Post by Tod Newcombe on Dr. Beth Noveck’s speech at the recent NASCIO conference on what the White House is doing to turn social networking tools into an outcome-oriented platform for the Obama administration.
Noveck is the deputy director for Open Government within the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House. Her efforts stem from President Barack Obama’s memo issued on the first day of his administration calling for more transparency in government. But promoting transparency is proving harder than it seems…
…”We see examples of civic participation, but it’s divorced from government itself,” she said. “We see example of how government responds to complaints…but they don’t engage people in the process, nor do they track progress.”
In other words, the marriage of social networks and government has been pretty much a one-way street so far. Lots of “noise” coming in, but very little in the way of collaborative solutions, based on citizen participation, coming out….
…She spoke forcefully about how collaborative efforts have the benefit of generating new solutions and ideas that would never be found by a single person, and that networks of problem solvers can mobilize action. Most importantly, she said “collaborative innovations drive performance.”…
…But she recognizes that government’s current approach to developing feedback mechanisms via social networks aren’t well managed in terms of converting citizen input into outcomes….
…The charge towards Gov 2.0 is in danger of falling off the tracks if done incorrectly.
Noveck believes it can be done correctly and that CIOs must play a major role in helping their government embrace social networks for outcomes. Here are my (somewhat raw) notes from her multi-point principles on creating greater transparency without all the noise:
* Ask the right questions.
* Ask the right people: make sure to create opp for the right people to participate. (examples: CityScan, Peer to Patent)
* Design process for desired end: Do you want a Wiki style or a Digg-style design for collaboration?
* Design for groups. When you engage people as individuals you get individual responses. Instead create processes that use the wisdom of the crowd. Use the community to moderate, thereby increases efficacy of democracy.
* Use the screen: Mashups that create meaningful and powerful. Make data real and show people they are part of the process.
* Roles and tasks. If we show people what the job is we want them to do, you can get people to self select (rather than toss up any idea for consideration).
* Reputation: there are tools for ranking ideas up and down. They help manage large scale influxes of information. These tools can turn feedback into something manageable.
* Make policies rather than websites. Example: Getting feedback from employees. TSA has one. State Dept has one. Have to create some kind of feedback loop, otherwise it goes to waste. Need a process to manage feedback. Obama campaign had policy networks in moderated listservs. You need to channel expertise so it can be used and useful.
* Pilot new ideas. NASA’s XPRIZE program; Get people to submit innovation that exceeds the cost for the prize. Another example is Kundra’s “Apps for democracy” project.
* Focus on Outcomes: don’t spend too much time measuring the inputs. Need to focus on what to achieve. You have to rethink transparency and collaboration to what end. What does better performance actually mean?
In closing Noveck said that it’s up to public CIOs to bring their perspective to this unfolding process. “We need common platforms,” she said. “We need CIOs to use their bully pulpit to push innovation to overcome resistance to experimentation while keeping in mind [public sector] obligations. We need to…champion the people are successful and innovative in engaging citizens.”…
Launched on May 21st, Data.gov is an online platform for access to Federal Government Data. By helping the public find, access, and download non-sensitive Executive Branch data, Data.gov enables enterprising Americans to create new web applications that can help individuals, communities, and businesses access, sort, visualize and understand public data in new ways.
Via Publictechnology.net According to a recent Ofcom survey Only 55 per cent of UK citizens has used a government or council website
Just half of the UK population has used the internet in the last year to access information about government or local council services or completed a government form or process online, according to Ofcom research.
Forty-two per cent of people interviewed said that they had looked for information online about a government or local council service, or used services such as paying their road tax or registering for Child Tax Credits online. Among people who have the internet at home, this rises to 55 per cent who have used these services online.
However, only 15 per cent of people from areas of multiple deprivation have used similar information or services online. Areas of multiple deprivation are defined by a range of factors including economic, social and housing issues.
The research comes as more and more services, such as central and local government services, are available online.
EASIER TO ENGAGE
The majority of people (70 per cent of the online sample, 60 per cent of the general population) say that the internet has made it easier to engage in citizen participation activities, such as contacting an MP or signing a petition. But in areas of multiple deprivation less than half of people interviewed agreed (42 per cent) and 20 per cent disagreed.
LACK OF AWARENESS
However, respondents were not always aware of what can be done online (for example, contacting your MP, getting in touch with the local council or joining a campaign). Among the online sample interviewed, 31 per cent were unaware of online citizen participation opportunities and lack of awareness increases to 72 per cent amongst those in areas of multiple deprivation.
A recurring theme throughout the research was a desire to keep traditional methods of contact. Thirty three per cent of the online user sample would rather deal with someone face to face, for example, when contacting their MP. Sixty three per cent of people living in areas of multiple deprivation expressed the same view.
TRUST AND CONFIDENCE ISSUES
Trust and confidence were also issues. Almost half (46 per cent) of those from areas of multiple deprivation said that they did not sufficiently trust the internet for civic activities and 40 per cent said that they lack confidence to participate in citizen activities online. Among the online users, one in ten (9 per cent) said that they lack confidence to participate in citizen activities online and the same proportion (9 per cent) agreed that they don’t sufficiently trust the internet for citizen activities.
MOTIVATORS FOR CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
Feeling strongly about an issue or cause is the most important reason for people to take part in citizen activities (whether on or offline) among both online users and multiple deprivation area populations (42 of online user sample and 43 per cent of people living in areas of multiple deprivation). Being invited to take part also plays a role with just under a third of people asked.
All of the presentations were very interesting and will all be online shortly. I will update you on their availability and provide a full report on the event in a subsequent post as soon as the remaining presentations go online.
In the meantime here is the presentation I gave on
‘Working with Web 2.0 (Social Software in the Workplace)’
The IPA (Institute of Public Administration- Ireland)
Is running a one day seminar in Dublin on 24th October.
The Speakers are David Osimo, Dr Paul Hodgkin, Dr James Munro, Derek Chambers ,Kieran Lenihan and myself.
Further details and the agenda are listed below.
This seminar seeks to:
• Give participants a clearer understanding of the Web 2.0 concept and its dramatic effect on online activity.
• Examine how the associated technologies are influencing the way in which public services are being delivered.
• Look at the technical and organisational opportunities and challenges that Web 2.0 applications present for public sector organisations
• Draw attention to practical ways that the new technologies have been applied in an Irish public sector context.
Agenda
24 October 2008 at the Institute of Public Administration
Seminar Schedule 9.00
Registration
9.30
Welcome and Overview
Kieran Lenihan
Specialist in Service Delivery and Information Technology
Institute of Public Administration
10.00
Towards meaningful citizen participation in government: Role of Web 2.0
David Osimo
David worked until July 2008 in the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, where he coordinated research activities on e-government. He is author of the JRC report Web2.0 in Government: Why and How? (2008). Previously, he worked as advisor and project manager on innovation and information society policies in Milan, Brussels and Bologna. His current interests cover the impact of new technologies on future public services and more generally the role of government in the innovation system. He now works as an independent consultant.
10.50
Tea/Coffee
11.20
Implications of Web 2.0 for public service delivery
David Osimo
12.10
Case Study 1 -www.patientopinion.org.uk
Dr Paul Hodgkin, CEO Patient Opinion
A GP for 25 years in Sheffield, Paul is still practising. In the 90’s he co founded the Centre for Innovation in Primary Care in the UK and is a graduated of the Young Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs and is passionate about the developing role of social enterprises in solving the pressing problems of 21st century
Dr James Munro, Director of Informatics and Research James has a background in clinical medicine, public health and health research. Before joining Patient Opinion, he was director of health service research at Sheffield University school of Health and Related Research. For 20 years he was editor of Healthmatters, an independent magazine on healthcare and public health policy
13.00
Lunch
14.00
Working with Web 2.0 Technologies -The Challenges
Mark O Toole, IS Project Leader,
Kilkenny County Council
Mark is Editor of Rialtas.net (Government 2.0) and keenly interested in the potential for use of Web 2.0 technologies in providing government services. He has recently completed a Masters of Science at DCU focusing on Knowledge Management and Web 2.0 Technologies
15.00
Case Study 2 – Ireland www.bebo.com/yourmentalhealth
Derek Chambers
‘Your Mental Health’ Campaign Manager,
HSE National Office for Suicide Prevention
Derek (MA Sociology) has been working in the health sector for nearly ten years, primarily in the area of mental health. He is currently the Senior Research Officer and Deputy Head of the National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP) of the Health Service Executive. He was the project manager and main author of Reach Out, the national suicide prevention strategy (2005). More recently (2007) Derek managed the Your Mental Health national public awareness campaign which featured television, radio and outdoor advertising supported by a dedicated campaign website and a social networking platform on Bebo. His main interests include the development of public health approaches to suicide prevention.
I Have just finished attending an excellent symposium ‘Government 2.0 and Beyond…Harnessing Collective Intelligence’ which was hosted by the US Assistant Secretary of Defense (Networks and Information Integration) DOD Chief Information Officer and the Information Resources Management College, US National Defense University.
Government 2.0 Symposium in the IRM Government Center in Second Life
The Panelists were
• David Wennergren, Deputy DOD Chief Information Officer (Moderator)
• Bruce Klein, Director of Public Sector Group, Cisco
• Anthony Williams, VP New Paradigm and co-author of Wikinomics
• Mike Bradshaw, Director, Enterprise Federal, Google
The kenote speech was given by David Weinberger, Weinberger is a U.S. technologist, writer, and
Web 2.0 guru. He is the co-author of the “Cluetrain Manifesto”.
The Seminar took place in Washington DC, but through the wonders of technology I was able to attend the symposium at the IRMC Government Center in Second Life.. Second Life participants could view a video feed, chat and interact with each other and could also submit questions to the panelists.
The presentations started with a showing of Shift Happens (watch it if you haven’t already..)
Shift Happens
The presentations will all be available on the IRMC website shortly.Overall, some fascinating presentations, the event was attended by representatives of over 30 US universities, over 15 government agencies, and personnel from NASA and the Library of Congress and many more.
David Weinberger’s speech was a little marred for Second Life attendees as his lapel mike was malfunctioning and it was a little difficult to hear everything he was saying but essentially he outlined how for big organisations, change is hard, but then in time, a big ‘shift happens’ and that this shift provides a ‘moment of opportunity’ where change is made easier for organisations if they can only surf the wave of enthusiasm and excitement that is felt by the public during these shifts, and that government organisations internationally currently have this opportunity..
Anthony Williams (author of Wikinomics) spoke about rethinking public services and urged government organisations to open channels for feedback, engagement and collaboration , he gave the examples of ChicagoCrime.org and Fix MyStreet
Williams also discussed the problems that exist around the ‘complex machinery of government’ arguing that there are too many levels in government, and too many agencies, and explained that this was no one’s fault having grown organically over the centuries, but that now ‘knowledge must flow horizontally’ as an example of this new type of structure he outlined the Intellipedia project,
Another key issue for Williams was that of restoring trust in democracy, in his view democracy internationally has suffered in recent years, the ‘broadcast’ model of politics is dead, he said. It is time to invite participation and to rethink the division of labour, harnessing mass collaboration to engage people in the creation of a better society. ‘ It is important to remember’, he highlighted, ‘that Web 2.0 (and Government 2.0) is not about technology, it is about connecting PEOPLE’.
Next up was Bruce Klein of Cisco who also outlined his view that Web 2.0 is not about technology but rather it is about ‘culture’ and ‘process’ he also spoke of the urgent need to move towards collaborative and teamwork based organisations. In his opinion the biggest issues are the leadership and the organisational culture. The leaders need to be willing to change and to adapt to these new structures. He explained how in Cisco the leaders who couldn’t ‘get this’ were invited to choose another role..
Last up was Mike Bradshaw, Google’s Director for Government Services, who also spoke extensively about Generation Y / The Net-Gen and the difficulties in attracting them to work in government agencies and the need to open up the enterprise to these new social tools..
The Presentations will be available here.. they are well worth watching, very focused on a collaborative future, and delivered with a real sense of urgency…
A free seminar organised by the Hansard Society to discuss eDemocracy in Scotland.
Speakers will be Dr Laura Miller (Senior Researcher, eDemocracy Programme, Hansard Society), Navraj Singh Ghaleigh (Lecturer in Public Law, University of Edinburgh), Aileen Campbell MSP (Scottish National Party MSP for South of Scotland), Fergus Cochrane (Clerk to the Public Petitions Committee, Scottish Parliament).
“There is an increasing desire amongst governments to engage with citizens and many are pointing to the internet as a tool for managing this engagement. The Hansard Society has undertaken extensive research to identify what forms of online engagement are effective and when. In this event an invited panel will explore the different characteristics of online engagement, focusing not simply on the technology but also discussing the impact of organizational culture and the broader context of citizen disenfranchisement.”
30 September 2008, Croke Park Conference Centre, Dublin.
The eSymposium will provide public sector professionals, from both central and local government, with a forum for the exchange of visions, ideas, practice, results and experience.
Advancing eGovernment: The Next Challenge
Conference Chair - John Bowman Agenda
9.00am: Registrations and Coffee 9.45am: Opening Address - Maeve Kneafsey, Managing Director, Elucidate
Keynote Presentations: 9.50am: Building a Better Future – Bill McCluggage, Director of the Delivery & Innovation Division, Department of Finance & Personnel, Northern Ireland
Mr. McCluggage outlines how we can work together to build a better future for all, delivering new citizen channels and examines the role that technology and new working methods play in that. 10.20am: eParticipation in the Era of Web 2.0 – Dr. Julia Glidden, Non-Executive Director, AIDC European Centre of Excellence Are you considering how Web 2.0 truly is revolutionising eGovernment and eParticipation? Dr. Julia Glidden offers an insight into how changing citizen expectations of government service delivery has dramatically affected our lives and in ways politicians and policymakers have not even begun to grasp. 10.50am: Improving Local eGovernment Policies – Katja Kaunismaa, Project Director, The Baltic Institute of Finland
Would you like to learn from the results of a European-wide, 3 year project? Katja Kaunismaa outlines the experience gathered and lessons learnt from the implementation of eCitizen services across Finland, Denmark, the Baltic States, Russia, Italy and the UK. This session will look at the cultural issues involved as well as how technology can improve local policy. 11.20am: Q&A 11.30am: BREAK 11.50am: The Power of Information – Alex Butler, Director of Transformational Strategy, Central Office of Information, UK
How can governments use web 2.0 to open up and share information with citizens? These are just some of the issues dealt with by Alex Butler who will present on the UK Government’s evolving strategy for government online. This will include the way in which the UK is embracing new technology including web 2.0, and the ‘Power of Information’ strategy which encourages both the opening up of government data to online reuse and better partnerships with online communities. 12.20pm: The European eRegion – Case Study on Estonia – Hannes Astok, Member of the Estonian Parliament
Estonia, often considered the leading e-technology region in Europe, has implemented eGovernment services since 1994. Hannes Astok illustrates the initiatives that have been conducted to enable electronic transactions in all areas of public life and how this has facilitated collaboration both between the public sector and private enterprise but also between central and local government. 12.50pm: Q&A 1pm – 2pm: LUNCH Breakout Sessions: 2pm - 4.30pm: Three breakout sessions will be run in the afternoon from 2pm to 4.30pm. Each breakout session will last 45 minutes and will be repeated 3 times giving all delegates a chance to sit in on all the sessions. The session will comprise of a panel of experts and is designed to be interactive and facilitate participants’ questions. The sessions will include a short presentation by the panellists and then be open to the floor for discussion. The topics and panellists are:
Online Marketing
Damian Ryan, Results International Group (Chair);
Margaret McElroy, Marketing Manager, Revenue Online;
Sharon Donnery, Head of Consumer Info, Financial Regulator.
Mobile Technology
Philip O’Reilly, Head of IT, Department of Agriculture
Local Government
Dr Eileen O’Leary, Webmaster, Cork City Council.
Dr. John Donovan, Head of Enterprise & Research Development Services (ICT, Arts and Media), Dublin Institute of Technology
The federal government has released the report of the Review of the National Innovation System Venturous Australia, which details recommendations for remodeling the nation’s innovation system.
Among 72 key recommendations was a call for an advisory committee of Web 2.0 practitioners to be established to propose and help steer governments as they experiment with Web 2.0 technologies and ideas.
“…exciting new possibilities are now emerging for government from the collaborative use of Internet technologies and platforms otherwise known as Web 2.0”, the report read, offering the example of crime being tracked in US neighbourhoods using Google’s online maps…
…“The possibilities [of Web 2.0 technologies] here are so substantial, so full of promise (and sometimes so challenging to existing cultures) that it is neither possible nor desirable for this report to spell out comprehensively what might or should occur,” the report, released on Tuesday, said….
…However, it did indicate that there are a number of principles with which we may be able to make progress:
“The most fundamental principle is that governments should be as open as possible to experiments with Web 2.0 approaches. Importantly, they should seek to learn from those that are successful but should expect, and educate the public to expect, that many initiatives will not fully succeed.”
The review also recommended making information about the full range of Australian state and territory government innovation programs available through a Web portal…
…Other ICT related recommendations include the suggestion that all practicable information, research and content funded by Australian governments should be made freely available over the Internet as part of a global public commons.
“This should be done whilst the Australian government encourages other countries to reciprocate by making their own contributions to the global digital public commons,” the report said…
The Review of the National Innovation System Venturous Australia can be viewed in full here
Kilkenny County Council has just released a new Wiki on which it invites collaboration with members of the public on the development of Local Area Plans for townlands in Kilkenny.
(I am an IS project manager for Kilkenny County Council and this wiki is one of my current projects.)
We believe that this project represents the first use of a Wiki by a government organisation in Ireland as part of a public consultative process.
The aim of this wiki is to enable interested and engaged members of the public to participate online in a collaborative discussion around the development of future Local Area Plans (LAPs). Any interested parties can register themselves on the wiki and can then make changes or additions to articles within the LAPs. Comments can also be made on any of the content of the wiki. When a change, addition or comment is made on the wiki it enters a queue for moderation by a member of Kilkenny County Council Staff. Contributions will be moderated for defacement or for improper use; all contributions made in good faith will be approved and will become visible on the wiki for all visitors to read. During office hours all contributions will be reviewed as soon as possible following their addition. All contributions made outside of office hours will be reviewed as soon as possible on the next working day.
It is intended to leave all valid contributions online and following the close of the consultative period to leave this wiki online (but locked) as a document of record.
We believe that this wiki will help to enable enhanced transparency within the consultative process and will also permit a wider group of interested parties to participate in the process.
A comment on or contribution to an article on the wiki does not constitute a submission to the local area plan, rather the wiki is intended as a mechanism to enhance collaboration and debate with the public and any interested parties and also as a mechanism to enhance transparency.
All contributions to this wiki will however, be considered by the Planning Department in the formulation of the plans.
The Draft Plans of Callan and Castlecomer are being used to pilot the use of a wiki as part of a consultative process. If successful it is intended to use the system with all future local area plans.
