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

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Even in the short period <strong>of</strong> its existence, aspects <strong>of</strong> the taskforce’s modelling <strong>of</strong> Inquiries <strong>2.0</strong><br />

proved infectious. Other inquires adopted aspects <strong>of</strong> our process <strong>with</strong>out prompting from us.<br />

Thus the Management Advisory Committee project <strong>on</strong> Advancing Public Sector Innovati<strong>on</strong><br />

adopted ‘s<strong>of</strong>t deadlines’ from the outset. 294 Further the Henry Review into Taxati<strong>on</strong> revised the<br />

way it was hosting submissi<strong>on</strong>s to improve their searchability. 295<br />

By using the tools <strong>and</strong> practices <strong>of</strong> <strong>Government</strong> <strong>2.0</strong> to start implementing this new method <strong>of</strong><br />

running an inquiry, the taskforce not <strong>on</strong>ly articulated its visi<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong> suggested some practical<br />

ways to accelerate <strong>Government</strong> <strong>2.0</strong>, but was also able to illustrate what it might look like.<br />

Inquiries <strong>2.0</strong> dem<strong>on</strong>strated many <strong>of</strong> the benefits that other jurisdicti<strong>on</strong>s have reported, including:<br />

widening the mix <strong>of</strong> voices <strong>and</strong> ideas in discussi<strong>on</strong>s<br />

getting ideas <strong>and</strong> questi<strong>on</strong>s more quickly into the public domain for public resp<strong>on</strong>se<br />

●●<br />

●●<br />

●●<br />

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allowing an <strong>on</strong>going discussi<strong>on</strong> to take place in an open <strong>and</strong> easily accessible <strong>on</strong>line space<br />

which acted as a focal point <strong>of</strong> taskforce activities<br />

dem<strong>on</strong>strating an ability to learn by doing which meant that the taskforce was able to see<br />

the impact <strong>and</strong> potential <strong>of</strong> many <strong>of</strong> the ideas being discussed at the same time that it was<br />

recommending them in the report.<br />

7.2 Failures <strong>and</strong> successes<br />


<br />

As noted, the taskforce sought to use <strong>Government</strong> <strong>2.0</strong> approaches to inform its deliberati<strong>on</strong>s<br />

<strong>and</strong> to carry out its activities.<br />

Some things could have been d<strong>on</strong>e better, <strong>and</strong> in many ways the process was an explorati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />

possibilities. Successes <strong>and</strong> failures began a chain <strong>of</strong> thinking <strong>and</strong> acti<strong>on</strong> about new ways <strong>of</strong> doing<br />

things, <strong>with</strong> not a few moments <strong>of</strong> regret that ‘obvious’ soluti<strong>on</strong>s had not been thought <strong>of</strong> earlier.<br />

We were fairly criticised for not promoting our message sufficiently in the mainstream media. Our<br />

presence <strong>on</strong> Facebook was not well executed. We should have got some <strong>of</strong> our projects underway<br />

so<strong>on</strong>er. We were also unable to live up to our intenti<strong>on</strong> to provide three to four weeks for public<br />

c<strong>on</strong>siderati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> our draft report. Problems <strong>with</strong> accessibility are outlined in a separate secti<strong>on</strong>.<br />

Despite these shortcomings, in dem<strong>on</strong>strating the possibilities <strong>of</strong> an ‘Inquiries <strong>2.0</strong>’ approach, the<br />

taskforce has provided a good model for those who wish to take it up for the future. We took<br />

great heart from the generous things said about our draft report by world leaders in the area<br />

such as Andrea Di Maio, 296 Tom Wats<strong>on</strong>, 297 David Weinberger 298 <strong>and</strong> Andrew McLaughlin. 299<br />

294 The <strong>Department</strong> <strong>of</strong> Innovati<strong>on</strong> project to investigate how to advance innovati<strong>on</strong> <strong>with</strong>in <strong>and</strong> by the public sector<br />

under the auspices <strong>of</strong> the Management Advisory Committee has adopted a s<strong>of</strong>t deadline for submissi<strong>on</strong>s<br />

http://www.innovati<strong>on</strong>.gov.au/Secti<strong>on</strong>/Innovati<strong>on</strong>/Pages/AdvancingPublicSectorInnovati<strong>on</strong>.aspx or http://<br />

tinyurl.com/nbx6jm.<br />

295 Australia’s Future Tax System Review (the Henry Review into Taxati<strong>on</strong>) has<br />

improved the capacity <strong>of</strong> its site to assist people searching submissi<strong>on</strong>s.<br />

http://taxreview.treasury.gov.au/c<strong>on</strong>tent/C<strong>on</strong>tent.aspxdoc=html/home.htm or http://tinyurl.com/ylmyrm4.<br />

296 ‘[T]he best piece <strong>of</strong> work I have seen any government organisati<strong>on</strong> (<strong>and</strong> most vendors <strong>and</strong> c<strong>on</strong>sultants) do about<br />

this topic.’ http://blogs.gartner.com/<strong>and</strong>rea_dimaio/2009/12/08/australian-government-2-0-is-the-best-so-far/<br />

or http://tinyurl.com/yefxb72.<br />

297 Former UK Minister for Transformati<strong>on</strong>al <strong>Government</strong>, UK: ‘This is a deeply impressive piece <strong>of</strong> work, very<br />

comprehensive <strong>with</strong> clear sign posting. The idea <strong>of</strong> info-philanthropy is an important point to make. A clear<br />

explanati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> the serendipitous nature <strong>of</strong> knowledge sharing in networks is probably a global first for a<br />

government report.’, email to the Chair.<br />

298 ‘Pers<strong>on</strong>ally, I think the draft — from its principled overview to its broad areas <strong>of</strong> applicati<strong>on</strong> — is a blueprint<br />

for democracies everywhere.’, http://www.hyperorg.com/blogger/2009/12/08/australian-government-2-0-<br />

taskforce-issues-draft/ or http://tinyurl.com/yeyu98j.<br />

299 Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer, ‘Rowdy applause from the US White House Open <strong>Government</strong> Initiative. The<br />

draft report is an impressive piece <strong>of</strong> work, assembling a vast trove <strong>of</strong> good ideas <strong>and</strong> sound analysis. We will study<br />

<strong>and</strong> learn.’ http://gov2.net.au/blog/2009/12/07/draftreport/ or http://tinyurl.com/y8a8ohu.<br />

Engage: <str<strong>on</strong>g>Getting</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>with</strong> <strong>Government</strong> <strong>2.0</strong> | report <strong>of</strong> the government <strong>2.0</strong> taskforce<br />

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