According to SmartBrief “The US State Department unveiled a new look website yesterday as it embraces social networking and other Web 2.0 tools in an exercise it called ’21st Century statecraft. “Smart power meets smart design,” Katie Dowd, the State Department’s New Media Director, said in a post outlining the changes to State.gov on the State Department blog “DipNote,” which is also undergoing a facelift.

The new website provides front-page links to the State Department’s official YouTube channel, Twitter feed, Facebook page and Flickr photo account. The State Department said in a statement that the revamped State.gov incorporates improved “functionality and an updated design” and aims to “present the Department of State more transparently.” It is intended to “engage audiences in an ongoing dialogue with Secretary Clinton and others in the department on the foreign policy issues facing the country,” it said.”

http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/us-state-department-revamps-website-in-web-20-push — US State Department revamps website in Web 2.0 push

This article from ITWorld Canada speculates on the impact of the cabinet shuffle on Canadian IT providers. The author ponders if technology efficiency will be one of the initiatives that Mr. Day will take on as the new Treasury Board Minister. He points out that the aging legacy systems will need replacing and new efficiency-focuses applications will be preferred. He also points out that close to 40% of the public sector will be retiring in the coming years which will put pressure on the government to automate more of its services. Is this a driver for Government 2.0? I hope so. A greater focus on multi-departmental and multi-jurisdictional e-collaboration could only help achieve the levels of efficiencies sought. And wider implementation of open source web 2.0 applications will allow for better platform integration and less data lock-in by closed vendor-based applications.

http://www.itworldcanada.com/news/why-cabinet-shake-up-isnt-bad-news-for-it-industry/139797-pg1

This is a great article on why governments need to rethink their use of technology.  Some of my favourite points in this article are:

1. Government employees are being asked to work with one half of their brain behind their back (due to their lack of access to social media sites)

2. The resistance of the DG level because they are concerned about giving power to the “people”

There is also a reference to our favourite Government of Canada site GCPedia  (Please insert applause here….) ;-]

http://www.itworldcanada.com/news/why-canada-should-open-source-government/139761

CNN reporter, Pete Cashmore writes this interesting and thought provoking article on how social media is being used to support the relief efforts in Haiti. He notes that everyone from aid organizations to politicians to celebrities are tapping into their social media followers to ask for them for donations and help.  According to Cashmore, this is one of the first times in history that social media is overcoming “Slacktivism“. Followers are actually doing more than just observing or “following”;  they are actually doing something to make a difference.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/14/cashmore.haiti.earthquake.relief.technology/index.html

It is so wonderful to see more and more governments getting on board the social media train (no pun intended in this instance!).  Here is another example of municipal governments leveraging the power of Twitter to the benefit of their citizens.

“In 2009, the Brazilian transit authority starting using Twitterto update São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro’s motorists and pedestrians of any traffic incidents or transport news. The feed broadcasts tweets from the authority itself, as well as allowing users to share their own experiences of the city’s traffic and transport.”

I love this concept. It’s a web site called GovLuv. In essence, it allow you to connect with your Senator, or other government representative through Twitter. The site states…

“Citizens: GovLuv connects you instantly with your government representatives through the magical power of Twitter. Based on your address, you can see who your representatives are, what they’re saying, and what people are saying to them! Sign in with Twitter.”

For government officials, the site suggests…

“Government: You’re probably already in here! Sign in with Twitterto take control of your account. If your account isn’t there, tweet @govluv and we’ll get it fixed ASAP.”

What an innovative way of incouraging better communication between governments and their citizens.

http://govluv.org/offices/547-barack-obama

Kudos to N.Y. City Mayor Michael Bloomberg!  He has raised the bar for transparency and openness within government by introducing an online tracking program which allows New Yorkers to view the administration’s performance and the expenditure of the $5billion in federal stimulus money that New York received.   This surely will put pressure on other government organizations to be more forthcoming with information on how effectively they are running departments and agencies on our behalf.

http://www.nyc.gov/cpr

Hi all. We’re looking for a new account manager for our montreal office. If you know of anyone you can recommend, please let me know by contacting me (Jennifer) at jobs@webdrive.ca

The governance of social media applications is such a critical component of implementing an initiative within government. However the governance structure or parameters are not clear to all that are responsible  for this area of operations.  The following report looks at 100 social media governance structures and gives the following recommendations:

http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php?f=5

1.  Create at least two policies, as follows:

a. One policy that sets expectations and boundaries for all employees, including any relevant limitations or suggestions for the personal use of social media.

 b. Operational guidelines for employees working in social media as part of their job.

 2.  Determine valuable opportunities to leverage your employees as ambassadors in your markets, then provide guidance that helps your employees to achieve greater impact and value in their social media interactions.

 3.  Support your employees and let them know where your boundaries lie. For example, tell them whether they are permitted to use your organizational trademarks, such as logos, in their personal content. Don’t leave them guessing.

 4.  Provide the right information to the right people at the right times. Create distinct documents with specific purposes that your employees are likely to consume.

a. Help employees understand the benefits of the document, then post the document where employees can easily find it as needed.

b. If you want to create a positive impression of your brand, post it publicly, and consider posting the policy at:

http://SocialMediaGovernance.com/policies.php

 5. Provide hyperlinks in your social media policy to all relevant policies. Make it easy for your employees to find additional information as required.

• Also provide a link to relevant contacts, such as email addresses of key personnel or URLs of internal web pages that provide relevant information.

The annual TrendWatching.com consumer predictions came out today and #5 is all about Mass Mingling (the affect of social media).  They observe that….

“More people than ever will be living large parts of their lives online in 2010. Yet, those same people will also mingle, meet up, and congregate more often with other ‘warm bodies’ in the offline world.
In fact, social media and mobile communications are fueling a MASS MINGLING that defies virtually every cliché about diminished human interaction in our ‘online era’.

So, forget (for now) a future in which the majority of consumers lose themselves in virtual worlds. Ironically the same technology that was once seen to be—and condemned for—turning entire generations into homebound gaming zombies and avatars, is now deployed to get people out of their homes.

Basically, the more people can get their hands on the right info, at home and on the go; the more they date and network and twitter and socialize online, the more likely they are to eventually meet up with friends and followers in the real world. Why? Because people actually enjoy interacting with other warm bodies, and will do so forever. A list of MASS MINGLING facts and drivers:

• Social media is all about other people to begin with.
  From a recent Pew report: “When we examine people’s full personal network – their strong ties and weak ties – internet use in general and use of social networking services such as Facebook in particular are associated with having a more diverse social network. Again, this flies against the notion that technology pulls people away from social engagement.”
• The most popular and/or hyped online services, from Foursquare to Google Latitude to Loopt to FireEagle, are currently all about following, finding, tracking, connecting to, and ultimately (spontaneously) meeting up with interesting people (friends and strangers). For some users of these services, ‘life-streaming’ is now a reality, especially when combined with their blogs, tweets, and Facebook updates pages.
  
• Terabytes of online (local) content is about informing and alerting people to make the most of their time with others in the real world.
• Last but not least: The mobile web has bridged the gap between either being offline in the real world, or being online but in one location (mostly living rooms and offices). Thanks to a dozen years of predicting an imminent, mass-breakthrough of mobile internet, no one gets really excited about the prospect of no longer being stuck when online. However, it will dominate 2010, and it will fuel MASS MINGLING like there’s no tomorrow, as online will be offline by default, and vice versa.

Next for MASS MINGLING will be even more impromptu, temporary meet-ups of strangers, mobs and crowds with similar interests, hobbies, political preferences, causes and grievances. Many of these (temporary) meet-ups will revolve around generating public attention, or getting something done. And here too, Twitter will lead the way (tweetmobs, anyone?).

The opportunity is obvious: Anyone involved with anything that helps people get and stay in touch, that gets people from A-Z, or that accommodates those people before, during or after meeting-up with others, should not only rejoice in MASS MINGLING, but make it even easier for customers to meet up in any possible way, too.

Now, there are thousands of MASS MINGLING examples as it is, so we’ll stick with just one fun one that is still in ‘concept’:

• UK network Channel 4 announced the ongoing development of a Facebook app for the hit show ‘Come Dine With Me‘. The app will give fans of the show, in which amateur chefs hold competing dinner parties for one another, the tools to host their own parties with their Facebook friends.”