g4c2c:Enabling Citizen Engagement at Arms’ Length from Government

Axel Bruns and Adam SwiftAxel Bruns and Adam Swift

ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation /ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation /Creative Industries FacultyCreative Industries Faculty

Queensland University of TechnologyQueensland University of Technology

a.bruns@qut.edu.au – – http://snurb.info/ – – @snurb_dot_infoa.swift@qut.edu.au

Government 2.0 in Australia

• From above:– E.g. DBCDE’s Digital Economy blog– Government-operated, resulting in general criticism– Problems with effective management by public service– Limited impact on government decision-making

• From below:– E.g. GetUp!’s Project Democracy politician tracker– NGO-operated, good functionality– Problems with limited take-up by target community– Limited recognition by government decision-makers

(cf. Bruns & Wilson, EDEM 2009)

(Excerpt from comments to first DBCDE blog post, archived athttp://www.archive.dbcde.gov.au/2009/july/future_directions_blog/topics/minister_tanners_welcome)

g2c and c2c – Flawed Models?

• g2c:– May be mere service delivery, not community consultation– Or: simply perceived as insubstantial spin– Apparent citizen participation as fig leaf for government– Process of impacting on government decisions unclear

• c2c:– May generate open and engaged debate– But: often only by the usual (disempowered) suspects– Perception of inherent bias – unrepresentative community– Unable to match the clout of established lobby groups– Too distant from political actors to be recognised

Towards g4c2c

• Desirable qualities for citizen consultation:– Government support and recognition– Independent and flexible operation and management– Distant enough to allow real community development– Close enough for outcomes to be accepted as meaningful

• E.g. Australian Government 2.0 Task Force during 2009:– Initiated by federal government, but independent quasi-NGO– Hosted at gov2.net.au, separate from government servers– Significant initiatives to generate community participation– Outcomes recognised by federal government

(but follow-up actions yet to be seen)

(Government 2.0 Task Force’s GovHack event, 30-31 Oct. 2009)

g4c2c

• Government support for citizen-to-citizen initiatives:– Hybrid model combining g2c and c2c aspects– Government-supported, but at arms’ length from government– Public service broadcasting approach (and operated by PSBs?)– Participation by citizens as well as politicians and officials– Cf. ‘Civic Commons 2.0’ (Coleman & Blumler 2009):

a space of intersecting networks, pulled together through the agency of a democratically connecting institution (182)

Lost Opportunity: Australia’s 2020 Summit

• Australia 2020 Summit (19-20 April 2008):– Gathering of 1000 invited notable Australians– Debate across ten ‘critical areas’ for the future– Open forum for generating and harnessing new ideas– Distilled into a report for government– Blanket coverage on ABC2 digital TV channel, and online fora

– But: online fora cumbersome, and closed only days after Summit– Summit report produced by public servants, with little follow-up– No continuing debate on Summit issues (also due to GFC)– Journalistic coverage one-way and one-dimensional

(Australia 2020 Summit – Image courtesy of the Australian Government, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet)

2020 as g4c2c: Imaging Future Australia

• What would a g4c2c version of the 2020 Summit look like?– Broader community participation:

• Open online fora in addition to the 1000 Summit delegates• Intersection of online and offline consultations

– Arms’ length from government:• Operated by ABC or dedicated public service body• Officially endorsed but independently organised and reported

– Longer timeframe:• Initial development of themes and selection of participants• Summit as central event, but connected with other activities• Tracking of outcomes and their implementation

in policy

Further Information

Axel Bruns

Associate Professor

ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation

Creative Industries Faculty

Queensland University of Technology

Brisbane, Australia

a.bruns@qut.edu.au – @snurb_dot_info

http://snurb.info/

http://produsage.org/

http://gatewatching.org/

Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond:From Production to Produsage (Peter Lang, 2008)

Uses of Blogs, eds. Axel Bruns and Joanne Jacobs (Peter Lang, 2006)

Gatewatching: Collaborative Online News Production (Peter Lang, 2005)

Adam Swift

Researcher

Creative Industries Faculty

Queensland University of Technology

Brisbane, Australia

a.swift@qut.edu.au