The Government 2.0 Taskforce was established in June 2009 to investigate new Web 2.0 approaches to government information and government engagement with the public. A Government 2.0 Steering Group was formed in July 2010 to oversee the implementation of the Government’s response to the recommendations of the Taskforce’s report, Engage: Getting on with Government 2.0. The Government generally agreed with 12 of the 13 recommendations of the report and the Steering Group created a Government 2.0 Work Plan to implement these recommendations.
The concluding report of the Steering Group was noted by the Secretaries’ ICT Governance Board at its meeting on 5 June 2012. This acceptance marks the conclusion of the formal Government 2.0 Work Plan.
Achievements to date
In the past two years, the Steering Group has overseen a range of initiatives with the strategic goal of enabling and supporting the adoption of Government 2.0 principles by agencies in all aspects of their work. These include the principles of consultative, participatory and transparent government; and the principle of providing the public with accessible and reusable government information to the fullest possible extent.
The key activities include:
- the Declaration of Open Government by the Australian Government in July 2010;
- providing leadership, guidance and support to enable public servants to engage online;
- establishing data.gov.au as the Australian Government’s central public dataset repository;
- establishing awards to encourage and recognise excellence in Government 2.0;
- establishing the Creative Commons BY licence as the default licence for public Australian Government information and addressing other issues in the operation of copyright; and
- providing guidance and support to make public sector information accessible and reusable.
The way forward
Many agencies now embrace social media, as reflected in the most recent State of the Service report. Agencies continue to independently develop and implement their own Government 2.0 initiatives.
The work of the Steering Committee has ensured that robust frameworks and comprehensive mechanisms exist to support agencies as they embrace the opportunities presented by Government 2.0.
While the formal activities of the Steering Committee are complete, work continues to develop and provide support for all agencies as they embed Government 2.0 in their business-as-usual activity.
That support includes guidance from:
- AGIMO, through the Web Guide, on Government 2.0 principles and practices, identifying the requirements of Government and providing links to specific resources;
- The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner on Freedom of Information and Information Policy;
- The Attorney-General’s Department on intellectual property issues;
- The Australian Public Service Commission on making public comment and participating online; and
- The National Archives of Australia on digital recordkeeping.
From my vantage point as the Australian Government CIO, I continue to be impressed by the enthusiasm and innovation shown by public servants in adapting Government 2.0 principles and Web 2.0 technologies to further their work. I’d also like to acknowledge the continued engagement and support of the wider Gov 2.0 community.