Blogs are yet to find significant traction as an enabler of communication between the Australian government and its constituency. It’s a shame really, as blogs offer an amazing opportunity to communicate clearly and to receive feedback from those using government services.
Gary Nairn’s recent comments at CeBIT give me hope, especially when he specifically mentions blogs:
Nairn told the CeBIT conference in Sydney this morning that blogs could represent a “new era” in community interaction as the government develops more online services.
“Blogs could split up consultation and enable government and others to analyse and debate issues in reasonable detail,” he said.
“This could then lead to more informed policy and program development.”
This could not just be the government talking to its citizens, but also citizens talking amongst themselves about policy issues, according to Nairn.
“Blogging could lead to a new era of community interaction.
“For example, Australians in the city might learn more about life in the bush from people that live there.”
Localised blogs and other online technologies could help bridge the rural-city communication divide in Australia, according to Nairn.
Nairn discussed the blogs in a roundup of the “significant progress” of the e-government strategy, which he launched at the same event 12 months ago.
Minister Nairn seems to get that it’s about people and communication rather than just another way of slapping the community with a policy message.
I hope that the Federal government give this a real go in the near future. It’s something that I’m more than happy to come and speak about if agencies want a heads up on the opportunities they could be taking.
In the meantime, thanks to my friend Luis Suarez of IBM, here’s a shining example of just what government blogging can be – The Pandemic Flu Leadership Blog from the US .
Open discussion with the community, posts from subject matter experts (not all of whom are government officials) and really generating a community around the subject matter. Yes, it’s admittedly experimental and not an ongoing site, but it’s a big, high-profile and well done start.
