Public Engagement – Public Empowerment by Stephen Collins

And it looks like I am on a roll, because here I am again putting together this blog post with another reference on the impact of social software, and its wider adoption, within the Government industry. Yes, another Government 2.0 presentation. And this one just as good as the ones I have been talking about already thus far. If you really enjoyed the one I shared earlier from Deb Lavoy on Social Workplace for Government 2.0 (To date one of the best decks, by the way, on social software I have bumped into throughout the years!), then you are also going to enjoy the one I am going to reference today.

It is coming from my good friend from down under Stephen Collins (a.k.a. @trib) who, a few hours back, pointed me through Twitter (You may have noticed how as of late it’s become my dynamic RSS feed reader… And loving it!) to the recent presentation he did at the GOVIS 2009 User Centred Government conference under the title Public Engagement – Public Empowerment. You can check out the slides over at Slideshare, as usual. But what’s also really interesting, and a must read, is the extensive and rather engaging blog post that he put together to explain not only the contents of the deck, but also his overall impressions of the event itself. Highly recommended reading with plenty of excellent stuff all over the place!

So, you may be wondering what you are going to find in Stephen’s presentation, right? Well, just like Stephen himself mentions as part of the headline from the deck plenty of "Thoughts on possibility for Government 2.0". And a new set of rules which I thought I would share over here as a teaser to get you folks going:

• "Everything and anything is possible – Ask why and why not and expect a real answer
• There are no bad ideas – Just different ones
• Passive consumption is pointless – Do tweet, blog, comment, challenge and ask as you get out of this what you put in"

Perfect way to set the stage, don’t you think? At least, that’s what I thought myself as I went through the first few slides before diving in. He then continues by referencing some of the fine work that Tara Hunt (a.k.a. @missrogue) did under Government Next and which I also blogged about it a little while ago, to then move forward explaining what it would be like a Government listening to its citizens and actively participating and engaging with them through social software to share ideas, exchange experiences, knowledge, collaborate amongst peers, innovate. In short, define the next generation of Government… Powerful.

Now, Stephen always does very very visual presentations and this one is no exception, but what’s really a true delight is how he uses that imagery to convey really powerful messages, which he then tops up by sharing plenty of use cases, scenarios, down to earth examples of how folks are already making use of this new wave of collaboration and knowledge sharing tools within the social software realm. And that’s what makes going through this deck such a treat!

My favourite slides are slide #44, but I am not going to spoil it for you. I will leave it down to you to go through it, and slide #73 where he has put together a very very powerful word-cloud using Wordle  that I am sure is going to keep you thinking for a little while trying to digest it all.

Yes, like I said, one of those presentations with really worth while, and equally strong, messages to think and ponder some more on the whole topic of what the next generation of government, our government should be like, and a lovely complement to the ones I have been sharing over here before from Deb Lavoy and the Us now film. Hope you enjoy them just as much as I did. And to get you going here is the embedded Slideshare from Stephen’s so you can start, right now, flipping the charts!

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