Monthly Archives: October 2008

Free Highway Design Software!

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Hey all you designers of two-lane highways! Get your free download of the 2008 Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (IHSDM). Brought to you by your friendly Federal Highway Administration.

The site does require you to register for approval. Information required for registration includes your name, title organizational affiliation, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number, and facsimile number. You must also acknowledge that you have read and agree to the disclaimer.

After registering, you will be sent an e-mail message with a password to enable the download of IHSDM software files. I received my confirmation e-mail and was able to log in and begin downloading the program immediately upon submitting a registration request.

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Buddy Walk on Public Works Island

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Buddy Walk on Public Works Island

Buddy Walk on Public Works Island

This weekend on Sat., Oct. 25th, Public Works Island in Second Life will host a Buddy Walk to be held in conjunction with the National Down Syndrome Society. Last year, 270 Buddy Walks were held in “real life” to bring awareness and funds for Down syndrome, and this year, JL Zinner and I decided to host one in Second Life.

There will be a walking path around the island with information and signs about Down Syndrome. JL has also set up entertainment for the day. Here is the schedule:
12pm Ezcape Hax
1pm Phemie Alcott
2pm DJ JL
3pm Edward Kyomoon
4pm RockRythym Thespian
5pm DJ (TDB)

So if you have some free time next Saturday, stop on by Public Works.

JL Zinner, a DJ in Second Life, has done most of the work setting up the stage area, preparing the announcements, and arranging for the entertainment. And just like most public works departments, my end of it is providing the setting, setting up the signs, pedestrian and traffic control, and cleaning up after the event.

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Reaching Out in 140 Characters or Less

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People are information hounds. They always want to know what is going on, particularly with their friends and neighbors. The need to gossip can sometimes be so strong that some people will even create stories just to have something to talk about. If you work in government you have probably already experienced this aspect of basic human nature and realized that the failure to communicate information to the public can result in misunderstandings and problems with your projects.

In the past, we have communicated with the public through letters and notices placed in the paper and on the local radio or local television station. Over the last decade, communities have used their Websites to post information. But with all these forms of communication, there is a lag time between the realization of the need to send out a message and the delivery of that message. Fortunately the time has come where we can now reach out in real time and deliver those messages within minutes to a targeted group of people.

Although there are several tools with which this real-time messaging can be accomplished, I am going to focus on the use of microblogging and in particular Twitter. Twitter is a microblogging service that allows you to post messages of 140 characters or less. People who “follow” you receive those messages as soon as you post them. Although many use this service for personal reasons, there are plenty of uses for businesses and government.

One simple example of how we have started experimenting with the use of Twitter has been related to our construction projects. We have a small project involving the installation of sanitary sewer and road reconstruction that has impacted about 80 homes. Because we knew this project would be intrusive and cause a major inconvenience, we wanted to make sure residents were kept informed immediately about any issues arising on the project such as access, school bus pickup/dropoff, mail and paper delivery, and garbage pickup. We chose to create a Twitter user name that reflected the project name: Golfview2008. Then we delivered a letter to each home telling them about the service and inviting them to follow us. We also explained that if they created a user name, we would follow them and then they could leave us messages about failed garbage pickup or mail deliveries or anything else we might need to know about.

Although the project is small and this is our first time trying out this method of communication, so far it seems to be working well. We have about 10 followers – some from the project site, one from the local paper, and some interested in how we are using the feed. I know from past projects that the number of calls we have received related to this project are not even close to what we normally get. Is that because of the Twitter feed? I don’t know for sure, but I do know that each person impacted has the ability on this project to know each day what is going on, what progress has been made, and what specific issues have come up that might impact them.

Will I do this again? You bet. It has been free, easy, and gives us a place to direct people who might want to know more about the project. If you are in government and have used Twitter for work-related reasons, I am interested in hearing your experiences and brainstorming over other uses.

And for those who are new to microblogging and who are interested in learning more about Twitter and how it can help, there is a great resource: A Geeks Guide to Promoting Yourself and Your Online Business in 140 Characters or Less with Twitter.

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Web 2.0 & Government – Helping us to Just Do It!

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“With the adoption of social computing and social media by citizens under the age of 25 already exceeding 75 percent, government organizations now need to plan and implement initiatives to engage and service the citizens of today and tomorrow.” This is a statement taken from “Leveraging Web 2.0 in Government,” a recently released paper published by the IBM Center for The Business of Government that summarizes the results of a study undertaken by Ai-Mei Chang and P.K. Kannan. The study, which focused on understanding social computing, developing the framework, understanding citizen perceptions, and figuring out how to measure engagement and effectiveness, came up with the following findings:

• Government needs to meet citizens where they are online.
• Citizens are willing to interact with government agencies online. (enhance trust, increase transparency, increase citizen influence)
• The role of intermediaries will increase. (feels they must employ and leverage intermediaries but this decreases control)
• Government will need to rethink content and service design.
• Government will have to find ways to embed authority in its web-based services.
• Some citizens are concerned about equal access.
• Citizens trust the government with personal data but not for service efficiency.
• Government will need to measure the effectiveness of its Web 2.0 initiatives.

These findings led the researchers to develop the following recommendations:

• Just do it
• Develop a government-wide inventory of common Web 2.0 issues.
• Strategically rethink how to deliver on your mission.
• Reconfigure your Internet information and services to be more component based.
• Ensure authenticity of government information and services.
• Learn and keep an open mind.

As a government worker myself, I agree with most of the findings except for the idea that government requires an intermediary to pull off successful implementation of social media. I find it a paradox that people still spread this myth that somehow private management is better than public while all these major, private businesses continue to fail due to poor management and possibly questionable practices. How many states, counties, or cities with the same monetary value have failed and then showed up on the steps of Congress hoping for a bailout?

Another issue is that intermediaries usually have never had any experience in government and do not understand the policies, procedures, and laws under which government works. They also do not understand that the purpose of government is to serve the people in the most effective and efficient manner possible. I realize that some agencies are better at achieving this than others, but if they are ineffective or inefficient, people have an opportunity at the next election to try to remedy that. Also, unless serving as a volunteer, an intermediary is in business and therefore must be driven by profit and not the best interests of the public.

The other issue with an intermediary is the loss of trust. As pointed out by the study, people do trust government with personal information, and this trust would probably not extend to a non-government entity running the show.

Additionally, the use of an intermediary could cause people to feel someone has more control than they do. The concern expressed by people in this study about ensuring equal access reflects this. Everyone in a community wants to be considered equal. They can accept someone in government moderating because in the end they have control over that person’s participation, but once a private citizen steps into that role, they want to know “how come that person is so special?” This risks losing buy-in and participation.

Overall, the report provided important information and guidance for governments as we transition to these new methods of communicating with our constituents. I like the “Just do it” recommendation, but after talking with some other government workers, I find that is easier said than done. Even if someone in government is ready to go forward, there is a learning curve with and possibly resistance from others in their agency. We are at the threshold of drastically changing the way we do business, and not only within government. What we need now is some good promotional materials we can use to take back to others in our agencies to get everyone on board. And then we need good guidance documents with some best practices and ideas for implementation that fit within the rules, policies, procedures, and laws under which we work.

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