Successful Inaugural Local Open Government Innovation Summit - Feedback

Summary:

The inaugural LOGIS for Australia was held in Nowra NSW Australia on Wednesday 18th May 2011. This area will allow comments and feedback on the summit

Successful Inaugural Local Open Government Innovation Summit - Feedback

MatrixIP 18 May 2011 12:44

Feedback on Nowra Summit

The inaugural LOGIS for Australia was held in Nowra NSW Australia on Wednesday 18th May 2011.
This area will allow comments and feedback on the summit.
Feedback is important to ensure that the next Local Open Government Innovation Summit held in Australia or (elsewhere) benefits and improves based on the successes and outcomes from the first summit.

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Please add your feedback as a "Reply" or a "New Post" below.

Last edited on 20 May 2011 00:10 by MatrixIP Show more

Re: Successful Inaugural Local Open Government Innovation Summit - Feedback

MatrixIP 19 May 2011 04:04

Technical issues worth noting

Posted by Darron Passlow
A few technical issues arose on the summit day which could have been removed by better planning.
1 A handout (agenda) had an error - missing 1 key presentation item (of concern)
2 Organisation for the screen based presentations did not allow smooth transition between presenters (minor)
3 The first hour with 8 presentations overran into the 2nd hour. This cut into the unconfernce (1 hour) second half. Not a major issue for the inaugural summit and all presentations were well researched, interesting and well received.
4 40 minutes of unconference (which involved some questions and some relevant discussion) was adequate for 1st summit - format and content of the unconference section needs more thought and better definition in future.
5 Several attendees mentioned that the time (930 to 1200) may not be appropriate for a large number of people (who might be working) - worth considering
6 The venue in the city was a good location but had 2 hour parking restriction in vicinity, which meant people had to leave the conference (or should have) to move their cars.
7. No feedback form was provided to allow participants to write comments before leaving. Advice was given that the place to comment would be on this wiki and the direct link to this wiki is to be put up on the Shoalhaven City web site, so that attendees can visit, join, see presentations and make comments. It will be interesting to see how many attendees take advantage of this.
8. Perhaps web 2.0 technology could have been used and demonstrated as part of this conference (interactive wiki, twitter, webcast, etc). Worth thinking about for future summits. (late entry)

Please edit (under "Options") this post here (with your name) if you have any other technical/organisation issues. For example, did the appropriate mailings/notification of the event arrive in reasonable time, giving you time to organise your attendance?

Last edited on 19 May 2011 04:30 by MatrixIP Show more

Re: Successful Inaugural Local Open Government Innovation Summit - Feedback

Graeme Gibson 19 May 2011 23:05

posted by Graeme Gibson
I have made a few comments about technical issues under a new post of "Reflections on the summit." Please read

Re: Successful Inaugural Local Open Government Innovation Summit - Feedback

MatrixIP 19 May 2011 04:26

Open Government cannot just be web based

Posted by Darron Passlow
The initial Open Government summit focused on the use of web based tools (Web 2.0) to help deliver Open Government, including a number of very relevant case studies (on the innovative use of these tools).
It was pointed out and supported by a number of astute attendees that not everyone (and in fact probably a minority) have access to the technology or more importantly the confidence or competency to use the current range of sophisticated Web2.0 tools.
The mayor commented that the Australian census indicated (on the question of "Do you use a computer and the internet at home?") that the Shoalhaven area scored below NSW and Australian averages on this matter.
There was general acknowledgement that the tools (particularly web based) were there to enhance the communications (engagement process) and not to drive it and not to eliminate the good old traditional ways of communicating (face to face, meetings, etc). In fact it was agreed that the traditional ways would remain for a long time to come. The web based tools (in theory) open up the debate to a much wider and more representative audience (participants).
The problem mentioned in Technical Issues above (timing of event) could be alleviated with Web 2.0 technology (and a good old webcast) allowing more people to attend (virtually) or at least be part of the conversation through an interactive wiki or say Twitter. None of these were used during this inaugural summit. Perhaps this is another item for technical consideration (I will add it)

Last edited on 19 May 2011 04:31 by MatrixIP Show more

Re: Successful Inaugural Local Open Government Innovation Summit - Feedback

Graeme Gibson 19 May 2011 23:05

posted by Graeme Gibson
I have made a few comments about Internet use under a new post of "Reflections on the summit." Please read

Re: Successful Inaugural Local Open Government Innovation Summit - Feedback

MatrixIP 28 May 2011 22:53

There is a comprehensive report put out by IBM on the tools that can be used (in Gov2.0 - Open Government) for Community Engagement. Tools to Engage the Public
Note on bottom page 4 the very strong emphasis that the "good old" face to face communications need to remain.

Reflections on the summit - and a challenge

Graeme Gibson 19 May 2011 23:26

Firstly - congratulations to those who organised this summit. I have been thinking about this for years and am delighted it took place.

In my view a number of the technical issues/ timing etc that Darron raised had the effect of limiting participation, or at best, restricting it to what you would normally see at a public event like this, i.e. only a low percentage of those present actually participated in discussion. Open Government is not a tradition and it is not going to be supported by a traditional approach to a public meeting – speakers lined up out front, "lecture" style presentations with a reliance on powerpoint, and very low interaction.

The point was well made during the summit, and again here by Darron, that internet access/ usage in Shoalhaven is below state/ national average. This led to a conclusion that it would be flawed to rely on web 2.0 technologies, which I support. My prediction is that we will see very limited use of this wiki site. There is however, another major problem with reliance on internet and that is the very quality of interactions that arise. In general, internet participation/ engagement supports opinion where as properly managed personal interactions lead to well considered judgements. Every one has an opinion, few have a well considered judgement. What do you value most? What do you want policy makers to base their policies on?

I attended a public forum on deliberative democracy in Sydney in February this year, with a number of international contributors. The strong feeling of these leading practitioners was that the internet has much to offer but a limited track record in supporting engagement beyond the superficial level. Deliberative democracy was a main theme in my presentation at the summit - please read and comment on my contribution here on this site at Graeme Gibson presentation.

As I said at the start I have been thinking about this for years and am delighted it took place. It will be a disappointment if it stops there. The point was made that the timing of the summit (weekday morning) limited attendance.

My suggestion is that another summit be held in Nowra in the evening, soon, and maybe also in Ulladulla. This should be organised to utilise the strengths of this weeks day time summit and deal with some of the weaknesses. It needs a working group to manage this. Who's up for it?

Last edited on 20 May 2011 00:22 by MatrixIP Show more

Re: Reflections on the summit - and a challenge

MatrixIP 22 May 2011 06:14

Graeme
You have listed a couple of challenges here.
1 You are right about the use of this wiki. It will see very little use. This is not uncommon currently across some seemingly more prestigious wikis.
People who participate on wikis currently are administrators (it is their job) or the enthusiasts (who will take the time to understand). It can be a bit like a meeting where a number might attend/visit but only a few contribute. In the case of a wiki, it is often a combination of being a little complicated to navigate but more importantly, it is not marketed to sufficient people. These are problems that can/will be overcome.

2 Your "opinions" and "judgments" comment is a good one.
I would agree but use the terms "ideas" and "actions".
The internet is swamped with ideas (opinions) but not much action (judgement on what is best and what to do).
See post below on this challenge.

Re: Reflections on the Summit - Innovation Challenge

MatrixIP 22 May 2011 06:33

The summit title had the word "Innovation" included purposefully.
This term is in the title because it is very important to the success of "Open Government" (at any level of government).

Innovation was defined at the summit (very quickly, with very little time to elaborate). To reiterate;
Innovation is the gathering and sorting of ideas and the implementation of the "best" ideas.

There are an unlimited number of ideas (opinions) on the internet.
There can be a large number of ideas associated with a solution to any problem/issue.
The internet has the ability to generate/deliver ideas by the bucket full.
But we need to be able to sort through the ideas, pull out the best ones, evaluate these, decide on which is most appropriate (judgement) and then do something (hopefully) like implement a good solution.

This is what Innovation can do for us.
INNOVATION is essential for deciding on and delivering the good ideas for "Open Government".
This fact has been emphasised in a number of leading Open Government initiatives (mentioned at the Summit);
a ManorLabs - an ideas portal for collecting and analysing good ideas from the community or staff
b Simplicity program in New York City (where the key to success) is two ideas portals (one for staff and one for community)
The links to these case studies can be found at Summit Agenda.

Last edited on 22 May 2011 06:35 by MatrixIP Show more