presented at Gov 2.0 conference in Canberra on 22 Oct 2009: using Larry Lessig\'s Remix meme to describe the potential for government to leverage the architecture of the Internet and Web 2.0 tools to foster the co-production of public goods - including both services and policy development.

1. Moving to a read-write government
emerging opportunities for co-production
19 October 2009
Patrick McCormick
Principal Policy Adviser
Public Policy and Organisation Reviews

2. Key questions
• what do we mean when we say ‘Gov 2.0’?
• how did we get here?
• what’s required?
• what’s next?

3. what do we mean when we say ‘Gov 2.0’?
using the power of Internet to
• deepen democratic processes through scaled conversations
• develop evidence based policy through robust consultation
• tailor services to closely align to citizen needs and
• open, transparent and responsive
government processes to enable
the co-production of public
goods, including service delivery
and policy development
• from read-only to read-write

4. what do we mean when we say ‘Gov 2.0’?
Charlie Leadbeater - 3 types of expectations
• I need – essential government services citizens rely upon
• I want – discretionary services responding to ‘market’
• I can – the capacity to self select, participate and co-produce
Why now?
• Internet 1.0 – low or no cost production and distribution
• netizens 1.0 – surplus computing and thinking capacity
• web 2.0 - new tools, new behaviours, new expectations
new thinking, tinkering by business and government

5. how did we get here?
the architecture of the Internet
• a collection of public agreements and standards
• vast repository of data, information, knowledge
• disproving the Babel objection - Yochai Benkler
• a ‘stupid’ network with intelligence (x2) at the edge - David Isenberg
‘the cathedral and the bazaar’
– Eric Raymond

6. how did we get here?
the architecture of the Internet power law distribution
• compact yet immense, a ‘small world’ mostly below and above the mean
• 10x growth adds ‘one hop’ • few with many links
• many with few links
• growth is organic and ad hoc

7. how did we get here?
evolving architecture of government
read-only
• 20th century administrative bureaucracy rigid, prescriptive, hierarchical
• new public / performance management
• triple bottom line – social and economic
• read-write co-productive enterprise
read-write
agile, principled, collaborative

8. what’s required?
• keep delivering the I need public goods
• share (not cede) power, when and where appropriate and possible
• maintain authority in old and new models
• government as a platform with an API or SDK
two key ingredients
• open access to data and information (PSI) and
• authenticity and contestability

9. what’s required?
open access to data and information (PSI)
• flipping the default switch on sharing
• redefining the role of data custodian
• wisdom of crowds - with enough eyes all bugs are shallow - Eric Raymond
• adhere to architecture of the Internet – UK Power of Information Taskforce
“data in some software from 90s
already inaccessible”
– Larry Lessig
?

10. what’s required?
authenticity and contestability
• ‘see for yourself’ nature of the Internet - Yochai Benkler
• 1% rule (1:10:89) of co-production
• Internet anthropology
– trolls – do not feed
– sock puppets – inauthentic representation
– threads, double posting, spam – rules
• self-selection and meritocracy
• trusted relationships and spaces
• ‘mechanisms of challenge’
• social capital – reputational authority

11. what’s required?
read-write government
• culture change and leadership
• authentic opportunities for co-production
• uncertainty, experimentation and success stories

12. what’s next?
more of the same (Government 1.0) and
• crowd sourced problem solving
• competition between sectors (mash-apps)
• predictive markets – optimised services
• semantic web and augmented reality

13. what’s next?
and in Victoria…
the VPS innovation action plan
• plan is designed to complement, build upon existing innovation efforts
across the Victorian Public Service and includes four action areas:
1. creating connections between people, ideas and opportunities
2. building innovation capability
3. generating ideas and rewarding good practice
4. sharing information and data
• action areas encompass a range of initiatives including use of web 2.0
technologies to foster cross boundary collaboration
Create Collaborate Change