It is common practice for government Departments to go to consultants when they need specific skills or experience. The strategy is often to draw on this expertise to get started, transfer as much knowledge as possible to staff and move forward. However sometimes it can be more cost-effective to draw on the existing skills of…
Accenture has released a new report, Web 2.0 and the Next Generation of Public Service (PDF), which highlights four key things that citizens around the world want from government 2.0. They are, Improved social and economic outcomes. Balance between choice and flexibility on the one hand and fairness and the common good on the other….
Tim Davies from the UK has written an excellent post highlighting all the ‘small hurdles’ that government agencies face when attempting to engage online. Entitled OpenGov: One big challenge? Or a thousand small hurdles, despite coming from the UK, the list reflects many of the hurdles faced in Australian government that need to be overcome…
Yesterday’s announcement of the Australian Government’s plans to build a national broadband network has created a huge amount of buzz online. If you’ve not seen the news, yesterday morning the government announced that they have terminated the tender process due to cost concerns and shortcomings in all tender proposals. Instead the government will invest up…
If your Department or agency is considering getting started in blogging it’s worth considering the platforms that others in government are using to meet their needs. Looking across the Australian government, there are now at least several different platforms used to deliver successful blogs. For example the ABS’s Statistically speaking blog uses Blogger (as I…
Does your organisation keep an eye on current browser standards and adoption rates? If not it’s worth surveying the market a few times each year to ensure that your web standards continue to align with market trends. Below is a quick whip around the market, looking at the main browsers in use today. Internet ExplorerMicrosoft…
This post from Oliver Bell’s OSRIN blog, eGovernment Interoperability Frameworks, time for a rethink?, served to crystalise thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head for awhile. Oliver contends that most of the technical standards for interoperability via the internet have been resolved, with commercial and citizen usage of the internet built on these…
NSW has been the scene of an interesting series of events over the last week regarding the right of iPhone developers to republish NSW Rail timetables in their applications. Covered in the Sydney Morning Herald articles, CityRail puts brakes on iPhone timetable app and How RailCorp’s derailing commuter ‘apps’, last week it emerged that NSW…
I’ve come across some interesting situations recently where technology is far in advance of legal frameworks, placing governments in a position where agencies may be breaking – or at least bending – laws by using certain online tools. Twitter is a case in point. The technology was invented after the Spam Act was passed and…
Marketing just isn’t the same anymore – customers are harder to reach, they trust brands less and spend their time listening to each other rather than to media or to corporate or government marketers and communicators. Yet many comms and marketing people are still stuck on the ‘shout louder and longer‘ theory. If someone isn’t…
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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