The Government of Canada has issued an information technology directive on business, information, application, technology and security architectures that includes a mandate to prioritize open source software.
‘Government Digital’ with Canada CIO Alex Benay
Alex Benay is the Chief Information Officer Government of Canada and an open and relentless advocate for digital government innovation. He is also the author of the new book, “Government Digital: The Quest to Regain Public Trust,” so we asked him to share his thoughts on the role of the CIO, Canada’s proactive move to technology modernization, and what it means for government to go digital.
Building an internal digital government champions network
Jenny Cearns from GOV.UK’s Department of Health has a great post on cultivating a community of digital champions within government that mirrors what I know some chief data officers are doing around creating an internal network of data coordinators.
Doing/done: The beauty of GOV.UK’s ‘What we’re working on’ updates
GOV.UK’s occasional “What we’re working on” post is an excellent example of how government can share regular updates on recent accomplishments and what will be worked on next.
GOV.UK updates digital service standards
The GOV.UK team has updated established protocols that serve as the foundation for ensuring government digital teams provide high-quality citizen services.
New Zealand forks the United Kingdom
Perhaps the biggest civic open source story of 2013 was the government of New Zealand’s copying of the United Kingdom’s gov.uk code to begin building a new version of its own website.
Code for The Philippines: Help urgently needed
By now you’ve no doubt heard of the horrific consequences of super Typhoon Haiyan which has devastated the Philippines. In addition to an inconceivable death toll, thousands are displaced and without shelter.
How the UK is raising the open government bar and setting a new standard
I’ve been collecting links (below) from the UK’s Government Digital Service blog for a while wondering when they’ll stop executing their great “beta” work on GOV.UK, but they continue to outdo themselves.
Government open source procurement toolkit helps dispel myths of OSS
The British government’s Cabinet Office has published an Open Source Procurement Toolkit as part of its ongoing information and communications strategy.
Edmonton launches open data site
According to Edmonton Chief Information Officer Chris Moore, the city has launched its official open data site at edmonton.socrata.com.
British Columbia Climate Action Secretariat James Mack on Apps 4 Climate Action
British Columbia’s top climate protection official and Gov 2.0 Radio host Adriel Hampton discuss how hackers and open government data are helping Canada tackle global warming (British Columbia Climate Action Secretariat James Mack on “Apps for Climate Action).
In discussion with Australian Sen. Kate Lundy
In Discussion with Sen. Kate Lundy: The G2R crew talks with Sen. Lundy about Australia’s recent Declaration of Open Government, the AU Government 2.0 Taskforce, public sphere discussions around open government, the National Broadband Network (delivery of a fiber at 100Mbps to over 90 percent of Australians, with rural areas getting 12Mbps via wireless or satellite), and the controversy over a proposed Internet filter in Australia.
Government spending cuts: Who knows best?
The recently announced UK Government Spending Challenge, has this week, invited members of the public to send in their ideas on how to get value for public money.
The UK Spending Challenge was announced last month, but was initially only open to public servants. As Chancellor George Osbourne explained above, the response from public servants has been impressive. It has yielded over 60,000 ideas in just two weeks:
UK government launches Spending Challenge: ‘Help us get more for less’
UK Prime Minister David Cameron kicked off a consultation exercise on ways to reduce government spending. Together with Nick Clegg he has written to public service workers asking them to share their ideas on where to make spending cuts.
Edmonton experiments with Second Life
I recently had the opportunity to chat with Chris Moore, CIO of Edmonton, Canada. One of the new tools Chris is using is Second Life from Linden Labs. While Second Life has been around since 2003, the City of Edmonton is just beginning to roll the tool out, as you can read about in this recent article.
UK Gov’s Digital Revolution: Digitise, Personalise, Economise
Gordon Brown’s speech last week on “Building Britain’s Digital Future”, covered a wide range of topics, but focused particularly how digital technologies such as the “semantic web” could drive a radical reshaping of government and its interactions with citizens.
Edmonton CIO discusses city’s approach to open data
Edmonton’s Chief Information Officer Chris Moore discusses three ‘big things’ they’re addressing regarding open data, including collaboration, the role of government, non-profit organizations, universities and private sector.
€1m-plus fund for ideas to move Ireland forward
Earlier this week, President Mary McAleese launched a search to find two “game-changing†ideas that will help secure prosperity and jobs for Ireland.
The initiative comes in the form of a competition – Your Country, Your Call – that is offering two winners a cash prize of €100,000 each and up to €500,000 for implementation of their ideas.
Open innovation from a UK hospital bed
When talking this morning on Skype with my good friend Chris Quigley, from the UK-based company Delib, he informed me that he was in the hospital for a slipped disc in his back. The amazing thing is that while hospitalized, he created an open innovation platform for the hospital called Help Us Improve Kings.
This platform allows staff, patients and visitors the ability to submit, comment and rate ideas to improve Kings Hospital. It’s amazing how powerful open innovation is, and how one person can truly make a difference using technology as a tool.