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Local by Social
I’m at the Local by Social event today, being run by FutureGov and the IDeA. It should be a lot of fun, and I’ll let you share in that fun by live blogging as much of the event as I…
Dave Briggs
An online notebook
Dave Briggs
An online notebook
Dave
Websites I love: Project Gutenberg
There are a lot of people who still see the internet as being something that is purely the domain of right-wing lunatics and porn fiends, which is of course a shame. The internet has created, or at least helped to…
Rounding up LocalGovCamp YH
LocalGovCamp Yorkshire and Humber was a great day, superbly organised by Ken Eastwood, Kevin Campbell-Wright, Melanie Reid and a host of helpers. It was by a mile the least involved I have ever been in one of these events and,…
How to run a GovCamp
With the excitement building up to LocalGovCamp Yorkshire and the Humber on Saturday, I thought I might share this piece, which I wrote for the UKGovCamp hub site a little while ago. It’s a ten point plan to organising your…
Let’s Talk Central
This week saw the launch of a new local government digital engagement project – Let’s Talk Central by Central Bedfordshire Council. The Learning Pool online innovation / social media / loafing around team – that’s me and Breda – were…
Looking forward to LocalGovCamp Yorkshire and Humber
This Saturday sees the latest LocalGovCamp, in York. It’s going to be a great day. Learning Pool are pleased to be helping out with a bit of sponsorship, and Breda and I will be in attendance. It’s funny to think…
Google jokes
One of the things I like about Google is the way they try and inject a bit of humour into what they do. Being funny is a key part of internet culture, and Google’s occasional light-heartedness is a welcome break…
Bookmarks for June 3rd through June 7th
I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Armchair Auditor – Nice clean and simple example of what can be done with open government spending data by @adrianshort Supreme Court’s untendered website cost revealed – "You need to…
John Naughton on the iPad
John Naughton‘s Observer piece on the iPad is well worth reading in full: It’s when one tries to use the iPad for generating content that its deficiencies become obvious. The biggest flaw is the absence of multitasking, so you have to…
Use Google Docs without a Google account
Now, this is small but kinda neat. If you want to show someone how cool Google Docs is, or actually work on a document with someone who uses the service, without them needing to have a Google account, you now…
Webchatting in Kingston
Being part of something big is really nice sometimes. Take being on the Learning Pool team, for example. Now, quite a few people read this blog, and my gibbering on Twitter – but really, relative to the number of councils…
Bookmarks for May 14th through June 2nd
I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. TWiki – the Open Source Enterprise Wiki – "A flexible, powerful, and easy to use enterprise wiki, enterprise collaboration platform, and web application platform." How digital engagement can save councils…
iPad therefore I am
OK, so I said I probably wasn’t going to get an iPad. On Friday I bought one. I admit it: I’m pathetic. My thing with the iPad before I got it was that I wasn’t sure where it really fitted…
LocalGovCamp Yorkshire and Humber
All Aboard the Great Yorkshire & Humber LocalGovCamp Train! Departing from: The National Railway Museum in York (only 2hrs from London) Departure date: Saturday 12 June 2010 For tickets and more information: www.localgovcamp-yh.co.uk This first LocalGovCamp under the new Coalition…
Open Leadership
Am reading an excellent book at the moment – Open Leadership by Charlene Li. Fans of dead-tree web 2.0 reading will be familiar with Groundswell, which Li co-authored and was chock-full of interesting case studies – mostly from the US…
How digital engagement can save councils money
…is the title of a startlingly well written and interesting paper from Anthony Zacharzewski of the Democratic Society. Download it here (PDF warning).
Hack Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Council‘s approach to open government and IT strategy is impressive. Check out their IT strategy blog, where they detail their use of the cloud, for example, and their open data site. Great stuff, and good to see it…
#lgworkforce – Sharing management successfully
Chris Elliott, Head of Transformation at Staffordshire Moorlands District Council and High Peak Borough Council shows how to make the most of a joint chief executive, how to bring services together to save costs and how to best spread best…
#lgworkforce – Buckinghamshire’s Organisation Redesign Programme
Gillian Hibberd, Corporate Director for People, Policy and Communications, talks through how their change process was planned and supported, and how staff were engaged. OD is aligning structure to objectives – form following function. Many orgs struggle to easily define…
#lgworkforce – Implementing a major organisational transformation
Melanie Wood and Catherine Griffiths from Birmingham City Council talk about how to take £450m out of the budget, addressing the workforce implications and creating new ways of working. Birmingham is the largest local authority in Europe – £3.4b revenue…