• Craig Thomler, Gov 20. Advocate and General Manager Delib Australia
• Mary-Anne Williams, Associate Dean Engineering and IT, University of Technology Sydney
• Susan Sly, Chief Information Officer, VicRoads
• Don Easter, IT Supplier Advocate, Australian Government

Photo courtesy CeBIT Australia

For me, [the relationship between e-Government, Gov 2.0 and open government] is very much a continuum, and a continuum with people on very different parts of the maturity curve at any point in time.

The broad-ranging conversation tackles questions such as:

• What are the connections between e-government, Gov 2.0 and open government – is it a continuum?
• What is the role of citizens in creating “Society 2.0”?
• Why is big data important to government?
• What are the big questions for 2014?

A lot of Gov 2.0 is government having conversations with itself… there’s an internal dialogue that’s going on within government that’s possibly the most important part of it because it’s actually government questioning “Are we doing things the best possible way, and can we improve it?

About the Panel

About Susan Sly

Susan Sly has worked in the IT industry for thirteen years with prior experience in HR and management across the oil and gas industry, Defence and state government.

Susan’s role in VicRoads spans strategy, security, operational service delivery, project management, business intelligence, spatial services and sourcing for VicRoads information management and technology capabilities.   VicRoads processes more than 22 million transactions a year for 3.7 million licensed drivers and 4.9 million registered vehicles, manages 22,000 km of road network and supports a range of planning and enforcement activities for road safety purposes.

Susan’s key priorities for the next two years are embedding new practices and team capabilities to reflect emerging industry standards, supporting productivity initiatives across the business, operationalising new technology suites and enhancing the use of the organisation’s information stores.  Particular interests that she will progress include the use of social media to share knowledge & enhance productivity and enhanced industry engagement within the government environment.

About Craig Thomler

Craig is one of Australia’s leading social media and Government 2.0 advocates and practitioners, having spent more than 15 years working in the online industry, including five in Australia’s Commonwealth Public Service.

In 2009 Craig was awarded the inaugural Government 2.0 Individual Innovator Award by the Australian Government’s Government 2.0 Taskforce and in 2010 was named one of ‘The Top 10 Who are Changing the World of Internet and Politics’ by PoliticsOnline and the World eDemocracy Forum in France.

Recognised internationally as a social media and Government 2.0 leader, Craig presents regularly around the world on new media strategy and practice and blogs at eGovAU) (http://egovau.blogspot.com)

About Mary-Anne Williams

Professor Mary-Anne Williams is one of Australia’s leading researchers in Knowledge Representation, and Past President of KR Inc, the peak body for Knowledge Representation. Mary-Anne chaired the Australian Research Council’s 2012 ERA Panel for Mathematics, Information and Computing Sciences and served on the ARC College of Experts. Mary-Anne leads the emerging area of Social Robotics in Australia, is listed on 25 women in robotics you need to know about, and serves as Review Editor for the prestigious Artificial Intelligence Journal. Mary-Anne is a Fellow at Stanford University, a Guest Professor at the University of Science and Technology China, and her work has been adopted by industry, notably Infosys and IBM Research. This year she chaired the Industry Track at the International Semantic Web Conference.

About Don Easter

Don Easter is an accomplished senior executive and company director with extensive experience and networks internationally and in Australia.  Don has led turnaround, growth and considerable change programs in both large and small companies.

His expertise includes sales, product development, operations, risk management and setting and executing strategy.

Don has managed businesses in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the United States of America with appointments that have included Managing Director of Electronic Data Systems (EDS) Australia, Senior Vice President Private Equity for ABN AMRO and General Manager, Credit and Risk for AGC.

In his part-time role as Information Technology (IT) Supplier Advocate, Don brings strategic leadership, access to decision-makers and senior executive weight to help enhance industry-led activities aimed at raising the competitiveness of IT SMEs firms and linking them with business opportunities.

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Episode links and resources

• GovInnovate 2013 

Big qs for 2014 via panel: How do we do it better, how do we get leadership mandate, what can tech do, how can ppl connect #GovInnovateCeBIT

— Cofluence (@Cofluence) November 28, 2013

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• Twitter hashtags: #govinnovatecebit #gov2au #opengov

Jake Dunagan, IFTF’s Research Director talks about the Connected Citizens program, and why this is an important theme to explore.

This idea of civic technologies and Government 2.0 and new models of citizen engagement using networked technologies filters through a lot of the work we’ve done at the Institute, because it’s such an important thing that’s happening – this moment of change when a new level of citizen and government relations is happening.

Given the range of ways that citizens can now participate to shape the public sphere – hackathons, city camps, policy camps, etc – Jake sees gamification as being part of this “ecology of invention” and that the idea of using a game-based approach is becoming less of an inhibitor for governments.

I think that minds are changing on that – I think the word ‘game’ doesn’t scare as many people as it once did… game is really just a proxy word for engagement.

About Jake Dunagan

Jake Dunagan is the Research Director for the Institute For the Future, with a particular focus on the accelerating transformations of individuals, culture, and governance. In his research, Jake explores how societies are adapting to the Neurocentric age, a time of unprecedented ability to view and modify the mind. Recently, he has written and lectured on comprehensive cognitive design, judicial foresight, kids’ technologies, neuroscience and the ocean, alternative energy futures, social media, and the future of work.

Jake also designs artifacts, games, immersive experiences of future worlds, and produces guerilla public engagement projects that inject the future into the mental ecology of the present.

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Episode links and resources

• Institute For The Future
• Connected Citizens game

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• Zachary Tumin, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
• Deirdre O’Donnell, Information Commissioner, Office of the Information Commissioner NSW
• Martin Stewart-Weeks, Director, Public Sector Consulting APAC, Cisco

The broad-ranging conversation tackles questions such as:

• How can a culture of Gov 2.0 impact the relationship of citizens to government? And within government?
• What are the connections between e-government, social media and open government
• What are the risks, rewards, and potential of open and connected government?

The discussion also features excerpts from Gov20 Radio  interviews with Chris Vein, David Ferreiro, Nigel Shadbolt, David Eaves and Barbara Ubaldi.

For more information on the, including a curated social stream, visit the Gov20 Radio CeBIT Gov 2.0 page.

Panel images courtesy CeBIT Australia

About the panel

Zachary Tumin

Zachary Tumin is Special Assistant to Director and Faculty Chair, Science, Technology and Public Policy Program, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Over his career, Zach has served at the Kennedy School in research and staff positions, and in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors as chief executive, staff, and consultant to leaders in industry and government.

Deirdre O’Donnell

Deirdre O’Donnell is the inaugural New South Wales Information Commissioner.

Prior to taking up this role, for almost three years Ms O’Donnell held the position of Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman where she led the TIO scheme through unprecedented growth.

From 2002 to 2007, she was the Western Australian Ombudsman, a position with wide investigative powers, including those of a Royal Commission. Western Australia was the first State to establish an ombudsman’s office in 1972, and Ms O’Donnell was the first woman to be appointed to the position.

Ms O’Donnell was also a State Records Commissioner, a member of the Western Australian Integrity Coordinating Group, and the Energy Ombudsman Western Australia.

In recognition of her work in Western Australia, Ms O’Donnell received a public service medal in the Australia Day Honours for 2008.

Martin Stewart-Weeks

Martin Stewart-Weeks is a director in the global public sector practice of  the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG)., He has more than  20 years of experience in organizational management and consulting in  the corporate and public sectors, and with a wide range of not-for-profit  organizations. In his work with the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), Martin’s focus is primarily on the public sector. He works at the senior-executive and political levels to help shape Internet business solutions and online strategies.

A consistent theme of Martin’s professional experience has been public policy and management.  He has held senior policy, management, and advisory positions for ministers and government agencies at the federal and state government level in Australia. In the early 1980s, he held the position of Senior Private Secretary to a Federal Minister, and in the early ‘90s he was a consultant in the Office of Strategic Planning in  The Cabinet Office in New South Wales.

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Episode links and resources

• Where Government 2.0 meets Society 2.0 – Zach Tumin
• Countdown to OGP and NASA’s global Space Apps Challenge – Chris Vein
• Social media, record-keeping and open government – David Ferriero
• Launching the Open Data Institute: bottom-up, middle-out, top-down – Nigel Shadbolt
• OECD e-Leaders 2012: From e-Gov to OpenGov – David Eaves
• The ongoing eGovernment evolution – Barbara Ubaldi

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The 54 countries of the Commonwealth of Nations represents more than 2 billion people across every region of the world and a vast diversity in development and capacity.

Professor Tim Unwin, well-known as UNESCO Chair in ICT4D, now heads up the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO). In this wide-ranging and provocative discussion, he explores the impact of ICT across diverse economies, the value of technology for governance and also provides an overview of the CTO’s work.

Prof. Unwin claims that, while it can change the relationship between citizens and the state, technology by itself doesn’t change very much.  It is how people use the technology that matters.  He also argues that social media’s role in participatory democracy may be over-hyped, and that while technology can accelerate change, it only does so for those who have not only access but also the literacy to use it, and that an over-focus on technology can in fact create a greater development divide.

If ICTs are to be used effectively by governments, all their people need to access them – otherwise, they’re going to lead to greater inequalities.

About Prof. Tim Unwin

Tim Unwin has been Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation since September 2011. He is also Chair of the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, UNESCO Chair in ICT4D, and Emeritus Professor of Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London. From 2001-2004 he led the UK Prime Minister’s Imfundo: Partnership for IT in Education initiative based within the Department for International Development (DFID), and from 2007 he was Director and then Senior Advisor (until 2011) to the World Economic Forum’s Partnerships for Education initiative with UNESCO. His recent work has concentrated  on the use of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D), and in 2004 he created the ICT4D Collective at Royal Holloway, University of London, which is now one of the world’s leading centres for ICT4D research and teaching.

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Episode links and resources

• Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation
• CTO Strategic Plan (PDF)
• Tim Unwin’s blog
• The ICT4D Collective

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• Tags: #ict4d #digitaldivide #telcoms

In this special 2-part interview with Zachary Tumin from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Belfer Centre, we look at how all parts of society can collaborate to innovate.

Zach also previews his new book ‘Collaborate or Perish’ where he and co-author William J. Bratton have developed an 8-phase collaboration lifecycle to help anyone with an idea to more successfully collaborate.

“Gov 2.0, as a proxy for increased engagement and involvement of citizens with government, is mighty and a force to be reckoned with… Whether or not government gets the idea of collaboration, it’s constantly going on all around us and the best thing that government can do is tap into it.”

About Zachary Tumin

Zachary Tumin is Special Assistant to Director and Faculty Chair, Science, Technology and Public Policy Program, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Over his career, Zach has served at the Kennedy School in research and staff positions, and in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors as chief executive, staff, and consultant to leaders in industry and government.

Zach leads research initiatives, teaches senior executives in closed door sessions and addresses organizations in keynote and panels around the world. He is the author of numerous teaching cases, working papers, reports and essays.

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Part 1 – Gov 2.0

Part 2  – Collaboration

Episode links and resources

• Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government
• Report – From Government 2.0 to Society 2.0: Pathways to Engagement, Collaboration and Transformation
• Zach Tumin’s personal website

Collaborate or Perish!

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• Tags: #gov20 #society20 #collaboration #innovation

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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The Black Saturday fires devastated Australia and shocked the world. Now, the Country Fire Authority of Victoria has become a leading example of the use of social media for emergency management, winning this year’s Australian eGovernment award.

Martin Anderson, CFA’s Digital Media Manager and Australian Government 2.0 Innovator of the Year for 2012, explains how the experience of the February 2009 fires highlighted the importance of social communication tools in emergency situations, and that even within a command-and-control environment, agencies need to look outside the box, be flexible and improvise.

What I’m trying to do is explore and learn more myself, and also expose the principles of crowdsourcing and the benefits it can bring to the emergency services.

About Martin Anderson

Martin Anderson is the Digital Media Manager for the Country Fire Aurhority of Victoria, with a background in communications and journalism. During that time he has helped position the organisation as a recognised leader in the digital / social media field. His goal is to continue to use his diverse communication skills to help inform and engage people in ways that enhance their personal and working lives and encourage the development of strong, resilient communities both on and offline.

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Episode links and resources

• CFA Facebook – warnings, incident updates, community safety, general news
• CFA Twitter for warnings, incident updates, media releases
• CFA Twitter for general CFA news
• CFA connect website
• CFA YourTube channel
• CFA wins e-Government awards
• Social media in emergency management presentation http://youtu.be/_EPnCdTPwgM
• CFA / DSE warnings / incidents page – http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/warnings-and-incidents/index.htm
• Social media updates on website: http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/warnings-and-incidents/social-media-updates.htm
• FireReady mobile apps – http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/warnings-and-incidents/cfa-on-your-mobile.htm
• Article containing info on One Source, One Message http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/407737/country_fire_authority_preps_bushfires_hp/

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• Tags: #smem #gov2au #em2au

Inspired by International Open Data Day, we talk to Steve Spiker, IT director for the Urban Strategies Council in Oakland, California, to talk about open data’s role in taking on urban poverty.

Steve explains that the cost of government data can be a major factor in how effective non-profit groups can be in taking on pernicious urban issues like foreclosures and crime, and that low-cost data can spur new businesses and community benefits in urban regions such as Oakland and Alameda County. Open data is “far more impacting than we actually thought,” he says.

Steve organized and hosted the Open Data Day Bay Area event, and on Gov20 Radio he shares about a new app developed during the day of hacking that helps find fee-free credit union ATMs in the SF Bay Area, 99atms.com. Steve stresses that there is a need to link existing advocacy communities to the open data and Gov 2.0 movements to increase their impact.