Government 2.0in Australia

Craig ThomlerApril 2013

Who am I?

Allowed near-instantaneous transmission of news and information around the world

Connected people globally, allowing them to maintain distant social relationships as never before

People met, fell in love and got married using it

It was used to catch murderers and command armies

Conmen used it to solicit money and run scams

It destroyed many industries, and created new ones

Name this network…

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Samuel_morse_telegraph.jpg)

Electric Telegraph (1838)

First used to catch a murderer in the UK, 1837:

A MURDER HAS GUST BEEN COMMITTED AT

SALT HILL AND THE SUSPECTED MURDERER

WAS SEEN TO TAKE A FIRST CLASS TICKET TO

LONDON BY THE TRAIN WHICH LEFT SLOUGH

AT 742 PM HE IS IN THE GARB OF A KWAKER

WITH A GREAT COAT ON WHICH REACHES

NEARLY DOWN TO HIS FEET HE IS IN THE LAST

COMPARTMENT OF THE SECOND CLASS

COMPARTMENT

Use by government

Brigham Young, governor of Utah, sent the following in 1861 as the first message on the newly established North American transcontinental telegraph system (in relation to the American Civil War):

"Utah has not seceded but is firm for the Constitution and the laws of our once happy country.”

Use by government

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1891_Telegraph_Lines.jpg)

By 1891 a global network

Gov 1.0 to 2.0

Magna Carta – 1215 AD Internet – 2010 AD

Government 2.0(in my humble opinion) represents a fundamental shift

in the relationship between

citizens and governments,

to the benefit of both.

Using tools and techniques enabled by digital technologies to bring citizens 'inside the tent'.

Empowering citizens to be active participants in government decision-making processes and supporting them to do for themselves.

Opening up public data for public reuse to inform and enable new insights, better decisions and more effective policy.

Initiatives from individuals and non-government organisations as well as government.

Government 2.0 includes...

Source: Sensis Social Media Report May 2012

Australia’s internet use

Source: Sensis Social Media Report May 2012

Australia’s social media use

Source: Sensis Social Media Report May 2012

Australia’s social media use

What about Australian governments?

In mid-2012:

73% of Australian Government agencies reported using social media for official purposes

The social media majority

What the Australian Government is using social media for..Answer choice Response Share

For stakeholder engagement or collaboration 32 54.24%

Operating an information campaign 25 42.37%

Responding to customer enquiries/comments/complaints 25 42.37%

For engaging with journalists and media outlets 24 40.68%

For engagement or collaboration with other government agencies

24 40.68%

Monitoring citizen, stakeholder and/or lobbyist views and activities

17 28.81%

For a public consultation process 16 27.12%

For a stakeholder or other restricted access consultation 13 22.03%

Other type of activity (i.e. recruitment, crowdsourcing, staff) 11 18.64%

For policy or services co-design 7 11.86%

Over 1,000 online consultations in last four years

Over 860 Departmental Twitter accounts

Over 120 agency blogs

Over 250 Facebook pages

Over 300 agency mobile apps

Over 200 agency YouTube channels

At least 9 data competitions

All levels of Aus government

Growth in Twitter use

Twitter use by state

Government as media

Government as convenor

Government as platform

Crowdsourcing

• Doesn't replace existing approaches...it can supplement and amplify them

• Doesn't work for all audiences or issues...but does work for some that are otherwise unreachable/intractible

• Gov 2.0 doesn't solve problems...people do

Gov 2.0 & social media caveats

We’ve considered every potential risk except the risks of avoiding

all risks.”

Managing risks

100% correct information delivered too late or in the wrong context is worthless(and causes more issues!)

Questions?

Craig Thomlercraig@delib.net@CraigThomler

http://eGovAU.blogspot.com