In over three years of web 2.0 and government 2.0 coverage Andrea Di Maio (a male), VP at Gartner Research has met or spoken on the phone with several hundred people around the world, and has come to believe that there is a gender difference in how government folks understand the implications of open government and social media in government.
His view is rooted in a recognition of how many interactions with female CIO and IT leaders have shown a better appreciation of the potential of these technologies, but also a smarter way of striking a balance between internal vs. external collaboration and the blurring of boundaries between the two. He is not saying that men do not get it.
On the other hand, while there seems to be an overwhelming majority of men among the government 2.0 evangelist community, women on the government 2.0 implementation side (i.e. not those who preach, but those who have to deploy and use these technologies) seem to be faster and nimbler in getting to the bottom of it.
My own take is that the revolution now under way in management is partly about a shift from one-way top-down communications to adult-to-adult conversations. Women are naturally better at the latter than men and, in Westen culture, they get more practice doing it. So should it be any surprise that they take to it more easily?
Read Andrea Di Maio's post here.
See also my earlier related posts:
Women in High-Tech Startups: "The Social Network"
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