Rialtas.net – Government 2.0

I came across MuniGov 2.0  via an article by Matt Williams on Government Technology

Governments have proved willing to experiment with Second Life, a popular online 3-D community in which users create virtual worlds and interact with one another via computer-generated characters. For instance, Missouri recently announced it hired its first IT employee recruited directly from Second Life; the employee attended a Second Life job fair as a computer-generated cat wearing a bow tie. Several universities also have held classes in the virtual world.

When Bill Greeves, the IT director of Roanoke County, Va., started looking around for Web 2.0 best practices, he said he didn’t find much so he decided to create a venue for discussion. “Thanks to Roanoke County’s interest in exploring, I developed the MuniGov2.0 group as a way collaborate, communicate and share best practices amongst other local governments,” he said.

MuniGov 2.0 is about six weeks old, and in that time Greeves said 100 members have signed up from 61 organizations – mostly city and county governments – in 20 states and three countries. It’s growing so quickly that Greeves said he’s looking for more volunteers to help manage the group.

MuniGov 2.0 is a coalition of local/municipal governments focused on exploring the use and principles of Web 2.0 in an effort to improve citizen services and communication via technology. They have created this site and its accompanying documents as resources, best practices and the start of a community of like-minded peers who have a common interest in the concepts of 2.0 as they could and do apply to local government.Visit the MuniGov2.0 website