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Kate Lundy - The Path to Open Government: The Pillars of Gov 2.0

Paper presented by Australian Senator Kate Lundy at the Gov 2.0 Expo in Washington DC on Wednesday 26 May 2010.

Transcript: The Path to Open Government: The Pillars of Gov 2.0

The Internet is driving transformation in the very roots of our democracy.

The traditional leadership model, where the singular expression of citizen participation is at the ballot box, is transforming to an online model that empowers citizens by continually engaging and collaborating with them.

In this way, Gov 2.0 represents far more than just the application of Web 2.0 to government.

Why? Because Gov 2.0 represents an opportunity for governments to push the evolution of democracy well beyond the ballot box and in to life experience through online engagement.

From my Australian Government perspective, it has been inspiring to see an enthusiastic groundswell for Gov 2.0 innovation around the world, especially in the US, UK and Canada.

Having closely followed what is happening, I would like to reflect on what I regard to be the three pillars of Gov 2.0. These are principles and they inform my advocacy of Gov 2.0 in Australia.

The three pillars of Gov 2.0 are democratising data, citizen-centric services and participatory democracy. Together, they each represent a necessary principle for achieving genuine Open Government.

The first pillar is democratising data by making information collected for and on behalf of citizens publicly available in a useful, open format, unless there is a demonstrable reason not to.

This represents a big change in attitude, culture and practice. It means a pro-disclosure approach where the default is to publish.

Democratising data in this way encourages citizens and industry to contribute to and innovate with government information, adding social and economic value.

The second pillar is citizen-centric services. Imagine a joined-up government experience that adapts to you and your circumstances: clear, seamless services that are both compellingly easy to use, always up to date and with a look and feel suited to your taste and comfort zone.

Citizen-centric services are not obscured or cluttered by the multi-layered complexities of government structures designed in a pre-digital era.

Citizen-centric services deliver a tailored service to the degree of personal detail and relevance determined by how much information the citizen is willing to provide.

Like a bespoke suit or haute couture, online government services ought to fit the circumstances of each individual perfectly.

This is the power that technology gives us.

The third pillar of Gov 2.0 is participatory government.

In theory at least, participatory government has always been there with consultation with citizens and stakeholders a strong feature of mature democracies.

This pillar is about engaging citizens collaboratively in the development, design and implementation of government policy.  The web and social networking has provided new ways do this and citizens are exploring the opportunities with enthusiasm.

Policies can be developed and designed with an improved capacity to adapt to changing circumstances. This is crowd-sourcing at it’s most constructive: applied, purposeful and outcome oriented.

What may seem a small step for the twitterverse or blogosphere is potentially a giant leap for participatory government!

The challenge for us all, including government, is to channel this goodwill and energy into the public interest.

Each of these pillars has a substantial part to play in developing trust and confidence between government and citizens.  I’m pleased to report that Australia has made remarkable progress in all three areas, through both policy and actual projects.

If we look back at great endeavours of history we find people often remember the event itself, but not what made it happen.

History shows us that such great endeavours require strong leadership, a good plan and great people witha shared goal.

Gov 2.0 and the goal of Open Government is no different, with the Internet acting as the prime catalyst for the next big step for democracy.

Firstly, we have given the Gov 2.0 agenda resounding imprimatur through strong leadership.

At the forefront of visionary public policy in Australia is the universal National Broadband Network. This will truly close the Digital Divide. In addition, the Digital Education Revolution will put computers into the hands of all secondary students in Australia.

Australia’s commitment to social inclusion in the digital economy is unrivalled. This commitment underpins the confidence with which the Australian Governments at all levels, can invest in Gov 2.0.

Our Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd has expressed his commitment to open government on many occasions. He said in one recent speech:

Democracy is about open government and that means accepting the best answers might sometimes come from outside of government.

This desire to invite external input to government is an important underlying principle to Open Government.

In another exciting development, the Special Minister of State, Joe Ludwig and Minister for Finance, Lindsay Tanner will soon be announcing an Australian declaration of open government, a direct result of the work done by the Gov 2.0 Taskforce.

This builds on the leadership reflected in the legislative amendments to the Freedom of Information Act and new Information Commissioner Act which finally passed the Australian Senate on May 13, 2010.

These amendments, now awaiting gazettal, update the statutory right of all Australians to access government documents including a new pro-disclosure objective. This right is justified on the grounds that it encourages transparency and political accountability.

The Information Commissioner designate, Professor John McMillan has already been appointed.

This new statutory position is to advise government on policy and practices regarding the collection, use, disclosure, management, administration, storage and accessibility of information held by the Government and systems or proposed systems for these activities.

Secondly, we have created a good plan for implementing Gov 2.0 through a range of initiatives.

Policy actions to date include the Australian Gov 2.0 Taskforce and their thoughtful Report recommendations.  This document is a practical blueprint for Gov 2.0.  The Government’s acceptance of the vast majority of recommendations was warmly welcomed.  I acknowledge the presence of Dr Nicholas Gruen, Chair of the Taskforce. I won’t steal his thunder as he is presenting in the ‘Lessons from Downunder” panel session later today.

I will mention just one other initiative arising out of his report: the establishment of a new Australian Gov 2.0 showcase. This showcase will be an online record of Australian  Gov 2.0 initiatives. The aim is to inspire further innovation through public, private and community collaboration.

Another policy of particular importance is the Australian Government ICT Reform Program. We’ve all learnt the lesson of how poor procurement practices prevent and stifle innovation.

This program ensures ICT procurement has a positive impact on the capacity for public sector agencies to innovate in an open and increasingly interoperable technology environment. Savings are taken from the business-as-usual expenditure and channelled into a fund for new ICT innovation projects.

We have also appointed an ICT supplier advocate to ensure a level playing field for our amazing array of small ICT businesses competing for government contracts.

Strong progress is also being made to publish Government data sets on data.gov.au. This is the new pro-disclosure environment coming to fruition. For example, I was pleased to see just days ago that all information published on the Australian Parliamentary Web site will now be under the Creative Commons By Attribution licence.

Thirdly, I am delighted to get the opportunity to reflect on the work of our great people. Australia today has a strong and motivated community providing leadership for Gov 2.0 that spans the public sector, the tech community and business.

This community has contributed an invaluable amount of skill, ideas and enthusiasm, and I thank them. Australia’s progress on Gov 2.0 is definitely a collaborative work in progress.

Finally, there is an important shared goal at play. Each of these policies and programs fits together to achieve an overarching vision of an inclusive society that has confidence in a participatory government that is capable of meeting the big challenges of the future.

People everywhere want to see more open, engaged and transparent government.  They are clamouring for it and rewarding political parties who commit to it and deliver with their voices and votes. Our democratic institutions and practices must transform or risk becoming irrelevant.

Regardless of policy, people have indicated in numbers their communication platform of choice: it is in the cloud and most likely always will be. Governments that do not reflect the digital lives of their constituents, can not represent them.

I believe that governments, being responsible for ensuring the public interest, need to invest now to ensure the transformation evolves democracy to be more participatory, builds social inclusion and creates economic opportunity.

The future success of today’s leaders of the world’s great democracies will be determined by their confidence and capacity to implement Gov 2.0 inclusively, building trust in modern, open government along the way.

In closing,  the social transformation driven by the internet is already happening and I am proud of Australia’s vision and plan to be a part of it.

The three pillars of  democratising data, citizen-centric services and participatory democracy help to codify the task of successfully evolving into genuinely open government.

After all, it’s the genuinely open nature of the Internet that make it democracy’s true friend.

Last updated: 27 May 2010

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