Government 2.0

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Government 2.0

Dankzij Joe Trippi  (de auteur van ” The revolution will not be televised” n.a.v. de campagne van Howard Dean in 2004) werd via Twitter mijn aandacht getrokken naar een Australisch Rapport over Government 2.0. Als je dat leest dan besef je pas hoe archaisch het Nederlandse politieke systeem nog is en  de overheid functioneert. 

In het rapport staat een werkdefinitie van Government 2.0. Dit is de vertaling: “Government 2.0 gaat niet specifiek om sociale netwerken of een benadering van welk onderwerp dan ook via technologie. Het vertegenwoordigt een fundamentele verandering in de implementatie van het openbaar bestuur – naar een open manier van samenleven en samenwerken, waar (zoveel als mogelijk is) een open manier van raadpleging is, alle informatie open is, kennis wordt uitgewisseld, wederzijdse erkenning van expertise plaatsvindt en een wederzijds respect is van gedeelde normen en waarden en men weet hoe men omgaat met het feit dat men het onderling niet eens is. Technologie en sociale instrumenten zijn een belangrijk onderdeel van deze verandering, maar in essentie alleen een facilitator van het proces.”

Hier tref je een samenvatting van het Australische rapport door Joe Trippi. En hier wat meer over het onderwerp.

In het conceptrapport van de Australische Commissie staat in hoofdstuk 4.2 uitgelegd wat Government 2.0 is. Hieronder dat hoofdstuk waarin uitgelegd wordt hoe anno 2009 het woord “SAMEN” in de politiek kan worden ingevuld:

“At its simplest level the term ‘Government 2.0’ is the result of applying Web 2.0 collaborative tools and practices to the processes of government. As they have outside of government, these tools and practices can increase productivity and efficiency. Yet this report is guided by the conviction that it can be much more than this. As Australia’s self-organised Government 2.0 Google Group puts it:

Government 2.0 is not specifically about social networking or technology . . . . It represents a fundamental shift in the implementation of government – toward an open, collaborative, cooperative arrangement where there is (wherever possible) open consultation, open data, shared knowledge, mutual acknowledgment of expertise, mutual respect for shared values and an understanding of how to agree to disagree. Technology and social tools are an important part of this change but are essentially [just] an enabler in this process.

Given that government should be inherently collective and collaborative, the potential of a Web 2.0 enabled approach to government – what we call Government 2.0 – is potentially transformative. It offers the opportunity to make representative democracy more responsive, and more participatory. The incorporation of Web 2.0 technology into government engagement offers a unique opportunity to achieve more open, transparent, accountable and responsive government.

A Government 2.0 culture is open to the opportunities presented by technology, and is willing to listen, to engage with its citizens – indeed to invite them to directly collaborate in their own governance. It is a government that is in many ways more exposed: to criticism and unsought comment, but also to new ideas and informed feedback. These cultural challenges are at the heart of Government 2.0 and more profound than the technical and other challenges of adopting new technologies.

Government 2.0 will also subtly change the relationship between citizens and government. It will open up opportunities for citizens to engage more directly and collaboratively with public servants. But this will occur only where government agencies and public servants encourage their involvement – not just by inviting it, for we have no shortage of such invitations today – but by responding in ways that demonstrate their appreciation of public contributions. And of course alternatives should continue to be provided for those not wishing or able to engage online.

Further, increasing citizen participation pre-supposes access to information. Here Government 2.0 takes the next step in the evolution of open government by strengthening freedom of information rights and building upon those rights of access, rights to freely re-use, republish, repurpose and otherwise add value to government information. In short, to use the words of the Freedom of Information Bill currently before Parliament Government 2.0 takes as a premise that “information held by the Government is to be managed for public purposes, and is a national resource”.

A Government 2.0 culture represents a shift to an assumption that government information is open by default, in the absence of good reasons to the contrary. Not only would this represent cost savings in the administration of access requests, but, as argued elsewhere in this report, it makes information available for a range of new uses including uses that provide important social and community benefits.

Policy changes mandated by governments, and legal changes by Parliament, are necessary to make this transition. However many of these are either in place or in contemplation. While these changes are necessary they are not sufficient for Government 2.0 to take hold. For the transition cannot be forced. It must come to infuse the culture of public agencies and their operatives. It must become ‘the way we do things here’. This will be a difficult transition to negotiate.

The promise of Government 2.0 is a rich one, however, and this is not the kind of challenge that Australians are likely to resile from. If Australia fails to fully grasp the potential of Government 2.0 we will lose the opportunity to increase the effectiveness of policy making and forsake the opportunity to draw citizens into closer collaboration with their government. Our nation’s innovative capacity will also suffer and the country will falter in its ambition to achieve a world class public service.”

In Nederland zijn er een aantal ambtenaren bezig met dit ook in Nederland van de grond te krijgen, zoals deze. Maar het lijkt meer op wat sneeuwklokjes die in december al naar boven komen, maar de winter moet nog komen. Als burger merk je er nog niets van.

Er is een hele grote cultuuromslag nodig aan de top van de piramides van de overheid, maar die weg is nog zeer lang. (Weer geillustreerd als je vandaag de korpschef van Rotterdam hoorde schutteren als het ging over het onderwerp welke conclusies hij zelf trok uit het rapport van de COT over het falen van de politieorganisatie rondom de incidenten in Hoek van Holland).

U heeft zojuist gelezen: Government 2.0.

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