June 2012 – Dave Briggs

Link roundup

June 29, 2012

I find this stuff so you don’t have to:

Digital engagement – all about people | Stephen Hale – "We know that the potential power of the social web is dependant on people talking to each other, offering opinions, and sharing stories."
When networks fail – Julian Dobson on OurSociety and when a website and a bit of enthusiasm just isn't quite enough.
Introducing the Digital Performance Framework – Alpha release | Government Digital Service – "Managing transactional services is a complex task and can be quite bewildering with many systems and measurements involved. However, because we have digital tools and technologies, we can now pull together data from lots of different sources and inspire action through powerful visualisations."
LearnPod 12 – Eventbrite – LearnPod will be a cracking event again this year – sadly I don't think I can make it.
Stop treating people like idiots: start connecting public service users to the tough decisions that shape them – "One of the most common grumbles heard within the political and governmental classes is that the public doesn’t understand the need for compromise."

Goodbye, We Love Local Government

June 27, 2012

We Love Local Government, an anonymously written group blog by a bunch of people working in the sector, has closed its doors. How sad!

It was a great resource, providing support, advice and amusement for all those working for councils during an incredibly difficult time.

Those behind it have decided to move onto other things, which is fine – they’ve done their bit!

Hopefully what they have done is to further advance the cause of blogging in the public sector in the UK. That simple act of publishing stories, ideas, experiences, views and opinions is still incredibly powerful, and yet one that still isn’t being effectively used at scale.

My hope is that some of those who followed We Love Local Government now start their own blogs, writing about what they do, why they do it and how it’s changing – developing the support network and adding to the conversation.

It’s my hope that they choose to do so publicly, under their own names too. I understand why WLLG was anonymous, but I passionately believe that being open about your identity as a blogger is best in the long term.

In the meantime, there are loads of people blogging about public service issues, and many of them are aggregated at Public Sector Blogs. Go take a look.

Link roundup

June 21, 2012

I find this stuff so you don’t have to:

Integrate Your Apps | Zapier – Sync the Web – An ifttt for business web applications. Potentially vey handy.
What Organizations Can Learn from "If This Then That" (IFTTT) – Nice post from Nick Charney on ifttt – which I wrote about the other day
Digital Government: Building a 21st Century Platform to Better Serve the American People – "Building a 21st Century Platform to Better Serve the American People"
Don’t forget about ePetitions – they can be part of a more collaborative future – "There is a massive cultural resonance to a democratic mechanism like petitioning – maybe we could think about using this cultural resonance and familiarity in a more innovative and open way."
Is regular door knocking a must for councillors? – "(An alternative title for this entry could be, ‘If I go looking for problems, I’m bound to find some’.)"

Link roundup

June 13, 2012

I find this stuff so you don’t have to:

What should a UK Open Government Partnership Forum look like? : Tim’s Blog – "Open spaces events across that whole UK that provide access for all ages are key to an effective UK OGP forum."
Five strategies for building better council websites | Adrian Short – More excellence from Adrian.
A Primer for Blogging – Nice list of tips for newbie bloggers.
Better questions get better answers | Public Strategist – "Getting the right answer is important. But it is impossible to get the right answer unless we ask the right question. Time and effort invested in better questions pays off in better answers."
PyBossa – PyBossa is a free, open-source, platform for creating and running crowd-sourcing applications that utilise online assistance in performing tasks that require human cognition, knowledge or intelligence such as image classification, transcription, geocoding and more!

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