In case you didn't notice it as a news item on the Digital Communities site, here's an announcement of a new resource for local governments exploring Web 2.0 technologies....Many new web developments, now collectively referred to under the umbrella of Web 2.0, are receiving increased scrutiny in the government sector. Basic questions arise. Is Web 2.0 simply another hype storm created by technocrats and marketers in an attempt to generate new demand for products? Or do these technologies offer a real answer to some of the traditional shortcomings of citizen government interaction?
A new white paper from the Digital Communities' CIO Task Force explores these and other questions as part of coming to terms with what these CIOs are now calling Government 2.0 - the efforts undertaken by communities, states and the federal government to implement the new tools and technologies that extend the utility of the Internet.
"Government 2.0: Building Communities with Web 2.0 and Social Networking is the first in a series of Digital Communities white papers that will be produced by our task forces," explained Todd Sander, deputy director of the Center for Digital Government and director of the Digital Communities program. "It provides a candid look into the thinking of CIO Task Force members as they struggle to balance the opportunity for broader community engagement with issues of security, infrastructure capacity and public perception."
Among those jurisdictions that have chosen to explore the possibilities, the consensus seems to be that Web 2.0 can help government enhance its existing relationship with citizens by creating new avenues of interaction. But based on research conducted by the Center for Digital Government, it is clear that for every community that has decided to explore the possibilities another has decided not to; at least not right now.
According to Sander, the reasons for this are varied. "Some cite excessive demand on limited infrastructure and bandwidth, others security concerns, and many the difficulty overcoming the perception that such sites demonstrate no recognizable or defensible legitimate business use and provide little more than the opportunity for public employees to waste time at work," he said.
Yet a number of jurisdictions who are exploring some of the potential of Web 2.0 technologies are gaining positive insights, some of which are detailed in the white paper.
Moreover, the vision of government is starting to shift. As the white paper notes, "Perhaps the greatest potential for Web 2.0 technology in local government is its ability to, as Washington, D.C., CIO Vivek Kundra said, 're-establish the public square' and create and connect communities of interest."
That notion alone makes this an intriguing white paper, well worth a read.
A full copy of the white paper can be downloaded free from the Digital Communities Resource Center.
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The presidential campaigns used new tools in their strategies to engage people. The financial manager and their staffs need to become familiar with these new tools and incorporate them into their strategies. The major change required for these new tools is that finance must be more proactive rather than reactive, with results examined in real time.
· Internet —We need to monitor the changes in the Internet (the enormous network of networks connecting disparate computers using languages called protocols). Internet Protocol Version 6 (aka IPV6) has now expanded the addresses and tags that can be used. Have our governments transitioned to IPV6?
· Web—We need to accommodate the different vehicles that customers use to travel on the “http” protocol to visit our sites. Can the different vehicles (MS Internet Explorer or Firefox or Safari or on a Web-enabled phone or PDA) that visitors use to access out sites allow them to seamlessly navigate through our Web pages?
· XML—Do our Web pages use of “eXtensible Markup Language” utilize well-formed and valid smart tags with corresponding end tags to get the user where she or he needs to go?
· XBRL—Are we presenting our financial documents—PAR, budget, CAFR or PAFR—into “eXtensible Business Reporting Language” to our customers so that they are not seeing a large financial document as a mere block of text but rather as a set of smart tags for the different parts (assets, liabilities, net assets, revenues, expenditures) that can be drilled down to the lowest level?
· Wikis—Are we using “What I Know Is” tools, internally and externally, to aggregate and share financial information on an ongoing basis in a collaborative manner?
· Blogs—Are we utilizing blogs to discuss financial topics and issues, internally and externally, to enhance and refine ideas, opinions and approaches in a collaborative manner?
· Social Bookmarking—Are we engaging the customers of our financial information by inquiring what they want to know (categorize whether it is a salary or revenue query) and where they go (assigning a tag—bookmark) to find it? Do we examine these social bookmarks to modify or adapt our financial information based on user trends?
· Social Media —Are we creating financial information forums utilizing blogs, Wikis, podcasts, MySpace, Facebook, Youmeo, Twitter or Plaxo to keep in touch with our users of financial information?
· Collaboration—If we do not manage collaboratively now, then what do we need to learn about it to enable us to take advantage of collaborative tools like Google Docs or MS SharePoint? Do our Intranet websites allow for collaboration? What is our government’s or agency’s strategy on collaboration?
If you expect that citizens and customers will wait for you to implement the above, or come to you asking you to implement the above, then nothing will change. I believe that we must engage our customers about government finance with these existing tools. I believe that the government budget, accounting and auditing professions must incorporate these tools into their existing strategies. The easiest way to implement them is to incorporate them, where appropriate, into your defined business processes. If presidential campaigns can use these tools with people all across the country, many of whom never met face-to-face, then why can’t government finance do the same?