Getting on with Government 2.0 - Department of Finance and ...

7
Innovation and the
taskforce experience
The terms of reference call for the taskforce to advise and assist the government to build a
culture of online innovation within government. The preceding chapters explore the myriad
ways in which Web 2.0 tools and approaches can bring innovation to government. However
succeeding at innovation is not always straightforward. If it were it would be more common,
both within firms and government. The taskforce also sought to model an innovative approach
to Government 2.0 itself and records its experience here for what it is worth.
7.1 Inquiries 2.0
The taskforce’s terms of reference required it to consult ‘in an open and transparent manner and
use online solutions for its engagement wherever possible’, something that was music to our
ears. Particularly given the short time frame allowed us, we aimed to use Web 2.0 approaches to
maximise the extent to which we could collaborate with the community which we helped build
around us.
This model came to be called ‘Inquiries 2.0’ a concept that was proposed and developed in a
series of blog posts and a speech. 289 The central concept involved making things as interactive
as possible and, to the maximum extent we felt possible, inviting the public into our work. The
taskforce began by setting up the taskforce blog, which became the primary medium by which it
interacted with the community. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter were also
used, although they were less central to our activities.
The taskforce kicked off with a design competition for the taskforce logo. To emphasise the
improvisational possibilities of Web 2.0, no prize was offered. This proved to be a controversial
decision, with debate raging on both our own blog and elsewhere — for instance, on the
popular political and cultural blog Larvatus Prodeo 290 — about whether we were exploiting
designers. Given that one of our major objectives was to encourage and honour voluntary
collaboration in getting to Government 2.0, and given that many taskforce members were
themselves participating without remuneration we remained comfortable about our chosen
course.
In the upshot we were very pleased with the quality of the winning design from Ben Crothers, who
is an active Web 2.0 practitioner. 291 Ben described the ideas behind his design as follows: ‘The
idea behind the circles is … conversations and interactions popping up around the country, with
the “water pools” evoking “ripple effect”, harmonising with each other and rippling through
each other. The colour implies variety, optimism and vitality’, 292 a sentiment that is clear to many
289 See http://gov2.net.au/blog/2009/09/01/inquiries-2-0/ or
http://tinyurl.com/y9ffkxm, http://gov2.net.au/blog/2009/09/06/inquiries-2-0-part-2-0/ or
http://tinyurl.com/y9zbech, and http://gov2.net.au/blog/2009/10/23/inquiries-2-0-part-3-0/ or
http://tinyurl.com/ydzsgw6. Also see http://www.cebit.com.au/2009/conferences/gov-2/speakers/nicholas-gruen
or http://tinyurl.com/y9yttrz for the speech.
290 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2009/06/22/equal-pay-for-equal-work-unless-youre-creative-in-which-case-pride-is-enough/
or http://tinyurl.com/mk83ra.
291 http://gov2.net.au/blog/2009/07/10/congratulations-ben-crothers-designer-of-our-banner-and-logo/ or
http://tinyurl.com/yeko7hv.
292 http://gov2.net.au/blog/2009/07/10/congratulations-ben-crothers-designer-of-our-banner-and-logo/ or
http://tinyurl.com/yeko7hv.
Engage: <strong>Getting</strong> on with Government 2.0 | report of the government 2.0 taskforce
77