It’s difficult for governments to remain effective when the support of citizens evaporates. History is littered with failed states, civil wars and insurrections resulting from society’s loss of trust in their rulers and governance systems. In authoritarian states this support is often built on fear, coercion and control, which can prove to be very fragileRead… Read more »
Libraries have always been dear to me. When I was growing up, the Carnegie-built library in my hometown was my sister’s and my favorite place to swing by during the summer — and not just for the books, mind you. They hosted wonderful youth engagement activities: volunteer opportunities, educational classes, and they even had a rental programRead… Read more »
Let’s put this as neutrally as possible. People interact with public services. Now, here’s a simple question: what should we call those people – and why? Perhaps it’s not such a simple question after all. They – we – are many things. We are patients, customers, passengers, swimmers, clients, taxpayers, claimants and more (as wellRead… Read more »
With any government program, project, or initiative, you can’t just rely on an “if you build it, they will come” strategy. If nobody knows about your initiatives or projects, they can’t make a difference. To be truly successful at your job to drive engagement with these programs, you have to capture people while they areRead… Read more »
Our partners at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation recently published a great piece on their Challenges to Democracy blog by Hollie Russon Gilman that we are re-posting here. Gilman’s insightful article about innovation in governance is the third in a series (first and second), and we hope you will read it belowRead… Read more »
There was as time when those working in digital comms in government liked to think of themselves as pioneers, dogooders, renegades, jeans wearing, pizza eating innovators; disruptors with a start up mentality. Is this still the case? Here are some reflections… What is the evidence? Govcamp the annual get together was initially a very lowRead… Read more »
This morning I attended the breakfast launch of the Open for Business: How Open Data Can Help Achieve the G20 Growth Target report. The report was written by Nicholas Gruen (former chair of the Gov 2.0 Taskforce) and his team from Lateral Economics, with support from Victoria University and commissioned by the Omidyar Network (theRead… Read more »
One of the most major challenges for governments and societies around the world today is the rapidly declining trust in politicians, institutions and governance systems. I’m willing to make the claim that politicians today are no more corrupt, self-serving or beholden to special interests than politicians were fifty, a hundred or even a thousand yearsRead… Read more »
What do I mean by asking ‘Does digital engagement really exist?’ As I have categorised this post under digital engagement it suggests that I believe in the concept, but lets see where this leads… I was struck last week by the comments of @betonykelly and @timolloyd from BIS (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, England)Read… Read more »
Understanding how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars is a daunting task. In fiscal year 2013 alone, the federal government spent $3.5 trillion. In May, Congress unanimously passed and the President signed the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA), which increases accountability and transparency of federal spending. The act requires several changes that will shedRead… Read more »