MuniGov 2.0 – Not Just a Buzzword Anymore!

Web 2.0, Web 3.0, virtual worlds: are these buzzwords and their related technologies something you really need to worry about? Studies, reports, and white papers seem to be saying “Yes.” And that is a big fat “yes” even if you work for government.

In fact there are already a few of us government folks headed down the Web 2.0 path. But this stroll was not meant to be taken alone; Web 2.0 works best the greater the crowd. So whether you have already made the decision to embrace this new way of doing business or if you just want to check it out, I have a few links you might want to start with:

First, for those involved in local government, Bill Greeves, IT Director, Roanoke County, Va., and I have set up a MuniGov 2.0 group for anyone working for city, township, or county agencies. You can check out the MuniGov 2.0 Website or join the MuniGov 2.0 group in Second Life. Greeves is also writing a Digital Communities blog that will profile Web 2.0 technologies and explore how they can best be used in local government. Check out his first post: Road-trippin’ (aka Welcome to Wild, Wonderful World Wide Web2.0!)

Second, click on over to the GovLoop Network site. This site allows for membership and networking for all those involved in government. Membership as of today sits at 2,489.

MuniGov 2.0 Center in Second Life
MuniGov 2.0 Center in Second Life
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Reaching Out in 140 Characters or Less

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!

“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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Government – the Surrogate Parent

Recently I read a blog about the need for the federal government to rebrand their Uncle Sam image. Well, after watching the way government at all levels is accepting more and more responsibility for fixing everyday problems faced by Americans, I think I have a suggestion. Instead of Uncle how about Dad or Mom?

Why am I suggesting such a crazy idea? Because government is bailing Americans out of having to pay for their mortgages like a parent would help out a child who got in over their head. Because people fighting with their neighbors approach city hall to ask for help in getting along and resolving disputes like they would go to mom or dad over a fight with siblings. Because people don’t check out the rules before they make a decision to purchase homes or launch businesses and then expect city hall to sort out the mess.

Often I wonder why this is happening. Why are people turning more and more to government for help with issues and problems that in the “old days” were handled privately? Sometimes I think it might be the movement of folks away from childhood friends and family. Without a strong family or community connection perhaps people do not get the advice and help that was offered when people used to live and work in the same small town all their life. And so they turn to the only “person” who will help: the government – usually the local government. But lately the state and federal government are stepping in to help out too.

So this brings up the next question: is this what we want from our government? Obviously the people who are asking for help and receiving it must want it. But should government accept this parental position? In our city, officials seem to be accepting this responsibility more and more each year. The reason is that we care a lot about our citizens and businesses so we want them to be happy and successful. And if our citizens are doing well, the community will reflect that.

Of course there is a significant cost to all this which leads into the need to set limits on how far government steps into this parental role. With which issues and problems should the government assist and should cost be figured into the decision? And are citizens willing to pay more taxes to get this personalized care? I would be very interested in hearing from others on their feelings about this or their own experiences dealing with this issue.

In the end, I don’t think the federal government will abandon the Uncle Sam image, but maybe we can get a newly elected position at the local government level. I suggest City Mom or City Dad.

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MuniGov 2.0 is Launched

A few weeks ago, I was introduced to Greever Wemyss (Second Life name) by a mutual friend who realized we both have an interest in local government and its use of Web 2.0 and virtual worlds. After a few discussions, we decided that we would create a Second Life group that is specifically focused on local government to work in parallel with our involvement in the Real Life in Second Life Government group. We felt it was important to create this additional group to avoid cluttering up the other group with specific issues that might not interest those in state and federal government.

Our first meeting will be Mon., Sept. 8, 2008, at 1:00 p.m. EST. in the Civic Forum area on Public Works Island. We will start with an open agenda. Anyone working in or having an interest in local government is encouraged to stop by and contribute. If you can’t make the meeting, you can also join the group MuniGov 2.0 in Second Life to receive notices of future meetings and meeting minutes.

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Civic Forum Launch

Starting today at 4pm SLT (PST), I will host a Civic Forum on Public Works island. This forum is intended to be an informal and open discussion about city government. So bring along your ideas, questions, concerns and teleport over to Public Works. Below is a little more background information on why I feel hosting and participating in a discussion like this is important:
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Working for city government, it doesn’t take you long to realize that a significant portion of your day is spent helping people understand how city government actually works. Not that I mind doing this – it helps me meet the people in my community, and I do enjoy helping people. But sometimes I think that I could help them more if I could use the time instead to finish the projects that we are working on to make our community a great place in which to live. Particularly when their questions are general ones that could be answered by just about anyone with any background in government. Not something complicated or specific to our town. If only there were some better way to engage the public and inform them.

Not too long after starting my job as city engineer, I began to try to think of some way to push out knowledge about city government to the general public to help minimize the amount of time I spend each day educating people about city government. At the time, I thought perhaps having high schools incorporate this into their classes would help, but standardizing that and making sure it is taught uniformly across all schools is difficult, and I know schools already struggle to fit in all the required and mandated educational goals. So I pushed the idea back to simmer with all the others I seem to come up with.

But in the back of my mind, I kept thinking about all those people out there who have questions about how their city works, and maybe don’t have the time to visit or contact their city hall or maybe are a little intimidated about doing so. Also, I realize there are a lot of people in certain professions like realtors, contractors, developers, etc., who also have questions but maybe cannot get them answered from their own city due to many reasons like lack of staff, or perhaps not knowing the right questions to ask. They also have some ideas about how we can better serve up government. Other people might need to address some issue with city hall but just don’t know the best way to approach their city officials.

Now along comes Second Life, and I see a platform that can be used to educate, inform, interact, collaborate, and communicate with people regardless of geographic boundaries or distances. In Second Life we can meet and either help each other find the answers to questions – with the added benefit of being able to do so on our own schedule and anonymously if we so desire. People also have the chance to take advantage of a collective knowledge held by the large number of residents. There is a large group of government professionals and experts already in Second Life. And everyone in Second Life lives in a real life community somewhere. So the Civic Forum has been launched to try to see if Second Life can be used to help facilitate engagement between government workers/officials/experts and the general public.

Although my experience is U.S. based, this type of forum offers the opportunity to involve other government professionals from other countries. This not only would help serve people from across the globe, but would help those of us working in government share ideas and concerns because even though we may be in different countries, in the end, at the local level, we share many of the same issues and concerns. Can you imagine if someday we could have a central location in a virtual world to which anyone could go to get their government-related questions answered? Anytime from anyplace? Now that is serving the public!

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