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T e Way to Gov 2.0An Enterprise Approach to Web 2.0 in Government

A Microsoft U.S. Public Sector White Paper, March 2009

Contributors: Dean Halstead, Senior Federal Collaboration Architect; Nina Somerville, State and Local GovernmentSpecialist; Bob Straker, Senior Federal Collaboration Architect; and Cliff Ward, Senior Federal Collaboration Architect

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ............................................................................ 3 

Web 2.0, Gov 2.0, and the Voice of the People ......................................... 4 

Streamlining the Government of and for the People .................................. 9 

Is Web 2.0 the Way? .......................................................................... 13 

Microsoft and Gov 2.0 ......................................................................... 14 

Gov 2.0 Technology from Microsoft ....................................................... 15 

Learn More ........................................................................................ 17 

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The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation onthe issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing

market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and

Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication.

This White Paper is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS,IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT.

Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. Without limiting the

rights under copyright, no part of this document may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a

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Microsoft may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property

rights covering subject matter in this document. Except as expressly provided in any written licenseagreement from Microsoft, the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these

patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property.

© 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Microsoft, Active Directory, Internet Explorer, Office PerformancePoint Server 2007, Office Outlook,Office SharePoint Server 2007, Microsoft Dynamics, MSN, Popfly, Virtual Earth, Visual Studio,

Windows, Windows Live, Windows Mobile, and Windows Vista are trademarks of the Microsoft group of 

companies.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their

respective owners.

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Executive SummaryChange comes with every new administration, but today’s

government is particularly under pressure from both the top down

and the bottom up to become more efficient, transparent, and open.

With calls for increasing levels of accountability, participation, and

collaboration, government leaders recognize how new applications of 

technology — and Web 2.0 in particular — can help bring about the

desired changes collectively referred to as Gov 2.0.

People around the world already use Web 2.0 applications to share

information, build virtual communities, and connect acrossgeopolitical, sociological, and demographic boundaries. The next

generation of government—Gov 2.0—has a unique opportunity to

embrace these engaging technologies, which are already proving

their business value in the private sector as well as their social value

to individuals. However, to make Web 2.0 practical for government,

enterprise strategies are required—that is, an information

technology (IT) platform that provides appropriate security,

scalability, and interoperability.

This paper offers our thoughts on Gov 2.0. By coupling the power of Web 2.0 to give voice to the people at a grassroots level with an

enterprise approach, the road to Gov 2.0 becomes more clear.

 “Executive departments and

agencies should harness new

technologies to put

information about their

operations and decisions

online and readily available to

the public.”  

President Barack Obama

Memorandum for the Heads

of Executive Departments

and Agencies January 21, 2009

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Web 2.0, Gov 2.0, and theVoice of the PeopleThe opportunity to enhance and accelerate the exchange

of information between government and citizens is

unprecedented and increases daily. The result of 

embracing those opportunities is Gov 2.0: the promise

technology holds for making government more efficient,

transparent, and responsive to citizens.

Web 2.0 has created a new level of democracy in venues formerly

dominated by specialists. The style of democracy brought about by

Web 2.0 wikis, blogs, tweets, and the like implies an easy and fast

method of participation, cooperation, and interaction among

people — regardless of where they are located. This democracy

broadly accepts input and quickly provides output. In fact, it sounds a

lot like the goals of open and transparent government, in which

participation and collaboration bring better solutions to complex

issues. The people have already voted resoundingly in favor of 

Web 2.0.

The phenomenon of Web 2.0 is not about technology as much as it is

about real-time communication and connection, both private and

public, wherever you are. Lawmakers tweeting from the Senate floor

and from Congressideliver real-time updates to concerned citizens.

Space aficionados tell NASA where they want the Hubble Space

Telescope aimed.ii Media organizations use government traffic data

to power real-time traffic maps on the morning news.

A strategic approach to Gov 2.0 brings the best qualities of Web 2.0—

efficient, open exchange of information—to government.

The Nation of Web 2.0

When it comes to the U.S.

government, the question might be

who doesn’t have a blog these days.

Government blogs include:

  U.S. Department of Defense

(http://dodlive.blogspot.com) 

  Transportation Security

Administration

(http://www.tsa.gov/blog) 

  U.S. Secretary of Transportation

(http://fastlane.dot.gov/) 

  Library of Congress

(http://www.loc.gov/blog/) 

  U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (http://blog.epa.gov) 

  City of Santa Rosa, California

(http://ci.santa-rosa.ca.us) 

  Member blogs on

http://www.schoolnet.com 

…just to name a few. 

 “[O]ur citizens at large… by

the weight of public opinion,

influence and strengthen the

public measures.”  

President Thomas Jefferson

Inaugural Address

March 4, 1805

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Applying Web 2.0 to Gov 2.0

Gov 2.0 can reap the benefits of Web 2.0 – style

interactions to improve service levels and organizational

productivity across the board. However, to be practical,

Gov 2.0 needs to incorporate an enterprise IT strategy that

Web 2.0 alone does not address.

The best Web 2.0 applications have become popular because they

encourage interaction among passionate participants:

  Social networks encourage people to form ad hoc networksaround shared interests.

  Wikis allow answers to difficult issues to arise organically from

the collaboration of enthusiastic participants.

  Blogs communicate to a broad audience and elicit rapid

feedback.

  Portals speed communications and aggregate useful content (or

mashups) from across networks.

With these tools and a solid enterprise foundation, Gov 2.0 can

support the information-sharing that is so crucial for openness andtransparency. The opportunity is to bring Web 2.0 into government in

a way that complements the multitude of existing systems used

across agencies. An enterprise approach supports interoperability

with existing and future investments, helps to enhance security, and

helps you interpret citizen input.

iiiivv

Popular Web 2.0 Applications

Mainstream Web 2.0 applications can be

a good place to find and connect with

your citizens. As your Gov 2.0 strategy

matures, you can aggregate content

from many of these applications into

your agency’s Web site for more

comprehensive citizen communication.

Social networking

  Windows Live™, Facebook, and

MySpace for personal use

 LinkedIn for professional use

  GovLoop for government workers

Collaborating

  Microsoft Office Live Workspace

for document sharing and

collaboration

  Wikipedia for co-authoring

  Ning for building social networks

  Nextgov for commenting

  MSN® VIdeo and YouTube for

sharing video

  Hulu for streaming video  Flickr for photography

Blogging and micro-blogging

  WordPress for posting blogs

  Twitter for micro-blogging

Assigning meaning

  Del.i.cious for tagging content

  StumbleUpon for content ratings

  Digg, Reddit, and Newsvine for

social news

Web 2.0: The New Press

Before talking to reporters, Missouri Governor Matt Blunt used

YouTube

iii

 to announce that he wouldn’t run for re-election. The State of New Hampshire

iv and King County, Washington,

v turned to Twitter and

blogs to deliver emergency weather, bus, and power updates during

winter weather events. Web 2.0 helps government meet the press on its

own terms and reach constituents in new ways.  

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Giving Power to the People 

With Gov 2.0, government for the people means new ways

to deliver services more efficiently and to invite the

informed participation of people. Freedom of speech

becomes a constructive dialogue and collaboration in real

time, regardless of location, among people both inside and

outside of government.

All levels of government can make use of social tools in ways that

bring value to citizens and can ultimately save time and taxpayer

dollars. In fact, many government agencies are already doing so. For

example, the city of Washington, D.C., made their data feeds

available to programmers, inviting them to mash up useful

applications for the Apps for Democracyvi innovation contest. The

results: carpool finders, tools for bike riders, and more. Residents of 

Rhode Island can find the best way to talk with local, state, and

federal officials with help from the online Government Owner's

Manual.vii

 

Even existing Web sites can get social by incorporating feedback

tools, such as bookmarking, search, and comments. From there, it's a

small step to add more collaborative features for even greater

information-sharing. And that's how Gov 2.0 evolves.

Your agency can apply Gov 2.0 to give power to the people by

strategically using technology to deliver better citizen services faster

and to welcome public participation.

Trying Web 2.0

If you haven’t had the opportunity to

sample Web 2.0, you can easily hopaboard—at little to no cost—and

start connecting with your peers,

partners, and citizens. Experiencing it

for yourself can bring fresh insights

into deeper applications for your

organization. Before you start, review

your agency’s policies about online

communications and contributions.

Some ways to sample available Web

2.0 offerings include:

  Create a Windows Live space

and invite friends to your

network.

  Create a Facebook page or

LinkedIn profile and join

relevant groups.

  Join a community, such as

GovLoop. 

 Create a Twitter handle andfollow friends or acquaintances.

  Start an agency-focused

community for peers, partners,

or citizens on your existing

agency platform.

 “Can authority be more amiable

and respectable… than when it

springs fresh from the hearts

and judgments of an honest

and enlightened people?”  

President John Adams

Inaugural Address

March 4, 1797

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Delivering Better Citizen Services

Gov 2.0 delivers reliable and efficient service to citizens

accustomed to getting instant answers from search

engines and Web sites and who now expect similar

response times and information access from government. viii ix

 x xi

 

xii xiii Becoming more responsive to people can be as simple as making

forms and information available on an existing Web site, accepting

online payments, or linking to other Internet resources. Or it can take

the shape of a collaborative platform, such as the one used by state

and federal agents to map and control the 2007 California wildfires.xiv

 

What’s important is delivering timely information to citizens and

supporting expanded access to critical services as needs change.

An enterprise approach to Gov 2.0 allows you to extend citizen

services in a cost-effective manner by:

  Providing productivity tools for government employees so they

can deepen their focus on delivering good service.

  Making use of existing investments.

  Supporting rapid incremental expansion of services as needs

change.

With an extensible platform, government agencies can easily build

and deploy citizen services based on existing, familiar standards,

tools, and readily available technologies. For example, with the right

type of information system for support, an existing Web site or portal

can be enhanced to include location-based services, a self-help

community bulletin board, personalized pages for citizens, advanced

search capabilities, interactive forms, and more.

Responsive Government

Today’s platform-based Web tools give

citizens greater access to information and help

them collaborate with government for better

service. Some success stories include:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agencyviii

 

offered location-based services on its Web site

for years, but the static maps quickly becameout of date, and response time for users was

slow. Adding a Microsoft mapping and search

platform, including Microsoft Virtual Earth™,ix

 

eased Web access and delivered the needed

customer service faster.

The City of Camden, New Jerseyx used

Microsoft Citizen Service Platformxi

 to

streamline operations, improve efficiency, and

ramp up citizen services with a real-time

system for managing citizen service requests

and a digital dashboard to keep track of key

performance indicators.

The Ireland Department of Social and Family

Affairsxii

 won an eGovernment award for the

accessible redesign of their Web site using

Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007.xiii

 

The site features an accessibility control that

lets visitors change font size and display

contrast and a language control that switches

the content between English and Gaelic.

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Welcoming Participation

A scalable platform for Gov 2.0 supports a constructive

dialog between government and citizens online and

permits public comment through social collaboration in

open public networks. xv xvi

 xvii

 xviii

 xix 

The voice of democracy is heard in many ways today. Citizens interact

with government through blogs, social networks, e-mail, text

messages, and streaming media. And they don’t just interact online.

People have more ways than ever to participate in government, and

governments have the opportunity to make use of a rich resource—

people—for problem-solving.

A platform for Gov 2.0 must make it easy for people and government

to communicate and collaborate in a variety of ways. The ideal

platform:

  Lets people share and reuse information easily over the Web,

including video and audio.

  Provides quick and easy access to critical data and information.

  Integrates communications, including e-mail and voice mail,along with blogs, texts, and wikis.

Although it’s never been easier to gain public comment through

social collaboration in open public networks, the input can be

overwhelming. It’s crucial that Gov 2.0 help government listen

smarter by quantifying input to reveal trends and to provide valuable

business intelligence. For example, an agency could deploy a business

intelligence portal and then use it to display Web polls to collect

votes on hot topics, add tags to make it easy for people to find

relevant data, or mash up the results of data mining to cull meaning

from what might otherwise seem like too much information. . 

Power to the Parents

Miami-Dade County Public Schools

enhanced parents’ ability to participate

in the education of their children with a

Web-based portal.xviii

 Based on a

Microsoft platform,xix

 the Web portal

provides a single point of access to

district technology resources for

students, parents, teachers, and

administrators and has improved

collaboration among these groups.

Citizen Collaboration

Government at all levels is welcoming

Web input from citizens, who cancomment on blogs, send e-mail

suggestions, use wikis to contribute

solutions, or report problems online.

  Seattle, Washington, residents can

report potholes on the city’s Web

site.xv

 Areas with high reporting

incidences can then be prioritized for

road repairs.

  Interested buyers can receive RSS

feedsxvi

 from the U.S. Bureau of Land

Management in Colorado about

upcoming lease sales.

  The U.S. Department of Defense

helps military families with a daily

blog about the America Supports

Youxvii

 program and invites people to

e-mail their questions.

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Streamlining the Governmentof and for the PeopleThe bridge between Gov 2.0 ideals and truly efficient,

transparent government is interoperability—open and

extensible parts co-existing to provide valuable services

while offering built-in security.

If the voice of the people can be heard across blogs and social

networking sites today, what about the voice of government? From

the local level to the national, public officials are using the Web to

streamline work, deliver better services, meet reporting obligations

faster, and, of course, share information. Yet within and across

agencies, a legacy of disparate systems and processes continues to

bring frustrating inefficiencies that Web 2.0 doesn’t altogether

address.

With interoperability built in, Gov 2.0 can address these critical

requirements:

 Government needs to improve internal communications withoutsacrificing security.

  Government data must be shared efficiently within and across

agencies, while honoring the need for privacy.

  Government performance and accountability goals must be met.

The following sections look at specific ways to use technology to

bring transparency, security, and accountability to Gov 2.0.

“This is your money. You

have a right to knowwhere it’s going.” 

This quote, taken from the Web site

of the American Recovery and

Reinvestment Act of 2009, reminds

us that this act was designed to be

carried out with full transparency and

accountability. The Recovery.gov 

Web site, an excellent example of 

Web 2.0 in Gov 2.0, includes an

interactive timeline of milestones to

help the people see the steps that

government is taking, along with an

interactive map of state recovery

sites so citizens can see how the

money is being spent locally.

 “With all these blessings, what

more is necessary to make us

a happy and a prosperous

people? Still one thing more,

fellow-citizens—a wise and

frugal Government.”  

President Thomas Jefferson

Inaugural Address

March 4, 1801

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Toward Transparency and Cooperation

Oversight and collaboration are hampered when

information is scattered and inaccessible across

incompatible systems and sources. Gov 2.0 should offer

new levels of information and data-sharing based on

flexible standards that work with existing systems and can

evolve to meet tomorrow’s needs. 

Across the public sector, existing IT systems may or may not

interoperate—perhaps by design ( though often not). But that legacycreates inefficient workflows that don’t support the best of Web 2.0 – 

style tools for transparent communication. Legacy systems and

ingrained bureaucracies may also impose constraints on today’s

socially networked public servants, who can see more efficient ways

to get things done.

A platform for Gov 2.0 should support social computing and the

efficiencies it offers by:

  Providing team workspaces, dashboards, or portals that make

cross-agency collaboration and information-sharing easy.

  Defining workflows that clarify regulatory requirements or

conform to a chain of approval.

  Reusing information stored in existing systems that manage

projects, records, accounts, and other centrally located data.

  Supporting IT diversity—interoperating with other systems;

welcoming open source, commercial, and hybrid software; and

using the capacity in the cloud to scale services cost-effectively.

A platform that meets these requirements streamlines

communications, regardless of medium, platform, device, or location,and breaks down communication silos. Empowered by a familiar set

of enterprise-ready tools, government workers can focus on process

innovation instead of struggling through red tape.xxxxixxiixxiiixxivxxv 

Cooperative Government

Behind the best portals, a platform bolsters

employee information-sharing and data

exchange. Some examples include:

The U.S. Air Forcexx

 used a collaborative

workspace based on Microsoft Dynamics®

CRMxxi

 to share information more effectively

and to help ensure that resources are

available for the mission at hand. 

The Ohio Bureau of Workers’

Compensationxxii

 helped workers deliver

better services and find, use, and share

information faster by deploying Microsoft

Office SharePoint Server 2007.xxiii

 Now

employees can get answers quickly and

collaborate using team task lists, calendars,

and discussion boards.

The City of Tampa, Florida,xxiv

 helped local,

state and federal agencies coordinate

planning and security for the 2009 Super Bowl

hosted by the city. The city granted access to

their existing Office SharePointxv

 Web portal

to state and federal authorities, who used the

site to distribute logical information and to

form online working groups that coordinated

plans. With a limited budget, the city was able

to make the most of its resources and cross-

agency expertise to deliver a safe experience

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Ensuring the Public Trust: Gov 2.0 and Security

Technology has the power to enhance and protect data

and identity. It also introduces new security issues. Gov 2.0

must permit the benefits of Web 2.0 – style participation

within the framework of enterprise-wide security.

The peer-to-peer ideal espoused by Web 2.0 fails to adequately

address the security needs of larger organizations for data protection

and identity management. Information maintained by the

government is an asset to be protected, and the digital revolutionraises concerns among the people for their personal privacy.

To support Gov 2.0’s need for security, an enterprise approach

should:

  Help prevent unauthorized access to services and information

and reduce the risk to personal or sensitive data.

  Include security policies and business rules that can help protect

centralized resources.

  Automate the management of records and content, and in doing

so, simplify governance, demonstrate compliance, and helpreduce risks.

  Work across disparate systems, offering protection to less-secure

or legacy data silos.xxvixxviixxviiixxixxxx 

Uniting IT Silosxxvi 

The State of Missouri needed to protect

access to network resources, while making

services available to 40,000 workers spread

across a multitude of separate IT

communities. Their solution, which is based

on Microsoft Exchange Serverxxvii

 and Active

Directory®, used an enterprise approach that

consolidated resources and enabled them to

merge disparate identity management and e-

mail silos into a more secure, manageable

system.

Securing Bordersxxviii

 

Our own national borders are another type of 

access point requiring security. Washington

State was the first state to implement an RFID-

enabled driver’s license to meet new identity

requirements for residents crossing the state’s

border with Canada, with the help of Digimarc

and Microsoft Services.

Protecting E-Mailxxix

 

To share data without divulging sensitive

information, the U. S. Army needed a reliable

e-mail system. They used Microsoft Exchange

Server 2007,xxx which supports encryption and

security-enhanced Web access. Officers and

soldiers can send and receive highly

confidential information using a smartcard for

identification and e-mail encryption.

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Keeping Gov 2.0 LeanAn enterprise infrastructure for Gov 2.0 can help keep

government lean, while allowing it to provide greater

transparency and accountability.

Gov 2.0 stays lean because it unites the proliferation of applications

and services that once stood apart. Uniting even the separate

Web 2.0 capabilities on a single, interoperable platform helps

streamline government:

  Employee communications improve with interoperable systems

for e-mail, voice mail, calendaring, instant messaging, and

teleconferencing.

  Performance can be monitored and adjusted using automated

key performance indicators and built-in business metrics for an

accurate snapshot in time.

  Information can be reused. Both internal and public-facing Web

portals can aggregate information from multiple sources, which

can consolidate information for citizen access, simplify reporting

requirements, bring visibility to multiple projects and processes,

and ease workflow.  Services can be extended from the computer to the Web and

beyond to other devices people use every day.

A lean infrastructure takes advantage of a software-plus-services

model, which combines the best of the personal computer with the

expanse of the Internet to provide robust services both on premise

and in the cloud. That way, Gov 2.0 can help extend citizen services

with lower up-front hardware investments, simplified maintenance,

and reduced deployment costs.xxxixxxiixxxiiixxxivxxxvxxxvi 

Bringing Aidxxxi

 

The U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM)

developed a collaboration portal based on

Microsoft Office SharePoint Serverxxxii

 to

provide faster and better communication

among agencies. The site,

HARMONIEWeb,xxxiii makes it possible for

workers, both within and external to the U.S.

Department of Defense, to collaborate on

solutions to assist with disaster relief efforts

throughout the world.

Eliminating the Spamxxxiv 

The Kentucky Department of Education

offered greater connectivity to its employees,

while saving millions of dollars in IT costs

through a hosted e-mail service. The host,

Microsoft Online Exchange Server,xxxv

 filtered

out spam so that legitimate messages were no

longer delayed—and freed administrators for

higher priority tasks. 

Taking Out the Trashxxxvi

 

The planners of Denmark’s Roskilde Festival, a

music event attracting more than 100,000

fans, implemented a mobile waste

management solution that used Windows

Mobile® phones in the field connected to a

customer platform in the office. The solution

improved communications for workers and

accelerated trash removal throughout the

entire 230-acre area, dramatically reducing

the environmental impact and the potential

fire hazard of this popular event.

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Is Web 2.0 the Way?When it comes to solving government’s problems,

someone is likely to trot out the old question, “If they can

put a man on the moon, why can’t they (fill in the blank)?”

We see an opportunity to part ways with systems that no

longer serve and to find a way to make Gov 2.0 a reality.

Frankly, not everyone is equally enthused by the opportunity of 

Gov 2.0. So we’d like to respond to some common objections.

“Not all citizens have access to Web 2.0 tools.” The numbers show

us that the people who want to use Web 2.0 will do so, and more

people are gaining access. Phones are many people’s first interface

with Web 2.0. Within a few years, smartphones will make up 50

percent of the cell phone market.

“Big infrastructure costs are involved.” Instead, Gov 2.0 solutions

must encompass open platforms and software-plus-services to

integrate with and make the most of the software you already license

and use, popular social applications, RSS data feeds, mashups, and

more.

“Web 2.0 is too unpredictable.” As technology experts, we can’t

deny that social networking and the information that gets surfaced as

a result can be surprising, but using mashups and metrics can reveal

trends and make sense of the noise. Community ratings of 

suggestions and content can actually bring some predictability to

agency efforts and public response.

“Web 2.0 is trivial.” The first step forward may seem trivial—a

Twitter text, a single blog entry. But when one person’s Twitter

remarks generate a large following or a timely blog posting elicits

hundreds of comments, a phenomenon is born. Using a platform

approach considers interoperability, security, and extensibility—

many of the arguments used to indict Web 2.0 as trivial.

Gov 2.0 and Social Culture

For government to embrace the Web

2.0 – style of communication—where

every voice potentially has an equal

say—a cultural shift is needed.

Researchxxxvii

shows that, in the

workforce today, the Baby Boom

generation is least likely as a group to

use technology outside work. As a

result, the most seasoned people in

government with the greatest

institutional knowledge may be less

likely than younger workers to grasp

the cultural implications of Web 2.0

as it relates to their work roles. Gov

2.0 must engage both new and

seasoned employees to benefit from

the voice of experience and the fresh

point of view of younger personnel.

A best practice for organizations that

want to use Web 2.0 is to deploy

solutions from both the top down

(management endorsement is key) 

and the bottom up (grassroots

involvement is vital). 

 “United, there is little we cannot

do in a host of cooperative

ventures. Divided, there is little

we can do—for we dare not

meet a powerful challenge at

odds and split asunder.”  

President John Kennedy

Inaugural Address

January 20, 1961

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Microsoft and Gov 2.0Bringing platform sensibilities to bear on useful Web 2.0

interactions makes transparency and transformation

practical for Gov 2.0.

Web 2.0 is driving an exciting level of interaction and participation

among people and government. Just as social networking has

transformed people’s use of the Web, it has altered their

expectations of government. The exponential growth of Web 2.0

among individuals shows us that making small, daily changes in

habits—blogging and tweeting for example—can reinvent the social

norm. Coupling grassroots social networking with a scalable

enterprise-wide approach makes Web 2.0 practical for Gov 2.0.

Microsoft can provide technology support for Gov 2.0 with:

  Familiar, integrated products to meet your Web 2.0 needs.

  Integrated solutions for information-sharing and data exchange.

  Interoperability that extends existing systems and tools.

  Collaborative tools for participatory and open government.

  Business process solutions and integrated workflows for greater

productivity as well as data and identify protection.

  Business intelligence tools to aggregate, analyze, and summarize

your unstructured content for greater transparency,

accountability, and community service.

  Scalable on-premise software plus hosted services. 

  Interoperability with open source software. More than 80,000

open source applications run on the Microsoft Windows

operating system, including 30,000 built specifically for Windows.

In the years since Bill Gates put forth his vision of a personal

computer in every home, we’ve been in a unique position at

Microsoft to both drive and observe the sweeping changes that

technology has made in our daily lives. With government at all levels

facing huge challenges, more than ever we look to the standards and

benefits that only an enterprise platform can provide for Gov 2.0.

 

Gov 2.0 Checklist

  Get on board. As you look at bringing

Web 2.0 into your organization, consider

which groups of citizens you need to

reach the most. Where are they likely to

hang out? Twitter, for example, isn’t the

best way to connect with senior citizens.

  Step up the service. To remain cost

effective, find out whether your existing

systems can be extended to connect with

the new social tools.

  Stay smart. The value of collaboration in

today’s blended workforce brings fresh

insight and new perspectives to bear on

challenging issues. Make use of available

Web 2.0 tools to collaborate and ask

questions. If you build the service, will

the people use it? Get their feedback.

  Be clear. Transparency and accountability

sound like lofty goals, but they can be

approached in steps. Even small changes

in reporting with the use of Web 2.0 tools

can make a big difference.

  Save time. We haven’t seen a speed limit

on the road to Gov 2.0. Web 2.0 brings

real-time efficiency and interaction so

that people can keep pace with rapid

change.

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Gov 2.0 Technology from MicrosoftGovernment organizations often already have the tools they need to start deploying social features—in their

existing Microsoft software. In a time of change, the solution may be as close as a familiar tool used in a new

way.

Technology Simple Definition 2007 Office System Technology Microsoft Product(s)

Blogs Journal or diary with social

collaboration (comments)

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server

2007 OR

SharePoint Online 

Office SharePoint Server 2007 with

Microsoft Office Word blog post template

and/or

Business Productivity Online Standard Su

Office Word 2007 (blog creation)

Wikis Collaborative authoring and

editing

Office SharePoint Server 2007 OR

SharePoint Online 

Office SharePoint Server 2007 and/or

Business Productivity Online Standard Su

Video and

Multimedia Sharing

Videos, images, and audio

libraries (YouTube, Soapbox) 

Office SharePoint Server 2007 with

Interactive Media Manager OR 

SharePoint Online 

FAST audio and video search 

Interactive Media Manager for SharePoin

Server OR

Podcast Kit for Office SharePoint Server

2007 (download)

FAST ESP Search for Office SharePoint

Server 2007 

Photo-Sharing Photo libraries Office SharePoint Server 2007 OR 

SharePoint Online 

Office SharePoint Server 2007 

Photosynth™ 

Podcasting Multimedia content syndicated

for use on MP3 players and

computers

Office SharePoint Server 2007 OR 

SharePoint Online 

Podcast Kit for Office SharePoint Server

2007 (download)

Virtual Worlds Simulation of environments

(Second Life) 

N/A Microsoft Simulation solution 

Social Networking

Sites

Connecting people globally Office SharePoint Server 2007 OR 

SharePoint Online 

Office SharePoint Server 2007 People,

Expertise, and Communities  

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Technology Simple Definition 2007 Office System Technology Microsoft Product(s)

Syndicated Web

Feeds (RSS)

Automated notifications of 

frequently updated content

(RSS)

Office SharePoint Server 2007 OR 

SharePoint Online 

Office SharePoint Server 2007 (search an

all lists)

Clients: Office Outlook®, Internet

Explorer®, and Windows Vista® 

Mashups Combine content from

multiple sources for an

integrated experience

None Built-in SharePoint Server web parts for

data visualization data from the Business

Data Catalog

Popfly™, Silverlight, Web Sandbox, 

Virtual Earth, 

Visual Studio 

Widgets, Gadgets,

and Pipes

Small applications and code in

Web pages or for desktop use

Office SharePoint Server 2007   SharePoint Server Web Parts, Windows

Live Gadgets 

Social Bookmark

and News (Sharing,

Tagging) sites

Ways of sharing content with

others

Office SharePoint Server 2007   SharePoint Server with community kit

(download)

Micro-Blogging,

Presence Networks

Form of blogging which allows

brief (instant message – sized)

text updates

Office Communications Server   Office Communications Server R2, 

persistent chat, and chat gateways

Gov 2.0 Data

Mining and

Aggregation 

Making sense of all the data to

allow responsiveness, trend

analysis, and the ability to

deliver targeted information to

users

FAST ESP Search for Office SharePoint

Server 2007 

Microsoft Office PerformancePoint™

Server 2007 and SharePoint Enterprise 

FAST ESP Search for Office SharePoint

Server 2007, Office PerformancePoint

Server 2007, Social Streams, and Entity

Extraction 

We also encourage you to take part in the community of people using Office SharePoint Server 2007 to

create blogs, wikis, and more. CodePlex includes best practices, templates, and other tools for adding Web

2.0 – style interaction to Office SharePoint Server 2007.

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Learn MoreMuch of the technology and resources needed on the road to Gov 2.0 may already exist in your data centers

and on your computers. Microsoft can show you how other government agencies have embraced Gov 2.0 by

leveraging existing IT tools and integrating new technologies. To learn more, contact Gov20@microsoft.com 

or take a look at some of the Microsoft Gov 2.0 solutions listed below.

What Microsoft Is Doing Description

For government More Microsoft support for and examples of Gov.20 can be found at

www.microsoftgovready.com. For example, government agencies can build and deploy

citizen service solutions based on standard Microsoft products with templates using the

the Microsoft Citizen Service Platform. 

For collaboration Many agencies already use Microsoft Office system products for communication and

collaboration, including Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Office Communications

Server, in addition to Microsoft Exchange Server for messaging.

About open source Open source software is part of many data centers today, and Microsoft provides many

resources for open source developers. Even non-programmers can create a community

Web site and get open source templates, tools, and best practices from the Community

Kit for SharePoint created by the Community. 

For interoperability Achieving Gov 2.0 depends on continued interoperability and the coexistence of varied

technologies, software development models, standards, technology approaches, and

community-driven innovation. No one vendor or software approach will lead to success.

About infrastructure IT departments are challenged more than ever to meet competing resource demands in

new ways. Virtualization can help agencies control costs, improve manageability, drive

agility, and improve availability. Data center sustainability is another approach to

lowering costs and reducing environmental impact.

For education Microsoft Elevate America is an education initiative providing up to 2 million workers

with immediate access to no-cost and low-cost tools, technology training, and

certification exams they need to meet the demands of employers and jobs in today’s

changing economy.

In the cloud As the worlds of the desktop, enterprise, online services, and hand-held devices

converge, no technology vendor is better positioned than Microsoft to deliver on the

vision of  software-plus-services. 

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Links to Popular Web 2.0 Applications (pages 5-6) 

Social networking

  Windows Live:  http://home.live.com/ 

  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ 

  MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/ 

  LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/ 

  GovLoop: http://www.govloop.com/ 

Collaborating

  Microsoft Office Live Workspace: http://workspace.officelive.com/ 

  Wikipedia: http://www.wikipedia.org/ 

  Ning: http://www.ning.com/ 

  Nextgov: http://www.nextgov.com/ 

  MSN® VIdeo: 

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us 

  YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/ 

  Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/ 

  Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/ 

Blogging and micro-blogging

  WordPress: http://wordpress.org/ 

  Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ 

Assigning meaning

  Del.i.cious: http://delicious.com/ 

  StumbleUpon: http://www.stumbleupon.com/ 

  Digg: http://digg.com/ 

  Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/ 

  Newsvine: http://www.newsvine.com/ 

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End Notes

iTweet Congress. http://tweetcongress.org/ 

ii “Hubble’s Next Discovery: You Decide.”

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/next_discovery_contest.html 

iii “Address to Missourians from Gov. Matt Blunt.” YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R4vqDzzLXc 

iv Walsh, Andrew. “Tweeting the Storm.” New Hampshire Public Radio. December 15, 2008.

http://www.nhpr.org/node/19731 

v

 “Constantine on Metro Transit’s proposed communications and service improvements during major storms.”

Metropolitan King County Council. http://www.kingcounty.gov/council/news/2009/March/DC_metrostorm.aspx 

vi “Apps for Democracy.” http://www.appsfordemocracy.org/ 

vii “The Rhode Island Government Owner's Manual 2007-2008.” State of Rhode Island, Office of the Secretary of State.

http://www.sec.state.ri.us/pubinfo/rigom0708/rigom07.html 

viii “Environmental Protection Agency Improves Data Visualization with Mapping Technology.” Microsoft case study.

January 25, 2008. http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=4000001265 

ixMicrosoft Virtual Earth for government.

http://www.microsoft.com/industry/government/products/virtual_earth/default.mspx?WT.mc_id=gov20_wpaper_ve 

x “City of Camden, New Jersey, Embraces Information Management Solution to Improve Operational Efficiencies.”

Microsoft case study. November 1, 2007.

http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=4000000941 

xiMicrosoft Citizen Service Platform. http://www.microsoft.com/industry/government/solutions/csp/default.aspx 

xii “Department of Social and Family Affairs wins eGovernment Award for accessible website.” Microsoft SharePoint

Team Blog. February 24, 2009. http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2009/02/24/department-of-social-and-

family-affairs-wins-egovernment-award-for-accessible-website.aspx 

xiii

Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies.http://www.microsoft.com/industry/government/products/server/sharepoint.mspx 

xiv “Virtual Earth for Government Put Agency Information on the Map—Literally.” Virtual Earth for government.

http://www.microsoft.com/industry/government/solutions/virtual_earth/Casestudy.mspx 

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xv “Street Maintenance Request Form.” Seattle Department of Transportation.

http://www.seattle.gov/Transportation/potholereport.htm 

xvi “Colorado Oil and Gas Leasing.” U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management.

http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/BLM_Programs/oilandgas/leasing.html 

xvii “America Supports You.” U.S. Department of Defense Community Relations.

http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/AmericaSupportsYou/index.aspx 

xviii “Welcome to Dadeschools.net.” Miami Dade County Public Schools. http://www.dadeschools.net/ 

xix “Miami-Dade County School District Improves Education by Linking Teachers, Students, Parents Online.” Microsoft

case study. June 26, 2007. http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=4000000203 

xx “US AirForce (RFF) Uses CRM to Support Troops.” Microsoft case study. November 19, 2008.

http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=4000003059 

xxiMicrosoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.

http://www.microsoft.com/industry/government/products/dynamics_crm_4_0/default.mspx 

xxii “Ohio Agency Gains Foundation for Information Management with Collaboration Solution.” Microsoft case study.

February 2, 2009. http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=4000003588 

xxiiiMicrosoft SharePoint Products and Technologies.

http://www.microsoft.com/industry/government/products/server/sharepoint.mspx 

xxiv “Portal Key to Tampa's Super Bowl Preparations.” Nextgov. January 30, 2009.

http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090130_4329.php?zone=ngtoday 

xxvMicrosoft SharePoint Products and Technologies.

http://www.microsoft.com/industry/government/products/server/sharepoint.mspx 

xxvi “Active Directory Project Was a Key to Missouri Consolidation.” Government Technology. February 24, 2009.

http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/622184 

xxviiMicrosoft Exchange Server 2007.

http://www.microsoft.com/industry/government/products/server/exchange.mspx 

xxviii “Washington State First to Provide a U.S. Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI)–Compliant Enhanced Driver

License.” Microsoft case study. March 27, 2008.

http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=4000001698 

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xxix “U.S. Army Increases Data Protection, Boosts Productivity with Messaging Solution.” Microsoft case study.

October 6, 2007. http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=4000000807 

xxxMicrosoft Exchange Server 2007. http://www.microsoft.com/industry/government/products/server/exchange.mspx 

xxxi “A Collaboration Portal for U.S. Joint Forces Command that Supports Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief.”

MicroLink. http://www.microlinkllc.com/Pages/CaseStudies-HarmonieWeb.aspx 

xxxiiMicrosoft Office SharePoint Server.

http://www.microsoft.com/industry/government/products/server/sharepoint.mspx 

xxxiiiHARMONIEWeb. http://www.harmonieweb.org/ 

xxxiv “Educational System Cuts Spam, Millions in Costs, with Hosted E-mail Filtering Solution.” Microsoft case study.

April 2, 2008. http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=4000001752 

xxxv “E-mail & Shared Calendars, Contacts: Microsoft Exchange Online.” http://www.microsoft.com/online/exchange-

online.mspx 

xxxvi “Microsoft Dynamics Mobile case study at Roskilde Festival: Watch the video!” Microsoft Dynamics Mobile Team

blog. November 21, 2008. http://blogs.msdn.com/dynamicsmobile/archive/2008/11/21/microsoft-dynamics-mobile-

case-study-at-roskilde-festival-watch-the-video.aspx 

xxxviiSalkowitz, Rob. Generation Blend: Managing Across the Technology Age Gap (Microsoft Executive Leadership

Series). Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2008.