API access to CDATA (census data) 

CDATA is a fantastic system from the ABS to access census data (http://www.abs.gov.au/CDATAOnline) - however it would be even better if it could be accessed via an API that allowed the data to be mashed-up easily into other sites.

AES electorate boundaries and information on past elections 

All the electorate boundaries and past election data (who stood, votes, winners) for Australia - from presentday back to our first elections.

Currently Tallyroom provides Australia's most useful electorate maps for those without expensive GIS systems (http://www.tallyroom.com.au/maps)

Establish a Web Managers' Council - similar to the US model 

I'd like to see the Taskforce establish a whole-of-government Web Managers' Council similar to the US model.

This is NOT a group of CIOs/CTOs - whose primary focus is on the technological infrastructure - it is a group of hands-on Web Managers with direct responsibility for the effective delivery of government messages and management of online engagement and open data initiatives from a business perspective.

This group would be responsible for co-ordinating programs and support materials and providing senior advice on how to maximise the effectiveness of the internet for government agencies. AGIMO could facilitate and support the operation of this group.

An example of how this could be structured is available at: http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/about/council.shtml

I think establishing a Web Managers' Forum under it (similar to http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/community/forum.shtml) would be a positive step as well - considering that de facto organisations are already coming together on various social networks, but are not yet fully inclusive.

Note it would require the support of the Departments employing the individuals on the council, with an appreciation that there are whole-of-government objectives which sit alongside departmental goals.

whole-of-government project documentation sharing site (no code) 

I've submitted this separately to the proposed code market idea as the purpose is expressly to NOT share code - which is often hard to translate across departments due to platforms, copyright and security.

However government project documentation can be easily shared. It is generally created by, or totally owned by government and it is often platform independent.

For example, the requirements, design and technical specifications for a grant-management system, a blog, a wiki, a brainstorming site, are very similar across departments. So rather than having each department create their own documentation (sometimes missing important requirements) - why can't we share this documentation via a central site - then allow government departments to freely copy, amend and adapt this material for their specific needs - then resubmit their final version to be part of the common knowledge pool.

This would provide a structured way for government to build on learnings across the public sector, and encourage more standardised approaches to documentation and to factors like accessibility and usability.

As a secondary consideration, departments who want to build an X (online), but are not fully funded to do so, could put up a wishlist of their projects, which could be matched against other agencies who want similar or identical online functionality.

Where there are sufficient matches, the agencies could get together to jointly fund the project - leveraging better use of government funds and providing a superior outcome for all the agencies involved. Naturally the final implementation could be individually customised by agencies for their technical platform and specific needs (outside the shared needs) - but they could afford to pay for this as they would not need to afford to build the entire thing from scratch.

Of course there are various government procurement and other legal, technical, governance and other matters that would need to be considered - however this approach could result in significant savings across the public sector.

It does require that government operate more as a single organisation, than as a set of extremely different organisations - but not that much.

This concept could be easily extended beyond the government sector into the commercial world - just in case the government wanted to spin-off a start-up.

Crowdsourced - single Australian source of truth for geospatial mapping of electorates, postcodes, placenames and landmarks 

To support agencies in mapping data to geospatial references, let's provide a central site which any agency can use to geospatially identify its data.

This could start by drawing on all local, state and federal government geospatial reference materials, building a single national service independent of any mapping solution.

This should include all electorates, postcodes, placenames and geographic features - but to preserve privacy not go to individual address level.

It can then be extended through crowdsourcing placenames, as the Victorian government has been doing at VICNAMES (http://services.land.vic.gov.au/vicnames/).

The outcome would be a central service that agencies, not-for-profits and commercial providers can use when matching data with geospatial references, enabling standardisation across emergency and other services.

Training program for public servants in the effective evaluation and implementation of Gov 2.0 initiatives 

To build capability across government, there needs to be training courses available for public servants in how to evaluate, implement and manage effective Gov 2.0 initiatives.

Skill needs range from risk assessment, moderation and engagement principles, approach and tool evaluation again agency needs, reporting and issues management - plus more.

Perhaps the first step is to map the skills required, then develop programs appropriate to public sector needs.

Scholarships to Gov 2.0 events - building skills across government 

It would be great if the Taskforce, or it’s replacement, provided scholarships for ongoing public servants to attend these types of events to increase public sector expertise in the Gov 2.0 space.

These scholarships could be for public servants new to the social media space and as part of their terms for participation have them required to maintain a blog and Twitter feed of their experience and provide presentations to departments on their return to capture and embed the knowledge and experience across the public service.

Whole-of-government online reporting capability 

All government departments have the need to report on their public web presence. Building on pageviews, visits and unique visitors, over time they will also need to report on audio/video use and social media, using appropriate metrics for the mechanism.

As this is a whole-of-government requirement, it would be more cost-efficient for government to provide a centralised system that any government agency could use for the purposes of their public web reporting. This would also support cross-departmental reporting, providing information on how citizens engage across departments which cannot be gathered by individual agencies.

Providing this reporting system, similar to the whole-of-government search facility (Funnelback), wiki (Govdex) and Smartforms, would allow agencies to refocus resources on improving their online engagement, identifying opportunities and supporting greater Gov 2.0 innovation into the future.

It would also support standardisation on reporting processes, both for standard websites and for Gov 2.0 initiatives

REF: My Gov 2.0 Taskforce submission (http://gov2.net.au/submissions/craig-thomler/)

Whole-of-government intranet (with Gov 2.0 tools) 

To support interaction within disciplines across government, and promote the understanding and use of online collaboration tools, the government should develop and appropriately fund a whole-of-government intranet.

The Victorian government already does this, supporting public servants across the state to learn from each other and collaboratively develop ideas and solve issues.

The expertise within government is immense - to provide a more efficient and effective public service this needs to be shared across departments rather than relying on face-to-face networks.

This intranet would use blogs, wikis and forums to support discipline and project-based collaboration. Like taking Govdex to the 'nth' degree.

It would also support the communication of whole-of-government information to departments on an even and timely basis.

Templated and wiki-ed standard guideline documentation for gov 2.0 (for agencies) 

Similar to the UK Twitter Template for Government and the USAF counter-blogging model, the Australian government could tap into best practice initiatives within Australia and overseas to provide standard template documentation for some of the common requirements for government 2.0 initiatives.

This would include documentation such as blog moderation principles, twitter guidelines, forum management guidelines and guidelines around participation in third party systems.

These model documents could be referenced by any government agencies who wish to employ these strategies online.

Equally a guide to which social media tools to apply in which circumstances, similar to those developed by Bang the Table, would help government agencies engage appropriately and improve the probability of online success.

Even more innovatively - these documents could be produced through a wiki-based system - perhaps GovDex - tapping into the expertise that already exists across government.

This breaks down silos and streamlines the ability of departments to enter into Gov 2.0

The concept could be expanded over time to provide standardised documentation across many areas - HR policies, IT policies, Communications plans structures, and so on.

Gov 2.0 social innovation support program for not-for-profits 

Australia has a limited tradition of social innovation. There are few non-government bodies engaged in developing online tools and systems that create public value, not because Australians don't want to engage in these pursuits, but because there are limited incentives to do so.

In particular, organisations that are attempting online social innovation, such as OpenAustralia, and TweetMP, are very restricted in the funding and public support available to them.

This has been pointed out previously by notable people, such as Cheryl Kernot: http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/05/11/cheryl-kernot-a-quiet-revolution/

I believe that the Australia government needs to have an ongoing social innovation support program, supporting not-for-profit organisations to provide public value through reusing government data.

This would help develop the area, encouraging innovation and improving the provision of public information to the audiences who need it.

Social innovation has been defined as important by the Deputy Prime Minister: http://www.deewr.gov.au/Ministers/Gillard/Media/Speeches/Pages/Article_081017_153859.aspx

The first social innovation camp in Australia is being held next year in March: http://www.asix.org.au

REF: Adapted from my submission to the Gov 2.0 Taskforce - http://gov2.net.au/submissions/craig-thomler/

Create an 'innovation dividend' for departments 

Encouraging innovation would enormously advantage Gov 2.0 initiatives, as they are largely innovative endeavours.

Similar to the efficiency dividend, government could mandate that government departments allocate a percentage of their spending towards innovation-focused initiatives.

The danger with this approach would be that these funds would be channeled into activities which are not genuinely innovative.

To help prevent this, a percentage of ongoing departmental funding could be attached to successful demonstration of innovation - whether successful or not.

REF: My submission to the Gov 2.0 Taskforce - http://gov2.net.au/submissions/craig-thomler/