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Government 2.0 Projects in VPS: an introduction to managing risk

Government 2.0 Action Plan

Department of Premier and Cabinet, August 2010.

The support of the Department of Business and Innovation is acknowledged in allowing the adaptation of their risk management toolkit.

If you're a Victorian Public Service (VPS) employee thinking about proposing a Gov 2.0 project, you'll need to consider a range of risks relating to Gov 2.0 projects. Gov 2.0 encompasses a number of new approaches and social media technologies (such as open collaboration, Facebook and Twitter), and there's a similarly broad range of risks to consider.

Dealing with relevant risks is a natural part of making sure your project's objectives are clear, and its design is fit for purpose.

Gov 2.0 risks are manageable, and with a bit of preparation, you will be able to propose mitigation approaches for your project's specific situation.

This document is designed to help you understand:

The potential risks of Gov 2.0 projects
How to manage these risks for a successful Gov 2.0 project
How to use the VPS Gov 2.0 Risk Management Plan so that you can formalise your approach to managing risks.

What this document won't do:

Provide design advice on crafting your Gov 2.0 project
Inform you of every single risk which is relevant to your project. Make sure you think about your own project, and what additional risks you may face.

Once you've finished this document, you will need to complete the VPS Gov 2.0 Risk Management Plan for your project. The term VPS when used in this document applies to the relevant department or agency within the VPS that is using this document.

This document is split into three sections:

Guide to Gov 2.0 risk management

Explains how to approach risks for a Gov 2.0 project, and issues that may need to be addressed. Identifies specific risks which link to the definitions in the 'Gov 2.0 risks' section.

Who's doing it well?

Provides links to Victorian Government Gov 2.0 projects and other Gov 2.0 projects which demonstrate appropriate use of Gov 2.0 and related technologies.

Gov 2.0 risks

Contains detailed definitions of Gov 2.0 risks, including potential consequences and links to relevant government Gov 2.0 projects and reports. But first …

Before you start

For a successful Gov 2.0 project, your most fundamental and important challenge is to ensure your project is well defined, and has clear objectives. Before you start thinking about the risks included in this document, make sure you have convincing answers for the questions:

1. What is the business objective of your project

2. How do you think this project will benefit DBI?

3. Why is social media the right way to realise these objectives?

Social media is an exciting new technology, and it's easy to be carried away by the enthusiasm and opportunities it offers. It's vitally important to position your business objectives at the centre of your planning, not the technology itself.

Once you are certain you have clearly defined your objectives and expectations for your project, and you are certain that social media is the right choice to achieve these objectives, it's time to consider the risks of Gov 2.0 projects, and address the relevant ones appropriately.

The Government 2.0 Projects in VPS: an introduction to managing risk is available in pdf format (306kb). (This document requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader). .