When the Government of British Columbia in Canada released their Government 2.0 Strategy, it built on their social communication experience during two key ‘catalyst events’: the H1N1 virus pandemic and the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Kieran Harrop talks about his time with the Office of the CIO in the BC Government, and how events such as these, together with strong leadership and building a culture of trust among the civil service, creates cut-through and momentum around new ways of communicating.

I was talking to a friend of mine, and he said that Government 2.0 is like water – it will always find a way around obstacles, and no matter how many obstacles you put up, it will find the easiest way around it.

About Kieran Harrop

Kieran Harrop is a Partner and Executive Consultant at CGI and formerly the Director of Business Engagement and Strategic Initiatives at the Office of the CIO, Province of British Columbia. He is interested in how Open Government and Government 2.0 can increase transparency, public engagement and enable better, more efficient service outcomes for citizens, and intrigued by the power of technology to change our lives and create value for organizations.

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Episode links and resources

• Lynchpin by Seth Godin
• Citizens @ the Centre BC Government Transformation and Technology strategy (PDF)
• Kieran’s blog: Silicon Valley North of 49
• Gov 2.0 Strategic Framework

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• Tags: #gov20

In this wide-ranging episode, Don challenges many assumptions such as the use of online/social tools; “public” vs “citizen” engagement; and the role of citizens as well as policy-makers in the co-design process.  Don also overviews the “Co-design Community Engagement Prototype” developed this year with Australian Federal and Local Government organisations.

I think there’s a growing awareness, especially among public servants, that the processes we have are not adequate – we need public engagement as a way of dealing with complexity, but it’s still perceived to be a risky business.

About Dr Don Lenihan

Don Lenihan is Vice President, Engagement at the Public Policy Forum in Ottawa, Canada. He is an internationally recognized expert on democracy and public engagement, accountability and service delivery. From 2009 – January 2012, he led the Public Engagement Project (PEP), a research and capacity-building project involving some 500 public servants from nine federal, provincial/territorial and municipal governments, and the Government of Australia.

Don is also the author of “Rescuing Policy: The Case for Public Engagement” , a new book published by Public Policy Forum, which is the result of the Public Engagement Project, a two-year dialogue and capacity-building project on public engagement that involved nine federal, provincial and municipal governments in Canada, the Government of Australia and some 500 public servants. Its premise is that as public policy issues are becoming increasingly complex, the process by which governments make decisions about them has not kept pace.

Don has over 25 years of experience in the field as a project leader, writer, speaker, senior government advisor, trainer and facilitator. Throughout his career, he has developed and led many research and consultation projects involving senior public servants, academics, elected officials, journalists and members of the private and third sectors. He is the author of numerous articles, studies and books, a former columnist with the Hill Times newspaper in Ottawa, and is a regular columnist for iPolitics. He earned his PhD in political theory from the University of Ottawa.

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Episode links and resources

• About Don Lenihan
• Public Policy Forum Canada
• Final report on the Australian Government’s Co-Design Community Engagement Prototype Building a Strategic Design Capacity for Co-Design
• Municipal Association of Victoria on the Co-Design Prototype project
• Don’s latest book “Rescuing Policy: The Case for Public Engagement”
• Interview with Tiago Peixoto on Participatory Budgeting
• Public engagement papers from the Public Policy Forum

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You can use the social sharing links at the top of the page to easily share this story with your networks. You can also follow and join in the social conversation about this episode with:

• People and organisations:
  @DonLenihan
  @ppforumca
• Tags: #demopart #participation #engagement #codesign

Join us for a conversation with David Eaves about International Open Data Day, and his best advice on how to organize a hackathon – including the value of statisticians and project managers to success.

About David Eaves

David is a public policy entrepreneur, open government activist and negotiation expert and frequent speaker on these topics. He is retained by several governments to advise on open government and open data, works with two spin-offs of the Harvard Negotiation Project, and advises businesses on open source strategies and community management. Three years ago David advised the Mayor of Vancouver on Open Government and Open Data and helped draft the Open Motion. He has also launched a number of open data projects including Recollect.net and emitter.ca.

David blogs regularly at eaves.ca where you can read more about his projects and upcoming speaking engagements.

How you can use this episode

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Episode links and resources

• The Open Knowledge Foundation
• Open Spending website
• Scraper Wiki toolset
• The MySociety Mapit initiative
• Code for America Adopt-a-hydrant project