[LINK] web2 government

[Tom Worthington]

At 02:47 AM 7/02/2009, stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:
>Agreed, Tom .. our Aussie governments need a strong on-line presence.
>
>Holding 'physical' meetings in Canberra, or anywhere, for consultation
>and public discussion is environmentally detrimental, at least, if not
>simply un-democratic & discriminatory, given modern-day communications. ...

Unfortunately that is not how the Environment Department see it. They 
say they have limited time in which to respond to the government's 
agenda and a face-to-face meeting is the quickest and most effect 
way. I think that is all nonsense, but the people I talk to seem 
sincere, if misguded.

>Your ideas Tom, of modified AusTender and GovDex systems seem sensible
>and perhaps especially GovDex which is secure web2 technology. ...

GovDex uses the Confluence product 
<https://www.govdex.gov.au/confluence/display/GTM/Home;jsessionid=66D5532476393DB39A439AD191D81615>.

>However it's currently perhaps somewhat formal & exclusive, being 
>invites-only.

Yes, it is formal and by invitation only. The government is not the 
only place with this mindset. ANU have a collaborative system  called 
"Alliance" <http://ilp.anu.edu.au/Alliance/about.htm>, built with 
Sakai <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakai_Project>. It drives me nuts 
because only those registered (mostly ANU staff and students) can see 
what is in it.

>Many agree with Roger current-technology-video hinders online meetings
>but, in terms of e-government, everything but video is now appropriate. ...

I think video works well when blended with other online technology. 
It was Rodger who suggested a technique used at the last Green ICT 
Symposium. This was to have the remote presenter record and send a 
video in advance and then take questions live via video conference.

>Perhaps even (gasp!) one, or more, conference calls .. for example ...

Audio conference calls also work well when blended with online 
distribution of documents. ACS's educators make very effective use of 
text chat for thier tutors meetings: there is no video or audio, the 
meeting is conducted using real time text messages.

>And yes, why not government sponsored and moderated conference calls 
>to discuss matters of Australian public and industry etc importance?

Traditional real time meetings, face-to-face or online seem to me to 
be a waste of time unless well managed or between people of good 
will. If there is not an agenda and a chair to make people stick to 
it, then a few people tend to take up the time of the meeting to no 
good effect. It is a matter of ACS folklore that I once set a strict 
time limit on Council presentations. One presenter took so long to 
set up for their multimedia show that they had only opened their 
mouth to start when I said: "times up, next speaker!".

>Also save valuable time, money & carbon in assisting our governments!

The government staff will need training and support top use online 
tools. Also many, perhaps most, staff in some policy agencies will 
need extensive retraining or redeployment as most of what they do 
will cease to exist.



Tom Worthington FACS HLM tom.worthington at tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd            ABN: 17 088 714 309
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617                      http://www.tomw.net.au/
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Australian National University