Government 2.0 Taskforce

1.  Inquiries 2.0: Engineering for Serendipity 26th May 2010, Washington D.C. Australian Government 2.0 Taskforce Nicholas Gruen ngruen@gmail.com@nicholasgruen

2. Government 2.0 Taskforce • The Ministers for Finance and Deregulation and ‘Special Minister of State’ appointed the Taskforce • 5 senior bureaucrats • 10 from business (small and large), academia and consulting • Given 6 months from late June to Dec to: • Inquire, consult and report on how to bring about Government 2.0 • Commission independent work and initiate activities that can help illustrate the possibilities of Government 2.0 and illuminate the pathway to get there • First initiative was logo design comp

3. Government 2.0 Taskforce • The blog becomes our portal for • Announcements, admin etc • High level discussions on Government 2.0 and how to get there • All comments post moderated – moderation very rarely needed • All pages open for comments, including moderation policy • Moderation policy had one rule “use your commonsense” • Many highlights – without taking any big risks, this was genuine discussion, genuine thinking aloud • Check out fabulous discussion on guidance for online engagement • Web 2.0 provides public servants with unprecedented opportunities to open up government decision making and implementation to contributions from the community. In a professional and respectful manner, APS employees should engage in robust policy conversations. • Equally, as citizens, APS employees should also embrace the opportunity to add to the mix of opinions contributing to sound, sustainable policies and service delivery approaches. Began with a blog

4. Richard Allan (Director of Policy, Facebook, EU) Charlie Beckett (Director LSE’s Polis) Steven Clift (Online strategist and innovator) David Eaves (Writer and speaker on public policy) Ed Felten (Director Centre for Information Technology Policy Princeton University) Michael Geist (Chair, Internet and e-commerce law at University of Ottawa) William Heath (IdealGovernment.Gov) Andrew Hoppin (CIO of New York State Senate) Eric Ketelaar (Emeritus Prof of Archivistics, University of Amsterdam) Charles Leadbeater (consultant and author) Viktor Mayer-Schönberger (Associate Professor of Public Policy, National University of Singapore) Michal Migurski (Technology Head at Stamen) Laurence Millar (Former NZ CIO) Geoff Mulgan (Director, Young Foundation) Cameron Neylon (Biophysicist,l) John Palfry (Professor of Law at Harvard Law School) Jason Ryan (State Service Commission, NZ) Tom Steinberg (Founder, mysociety.org) Hon. Mozelle W. Thompson (Facebook – USA) Nat Torkington (Chair O’Reilly Open Source Convention) Joe Trippi (Writer and political strategist) Carol Tullo (Head UK Office of PSI) Tom Watson (UK MP, Former Minister for Transformational Government) David Weinberger (Harvard’s Berkman Institute) Dr Andy Williamson (UK Hansard eDemocracy Prog) Ed Mayo (CEO of Consumer Focus) International Reference Group

5. Inquiries 2.0? • Suggestions to the team that each submission have a ‘comments thread’ attached to it • Do we have permission from authors? • So we sought permission • Submission to us argues that Henry Review submissions should be searchable. • Demonstrates how easy it is to make them searchable • We had no different plans • So I proposed we announce we’d do it • But did we have the technical resources to do it? • If we didn’t the community would help outd

7. We could build something much more powerful • With an integrated database and based entirely on ‘opt ins’ we could • Enable a person to ask not just “What do other students think is the best pharmacy school?’ but “What do other students like me think is the best pharmacy school. • Track feedback on specific aspects of courses and teachers • Compensate for students who are excessively critical or appreciative • Enable students to contact others who have opted into such contacts. • Permit further analysis and mashups of data.

8. “Brilliant idea – I have not heard the idea articulated previously, and IMHO justifies the establishment of the taskforce.” Laurence Millar Within 24 hours, team solves and implements searchability Idea of a plugin for WordPress Convert into multiple formulas Automate permissions (eg for comments threads on submissions) Record originals of any comments that are moderated or deleted ‘Matt’ suggests range of other functions like ability to see commenter’s other posts/history ability to attribute value to a comment; like/dislike, thumbs up/down. ability to delete my own comments rss of a thread, notifications Inquiries 2.0

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12. Our platform was shared with the community With guest posts All consultants working to the Taskforce got access to post ‘blegs’ on our blog and to write up their work. All documents – eg Issues Paper - released in draft before final Major consultation and high quality research and writing of a report completed on time in 6 months With a two week turnaround from draft report to final (which involved a substantial rewrite) And imitation was the sincerest form of flattery An inquiry into innovation in government used soft deadlines The Henry Review made its submissions searchable online! Building public goods

13. This is a deeply impressive piece of work, very comprehensive with clear sign posting. The idea of info-philanthropy is an important point to make. A clear explanation of the serendipitous nature of knowledge sharing in networks is probably a global first for a government report.’ Tom Watson (UK MP, Former Minister for Transformational Government) Personally, I think the draft — from its principled overview to its broad areas of application — is a blueprint for democracies everywhere David Weinberger (Harvard’s Berkman Institute) ‘[T]he best piece of work I have seen any government organisation (and most vendors and consultants) do about this topic. Andrea DiMaio, Gartner The draft report is an impressive piece of work, assembling a vast trove of good ideas and sound analysis. We will study and learn. Andrew McLaughlin, Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer International Reaction

14. Takeouts • Accelerated the inquiry process • 9 months work in 6 • Improved its quality • Unleashed and illustrated the power of • Gregariousness, association, play • Learning by doing and imitating • Surfacing problems for solution rather than meetings • Serendipity • Inquiries 2.0 can be replicated at any level • a major public inquiry • a agency research task • individual public servant’s ‘bleg’ assisted query.

15. Openness is not just constitutional hygieneIt’s economic policy

16. ngruen@gmail.com @nicholasgruen