K--Open Government and Social Networks
State of Utah Social Media GuidelinesThe purpose of this document is to provide guidelines for use of social media at the State of Utah. Agencies may utilize these guidelines as a component of agency policy development for sanctioned participation using Social Media services, or simply as employee guidelines. If you are a State employee or contractor creating or contributing to blogs, microblogs, wikis, social networks, virtual worlds, or any other kind of social media both on and off the utah.gov domain, these guidelines are applicable. The State expects all who participate in social media on behalf of the State, to understand and to follow these guidelines. These guidelines will evolve as new technologies and social networking tools emerge.
Guidelines for Secure Use of Social Media by Federal Departments and AgenciesThe use of social media for federal services and interactions is growing tremendously, supported by initiatives from the administration, directives from government leaders, and demands from the public. This situation presents both opportunity and risk. Guidelines and recommendations for using social media technologies in a manner that minimizes the risk are analyzed and presented in this document.
New York City's Connected City InitiativeNew York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg recently announced a range of technology projects known as the Connected City Initiative aimed at making government more accessible, transparent and accountable. City CIO Paul Cosgrave elaborated on the mayor's plans at an October technology conference, outlining how New York is adding iPhone apps and social media capabilities to its celebrated 311 hotline service, while also launching an ambitious plan to consolidate its sprawling IT infrastructure.
Social networking Use Increases, But Has Yet to Transform GovernmentFor years, one of the ways the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) connected with the public was by investing in old-fashioned audio-visual production, usually a series of films teaching safe driving. Despite their best efforts, DMV officials struggled to show these films to their most important audience: young drivers. Two years ago, the country's largest state motor vehicles agency decided to post the videos online by creating a channel on YouTube. Suddenly the videos that no teenager wanted to watch became a huge hit, according to the department's CIO, Bernard Soriano. Today the DMV's ouTube channel has more than 3,500 subscribers and its videos have been watched nearly 500,000 times; "Kyle's Drive Test" leads the way with more than 250,000 views.
Innovators, Break Down Those SilosThe most effective way to achieve meaningful change in business is to enable collaborative innovation across cubicles and industries
New York City, App Developers Win Big in Local Innovation CompetitionWayFinder NYC, a program that helps users locate the nearest subway station by looking through their camera display on Android phones, won $7,500 in awards in the city's first "NYC BigApps" competition, which was launched last June by the city's Economic Development Corporation
Will Facebook Replace Traditional Government Web Sites?Like most big cities, San Francisco runs a Web site packed with hundreds of pages of city services, department listings, community information and other resources. But SFgov.org's days as the primary electronic gateway into San Francisco government may be numbered. Chris Vein, CIO for the city and county of San Francisco, said popular Web 2.0 platforms like Facebook or Google's search-driven suite of services may be displacing public-sector Web sites for many citizen-government interactions.
Working in the open Economic uncertainty, rapid technology advancements and a widening pool of global expertise are opening the way for unprecedented change in the way businesses operate and collaborate. The complexities of globalization, cross-company and cross-national partnerships, plus the evolution of multinational enterprises, are forcing enterprises to make transformational shifts in application management.
EU Service Innovation Yearbook 2009-2010By tapping the idea and creativity pool outside a company it can widen its development foot-print while reducing cost at the same time. Increasingly, companies are discovering the advantages of collaborating with a range of external entities for novel ideas – from suppliers to universities to business partners and customers. In some instances, they rely upon these external entities to autonomously produce innovation and in others they actively collaborate with them.
UK government venture offers open access to official data.A new website, data.gov.uk, will offer reams of public sector data, ranging from traffic statistics to crime figures, for private or commercial use. The target is to kick start a new wave of services that find novel ways to make use of the information.
A new way of workingIt pays to work smarter not harder. According to a recent study by the IBM Institute for Business Value, organizations that are significantly outperforming their industry peers also happen to be making more headway on newer approaches to work. They’re using dynamic, collaborative and connected ways of working to get things done effectively within a constantly changing environment. But most organizations are not yet meeting their ambitions in these areas. For those at the forefront and those lagging behind, this research offers insights into the critical practices and technologies that are fundamentally changing the nature of work.
Designing social media policy for governmentDeveloping a social media policy can be an important first step for those government agencies considering using social media and can ultimately serve as a key enabler for responsibly and effectively leveraging social media tools. Yet, many governments are struggling with what such a policy should encompass and convey. Not surprisingly, given the emergent nature of social media, governments actually have a formalized set of policies to guide their own efforts, as well as for others to draw on or learn from. As a consequence, governments are faced with reinterpreting and applying old policies that govern the use of the Internet or creating completely new policies.
Enabling open government through technologyThe United States has just completed one of the most consequential transitions in years, amid great uncertainty and unease. The Obama administration has turned from campaigning to governing. Matters of economic and foreign policy, as well as organizing a new government, are its most urgent priorities. But in this time of change, we want to draw attention to this administration’s historic opportunity to revitalize the operations of government as never before. That opportunity resides with the public servants of our governing institutions and the citizens they serve, and it can be unlocked by technologies evolving before our eyes. The mission of information technology has matured globally from providing information services to enabling individual empowerment and dynamic community. The Obama campaign demonstrated how technology can amplify the power of individuals within a community to drive a message. Now is the time to extend the power of individuals to stimulate the mission of government.
Entrepreneurs help governments work betterWith the White House urging federal agencies to make statistical data and other information available to the public, the Internet's next big opportunity may be tapping that information to boost government transparency, efficiency, and responsiveness. Much as blogs and YouTube democratized media and eBay let anyone become a retailer, these entrepreneurs want to help citizens participate more directly in governing.
CALIFORNIA CITIZEN ENGAGEMENTCan California's budget-stricken government be improved through citizen engagement and civic developers? If a new application contest that launches this week bears digital fruit, there just might be an app for that.
From a Knowledge Society to an Innovation Society Innovation has been a central EU priority over the last decade. But the priority has been investing in knowledge rather than utilizing it rapidly and powerfully for societal benefit and development. Innovation is global, with increasing competition for best ideas and applications, and Europe must stand out. More technology is not the solution. Current European innovation policy fails to: leverage the power of networks and social innovation, implement Community level actions orchestrated around major societal challenges, invest ambitiously and strategically in the future, open up innovation to the creativity of a broad range of people and ideas, anticipate the new institutions and processes that will drive future innovation
Open CityToday modern cities are starting to declare themselves "open" by exposing their data and information to all citizens and, indeed, to anyone on the Internet. By declaring ourselves "open" we hope to marshal an army of citizens, developers and analysts to give us new insights into governing and better engagement with the people we serve.
Local Governments Offer Data to Software TinkerersMany local governments are figuring out how to use the Internet to make government data more accessible. The goal is to spawn useful Web sites and mobile applications — and perhaps even have people think differently about their city and its government.
European Commission - The impact of Social Computing in the information SocietyThe report features a comprehensive empirical analysis of Social Computing that is intended to inform policy makers. Social Computing has both direct and indirect effects on the implementation of the European Lisbon strategy, especially on the post-i2010 agenda currently being drafted. The research has been conducted by the Information Society Unit at JRC-IPTS over the last three years
White House: Open Government Directive(extracted from an article on USATODAY): "We are fundamentally committed to changing the way government works," says Aneesh Chopra, the federal government's chief technology officer. Further "open government" initiatives will follow, showcasing federal data already public and seeking comment starting Thursday on whether all federally funded research, other than what's classified, should be free. "It's an ambitious attempt to open up the government and to change the way that agencies do business," says Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists in Washington.