Four years ago Government 2.0 was a barely known concept in Australia and social media was regarded by many in Canberra as a youth fad. President Obama made social media ‘cool’ for politicians by using it as a key plank in his run for office. Since his election he has spearheaded a Gov 2.0 agenda…
Traditionally, in my experience both in the private and public sector, the way to build a ‘perfect’ website has been considered to be; invest a large quantity of resources, personnel and time at the start of the development process, use this investment to build all the functionality that the developers can dream up, write all…
Many rulers, from the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt to the Czars of Russia, were seen as almost infallible leaders – divinely selected and empowered to lead their people. To question their wisdom, strength or decisions was often an offence that could be punished by imprisonment or death. Most modern states are more lenient, however governments…
The last week has seen several incidents where members of Australian political parties has been suspended from social networking sites and outed in the media for making controversial comments. Most recently Nick Sowden, a Young Queensland Liberal National Party member, referred to US President Obama as a ‘monkey’ on Twitter. His tweets were widely discussed…
The Public Sector Innovation Network email list (run by the Department of Innovation – you can subscribe from their website) sends out some very interesting articles about innovation every week. This week one in particular caught my eye, a piece entitled The Biggest Obstacle to Innovation that looks at inertia and how this may have…
We’ve seen a boom in Gov 2.0 seminars and events over the last year and several prestigious US Universities already offer post-graduate courses on Gov 2.0 topics. However, to my knowledge, Australia’s formal educational institutions have largely been silent on when (if ever) they might begin offering courses that aid public servants, potential public servants…
The GovTwit blog has put me on to the latest case study in Twitter 101 (where they showcase how organisations are using Twitter in innovative ways). It’s on the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), who are using Twitter to monitor earthquakes as they occur – an early detection system that is proving to be much faster…
I’m beginning to see more and more organisations and their various advertising and PR agencies look seriously at social media as a core communications channel for their campaigns and other customer, client and citizen engagement activities. This is beginning to make me wonder how communications professionals who know little or nothing about social media will…
In their strongest advisement yet, Microsoft Australia has issued a “strong recommendation” through its Government Affairs Blog that customers upgrade from the nine-year old Internet Explorer 6 web browser to Internet Explorer 8. This is because the security flaws now being discovered in Internet Explorer 6 are such that they leave organisations more vulnerable to…
One of the long established principles in government and big business is that only designated staff are allowed to represent their organisations when speaking to the media. This is an extremely well-intentioned principle, designed to protect both the organisation and individual staff. The media is frequently more interested in sensation than truth and can twist…
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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