My presentation at the CeBIT Gov 2.0 Australia Conference 3-4 Nov 2010 in Canberra

1. P2P government
public purpose and the bounty of the commons
Patrick McCormick
Manager Digital Engagement
Department of Justice Victoria
Gov 2.0 Conference Canberra
3 November 2010
Unless indicated otherwise, content in this
presentation is licensed:

2. P2P government
public purpose and the bounty of the commons
1. we are here now
2. rebooting the business case
3. P2P from inside out
4. public purpose

4. 1. we are here now
Map of Online Communities 2010: Randall Munroe/xkcd, Ethan Bloch/Flowtown

5. the tragedy of the commons
• the situation in which multiple individuals, acting independently, and solely
and rationally consulting their own self-interest, will ultimately deplete a
shared limited resource even when it is clear that it is not in anyone's
long-term interest for this to happen - Wikipedia

6. the bounty of the digital commons
1. close to zero marginal cost of production
2. close to zero marginal cost of distribution
3. scale not scarcity

7. the bounty of peer to peer production

8. the bounty of self-selection and meritocracy

9. the public sector is evolving
1. 20th century administrative bureaucracy
2. new public management - performance
3. triple bottom line - shareholders and stakeholders
4. co-productive, shared enterprise
read-only
rigid, prescriptive, hierarchical
read-write
agile, principled, collaborative

10. citizen expectations are changing
3 types of expectations - Charlie Leadbeater
• I need – essential services government must provide
• I want – discretionary services responding to demand
• I can – option to self select, participate, co-produce
why now?
• Internet 1.0 – low or no cost production and distribution
• netizens 1.0 – surplus computing and doing capacity
• web 2.0 - new tools, behaviours, expectations

11. the Internet has something to do with it
compact yet immense, a ‘small world’
• 10x growth adds ‘one hop’
• growth is organic and ad hoc
power law distribution
mostly below and above the mean
•few with many links
•many with few links
In Search of Jefferson’s Moose - David G. Post
power law distribution
mostly below and above mean
• few with many links
• many with few links

12. and is increasingly the people’s choice
20%
(AGIMO: Australia in the Digital Economy, 2009)
27%
16%
11%

13. what does this mean for government?
a new approach
• share (not cede) power, when and where appropriate
• maintain authority in old and new models
• moving from a PDF to a Wiki approach
key components
• culture of experimentation and collaboration
• open access to public sector data and information
• voice of authenticity, uncertainty and contestability

14. emerging policy platform
Victoria
• parliamentary inquiry into PSI
• VPS innovation action plan
• government response on PSI
• government 2.0 action plan
Commonwealth
• Gov 2.0 Taskforce report
• APSC online engagement guidelines
• declaration of open government

15. 2. rebooting the business case

16. co-production with or without us
• “information wants to be free”
- Stewart Brand
at first Hackers' Conference in 1984

17. people are talking in new ways and new places
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
January February March April
Month on Month Trend
Alcohol & Street Violence
Social Media Analysis
26%
Results
1081 71%
Change
April 2010

18. new evidence to refine policies and services
Violent CBD
brawl
Street violence
talk spawned by
Williams’ death

19. focus on outcomes over processes
• tools demand less structured approach
• business cases demand iterative, adaptive
methodologies - unexpected challenges, benefits
‘the cathedral and the bazaar’
– Eric Raymond

20. follow rules of disruptive innovation
• think big
• start small
• fail fast

21. avoid inflexibility of massive projects
• think big
• start small
• fail fast
• think small
• start big
• fail slowly
Valberg Lárusson, Flickr

22. large projects benefit from rapid prototyping
• constrain time and budget
• eliminate all technical and
bureaucratic barriers
• co-locate joint strike force team
with diverse expertise, experience

23. agile approach rewards innovation
• ‘skunk works’ dedication
• daily, agenda free meetings
• all ideas valid, fast decisions
• draw upon external expertise

24. 3. P2P from inside out

25. supporting a culture of collaboration internally
• more than laws
• courts, consumers,
indigenous, racing,
gaming, prisons
and more
• with a staff of more
than 7,000

26. conversations, questions, problem solving

27. encouraging content creativity

28. seeking and voting on ideas openly

29. working together across boundaries

30. 4. public purpose
CFA, Black Saturday, Flickr

31. public purpose
• outcomes focus - communicate goals
• open and transparent - access to PSI
• social capital for social innovation
• shared responsibility
• creating co-production opportunities

32. supporting existing community role and establishing
trusted, authentic presence on new platforms

33. seeking citizen input, educating interactively

34. sharing information to reduce costs, build trust
and confirm public safety objectives

35. fostering shared responsibility through
citizen engagement and content creation

36. maintaining community engagement to
better cope with complex problems
Yarra Valley, Black Saturday, Flickr

37. going where people are to build trust
and improve access to information
9,300 fans x average 150 friends = 1,209,000 people

38. because people want to help and play a role
that government is well placed to facilitate

39. seeking citizen support for emergency volunteers
Vital. Valued. Victorians.

40. sharing emergency information in timely, convenient
way extends frontline response to community

41. mobile apps enable citizens to help themselves
and their neighbors

42. geospatial data and location awareness put
powerful tools in the hands of citizens

43. P2P government
public purpose and the bounty of the commons
1. we are here now
2. rebooting the business case
3. P2P from inside out
4. public purpose

44. Thanks!
Questions?
Patrick McCormick
pat.mccormick@justice.vic.gov.au
@solutist
@justice_vic

45. re-using this presentation? the fine print…
• Parts of this presentation not under copyright or licensed to others (as indicated) have been
made available under the Creative Commons Licence 2.5
• Put simply, this means:
– you are free to share, copy and distribute this work
– you can remix and adapt this work
• Under the following conditions
– you must attribute the work to the author:
Patrick McCormick (pat.mccormick@justice.vic.gov.au or paddy@post.harvard.edu)
– you must share alike – so if you alter or build upon this work you have to keep these same conditions
• Unless stated otherwise, the information in this presentation is the personal
view of the author and does not represent official policy or position of his employer