Presentation to the UK's Government Digital Service, July 2013

Open government & Gov 2.0 in Australia

Craig ThomlerJuly 2013

Who am I?

Australians online

Source: Sensis Social Media Report May 2012

Source: Sensis Social Media Report May 2012

Australian social media use

Australian social media use

Source: Sensis Social Media Report May 2012

2006 – Australian Bureau of Statistics begins releasing data under Creative Commons

2007 – First mention of Gov 2.0 by an Aussie public servant / First public sector Twitter account

2008 – eGovAU blog started2009 – Gov 2.0 Taskforce / MashUp Australia data

competition / data.gov.au beta / Draft social media use guidance for public servants

2010 – Government accepts majority of Gov 2.0 Taskforce report / Open Government declaration (last act of retiring Minister)

Timeline: Gov 2.0 in Australia

2010 - GovSpace launched / Grog exposed in media (120+ articles). Agency allows him to keep blogging, but no public statement is made

2011 – ‘Final’ APS social media guidance embedded in Code of Conduct / Production data.gov.au site released / Revised FOI laws come into effect, pro-disclosure bias / Australian Government adopts Creative Commons licensing by default

2012 – First GovHack (privately run) Gov 2.0 agenda declared complete by

responsible agency

Timeline: Gov 2.0 in Australia

THE END(well not really)

• No whole-of-government agenda/goals or measurement.

• No political support from Prime Minister.

• No responsible Minister overseeing agenda.

• Review of FOI underway with brief to reduce disclosure.

• Parliamentarian expenses/activities ruled to be FOI exempt.

Australian Gov 2.0 today

• Social media adoption in government still growing.

• Work continuing on open data agenda (unfunded).

• First Departmental Secretary on Twitter.

• Gov 2.0 primer released.

• Most states moving towards digital first strategy.

• Cloud normalised in government procurement.

• Australia joined the Open Government Partnership.

• GovHack 2013 – 1,000 developers, 6 jurisdictions.

• No public sector social media disasters.

But it’s not all bad…

Aussie government use of social media

Community internet use: 98%

Use social media:

• 62% of Australians

• 73% of Federal agencies

• 72% of Federal politicians

The social media majority

In mid-2012:

73% of Australian Government agencies reported using social media for official purposes

The social media majority

Source: Craig Thomler – FOI request May 2012

Use Share of responses

For stakeholder engagement or collaboration 54.24%

Operating an information campaign 42.37%

Responding to customer enquiries/comments/complaints 42.37%

For engaging with journalists and media outlets 40.68%

For engagement or collaboration with other government agencies 40.68%

Monitoring citizen, stakeholder and/or lobbyist views and activities 28.81%

For a public consultation process 27.12%

For a stakeholder or other restricted access consultation 22.03%

Other type of activity (i.e. recruitment, crowdsourcing, staff) 18.64%

For policy or services co-design 11.86%

How social media is being used

Over 1,500 online consultations in last four years

Over 880 Twitter accounts

Over 120 agency blogs

Over 350 Facebook pages

Over 300 agency mobile apps

Over 200 agency YouTube channels

Held 13 data competitions

Now 7 open data sites

All levels of Aus government

Growth in Twitter use

Government as media

Government as convenor

Government as platform

Crowdsourcing

• Australian Governments are better at using social media than corporate Australia (but often think they are worse).

• Has begun positively influencing policy development and service delivery as a broader cross-section of public servants recognise the value of social listening and iterative design.

Outcomes so far

• Social media increasingly business as usual for agencies and integrated as core in communications planning.

• Social media broadening beyond comms and IT teams, reaching broader public service.

• Best practice case studies now exist at all levels of government.

• Gov 2.0 / Social Media groups for public servants growing in many jurisdictions.

The good…

• No political leadership or mandate – Ministers even asking agencies to close down social media accounts/blogs to avoid potential risks.

• Limited talent pool in public sector – few public servants with more than 2-3 years experience establishing & managing social media accounts.

• Patchy support within and across agencies – few senior champions.

• Limited training, support, mentoring available for agencies or staff – some signs this might change.

The bad…

• States & Commonwealth pursuing own agendas.

• Code of Conduct social media guidance has gray areas, causing concern and restraining social media use by some public servants.

• Coalition (potentially next government) has instructed members to avoid social media.

• Only 1/3 of Commonwealth public servants can access social media services from work PCs.

• Secretaries Board mandated agencies “must use more social media” – lack of clarity on what this means!

The ugly…

• Social media / Gov 2.0 works best as a horizontal, not vertical, skillset in government.

• Cooperation is better than competition within gov.

• Gov 2.0 can be driven from the grassroots, but it is far slower and more painful without senior support.

• Lack of skilled staff is No.1 barrier to more effective use of social media – not money or mandate.

• Ask for forgiveness, not permission.

• Good change management makes Gov 2.0 stick.

My thoughts and learnings

• eGovernment Resource Centre: egov.vic.gov.au

• Innovation showcase: showcase.govspace.gov.au

• GovSpace: govspace.gov.au

• AGIMO blog: agimo.gov.au/blog/

• Trove: trove.nla.gov.au

• Video: Dumb ways to die (Vic Metro)

• iPhone: Run That Town (ABS)

Good examples of Aussie 2.0

Questions…Craig Thomler

[email protected]

@CraigThomlerhttp://eGovAU.blogspot.com

www.delib.net/australia/@Delibaunz