is the lifeblood of a modern information society. There’s an enormous wealth gap between nations that took a first mover advantage in establishing appropriate infrastructure to facilitate economic development and those that did not place infrastructure as high on the agenda. We’re…
I regard mobile internet access as of strategic concern to Australia’s development as a connected nation. While fixed wire broadband is also crucial, mobile access is the best approach for filling the gaps cost-effectively in a large low-population nation such as Australia. Also mobile internet supports ubiquitous instant access to information, which fixed broadband does…
Every generation seems to live through some kind of transformational national or global experience, be it the Great War, the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, the 60s, the Space Race, the Personal Computer revolution, the fall of Communist, or the rise of the internet. A lot of people see the growth of…
ScobleizerTV ( by Robert Scoble) has released a very interesting video interview with David Kralik, Newt Gingrich’s internet strategist on egovernment improvement in the US. It discusses areas such as, the provision of cheap broadband access in public housing to help reduce the digital divide and provide lower income people with an economic window the…
In The Techie in Chief, appearing in next week’s Newsweek, Anna Quindlen provides a strong case why no-one at senior levels in the public sector can afford to be unfamiliar with modern telecommunications technologies. One key reason she highlights is that leaders need to lead – they need to be out in front of the…
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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