This is the presentation on Government 2.0 I gave at the #socadl event on 10 April.

1. Government 2.0
in Australia
Craig Thomler
April 2013

2. Who am I?

3. Name this network…

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

4. Electric Telegraph (1838)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Samuel_morse_telegraph.jpg)

5. Use by government
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

6. 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.”

7. By 1891 a global network
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1891_Telegraph_Lines.jpg)

8. Gov 1.0 to 2.0
Magna Carta – 1215 AD Internet – 2010 AD

9. Government 2.0
(in my humble opinion)
represents a fundamental shift
in the relationship between
citizens and governments,
to the benefit of both.

10. Government 2.0 includes...
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.

11. Australia’s internet use
Source: Sensis Social Media Report May 2012

12. Australia’s social media use
Source: Sensis Social Media Report May 2012

13. Australia’s social media use
Source: Sensis Social Media Report May 2012

15. What about
Australian
governments?

16. The social media majority
In mid-2012:
73%
of Australian Government agencies
reported using social media for
official purposes

17. 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 24 40.68%
agencies
Monitoring citizen, stakeholder and/or lobbyist views and 17 28.81%
activities
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%

18. All levels of Aus government
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

19. Growth in Twitter use

20. Twitter use by state

21. Government as media

22. Government as convenor

23. Government as platform

24. Crowdsourcing

25. Gov 2.0 & social media caveats
• 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

26. Managing risks
We’ve considered every potential risk
except the risks of avoiding all risks.”

27. 100% correct information
delivered too late or in the
wrong context is worthless
(and causes more issues!)

28. Questions?
Craig Thomler
craig@delib.net
@CraigThomler
http://eGovAU.blogspot.com