GovWeb

"Can social tools and community-based approaches truly help our government function better and operate more efficiently? Will open access to government data create important new opportunities for citizens and increase transparency? These two questions are currently top-of-mind in many public sector policy discussions this year. The questions also herald new forces at work in transforming the government landscape in many countries around the world in 2010, particularly as we’ll see, the United states." - Stephen Dale from Bookmarklet

"data.gov.uk was finally launched to the public last week (still in beta, but now a more public beta than the beta that it’s been in for the last few months). It’s a great step forward, and everyone involved should be proud of both the amount of data that’s been made available and the website itself, which (unlike a lot of UK government IT) was developed rapidly by a small team based on open source software (and at low cost). This is a first step on a long road. One of the features of the UK Government’s approach to freeing data is the emphasis on using linked data. What I don’t think has really been articulated is either what that means or why we should take this approach. From what I’ve seen, developers seem to think: * linked data is a synonym for turning everything into RDF and putting it in one big triplestore, equivalent to making one big database of government data and therefore prone to exactly the same, well-known and understood problems that government has with creating huge... more... - Stephen Dale from Bookmarklet

"Engage: Getting on with Government 2.0 has been released. This is the final report of the the Government 2.0 Taskforce established in June to advise the Australian government on “increasing the openness of government through making public sector information more widely available to promote transparency, innovation and value adding to government information” and “encouraging online engagement with the aim of drawing in the information, knowledge, perspectives, resources and even, where possible, the active collaboration of anyone wishing to contribute to public life.” Key findings of the report include: * “Government 2.0 or the use of the new collaborative tools and approaches of Web 2.0 offers an unprecedented opportunity to achieve more open, accountable, responsive and efficient government. * Though it involves new technology, Government 2.0 is really about a new approach to organising and governing. It will draw people into a closer and more collaborative relationship with their... more... - Stephen Dale from Bookmarklet

The Greater London Authority has committed itself to publishing all centrally held data in its raw format as part of a drive to change the nature of the interaction between citizens and the state. The project, which has attracted interest from Conservative policy officers, aims to encourage citizens to use the data in its raw format so they can make judgments on performance or generate user applications." - Stephen Dale from Bookmarklet

"The Prime Minister delivered a speech on Smarter Government, in London on 7 December 2009." - Stephen Dale from Bookmarklet

"Government data is a valuable resource that we have already paid for. We are not talking about personal data but data that tells us, for example, about the amount and type of traffic on our roads, where the accidents are, how much is spent on areas where these accidents occur. This is data that has already been collected and paid for by the taxpayer, and the internet allows it to be distributed much more cheaply than before. Governments can unlock its value by simply letting people use it. This is beginning to happen in a number of countries, notably in the US under the Obama Administration, and in June Gordon Brown asked us to advise the Government on how to make rapid progress here." - Stephen Dale from Bookmarklet

"Book Get the PDF version of the complete book here. The book State of the eUnion: Government 2.0 and Onwards was released at 00:00 CET on 18th November 2009. Edited by John Gøtze and Christian Bering Pedersen, and foreworded by Don Tapscott, the book is a cornucopia of ideas and experiences from thought-leaders on three continents. The book will be available in print via Amazon etc. soon. The content is licensed under a Creative Commons license. We will launch the book in other formats than PDF soon." - Stephen Dale from Bookmarklet

"Do you find you need to attend breakfast presentations, department meetings, industry events, charity dinners and out-of-town conferences just to stay current? Are you forever tethered to your phone, Blackberry and computer? Wouldn't it be great if you could do all your networking online -- from the couch at home? Dream on. Until that day, these government IT social-networking sites will keep you in the loop. Find more of our favorites in the annual Federal List issue." - Stephen Dale from Bookmarklet

"Washington, D.C. - September 9, 2009 - Ten industry leaders - Yahoo!, PayPal, Google, Equifax, AOL, VeriSign, Acxiom, Citi, Privo and Wave Systems - announced today they will support the first pilot programs designed for the American public to engage in open government - government that is transparent, participatory, and collaborative. This open identity initiative is a key step in President Obama’s memorandum to make it easy for individuals to register and participate in government websites - without having to create new usernames and passwords. Additionally, members of the public will be able to fully control how much or how little personal information they share with the government at all times. These companies will act as digital identity providers using OpenID and Information Card technologies. The pilot programs are being conducted by the Center for Information Technology (CIT), National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and related... more... - Stephen Dale from Bookmarklet

"Today, many people equate Web 2.0 with social media; three or four years ago, they equated it with AJAX applications and APIs. Many are now starting to think it’s all about cloud computing. In fact, it’s all of these and more. The way I have always defined Web 2.0, it’s been about what it means for the internet, rather than the personal computer, to be the dominant computing platform. What are the rules of business and competitive advantage when the network is the platform?" - Stephen Dale from Bookmarklet

"Government and Web 2.0 “grew up in different neighborhoods—they don’t play by the same rules,” said Andrew Sherry, Senior Vice President for Online Communications at the Center for American Progress at a CAP event on Monday. Barack Obama’s campaign embraced the participatory nature of Web 2.0, but using social media in the federal government is a different proposition, with different rules." - Stephen Dale from Bookmarklet

The challenges for social media adoption in local authorities as a route to youth engagement - Mark Cheverton

Local government twitter club - thanks Dave - Mark Cheverton

Perhaps how to make use of semantic web technologies on government web sites? - Martin Stone

Welcome, Martin. This is a bit of an experiment, but it might just prove worthwhile! - Dave Briggs