By Tristan Parker.
Open data – the release of raw data held by an organisation for public use – has become a buzzword in public sector IT circles in recent years.
The reason for this is clear, says Keiron Mumby, account manager for web software specialists Jadu. Local authorities are well-placed to be at the forefront of ... Read More
This blog complements E-Government Bulletin, an email newsletter on the use of digital technologies to enhance public services & democracy
Conference Report: Open Value
September 1st, 2010ICT Should Be Protected From Cuts, Managers Warn.
September 1st, 2010Information and communications technology (ICT) should be protected from the heavy cuts being made currently across the public sector as it can play a critical role in delivering the efficiency savings required of local authorities elsewhere, according to a new report from the Society of IT Management (Socitm).
The report, ‘Tomorrow’s public services: some stories from ... Read More
Call For More Clarity On Treasury ‘Crowdsourcing’ Scheme
September 1st, 2010More clarity is needed on how the UK Treasury will feed public ideas solicited online into its forthcoming spending review, a leading e-participation analyst has said.
The Treasury has been asking for the public to vote online for which ideas to take forward to the next stage of its Spending Review, from a range of 44,000 ... Read More
Tribunal Appeal Set for Councillor Posting YouTube Meeting Clips
September 1st, 2010A Brighton and Hove city councillor who has posted publicly-available clips of council meetings onto video-sharing website YouTube has been temporarily saved from suspension by a national tribunal.
A complaint against Jason Kitcat, a Green Party councillor for Regency Ward in Brighton and Hove, was filed last year to the council’s standards committee by a Conservative ... Read More
The Future of Citizenship: Loudest Shout or Best Argument?
August 3rd, 2010By members of the Centre for Digital Citizenship
At their best, democracies should be noisy, reverberating with pluralistic voices, competing explanations, diverse values, ever-broader sources of information and illumination, all competing to fill the public sphere with their calls to attention and urgent demands to make a difference.
But there must be more than just noise. To ... Read More
Proposed Australian Citizens Assembly ‘Should Move Online’
August 3rd, 2010An Australian ‘citizens assembly’ proposed by the country’s Prime Minister, whose 150 members would be selected at random, would function much better if run at least partly online, according to one leading analyst.
In a speech ahead of the snap general election she has called for 21 August, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced last month that ... Read More
Councils Must Embrace Social Media, Analysts Urge
August 3rd, 2010Local authorities must embrace social media to “take information to where people are” online and not rely on people coming to their official websites, delegates heard at Building Perfect Council Websites ’10, the annual conference co-hosted by E-Government Bulletin publisher Headstar and the public sector Society of IT Management (Socitm).
Jane Postlethwaite, social media officer at ... Read More


