My talk at the Australian Government Social Media Toolkit Conference in Canberra on 17 April 2012

1. read-write government
engaging citizens with social media
Patrick McCormick
Special Adviser and MAMS Program Director
Department of Premier and Cabinet
Australian Government Social Media Best Practice Toolkit
17 April 2012 - Canberra, ACT

2. the views expressed today are my own

3. read-write government
engaging citizens with social media
1 we are here now
2 changing the rules
3 terms of engagement
4 case studies from Victoria

4. 1. we are here now

5. Australians are spending more time online
according to ComScore State of the Internet 2010
• 18.8 hours per month online on average
• 36.3% used Apple iTunes
• 42.6% used online banking services
• 81.6% used social networks

6. Australians increasingly access web on mobiles
Australians with web capable mobiles
• 43% - 2009
• 65% - 2010
Internet access via mobiles in Australia
• 29% - 2009
• 52% - 2010
Nielson White Paper 2011

7. mind the analog divide

8. For these technologies will produce forgetfulness in
the minds of those who use them, because they will
not practice their memory. Their trust in online
information, produced by external sources which are
not part of their learning, will discourage the use of
their own memory within them. You have invented
an elixir not of memory, but of searching; and you
offer people the appearance of wisdom, not true
wisdom.

9. For these technologies will produce forgetfulness in
the minds of those who use them, because they will
not practice their memory. Their trust in online
information, produced by external sources which
are not part of their learning, will discourage the use
of their own memory within them. You have invented
an elixir not of memory, but of searching; and you
offer people the appearance of wisdom, not true
wisdom.

10. For this invention will produce forgetfulness in the
minds of those who learn to use it, because they will
not practice their memory. Their trust in writing,
produced by external characters which are not part of
themselves, will discourage the use of their own
memory within them. You have invented an elixir not
of memory, but of reminding; and you offer your
pupils the appearance of wisdom, not true wisdom.
- Plato 370 BC

11. citizen expectations are changing
3 types of expectations - Charlie Leadbeater
• I need – essential services government must provide
• I want – discretionary services responding to demand
• I can – option to self select, participate, co-produce
why now?
• Internet 1.0 – low or no cost production and distribution
• netizens 1.0 – surplus computing and doing capacity
• web 2.0 - new tools, behaviours, expectations

12. the Internet has something to do with it
it is compact yet immense, a ‘small world’
• 10x growth adds ‘one hop’
power law distribution
• growth is organic and ad hoc mostly below and above mean
In Search of Jefferson‟s Moose - David G. Post • few with many links
• many with few links
power law distribution
mostly below and above the mean
•few with many links
•many with few links

13. the public sector is evolving
1. 20th century administrative bureaucracy read-only
rigid, prescriptive, hierarchical
2. new public management - performance
3. triple bottom line – shareholders, stakeholders
4. co-productive, shared enterprise, Gov 2.0 read-write
agile, principled, collaborative

14. how do we define Gov 2.0?
Gov 2.0
government web 2.0
the new economy begins with technology and ends with trust
- Alan Webber 1993

15. the public sector develops policy, delivers
services and manages goods
laws regulating drinking are enforced by police in parks
public public
sector policy
public public
services goods

16. we need to go back to first principles to
identify, agree on public purpose
public purpose
public public
sector policy
public public
services goods

17. new tools, changing citizen behaviours
and the Internet are driving change
citizens technology
internet
PSI government

18. but trust is key to exploiting opportunities
of collective public purpose
public
trust
purpose

19. 19
Gov 2.0 begins with public purpose
and ends with trust
technology
citizens
public internet trust
purpose
PSI government

20. the public sector needs to change
a new approach
• share (not cede) power, when and where appropriate
• maintain authority in old and new models
• government as a platform, providing a citizen ‘API’
key challenges
• culture of experimentation and collaboration
• open access to public sector data and information
• voice of authenticity, uncertainty and contestability

21. an emerging policy platform
Victoria
• parliamentary inquiry into PSI
• VPS innovation action plan
• government 2.0 action plan
Commonwealth
• Gov 2.0 Taskforce report
• APSC online engagement guidelines
• declaration of open government

22. 2. adapting and evolving

23. the tragedy of the commons
the situation in which multiple individuals, acting independently, and solely and
rationally consulting their own self-interest, will ultimately deplete a shared
limited resource even when it is clear that it is not in anyone's long-term interest
for this to happen
Wikipedia

24. the bounty of a peer to peer digital commons
• close to zero marginal cost of production
• close to zero marginal cost of distribution
• scale not scarcity

25. focus on outcomes over processes
„the cathedral and the bazaar‟
– Eric Raymond
• new tools demand less structured approach
• business cases need iterative, adaptive methodologies to
respond to unexpected challenges, benefits

26. follow rules of disruptive innovation
•think big
•start small
•fail fast

27. avoid inflexibility of massive projects
•think big
•start small
•fail fast
• think small
• start big
• fail slowly
Valberg Lárusson, Flickr

28. deliver fast wins with rapid prototyping
• time and budget constraints
• eliminate technical and
bureaucratic barriers
• select team with diverse
expertise, experience

29. agile approach rewards innovation
• co-located ‘skunk works’
• all ideas valid, fast decisions
• draw upon external expertise

30. permission to rate, comment, contest

31. supporting a culture of collaboration

32. seeking and rating ideas openly

33. built for knowledge sharing

34. video socialises important information

35. inviting content creativity

36. walking the talk, use of social media
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iQLkt5CG8I&feature=youtu.be

37. 3. listening to the crowd

38. co-production with or without us
“information wants to be free”
- Stewart Brand
at first Hackers' Conference 1984

39. making government accountable

40. the wisdom of 100 million phone calls

41. peer to peer support in real time
CNNhttp://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/07/14/india.blasts.help/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2
2011 Mumbai bomb blasts spark social media response

42. governments find new authentic voices

43. re-imagining government as a platform
• Veterans Job Bank – worked with industry on job matching service
• FDA 90 day challenge - to speed medical device approval
• DOT Regulation Room - airplane passenger bill of rights
• DARPA design challenge - new XC2V design by unemployed Mexican
immigrant, saved $50M

44. establishing trusted presence on
new platforms

45. new channel with no middle men
• re-purpose existing content
• unfiltered and direct
• reaches public and traditional
media simultaneously
• Low cost, ever

46. listening for citizen pain points
(cc @justice_vic) Working with Children
check was 90% done (almost 11 weeks),
lodged an Employ instead, and it will restart
and take another 12 weeks. What a stupid
system…
@deonwentworth Deon - thx for your
feedback. Don't know right now what
happened or why it's like that - but will have
someone look into ^D

47. exceeding expectations by following up
@deonwentworth Have chased up and have
an answer for you. Pls dm your email addy or
contact # as response won't fit in 140 spaces.
Thanks ^J
@justice_vic No need, got the check
yesterday, start 2morrow. Thx a lot 4
following this up, thought You'd forgotten. If
you still need to, you can email me at…

48. building trust through open an exchange
@deonwentworth Simple answer: starts over
when changing categ. - makes extra sure no
charges after applying. Annoying yes, but we
err on side of extra protection for kids. ^D
@justice_vic thanks. Got my card earlier in
the week.
#goodjob @justice_vic for not giving up on
customer enquiries and following through
right to the end

49. CFA, Black Saturday, Flickr
4. delivering on expectations

50. sharing emergency information in
timely, convenient way

51. going where people are to build trust
and improve access to information
15,450 fans x average of 150 friends = 2,317,500 people

52. citizen engagement takes many forms

53. FireReady mobile apps enable citizens
to help themselves and their neighbors

54. changing community expectations
• 31,852 followers - Victoria Police on Twitter
• 51,133 downloads - CFA FireReady mobile app
• 261,270 likes - Queensland Police on Facebook
54

55. seeking citizen input, educating
interactively

56. fostering shared responsibility through
citizen engagement and content creation

57. adding a game layer to water safety

58. greater transparency can reduce costs

59. and confirm public safety objectives

60. RHoK Melbourne: thinking globally,
collaborating locally

61. read-write government
engaging citizens with social media
1 we are here now
2 changing the rules
3 terms of engagement
4 case studies from Victoria

62. Thanks!
Questions?
Patrick McCormick
patrick.mccormick@dpc.vic.gov.au
@solutist

63. re-using this presentation? the fine print…
• Parts of this presentation not under copyright or licensed to others (as indicated) have been
made available under the Creative Commons Licence 3.0
• Put simply, this means:
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Patrick McCormick - paddy@post.harvard.edu
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• Unless stated otherwise, the information in this presentation is the personal
view of the author and does not represent official policy or position of his employer