Comments on: Open sourcing government http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/2008/06/08/open-sourcing-government/ The public affairs practice in New Zealand Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:10:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Enlaces sugeridos por K-Government el 7 de Septiembre, 2008 | K-Government http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/2008/06/08/open-sourcing-government/#comment-572 Enlaces sugeridos por K-Government el 7 de Septiembre, 2008 | K-Government Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:00:21 +0000 http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/?p=109#comment-572 [...] Open sourcing government | NPSC Blog - To recap, the concept of open sourcing government is essentially about allowing third parties (citizens, companies, non-profits, etc.,) direct access via APIs to government data, so: that individuals, communities and businesses are able to interact with government web applications in ways that are useful to them. [...] [...] Open sourcing government | NPSC Blog - To recap, the concept of open sourcing government is essentially about allowing third parties (citizens, companies, non-profits, etc.,) direct access via APIs to government data, so: that individuals, communities and businesses are able to interact with government web applications in ways that are useful to them. [...]

]]> By: Owen Ambur http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/2008/06/08/open-sourcing-government/#comment-570 Owen Ambur Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:16:33 +0000 http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/?p=109#comment-570 It would be good if New Zealand (or any other nation, for that matter) could demonstrate leadership in documenting its governmental agency strategic plans in StratML format in support of the purposes outlined at <a href="http://xml.gov/stratml/index.htm#DefinitionPurposes" rel="nofollow">xml.gov/stratml/index.htm#DefinitionPurposes</a> Under the auspices of AIIM, we aim to establish StratML as an international voluntary consensus standard for potential use by all organzations worldwide. AIIM's StratML Committee site is at <a href="http://www.aiim.org/standards/article.aspx?ID=34121" rel="nofollow">http://www.aiim.org/standards/article.aspx?ID=34121</a> Participation is welcomed and encouraged. It would be good if New Zealand (or any other nation, for that matter) could demonstrate leadership in documenting its governmental agency strategic plans in StratML format in support of the purposes outlined at xml.gov/stratml/index.htm#DefinitionPurposes Under the auspices of AIIM, we aim to establish StratML as an international voluntary consensus standard for potential use by all organzations worldwide. AIIM’s StratML Committee site is at http://www.aiim.org/standards/.....x?ID=34121 Participation is welcomed and encouraged.

]]> By: Joanne Caddy http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/2008/06/08/open-sourcing-government/#comment-510 Joanne Caddy Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:11:31 +0000 http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/?p=109#comment-510 Hi Jason - great insights as ever. You might be interested to check out the recently hatched <b>"Recommendation of the OECD Council for enhanced access and more effective use of public sector information" </b> released in June 2008. "This Recommendation is designed as a general framework for Member countries to foster wider and more effective use of public sector information and content, as well as the generation of new uses from it. It lays out principles for openness and transparent conditions for re-use, quality and integrity, new technologies and long-term preservation, copyright, pricing, competition and redress, and international access." Although OECD Council Recommendations are as about as soft as international soft law can get, they are not without interest for those of us with a passion for comparative public policy. Especially with the Recommendation, the OECD Council instructs the Secretariat to report back on OECD member countries' performance in applying the principles every 3 years.....Watch this space for some longitudinal comparative data folks! Joanne Caddy Hi Jason - great insights as ever. You might be interested to check out the recently hatched “Recommendation of the OECD Council for enhanced access and more effective use of public sector information” released in June 2008. “This Recommendation is designed as a general framework for Member countries to foster wider and more effective use of public sector information and content, as well as the generation of new uses from it. It lays out principles for openness and transparent conditions for re-use, quality and integrity, new technologies and long-term preservation, copyright, pricing, competition and redress, and international access.” Although OECD Council Recommendations are as about as soft as international soft law can get, they are not without interest for those of us with a passion for comparative public policy. Especially with the Recommendation, the OECD Council instructs the Secretariat to report back on OECD member countries’ performance in applying the principles every 3 years…..Watch this space for some longitudinal comparative data folks!
Joanne Caddy

]]> By: Mark Harris http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/2008/06/08/open-sourcing-government/#comment-509 Mark Harris Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:12:22 +0000 http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/?p=109#comment-509 Jase, I think you're right about the outcomes focus of public sector management being the blockage. Sadly, that's inherent in the structural design of the State Sector Act 1998. Each agency has a specific area of operation and must conduct themselves in a business-like manner. And giving away stuff is not seen as a step in achieving those outcomes. CEs may chatter about working together and transparency in their regular talkfests but, when the rubber hits the road the first question is "how much will this cost us?" followed by "why should we pay for it?". As I argued with Web Standards compliance, this sort of stuff needs to be in the CE's performance agreements before they'll give it their full attention. And it needs to be driven politically as well, as part of the whole of government approach. Perhaps the current project re-looking at the Framework for Government-Held Information is a good place to get some traction. I also think you're right about McGovern - I've long had a bag of salt within reach when reading his stuff. He seems to talk a good line, but his analysis is often superficial. Jase,
I think you’re right about the outcomes focus of public sector management being the blockage. Sadly, that’s inherent in the structural design of the State Sector Act 1998. Each agency has a specific area of operation and must conduct themselves in a business-like manner. And giving away stuff is not seen as a step in achieving those outcomes. CEs may chatter about working together and transparency in their regular talkfests but, when the rubber hits the road the first question is “how much will this cost us?” followed by “why should we pay for it?”. As I argued with Web Standards compliance, this sort of stuff needs to be in the CE’s performance agreements before they’ll give it their full attention. And it needs to be driven politically as well, as part of the whole of government approach. Perhaps the current project re-looking at the Framework for Government-Held Information is a good place to get some traction.
I also think you’re right about McGovern - I’ve long had a bag of salt within reach when reading his stuff. He seems to talk a good line, but his analysis is often superficial.

]]> By: purple motes » industrial organization for government communication http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/2008/06/08/open-sourcing-government/#comment-507 purple motes » industrial organization for government communication Sun, 22 Jun 2008 21:32:01 +0000 http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/?p=109#comment-507 [...] discuss it. Many blogs have simply ignored the draft's pagely imperative (see, e.g., here, here, here, and here). One sheepishly declared: "it kindly asks us not to cite the draft, but - since it's out [...] [...] discuss it. Many blogs have simply ignored the draft’s pagely imperative (see, e.g., here, here, here, and here). One sheepishly declared: “it kindly asks us not to cite the draft, but - since it’s out [...]

]]> By: Ben Rogers http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/2008/06/08/open-sourcing-government/#comment-506 Ben Rogers Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:10:49 +0000 http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/?p=109#comment-506 Jason - this paper and your comments apply especially to govt departments that are housing spatial data - making public data available via standardized (OGC) web services for ingest into mashups using google maps etc, is where I would love to see our department head - there are numerous licensing issues preventing this currently but this is something that needs to change as well. Its still amazing to me that publicly funded data is not free to the public.... that said I believe there are enormous wins for everyone involved if we can get out data out and open it to scrutiny/validation/user generation. Jason - this paper and your comments apply especially to govt departments that are housing spatial data - making public data available via standardized (OGC) web services for ingest into mashups using google maps etc, is where I would love to see our department head - there are numerous licensing issues preventing this currently but this is something that needs to change as well. Its still amazing to me that publicly funded data is not free to the public…. that said I believe there are enormous wins for everyone involved if we can get out data out and open it to scrutiny/validation/user generation.

]]> By: Mike(p) http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/2008/06/08/open-sourcing-government/#comment-504 Mike(p) Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:53:46 +0000 http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/?p=109#comment-504 Hans Rosling spoke about this during his GOVIS 2007 presentation. View his presentation here (http://tinyurl.com/4dks29), the discussion about open data starts at about 50:00. Hans Rosling spoke about this during his GOVIS 2007 presentation. View his presentation here (http://tinyurl.com/4dks29), the discussion about open data starts at about 50:00.

]]> By: Government as platform vs Government as Web Publisher « Spaghetti Testing http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/2008/06/08/open-sourcing-government/#comment-502 Government as platform vs Government as Web Publisher « Spaghetti Testing Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:09:45 +0000 http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/?p=109#comment-502 [...] reporting on this can be found here, here, here and [...] [...] reporting on this can be found here, here, here and [...]

]]> By: Jason Ryan http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/2008/06/08/open-sourcing-government/#comment-501 Jason Ryan Tue, 10 Jun 2008 02:06:08 +0000 http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/?p=109#comment-501 <p>Thanks Fergus. I think McGovern has got <a href="http://newsweaver.ie/gerrymcgovern/e_letter_view.cfm?a_id=1116082&cmd=new" title="McGovern newsletter" rel="nofollow">the wrong end of the stick</a>. The authors aren't proposing that government stop publishing to the web, they are just saying that the <em>process</em> should be standardized (literally, using <acronym title="Really simple syndication">RSS</acronym>, <acronym title="eXtensible Markup Language">XML</acronym> & so on) so that third parties <em>can</em> access and utilize the data in the same manner those agencies do.</p> <p>Yes, McGovern's points are reasonable advice, but I think overall the advice misses the broader strategic vision that the authors are proposing. The five points may be a useful way of looking at government namespaces, but they are constrained by a particular narrowness of focus...</p> <p></p> Thanks Fergus. I think McGovern has got the wrong end of the stick. The authors aren’t proposing that government stop publishing to the web, they are just saying that the process should be standardized (literally, using RSS, XML & so on) so that third parties can access and utilize the data in the same manner those agencies do.

Yes, McGovern’s points are reasonable advice, but I think overall the advice misses the broader strategic vision that the authors are proposing. The five points may be a useful way of looking at government namespaces, but they are constrained by a particular narrowness of focus…

]]> By: Fergus Hogarth http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/2008/06/08/open-sourcing-government/#comment-500 Fergus Hogarth Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:26:49 +0000 http://psnetwork.org.nz/blog/?p=109#comment-500 Hi Jason Gerry McGovern has picked up on the 'Invisible Hand' article also and concludes "It's a great idea to supply well-structured data to private enterprises so that they can develop simple, fast web services. However, the government still has a vital role on the Web. Not everything can be privatized. For the government to truly serve its customers on the Web it needs to address the following issues: 1. Get away from a technology obsession 2. Manage customer top tasks, not government websites 3. Get politicians off government websites 4. Stop government vanity publishing 5. Develop a government archive" That seems like reasonable advice to pursue... Cheers Fergus Hi Jason
Gerry McGovern has picked up on the ‘Invisible Hand’ article also and concludes “It’s a great idea to supply well-structured data to private enterprises so that they can develop simple, fast web services. However, the government still has a vital role on the Web. Not everything can be privatized. For the government to truly serve its customers on the Web it needs to address the following issues:
1. Get away from a technology obsession
2. Manage customer top tasks, not government websites
3. Get politicians off government websites
4. Stop government vanity publishing
5. Develop a government archive”
That seems like reasonable advice to pursue…
Cheers
Fergus

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