Difference between revisions of "Web 2.0"

Revision as of 20:33, 20 November 2007

What is Web 2.0, and how can it be used to engage citizens and stakeholder groups in governance?

That is the theme of a talk Dr. David Newman gave at the IT in Government 2007, Northern Ireland conference.

Learning from each other: engaging stakeholders using Web 2.0

How do know that your customers are satisfied with your services? Should you be doing things differently? What do stakeholders want from government? To find out, you need to engage citizens. We now have ICTs that you can use to learn from stakeholders. With two-way communication, people don't just read what you tell them, but can tell you what they think is important. Dr. Newman will show how Web 2.0 tools can be used to acquire and manage knowledge from many people inside and outside your organisation, based on his extensive research into e-consultation.

• What is new about Web 2.0?
• Uses of Web 2.0 in e-government
• E-consultation
• Innovative ways of using Web 2.0 in e-consultation
• Developing lasting relationships

What is new about Web 2.0?

• 1.0 Worldwide web 1st generation
  • 1 -> many
    • One person writes the content.
    • Many people read the pages.
  • Need to write in HTML + graphics
• 1.5 Content management systems (CMS)
  • Small teams -> many readers
    • Each writer works on a different page
    • Designers and programmers work separately on overall system, not each page.
  • Get easier for writers to use, but still need training.
  • Examples: DirectGov, Green Party in NI
• 2.0
  • many -> many
    • many people write or upload content
    • many others read and sometimes comment
  • Much easier to write
    • Better usability, no training needed (at most watch a 5-min. video)
    • Can set up an account with a service provider such as blogspot or Facebook, or install easy-to-use software like WordPress.
  • Examples:
    • Blogs: Slugger O'Toole
    • Social networking sites: Facebook, Bebo (e.g. Michele Smyth, Alderman Wilson)
    • Share photographs: Flickr
    • Upload videos: YouTube.
  • Comments build conversations
    • Not just a quick information fix: interactive
    • Not just simple instant transactions: ongoing relationships

Uses of Web 2.0 in e-government

• Internal knowledge management
  • Communities of practice, bringing together people faced with the same problems
    • E.g. Dutch police in different forces discuss how to close down a cannabis farm
  • Technologies: information exchange over e-mail lists, discussion forums, chat systems, ...
• Inter-organisational joint projects
  • Collaborative work, including project planning, budgeting, joint report writing
    • E.g. when setting up shared services
  • Technologies: collaborative writing using Lotus Notes or wikiwiki software, CRM and project management portals, Google spreadsheets, version control software (cf. services for software developers at [http://sourceforge.net/ Sourceforge).
• Engaging with stakeholders
  • Complaints and compliments, public consultations, neighbourhood forums, supporting the work of councillors and assembly members, planning circles, ...
  • I.e. every time when government learns from people outside government (-> organisational learning)
  • Technologies: see [technology classification]

E-consultation and Web 2.0

Compare these two sites:

1. Northern Ireland Departments Consultation Register
2. The Wheel's Active Citizenship Consultation

1. A very traditional web site that,
   • puts on-line the paper-based process,
   • requires people to read long PDFs in sometimes difficult language
   • in most cases expects written replies on paper.
2. A story-collecting site that,
   • collects personal experiences of what it is to be an active citizen in Ireland,
   • used to build up a more subtle picture of today's citizens,
   • to include in a submission to the Taoiseach's Taskforce on Active Citizenship.

The second is the Web 2.0 approach. It encourages ordinary people and workers to tell stories of what they think is important, rather than just answer the questions that officials worry about. Here we see reflective citizenship at its best.

To succeed, such approaches require:

• A willingness to listen to stakeholders in their own words, and reflect on what you hear.
• Publicity to establish awareness among the stakeholder group.
  • (in this case, via the community and voluntary sector members of The Wheel)
• A clear web site inviting visitors to participate.
• Very easy ways of submitting content
  • (in this case, multiple channels: web forms, e-mail, SMS text messages and voice mail recordings)