The role of technology (use of social media)

Concurrent session 3A. Speakers included:

Resources

Future of the book

The role of technology in government

The fabulous case study of Queensland Police on Facebook

(An extract from The Future Course of Modern Government: IPAA 2011)

Government reform and public service performance improvement is impossible without a thorough and enthusiastic embrace of the new tools and networks of technology-enabled communications and collaboration which are enabling, and often accelerating, a more open and connected world.

In their private, social and professional lives, people are learning to exploit the opportunities, and manage the risks, of a world characterised by connectedness.  Businesses, large and small, are pioneering new models of value creation, service and innovation afforded by these new tools.

Australia has a broadly positive record in the adoption of new technologies to improve the performance of government.  It has been a global leader in the eGovernment project and has generated a strong track record of practical improvements to service delivery and internal organisational performance from the widespread use of information and communication technology.

The Ahead of the Game report picked out the role of technology in a range of different contexts, including the impact of the pace of technological change on the work of the public service ( p11) and on the way citizens, taking advantage of new networks of knowledge, engage with government (p17).

As the eGovernment project has evolved into “government 2.0”, new opportunities and challenges arise.  In this phase, the technology dimension has embraced the tools and capabilities of the social web and social networking, what is often described as “Web 2.0”. 

In its report, the Australian Government’s Task Force noted that, while Australia has some great examples of imaginative uses of social technologies to improve performance and citizen engagement, it had slipped behind other countries, especially the UK, New Zealand and the US, in pushing the new limits of technology innovation in government.

The habits and mindset which characterise many of these new tools and platforms are disrupting entrenched cultures of hierarchy and traditional patterns of bureaucratic control.  In business, in media, in personal social interactions, big shifts are emerging in a world that is less deferential, more open and transparent and where reputation and position are increasingly earned and sustained as a function of contribution, not status.

Although the dividends for those willing to engage these changes are considerable and compelling, there are risks too.  And while technology has never been the simple or singular answer to the challenges of public administration reform and renewal, it is increasingly true that it is not possible without it.  And that means rethinking the role and potential of technology as it moves from the edge to the centre of the debate about government and governing in the 21st century.

In particular, we believe that the government has to address at least these priorities in its strategies to accelerate both the adoption and the impact of technology in the public sector:

  • Continuing to push for the integration of the technology dimension, especially the opportunities and capabilities of government 2.0, into every aspect of service design and delivery, policy development and organisational performance.
  • Creating stronger incentives for individual public servants, and for senior public service leaders, to explore more innovative ways in which technology can be harnessed to the big outcomes of service improvement, better policy making and rising levels of effective citizen engagement and participation
  • Lifting the awareness and confidence of senior policy and program leaders in the public service about the role, potential and impact of technology to achieve the operational and strategic goals on which they are focused.