Andrea Di Maio, VP at Gartner Research, offers an interesting overview of the reinvention of government, sometimes called Government 2.0, with his ten top developments around the world.
His comments on the US effort towards open government are particularly insightful, where the focus is (surprise!) about compliance, rather than the spirit of change and creating new value for the people that government serves. He writes:
Last year I was not hugely complimentary of the Open Government Directive in the US. Although an important step, as it recites, toward greater transparency, collaboration and participation, it made openness a compliance rather than a business issue for several agencies.
The main purpose was not to reflect on how openness could be used as a critical tool for agencies to better achieve their mission priorities, but to make sure that they would comply, by certain dates, with the obligations of having an open government plan.
Some agencies did very well, some others did less well, some clearly showed how much they were driven by the desire to comply (and excel), despite having quite good ideas, some others were disappointed by the outcomes.
It's interesting to watch as the culture of hierarchical bureaucracy pushes even worthwhile initiatives to reinvent government towards becoming another bureaucratic exercise. The best of the initiatives realize that in essence this is much more than new technology. It's about a different way of interacting with people, in fact, a new way of managing.
His top ten are:
10. EU Action Plan on E-Government
9. U.S. Open Government Plans
8. More Developers in Politics
7. Government organizations venturing into the public cloud
6. Smart Local Government CIOs
5. Kate Lundy and the Australian women who “get it”
4. Washingotn DC’s Citywide Digital Divide Strategy
3. OMB 25 Points Plan
2. GSA approach to social media and cloud
1. The Unsung Heroes: Government Employees
Read his full article here.
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