Andrea Di MaioAfter the excellent declaration of open government released just a few weeks ago, another Australian senior official shows that the country really hits the nail on the head when it comes to government 2.0.
At a FutureGov forum held earlier this week, Ann Steward, Federal Government CIO, addressed the issue of what employee should be doing. According to FutureGov:
Steward said that although a lot of good work was being done, agencies needed to identify the internal barriers to embracing Gov 2.0, and develop an “action agenda” not only within their own agencies, but for collaboration with other agencies on common service areas – and the Australian public.
“How many of you are working collaboratively in externally hosted environments?” Steward asked delegates at the National Convention Centre in Canberra, prompting a show of hands. “A few, but not many,” she noted. “We need more activists to lead the way.”
The point about activists is great and goes hand in hand with the declaration of open government that requires agencies “to develop policies that support employee-initiated, innovative government 2.0-based proposals as well as the line that senator Kate Lundy takes when she addresses the same topics.
It is quite impressive to find legislators. ministers and senior civil servants all aligned on the same priorities. Ann, like Kate, is an incredibly smart and wise person, soft-spoken but razor-sharp. In another recent interview, where she discussed priorities around innovation and cloud computing, she showed a refreshing, no-nonsense attitude.
And, as a side note, Ann – like Kate – is a very good looking woman. I know this has absolutely nothing to do with getting IT and government 2.0, but you’ll have to excuse me: after all, I am Italian 
Category: web 2.0 in government Tags: Australia, government 2.0
7 responses so far ↓
1 Tweets that mention Australian Government CIO Reinforces Employee-Centricity of Government 2.0 -- Topsy.com July 31, 2010 at 3:01 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Andrea DiMaio and adriankhall, 이준구. 이준구 said: RT @adriankhall: RT @AndreaDiMaio: Aust Govt CIO Reinforces Employee-Centricity of Govt 2.0 – http://bit.ly/bpNVQt #gov20 #opengov #gov2au [...]
2 Stephen Collins July 31, 2010 at 7:51 pm
Andrea, I think Ann Steward’s statement this week was incredibly powerful and important.
However, and I know you’re fully aware of this in your Australian and international experience, it’s not enough. Massive cultural resistance remains throughout the Australian public sector at all levels to activity that might be considered to be Government 2.0 in nature. We need a strong catalyst to emerge – from the public and from the political sphere – that has more power and influence than either Kate or Ann (as neither are influential enough alone or together to make enough difference).
I have discussed my thoughts at http://bit.ly/9Gv6GB
3 Gov 2.0 Radio Hot Links – August 1, 2010 « #2010Left August 1, 2010 at 1:57 am
[...] Andrea DiMaio: Australian Government CIO Reinforces Employee-Centricity of Gov 2.0Marcia Stepank: Context Deficit Disorder Morgen Peers: Open Government. Theoretically, it all started in Canada. 1896.Dannielle Blumenthal: The things we don’t blog aboutAlex Showerman: Skiing, Water Parks, Dating and Politics (Three Ways to Engage Your Online Community)Linda Cureton: Life in IT FlatlandAndrew P. Wilson: Do You Know Your Audience? Are You Sure?Adriel Hampton: Flickr-fy Your Blogs and TweetsPLUS, don’t miss Gov 2.0 Radio on Sunday night, as we host a discussion with UserVoice CEO Richard White. [...]
4 Gov 2.0 Radio Hot Links – August 1, 2010 « Adriel Hampton: Wired to Share August 1, 2010 at 1:57 am
[...] Andrea DiMaio: Australian Government CIO Reinforces Employee-Centricity of Gov 2.0Marcia Stepank: Context Deficit Disorder Morgen Peers: Open Government. Theoretically, it all started in Canada. 1896.Dannielle Blumenthal: The things we don’t blog aboutAlex Showerman: Skiing, Water Parks, Dating and Politics (Three Ways to Engage Your Online Community)Linda Cureton: Life in IT FlatlandAndrew P. Wilson: Do You Know Your Audience? Are You Sure?Adriel Hampton: Flickr-fy Your Blogs and TweetsPLUS, don’t miss Gov 2.0 Radio on Sunday night, as we host a discussion with UserVoice CEO Richard White. [...]
5 Gov 2.0 Radio Hot Links – August 1, 2010 | Gov 2.0 Radio August 1, 2010 at 1:59 am
[...] Andrea DiMaio: Australian Government CIO Reinforces Employee-Centricity of Gov 2.0Marcia Stepank: Context Deficit Disorder Morgen Peers: Open Government. Theoretically, it all started in Canada. 1896.Dannielle Blumenthal: The things we don’t blog aboutAlex Showerman: Skiing, Water Parks, Dating and Politics (Three Ways to Engage Your Online Community)Linda Cureton: Life in IT FlatlandAndrew P. Wilson: Do You Know Your Audience? Are You Sure?Adriel Hampton: Flickr-fy Your Blogs and TweetsPLUS, don’t miss Gov 2.0 Radio on Sunday night, as we host a discussion with UserVoice CEO Richard White. [...]
6 Steve August 1, 2010 at 5:13 am
Excellent affirmation Andrea. Your praise really highlights that public servants in Australia really highlights the need for public servants to get on with the job by taking a more activist approach and challenging those aspects of custom, practice and self-interest that hold the APS back.
You might like to check out what I’ve had to say on OZloop about this http://apsozloop.ning.com/profiles/blogs/are-you-a-gov-20-activist
Cheers
Steve
7 Crowdsourcing Is Far From Easy for Government August 5, 2010 at 1:40 am
[...] discussed the above a couple of times in this blog (see here and here) and this is why I like the Australian way to open government where focus is on the inside rather than the outside. Crowdsourcing will work [...]