Communications

New guide touts tech’s role in fostering civic engagement in nations’ cities

In an effort to move local government public engagement strategies from complaint-driven affairs to problem-solving sessions, the National League of Cities has produced an action guide to help elected officials create a framework for civility and democratic governance. The guide mentions strategies, from utilizing Web 2.0 technologies to promoting volunteerism as ways to allow citizensRead… Read more »

More travels, more talking

After this week’s exciting trip to Scotland, I’m venturing slightly less far north a couple of weeks afterwards, to Lancaster. It’s for the ‘Digital networking and community safety partnerships conference’, taking place at the town hall in Lancaster on 16th February. It’s a joint LGID and NPIA event, and features really interesting discussions about howRead… Read more »

January 28 Research and Best Practices eNewsletter

Research Cloud tops CIO agenda (01/21/2011) – Gartner survey finds cloud computing the top technology priority for CIOs in 2011. 43% of respondents expect to migrate to cloud-based IT platforms within the next two years. http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1526414 Internet as a platform for collective action (01/18/2011) – PEW report finds internet users more likely to be activeRead… Read more »

Don’t Just Talk!

“Talk is cheap” and it doesn’t require planning or preparation or understanding. No wonder there is so much of it. Listening is effective for changing someone’s thinking, and is often necessary…but not sufficient. When it’s your turn to lead the conversation, what can you do that gives you a better value for your limited time?Read… Read more »

Broadband for a Broad Land Draft Submission to the Australian Parliament

The Australian Parliament has invited submissions for an Inquiry into the role and potential of the National Broadband Network by 5 February 2011. Here is the second draft of a submission for the enquiry. In the previous draft I addressed two issues: the environmental costs and benefits of the NBN and the role of electronicRead… Read more »

Stop the Meter – A Campaign against internet metering @ http://openmedia.ca/

Dear Internet Supporters, Last week the CRTC made a decision that, while disappointing, was nevertheless a small a step in the right direction. It rolled back 15% of the usage fee profits big telecom wanted to extract from indie ISPs. This is a big deal, and it shows that we’re turning the tides on thisRead… Read more »

Social Networking Worldwide – GovLoop talks to Ontario + OpsPedia

Spoke to today to the Province of Ontario via Skype about Govloop. My presentation is below. Some cool notes-Province of Ontario has its own collaboration site – OpsPedia – based on WordPress/BuddyPress. Biggest issue for them is getting resources to succeed (right now it’s a part-time/side project)-Online consultation with citizens – required lots of approval,Read… Read more »