Communications

Pushing the Government Send Button – Risk in the face of social media

t has been fascinating to watch governments – particularly in Canada – grapple with the risk paradigm. The worry is all too real, unfortunately, that interacting and sharing of their expertise and experience could land a leader on the front fold of the newspaper or silently put a clerk or policy analyst into a box.Read… Read more »

On Birth and Extintion of Digital Ecosystems

Our increasing participatory and interactive behavior in the Internet is evolving at such speed that our metamorphosis into digital species feels like it is happening overnight. We are collectively developing all sorts of digital ecosystems and new market laws where things are moving so fast that marketers have little time to find out what areRead… Read more »

Public Diplomacy via Innovative Social Engagement

Since I left the National Defense Unversity, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do next. In between, I did some writing, speaking, and teaching, but now I’m moving to something more permanent. It’s leaked that I’m joining Microsoft’s U.S. Public Sector division as Director of Innovative Social Engagement. I thought I’dRead… Read more »

Social Media Recruiting in Government

Hello Everyone, It seems like everyone is talking about social media for recruiting, but is it really working? Tools like Facebook and LinkedIn are the big buzz, and while LinkedIn can be fruitful for recruiters, are gov’t recruiters having any success with Facebook or are you strictly using it as a branding tool? I’d likeRead… Read more »

Key Areas to Consider in Open Government Strategy and Planning

The release of the Open Government Directive on December 8, 2009 has prompted many Agencies to wrestle with what a comprehensive Open Government Plan for their Agency would look like. According to the Directive, Open Government Plans are due for each Agency in 120 days. (The Sunlight foundation provides a good high level summary ofRead… Read more »

Thoughts on Gov 2.0 and Israel

So just got an opportunity to tell “The GovLoop Story” to Israel government officials who are looking how to use social media and social networking in their own country. Actually, Israel has created its own community based on the GovLoop concept and I felt honored by saying GovLoop was an inspiration. After my talk, IRead… Read more »

Great insights from the Massachusetts Governor’s Office on Using Social Media

When I ask those in Government what models they follow for Open Government I regularly hear Massachusetts, and the Governor’s office in particular. I reached out to the Brad Blake, Director, New Media & Online Strategy for the Governor, and he was kind enough to spend a lot of time responding to these questions. WhileRead… Read more »

Its not just about technology – its also very much about organisational structure

If you are a long serving computing practitioner who has been through mainframes in data centres to mini computers in departmental computing and then to PC Networks and IT you might just recall hearing about Conway’s Law. Well its coming back again as we move into Clouds! Melvin Conway thesis http://www.melconway.com/research/committees.html that gave birth toRead… Read more »