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Government 2.0 Action Plan: Background Research

Department of Premier and Cabinet, August 2010

The Government 2.0 Action Plan: Background Research is available for printing in pdf format (365kb) - for printing. (This document requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader). .

Contents

1. Introduction
2. What is Government 2.0
3. Policy context
4. Government 2.0 Application in the VPS
5. Leveraging the benefits
6. Managing the Risks

1. Introduction

Background

The Secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet requested the development of a Whole of Victorian Government (WoVG) Gov 2.0 Action Plan to be implemented across the Victorian Public Service (the VPS).

This follows on from the position on Gov 2.0 taken by the Executive and Legislative arms of Victorian Government through key initiatives including:

• the Statement of Government Intention 2010 which includes Gov 2.0 as a key component of Strengthening Democracy in Victoria;
• the App My State competition launched by the Treasurer to encourage software developers and members of the public to create web or mobile phone applications using Victorian Government data;
• the Premier's website use of social media to engage with the community (http://www.youtube.com/user/premierofvictoria); and
• the Parliamentary Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee's Inquiry into Improving Access to Victorian Public Sector Information and Data, and the Victorian Government's response.

For the VPS, Gov 2.0 is the next development in an expansion in Victoria's online government presence and investment in e-Government since the 1990s. The use of this new media by government sits alongside and complements existing practices and VPS Hub which provides a WoVG platform and online space to collaborate across the VPS.

This report documents the research and development of the Government 2.0 Action Plan launched on 12 August 2010.

Methodology

The Action Plan team comprised DPC staff and external consultants. A Reference Group provided cross-government and external input into the Plan. Chaired by Michael Kane (DPC), members included Tony Aitkenhead (DTF), Randall Straw (DIIRD), Gail Moody (DOJ) and Martin Stewart-Weeks (Cisco).

Extensive research was undertaken including an analysis of Government 2.0 practices in other jurisdictions. This was synthesised into a background paper. A series of workshops were held in March 2010 with VPS officers and selected external experts. The aim of these workshops was to identify barriers and opportunities to Gov 2.0 in the VPS.

The outcomes from the workshops were consolidated in a Consultation Report and provided invaluable input into the development of this paper. Consultation participants are listed at Appendix 1.

Summary outline of report

What is Government 2.0?

• Gov 2.0 is the use of Web 2.0 tools, such as wikis, blogs, and social networking sites, by government to engage with citizens, develop policy and deliver services.
• Data shows that Web 2.0 usage is rising. Web 2.0 is being increasingly used by citizens of all ages to interact with government.
• The Commonwealth Government has found that there has been increased use of the internet to interact with government with a correlating reduction in traditional methods of communication.
• There is a paradigm shift in public sector governance from government centricity to citizen centricity.

Policy context

• 2010 Statement of Government Intentions presents Gov 2.0 as a key component in Strengthening Democracy.
• Victorian Government's response to EDIC Inquiry into improving access to Victorian Public Sector Information and Data endorsed open access as the default position.
• Victoria is falling behind other jurisdictions, including the Australian Government and is at risk of losing its status as a leading public service.

Gov 2.0 application in the VPS

• There are pockets of innovative Gov 2.0 practice in the VPS, primarily in the areas of :
  • policy development
  • service delivery
  • citizen engagement
  • internal operations and communication.

Leveraging the benefits

• As Gov 2.0 initiatives around the world, in Australia and within the VPS are relatively recent, data to evaluate and quantify the benefits of Gov 2.0 is still emerging.
• In principle the benefits are in improving policy development, service delivery and citizen engagement. These in-principle benefits are grounded in well established economic, political and democratic theories that underpin public policy development generally.
• Departments will be the filter for determining the implementation of Gov 2.0 initiatives on a fit for purpose basis.
• Processes to track measures in order to evaluate benefits over time need to be a planned element in the implementation of the Gov 2.0 Action Plan and the implementation of individual initiatives by departments.

Managing the risks

• As the scale and speed of Gov 2.0 allows for a greater number of interactions with citizens in real time, it raises particular risks.
• The experience of Gov 2.0 by other governments around the world, and the adoption of earlier online technologies of email and the internet, gives confidence that these risks are manageable.
• The comprehensive Information Management Framework to be developed in accordance with the Victorian Government's response EDIC Inquiry recommendations will be a critical and overarching measure for both enabling the benefits of Gov 2.0 as well as managing and mitigating risks, supported by the the Victorian Government Risk Management Framework.
• The following specific risks were assessed as part of the research:
  • systemic risks, including alignment of WoVG frameworks;
  • data quality and integrity
  • privacy
  • records management
  • intellectual property and legal liability
  • participation by public servants.

Overcoming barriers

• The barriers identified through the research are not insurmountable and can be overcome.
• High level leadership is required. A WoVG taskforce could be mandated to drive adoption of Gov 2.0.
• Governance is required to establish a clear owner, a common definition of Public Sector Information and common standards and policies.
• The technical platform in the VPS has some limitations that could be reviewed by GSD.
• So that adoption is practical and manageable data sets of most value to the public should be prioritised for release.
• A program to improve awareness of Gov 2.0 would assist take up in the VPS and address cultural impediments.
• Social media protocols and a resources/tool kit should be developed on a WoVG basis. These should be consistent with existing policies on the use of other media and forums to explain and provide information on government policies and programs and to engage with citizens. This would provide consistency of approach that is medium neutral and alignment with other well established and understood policies within the VPS. Departments would devolve and supplement these to meet their individual operational needs.
• There needs to be clarity of funding that Gov 2.0 initiatives should be funded from normal operating budgets.
• There is a need to build the skills and capacity of the VPS to use Gov 2.0.
• Community expectations of Gov 2.0 will need to be managed. The community's level of interest and willingness to engage should not be assumed.

Strategic directions

• The approach to implementation of Gov 2.0 should be: think big, start small and scale fast.
• Four action areas are identified as the basis for developing an action plan populated with initiatives:

1. Driving adoption of Gov 2.0 -> Leadership
2. Engaging communities and citizens -> Participation
3. Opening up government -> Transparency
4. Building capability -> Performance

2. What is Government 2.0?

Gov 2.0 is the use of Web 2.0 tools, such as wikis, blogs, and social networking sites, by government to engage with citizens, develop policy and deliver services. Web 2.0 offers a toolkit that governments can use on a fit for purpose basis to improve and enhance their work and fulfill their responsibilities. Web 2.0 adds to and complements Web 1.0 tools.

Understanding Web 2.0

The Internet is undergoing a revolution. Where it was once merely a source of information, with users taking a passive role, the paradigm of 'Web 2.0' has fundamentally shifted the dynamics of internet usage. The central premise of Web 2.0 is that the internet is a shared public space where content creation, distribution and usage are intermingled. Web 2.0 is also sometimes described as new media or social media.

Collaborative and user-generated content is the cornerstone of Web 2.0, as demonstrated by video site YouTube, social networking site Facebook and the internet encyclopedia Wikipedia. Web 2.0 allows greater interaction and connectivity between individuals and between individuals and larger entities such as government or corporations. Web 2.0 is often characterised by a commitment to an 'open source' philosophy which stipulates that the data and processes used to create products and services should be available for re-use and re-application at no cost.

Web 2.0 builds on, extends and complements the concept of a website as a publication (Web 1.0) with a concept that sees websites as tools for interaction between people. As well as applications such as Twitter and YouTube, Web 2.0 also involves applications such as wikis, blogs, social networking and data mashing. Appendix 4 holds an overview of key web 2.0 applications.

Usage of Web 2.0

Research continues to show substantial increases in internet usage across all sectors and demographics. More than half (59%) of regularly online Australians rely on the internet for news, sport, weather, maps and directions. Use of internet applications has also increased, with particular increases in online communities, watching videos online and reading and writing blogs. Usage of social media and social networking sites has increased as well, with 45% of Australians who are reporting regular use, up from 38% in 2008.

In particular, of all regularly online Australians:

• 20% of Australians now belong to some form of online community
• 14% have written blog posts
• reading wikis has increased from 37% to 61%
• reading blogs has in creased  from 48% to 60%
• 86% of online Australians read opinions specifically about products, services and brands via blogs, forums or other websites
• 41% of online Australians publish their opinions via blogs, forums or other websites.

Further information about public usage of the internet can be found in Appendix 3. It demonstrates that usage is spread fairly evenly across all age demographic groups other than the very young and the elderly. It indicates that Web 2.0 is not just a Gen Y phenomenon, though there may be generational differences in patterns and type of use.

The Commonwealth Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has found that public usage of Web 2.0 has also manifested in increased use of the internet to interact with government. There is a correlating reduction in traditional methods of communication, such as by mail or in-person.

Changes in preferred method of contact with government
Source: Ahead of the Game APS Blueprint for Reform (2010)

Gov 1.0 vs Gov 2.0

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has described a paradigm shift in governance: from government centricity to citizen centricity (OECD 2009). At the most basic level, Gov 2.0 is the application of Web 2.0 collaborative and open-source principles and technologies to the practices and processes of government. The incorporation of Web 2.0 technology into government engagement offers a unique opportunity to achieve more open, transparent, accountable and responsive government.

Importantly, a central premise of Gov 2.0 is that information must be opened up to wide public access. Gov 2.0 involves taking the next step in transparent governance by strengthening freedom of information rights and building on existing rights of access. Gov 2.0 would therefore involve greater citizen rights to reuse, republish, repurpose and otherwise add value to public sector information (PSI). This conception of a more open government has been championed by the Australian Government 2.0 Taskforce Report. The report argues that public sector information is a national resource that should be available as widely as possible.

Some of the key differences between Gov 1.0 and Gov 2.0 are as follows (Deloitte 2009):

	Government 1.0	Government 2.0
Management	Hierarchical Rigid	Networked Collaborative Flexible
Service Delivery	One-size fits all Supplier-driven Single channel	Personalised Choice-based Multi-channel
Performance	Input-oriented Closed	Outcome-driven Transparent
Decision making	Public as spectator	Public as participant

3. Policy context

Statement of Government Intentions

The 2010 Statement of Government Intentions presents Government 2.0 as a key component of Strengthening Democracy in Victoria. This includes a commitment to using new technology to engage with citizens and improve service delivery outcomes. Additionally, there is a commitment to "examine other ways that Web 2.0 can strengthen citizen participation and tailor the delivery of services".

One initiative already announced is the App My State competition which will provide an opportunity for the public to use government data to build online applications. To support the competition – operated by the Premier's Private Office – the Victorian Government has made available machine-readable public sector information via the online portal data.vic.gov.au.

Government response to the EDIC Inquiry into Improving Access to Victorian Public Sector Information and Data

Responding to the Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee's Inquiry into Improving Access to Victorian Public Sector Information and Data, the Victorian Government has endorsed open access as the default position for the management of its public sector information. In responding to the Inquiry, the Government commits to the Committee's overarching recommendation to develop a comprehensive whole-of-government Information Management Framework (IMF) whereby public sector information (PSI) is made available under Creative Commons licensing by default, with a tailored suite of licenses for restricted materials.

Work on the IMF will start this year and will aim to guide government departments on how to enable more open access to PSI. The first stage of development of the IMF will include:

• specifying the scope of PSI to which the IMF applies;
• obtaining further legal advice about the release of PSI and use of appropriate licensing arrangements including use of Creative Commons licensing, where appropriate, as the default license;
• identifying and categorising datasets created and maintained by the Victorian Government;
• developing a hybrid licensing system that uses default Creative Commons licensing;
• developing pricing models with no cost/marginal cost as the default;
• defining and describing certain criteria under which access to PSI may be restricted, or released under license; and
• developing governance and funding arrangements for the implementation of the IMF.

Victoria may be falling behind

Given the take-up of Gov 2.0 initiatives by the USA, the UK and the Commonwealth Government and the leadership role taken by the Legislative arm of Victorian Government, the Administrative arm is at risk of falling behind and losing its status as a leading public service.

A broader discussion of current work being done by other jurisdictions is set out in Appendix 2.

4. Government 2.0 Application in the VPS

Project survey

As part of developing the Gov 2.0 Action Plan, pockets of innovative practice were found in the VPS. A survey of departments was undertaken to ascertain their use of Gov 2.0. This was analysed and built upon to craft a whole-of-government approach to Gov 2.0. It revealed that numerous Gov 2.0 initiatives are already underway by departments and are aligned to their business drivers.

It should be noted that the stock take is not comprehensive and it is not meant to be an authoritative overview of VPS use.

Usage broadly fell into the following areas:

1. policy development;
2. service delivery;
3. citizen engagement; and
4. internal operations and communication.

Key examples of Gov 2.0 applications currently in use under those four areas include:

Policy Development

• DOJ's problem gambling site uses blog functionality to gather ideas from the public.
• By following key terms on social media sites, DOT creates a weekly report which becomes an input for the communications staff and Ministers' offices.

Service Delivery

• A taxi fare estimator is provided by DOT to support citizens in using public transport services, and to keep services accountable and well regulated.
• DH used Twitter to keep the public informed during the 2009 Human Swine Flue (H1N1) outbreak in Victoria, and has also created Better Health Channel audio podcasts – involving user-generated content which is syndicated using RSS.
• DHS has established a pilot, called DASConnect, (Disability Accommodation Services) using social as a collaboration suite for DHS staff working in group homes. If successful the DASConnect collaboration suite will be made available to all DAS staff.

Citizen Engagement

• The Premier's website actively involves and responds to users, most notable via You Tube.
• DEECD-run blogs, wikis and Nings are used to communicate with community stakeholders.
• DOT operates a myki twitter account which replies to requests.
• DOJ promotes certain announcements and media releases using Twitter, has created a Facebook page for the "Enough" campaign against family violence and utilises user-generated multimedia content as part of the Vital Valued Victorians campaign.
• DPCD have a number of community engagement activities using social media including:
  • Spirit of Anzac blog and Facebook page
  • Heritage Victoria Twitter, Flickr and YouTube channel
  • Footscray Footbridge Twitter page (via Footscray Community Renewal)
  • DiVine online community
  • ENOUGH Family Violence Facebook and Bebo pages
  • DPCD Facebook and Twitter pages (in development)
  • 57 online videos hosted on DPCD's Viostream channel, including Veteran's Digital Stories series.

Internal Operations and Communication

• VicRoads uses Facebook to market its Graduate Recruitment Program
• DOT uses Yammer for informal internal communications and has plans for a blog authored by the Secretary.
• DIIRD runs a Rosetta Administrators Group wiki to improve quality
• DH uses HealthSMART to communicate between health professionals around the state.
• DOJ uses Yammer to improve internal communication.
• DHS has endorsed a two month pilot of the use of internal blogs by three executives.

www.vic.gov.au

The social media section of Victoria Online provides a comprehensive list of social media pages for local, state and federal government. This includes RSS feeds, podcasting, photo sharing and various other online communication tools. It shows numerous state government agencies are using Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube.

5. Leveraging the benefits

As Gov 2.0 initiatives around the world, in Australia and within the VPS are relatively recent, data to evaluate and quantify the benefits of Gov 2.0 is still emerging. In many cases the benefits of Gov 2.0 are articulated as benefits in principle to improving policy development, service delivery and citizen engagement. These in-principle benefits are grounded in well established economic, political and democratic theories that underpin public policy development generally. Processes to track measures in order to evaluate benefits over time would need to be a planned element in the implementation of the Gov 2.0 Action Plan.

In addition the Web Management Framework that applies across the VPS includes a process for content approval and review which requires a business case for any particular web application. While this relates to new websites only (ie Web 1.0) the process can be adapted to provide a useful base for a gateway process for each department to ensure that Gov 2.0 is used on a fit for purpose basis, ie where the use of a particular Gov 2.0 application makes business sense from a policy, delivery or engagement perspective. An updated business case model would need to be backed up by education for business managers to assess the justification (ie positive business impacts) for Gov 2.0, as well as the responsibilities and ongoing resource commitment that comes with the use of social media.

Gov 2.0 will not necessarily be suitable for all policy domains. Therefore, departments themselves will be the filter determining which Gov 2.0 initiatives are implemented and therefore what the expected benefits and potential measures of effectiveness are. Further comments about monitoring and evaluating benefits are set out in Section 8 of this report.

It is important to note that Gov 2.0 is more than what is already occurring through government services online, which is a one way interaction. Gov 2.0 is about two way interaction with citizens and this is additional to and complements online government services.

Key benefits to target

For Victoria, three possible areas to target for achieving benefits are:

• Incremental improvements to the quality of government-to-citizen communications. This is already happening to a degree.
• Enhanced transparency and collaboration in development and delivery of government policy, services and products. Less of this is happening in Victoria, but there are some good examples elsewhere such as development of the National Curriculum.
• Using openness to leverage greater public value from government-held data sets. This is still at embryonic stage for Victoria. There are some good proofs-of-concept but to date seemingly limited production-level uptake.

The next sections examine specific applications of Gov 2.0 by way of example to provide dimensions on the potential benefits.

Cameras Cut Crashes – improving efficiency

The Department of Justice has created a website with an interactive map which shows the locations of all fixed cameras on Victoria's roads. Each camera's location is described exactly as it appears on an infringement notice and the map also has copies of the camera's testing certificates attached.

A large area of inefficiency and cost for the DOJ has been citizens contesting speeding and red-light infringements by demanding to see the testing certificate of the relevant camera, as they are legally entitled to. The Victorian Auditor General's Office estimates that approximately 1,000,000 speeding infringements are issued per calendar year – creating a significant administrative burden. The Cameras Cut Crashes website reduced this administrative inefficiency by allowing users to self-serve information and reducing the amount of unnecessary correspondence entered into by the DOJ.

The website also helped to serve the DOJ's public policy aims by informing citizens of speed and red light camera locations and thus reducing the many social costs associated with illegal and dangerous driving. BTE (2000) estimates that there are approximately 300 fatalities caused by car accidents in Victoria annually, and 6,600 serious injuries. BTE estimates put the cost of each fatality at $1,832,310 and each serious injury at $397,000. By helping to alert citizens to the location of cameras, and thus encourage safer driving in those accident-prone areas, the Cameras Cut Crashes site can provide real savings to the Victoria public.

Department of Health Twitter – rapidly informing citizens on public health issue

The H1N1 (Human Swine Flu) virus caused concern and confusion amongst many members of Victoria's community, not least because it was a potential viral outbreak where misinformation spread faster than the virus itself. The Department of Health used its Twitter presence to communicate more effectively with the public.

The department used the 140-character messages to direct readers to websites containing more substantive and accurate information regarding the virus, in order to counterbalance the information already in the public domain. Twitter was particularly functional because the messages were necessarily made succinct and thus easy to digest, and the natural spread of the information amongst Twitter users was an effective way of harnessing the communicative power of naturally occurring online social networks. This had the effect of multiplying the audience to which DH was broadcasting, and thus disseminating important information effectively during a sensitive time.

VisualPlace – informational and decision making benefits and government efficiency

The purpose of VisualPlace is to show the value of interactive geographic information systems (GIS) enabled service for the visualisation of location-based government services and data on Victoria Online. The VisualPlace proof of concept will run for a period of six months from January 2010.

VisualPlace enables users to self serve and customise the layers of information they wish to see by location. While the base data may be a commodity, the ability for individual users to select the layers of interest enables mass customisation to meet a broad range of informational needs that would not be possible to achieve with static data sets. For example VisualPlace can enable GIS layering of information about population, the built environment and the natural environment as a decision aid for:

• planning cities and communities;
• managing natural resources;
• responding to emergencies and disasters;
• developing strategies for climate change adaptation; and
• determining on farm practices.

In addition to these informational and decision making benefits for users, VisualPlace also reduces the burden of information requests of government by enabling users to self serve. The value of spatial data is supported by EDIC Finding 5: "There is substantial potential for spatial data held by the public sector to contribute to new commercial and public services and research. There are also significant opportunities for access to spatial data held as public sector information to be improved".

The high value potential of geospatial data is also borne out by the US experience with data.gov where the overwhelming majority of data downloaded is geospatial data.

ATO - encouraging regulatory compliance

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) uses Twitter as a channel to remind taxpayers of lodgment deadlines and provide updates on new tax measures. The ATO's online business portal enables electronic lodgment and taxpayers to view their information online. This assists with regulatory administration and efficiency of self assessment.

6. Managing the Risks

Gov 2.0 raises specific types of risk as it potentially includes citizens, as well as government creating content and reusing data. The scale and speed of the technology involved allows for greater interactions in real time than traditional methods of citizen engagement. The adoption of previous online technologies such as email and e-government applications demonstrates that the risks are manageable. The experience of Gov 2.0 around the world also gives confidence that Gov 2.0 can be successful and the risks reasonably managed in Victoria.

In its response to the EDIC inquiry, the Victorian Government committed to the development of a comprehensive whole of government Information Management Framework (IMF) to cover a number of important aspects associated with release of PSI. The IMF when originally conceived was focused on PSI which is a subset of Gov 2.0. It is now essential that it extend to cover all aspects of Gov 2.0 to provide a consistent framework for citizen participation in policy development, policy delivery and engagement as well as sharing of data internally within the VPS and public release of PSI. As such the IMF will be a critical and overarching measure for both enabling the benefits of Gov 2.0 as well as managing and mitigating risks.

An IMF typically manages and sets standards for information and data on whole of life cycle basis: from cradle to grave - creation; capture; classification; quality assurance; protection; security; sharing; releasing; licensing, record keeping; storage; disposal; destruction.

In addition, the Victorian Government Risk Management Framework is well established in government and can be adopted to manage specific Gov 2.0 risks. Specific risks related to Gov 2.0 and the mitigation and management of those risks are discussed below.

Systemic risk

The capacity to share data within the VPS is a necessary precursor and inextricably linked to the capacity to share data publicly. Therefore it is critical that any frameworks for internal sharing be aligned and consistent with the IMF which is to be developed to support public release of PSI. Any lack of alignment in data classification and management standards, processes and measures for data sharing internally and externally and any lack of alignment in these across WoVG will create systemic risk.

There is currently no clear department or agency that is the government owner for sharing data within the VPS or for sharing data with the public. There are limited WoVG processes and measures related to data sharing and information management. A WoVG government owner and common WoVG processes would enable a robust coordinated approach to data and information management and sharing. These aspects will need to be addressed when developing the IMF which is pivotal in enabling Gov 2.0.

As aspects of government's web presence can be outsourced to third party providers to deliver, it will be important that alignment in principles of openness of government, open sourcing and creative commons licensing be flowed through to these third parties in the specification and requirements in their contracts. Again this is an aspect that can be addressed in the IMF.

Data and information quality and integrity

There is an expectation that government released information and data is accurate and credible. Quality controlling information and data to ensure integrity will present challenges under Gov 2.0 because of the volume and speed of release.

Many elements of an information management framework already exist on a WoVG basis through the ICT and eGovernment Standards established by Government Services Division (GSD) in Department of Treasury and Finance available at VPS Hub. The Australian Bureau of Statistics Data Quality Framework also provides a relevant standard.

Standardising classification and life cycle management of information and data on a WoVG basis, identifying different categories and prioritizing for release those information and data sets of most value to the public will assist in mitigating and managing this risk. Again the development of an IMF as envisaged by the Victorian's Government's response to the EDIC inquiry will provide the framework for giving assurance and confidence in information and data quality.

Privacy

The proposed IMF will provide a high level framework through which privacy protection issues associated with Gov 2.0 could be considered. In the meantime, preliminary high level consultation with Privacy Victoria indicates that the privacy implications of Gov 2.0 are manageable for the following reasons:

• Of the data and information which is PSI only a small sub set would qualify as personal information (PI), sensitive information (SI) or health information (HI) that is subject to privacy protection.
• The categories of PI, SI and HI by their nature are unlikely to be good candidates for Gov 2.0 release as there will be little public interest served in their release, except in a de-identified and aggregated way.
• Methods and procedures already exist in government for de-identifying and aggregating these categories of data for release in written reports and publications.
• An IMF when developed would provide a framework for a critical control point that categorises which data and information is useful to release under Gov 2.0 initiatives and quality controls it for accuracy and de-identification. The IMF could provide for a privacy protection review in each particular case prior to any release under Gov 2.0.
• The critical aspect to do well from a privacy protection perspective is at the point of collection of PI, SI and HI. The more comprehensive the collection notice is, the more consent to use and disclosure can take care of itself. This would entail strengthening the wording of existing collection statements to include that the potential purposes for which PI, SI and HI is collected includes for use and reuse for Gov 2.0 purposes in a de-identified way.

There are three main categories of information which fall for consideration under the Information Privacy Act 2000 (Vic) in relation to Gov 2.0 initiatives:

Category	Preliminary Assessment
Release of PSI by government.	PI, SI or HI are small sub sets of PSI. They are generally not good candidates for data release. If there is a public interest in releasing them, then release in a de-identified and aggregated way under Gov 2.0 carries no greater legal risk than present, though in practical terms the information would be more widely available.
Reuse of PSI by others, including combining it with other data.	There is a question of how far the chain of responsibility of government extends to reuse of PSI by others. Reuse by others may cease to be use by government.
Citizens participate on Gov 2.0 sites expressing opinions or providing PI, SI or HI.	Provided a clear statement is made on the site that content provided by citizens is in the public domain, this would qualify as generally available information and would therefore be exempt from privacy protection.

A preliminary high level analysis of the implications of the Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) in relation to Gov 2.0 is set out in the table below.

Principle Outline	Gov 2.0 implications
Principle 1 – Collection Collection of personal information must be necessary for carrying out functions and activities.	Broaden collection statements by departments and agencies to include that personal information can be released by government in a de-identified way under Gov 2.0 initiatives.
Principle 2 – Use and disclosure No use of disclosure of personal information other than for primary purpose of collection or unless consent obtained.	Strengthen collection statements as above so that consent is given to use and disclosure in a de-identified way under Gov 2.0 initiatives.
Principle 3 – Data Quality Take reasonable steps to ensure personal information collected is accurate, complete and up to date.	This obligation exists whether or not the data or information is released under Gov 2.0. The IMF should include measures for controlling data quality.
Principle 4 – Data Security Take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.	De-identify personal information before it is released under Gov 2.0. Actively consider what reuses might be reasonably foreseeable and what reasonable steps could be taken in the particular case to protect against misuse.
Principles 5 – Openness Make available privacy policy.	Amend existing privacy policies to expressly include Gov 2.0 purposes.
Principle 6 – Access and Correction Allow an individual to correct their personal information.	Allow a facility for citizens to remove their posts on Gov 2.0 websites. IMF should include measures to pass through any corrections into the PSI released under Gov 2.0.
Principle 7 – Unique Identifiers Unique identifiers must not be assigned unless necessary to carry out functions.	IMF could provide for measures to remove any unique identifiers prior to release under Gov 2.0.
Principle 8 – Anonymity Give individuals the option to be anonymous	Provide a facility on Gov 2.0 sites to allow citizens (but not those responding to citizens on behalf of government) to be anonymous or pseudonymous.
Principle 9 – Transborder Data Flows Take reasonable steps to ensure personal information held outside Victoria is held and used consistent with the IPPs.	VPS already stores information outside of Victoria. Strengthen collection statement to make it clear personal information can be stored outside of Victoria and with third party outsource providers. Ensure governance arrangements in place with third party providers to comply with IPPs and audit their compliance.
Principle 10 – Sensitive Information Not collect sensitive information about an individual without consent.	Sensitive information should not be a category released under Gov 2.0.

Records Management

What is a record?

A record is information created, received and maintained as evidence and information by an organisation or person, in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business. A public record, therefore, is information made, communicated or received as part of the duties of a public sector employee. Information made, communicated or received in a public sector employee's personal capacity is not considered a public record and thus is not subject to the same record-keeping requirements.

According to the Victorian Electronic Records Strategy (VERS), a record consists of one or more documents. A record can take many forms and in Victoria is defined very broadly under the Public Records Act 1973 and includes: a document, an image, a label, a disc, tape or other digital data storage device and "anything whatsoever on which is marked any words, figures, letters or symbols which are capable of carrying a definite meaning to persons conversant with them". This broad definition of record mirrors that found in section 5(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

The Evidence Act 2008 defines a document as anything on which there is writing or other markings from which meaning can be deduced and anything from which sounds, images or writings can be reproduced. An electronic communication is defined by the Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000 as a communication of information in the form of data, text or images by means of guided or unguided electromagnetic energy, or both.

Based on the above, as well as informal advice from the Public Records Office of Victoria (PROV), most communications made using social media – including wiki content, Facebook posts, tweets and YouTube-style videos would be considered public records.

How must a record be managed?

Below are the record-keeping requirements for public records in electronic records formats, based on the Public Records Office Standard 99/007:

• Long life: records must have an indefinite life. That is, the contents of a record must be capable of being viewed forever. This has three aspects:
  • Preservation: the records must be in a form that can be physically preserved (for example easily copied from one media to another without loss of quality);
  • Accessibility: it is useless to save records unless they can be found again; and
  • Readability: records must be able to be viewed as the creators and users originally saw them.
• Comprehensibility: records must be able to be understood in their context.
• Evidence: electronic records must be admissible as evidence and given due weight in a court of law. This requires the ability to prove that a record has not been altered in an unauthorised or undocumented fashion since creation, and to demonstrate who created the record and when it was created.
• Disposal: it must be possible to dispose of records (that is, evaluate and determine the record's status) and, where authorised, subsequently transfer or destroy records in a controlled manner.
• Modification: it must be possible to modify a record without disturbing the evidentiary integrity of the record.

Informal advice from the PROV holds that "the goal of recordkeeping is to document evidence of business. The reason we do that is to ensure that the government is accountable to citizens. In the context of government that means ensuring that we keep accounts of what we have done, how we have done it, and who we have done it to. If agencies are using social media as an engagement tool we need to ensure we capture what we (as representatives of government) have said, and what citizens have said to us in response. If agencies are using these tools to develop policy, we need to document how the policy was developed and the kinds of input that went into that policy development".

Although the record-keeping requirements for electronic records/communications are strict, there are no doubt technological enablers to assist in fulfilling these obligations. Some examples include:

• TwInbox – a twitter client which operates just like an email client, allowing for tweets to be created, archived and searched. Other options include browser-based archival, such as through Twapper Keeper.
• Status quo record keeping systems, such as TRIM can be used for social media as well. Tweets, blog posts, and Facebook posts can all be saved as corporate records, in traditional formats (such as Microsoft Word).
• Most wikis have version or revision control which can manage changes made to communal documents. This means that poor-quality edits or vandalism can quickly and easily be reversed or brought up to an appropriate standard by any other editor, so inexperienced editors cannot accidentally do permanent harm if they make a mistake in their editing. This also means that historical version of wiki pages remain intact, and can be retained.

Close interaction with PROV will be necessary to seek their guidance and expertise in identifying and implementing appropriate and workable record capturing systems. As with the proliferation of email, there are tools to capture this Gov 2.0 generated information into an organisational record keeping system.

Intellectual Property and Legal Liability

Broadening the release of PSI through Gov 2.0 raises issues about protection of government intellectual property and possible legal liability.

These issues were considered in government's response to the EDIC inquiry and are to be addressed and managed as part of the Information Management Framework (IMF) to be developed. In particular, the Victorian Government made statements supporting in principle of number of recommendations including:

• Recommendation 7: Seek legal advice on possible legal actions that may arise from release of PSI.
• Recommendations 11 and 12: Develop a consistent copyright licensing system for use across all government departments. Review the Guidelines relating to Victorian Crown Copyright 1991 in light of current best practice and experience, for example Creative Commons (CC) licensing. Establishing a central office to develop a copyright licensing system and advise government.
• Recommendations 13 and 14: Licensing PSI on a non-exclusive basis, except where necessary to protect the public interest. Adopting Creative Commons licensing as the default licensing system for the IMF.

The implementation of these recommendations as well as the development of the IMF would address and manage the intellectual property and legal liability issues in relation to Gov 2.0. The EDIC received evidence that CC licenses can be applied to approximately 85% of PSI and tailored licenses can be applied to the remainder where restricted access is warranted.

Creative Commons is a nonprofit organisation that provides a range of standard licenses that creators can use to manage their copyright in the online environment, each offering its own specific protections and freedoms. They have built upon the "all rights reserved" of traditional copyright to create a voluntary "some rights reserved" system. The licenses include provisions protecting intellectual property, disclaimers and exclusion of liability of government to the extent possible under law.

They are increasingly being adopted as the recognised standard so that license terms and conditions for social media become fungible, thereby facilitating participation. The benefit of having Creative Commons as the default license is that it lowers social media barriers to entry for both governments and citizens.

In addition the licensing frameworks developed by the Queensland Government (GILF) and the New Zealand Government (NZGOAL) also provide guidance on leading practice in this area.

In relation to Gov 2.0 more generally, eg engagement with citizens through social media, there will also be other legal issues which will need to be considered as part of detailed implementation. These issues including implications of Gov 2.0 for freedom of information legislation, whistleblowing and defamation.

Political risk

There are concerns that releasing PSI, engaging with citizens through social media in and other types of Gov 2.0 initiatives may have reputational impacts, result in a flood of criticism of government, expose government mistakes or result in information being misused or exploited for unintended purposes. There needs to be an explicit acknowledgement that these are risks that come with the benefits that greater openness and transparency of government and greater engagement with citizens brings.

The situations foreseen by such criticisms are already occurring on external social media sites. For the government voice to be represented provides an opportunity to correct information and leaves open the possibility of moderating voices and independent third parties entering and balancing the debate.

Continued...

Last updated: 3 September 2010

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