Government 2.0 at the Auistralian Parliament House

Public Sphere: Government 2.0 - Tom Worthington from Kate Lundy on Vimeo.

The "Government 2.0 Public Sphere Camp" will be help at Parliament House, Canberra, 22 June 2009. This is the second interactive event organised by Senator Lundy, with the able assistance of open source evangelist Pia Waugh.

The first event was the very successful "High Bandwidth for Australia", help at the ANU, 7 May 2009. These use short presentations supported by online forums, before during and after the face-to-face event, to provide an intense discussion of issues.

My own contributions for the event are to suggest internet and web technology can help with open government and reduce the cost of government at the same time. MPs and Senators could do more of their business online and so spend more time in their electorate, rather than in Parliament House. Also I suggested Steven L. Clift’s Democracies Online Project would make a useful contribution.

But before we worry about Government 2.0, we have to make sure government is capable of making use of simple internet technology, such as web pages. A recent audit report indicates 90% of agency reports to Parliament are online but most are hard to read because of the format used.

Government 2.0 is a rising topic of debate across the world. Trends in technology, media and public opinion have made it both more possible and more necessary for governments to reconsider what and how information is made freely available to the public.

This Public Sphere event will gather views on how creating an even more participatory form of government in Australia will improve the
effectiveness of public administration, enable communities to better
help themselves, promote renewed engagement in the democratic process and enhance our capacity to respond to emerging complex social, geopolitical and environmental challenges. We expect the topic and resulting event to bring together government practitioners and decision-makers, and interested parties outside of government. ...
From: Government 2.0 Public Sphere Camp, Senator Lundy, 2009

Sustainability of Australian Government ICT

The Review of the Australian Government's Use of Information and Communication Technology includes a recommendation on Sustainability of ICT. This proposes a whole-of-government ICT sustainability plan to manage the Government ICT carbon footprint. This is consistent with the Personal Computer and Monitors Energy Efficiency Strategy, recommending mandatory energy standard for government procurement, energy targets for agencies, reporting and activating power saving features in PCs.

5.7 Recommendation 7 – Sustainability of ICT

5.7.1 Develop a whole-of-government ICT sustainability plan (in conjunction with DEWHA) to manage the carbon footprint of the Government’s ICT activities

To better align the Government’s overall sustainability agenda and its ability to understand its energy costs and the footprint of its ICT estate, I recommend the development of an ICT sustainability plan.

The ICT sustainability plan should:

• identify which of the available standards (for example, EPEAT™) should be adopted as mandatory for relevant ICT acquisitions (the requirement to purchase green ICT equipment should be incorporated into the client code of conduct as detailed under Recommendation 5.6.2)
• include a whole-of-government ICT energy target, with agencies to report their progress towards the target
• take into account potential implications of a carbon pollution reduction scheme.

I also recommend that large agencies (with ICT spends in excess of $20 million) develop an ICT energy efficiency plan that can be either part of a wider agency energy efficiency plan, or freestanding. As a priority, agencies should measure their data centre energy efficiency (which may require the installation of electricity meters in some instances). Agencies should also include in their plan a target energy usage, including the power usage effectiveness³² of their data centres.

Larger agencies will need to undertake a periodic independent ICT energy assessment. Subject to agreement by the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA), agency plans will also be independently assessed by DEWHA, with results of the assessment reported to the Ministers for Finance and Deregulation, and Resources and Energy. Reporting of progress against the plan, should be in a way that is consistent with other reporting requirements such as the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Framework.

When procuring new ICT products and services, it is important that agencies consider their impact on the environment. AGIMO, in conjunction with DEWHA, should develop a green ICT procurement kit to support agencies regarding environmental issues in relation to ICT products and services. This should include raw material acquisition, manufacture, distribution, use and disposal.

5.7.2 Identify green ICT quick wins

In the interim, AGIMO should identify a possible list of quick wins in this area, such as software controlled automatic turn-off of PCs, based on the best practices already adopted by some agencies and in the private sector.

From: Sustainability of ICT, Recommendations from the Review of the Australian Government's Use of ICT, Sir Peter Gershon, 28 August 2008 (released by Minister Tanner 16 October 2008)

Gershon Report on Australian Government ICT

The Review of the Australian Government's Use of Information and Communication Technology by Sir Peter Gershon, was released by the Minister for Finance on 16 October 2008. This provides a snapshot of the current state of ICT in the Australian Government. Sir Peter comments that agency autonomy the "model of weak governance of ICT at a whole-of-government level" is sub-optimal. He argues for sustained leadership by top officials and Ministers and resources for change, and skilled staff. The report presents a powerful argument clearly, but is overly optimistic as to how quickly changes can be made.

Will the Ministers Listen?

My experience of being a senior ICT policy maker in government nine years ago was that such skills were not highly valued by the senior executive of the Australian Public Service nor the ministers. This was more a failing of ICT professionals to present their capabilities in a way that non-technical clients could understand, than a failure of the leadership. Advances have been made since then, with Australia leading the world in writing a standard for Governance ICT which has now been adopted globally. Also ICT professionals are being better trained in communication and business skills. My colleagues in the Australian Computer Society and the Australian National Unviersity have been contributing to that effort with training for new and current ICT professionals.

Sustainable ICT Planning

The report recommends development of a whole-of-government ICT sustainability plan, in conjunction with the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA), to manage the energy costs and carbon footprint of the Government’s ICT activities. This is a recommendation I made while preparing the Personal Computer and Monitors Energy Efficiency Strategy for DEWHA. Ideally, a sustainability plan can be integrated with the reports other recommendations for a whole-of-government approach to data centres, governance, spending and skills, so that environmental improvements can be combined with cost savings.

Recommendations such as a 50% reduction in contractors in 2 years will be difficult to achieve. Restoring the whole-of-government ICT career structure, which was dismantled with outsourcing, will take time. A whole-of-government strategic ICT workforce plan should be made easier by recent developments in technology and training, with better standards making skills portability more feasable.

50% Saving by Finance Possible in Formatting of the report

The Executive Summary and each chapter of the report has been provided as a separate web page, as well as the full text in one 3Mbyte PDF document. Providing the report sections as web pages greatly improves access and the Minister's staff are to be commended for this. Frequently such government reports are only made available as one large lump of hard to read PDF. The report is overall well formatted and could be displayed on a mobile web browser of a smart phone, as well as a desktop screen. There was one validation error found. An automated accessibility test reported a number of minor accessibility problems: one Level-A, 3 Double A and one Triple A, which could be easily corrected.

However, there is one major flaw in the design of the department of finance web site, with all web pages having an excessively large side menu. The executive summary of the Gershon report is 95 Kbytes of HTML. Of this only 22 Kbytes is the text of the report, with 78% of the file taken up with the Finance menu. This menu appears to occur in all web pages on the Finance department web site and will be causing an excessive load on the system. Also the image in the document has been incorrectly coded as a JPEG image. So the Finance Department could commence implementation of the Gershon reforms with an optimisation of the design of its own web site. A simple redesign would reduce the size of the documents by 50% and thus make a 50% saving in the size of the web server and telecommunications required. Details of how to do this are in my course on web design at the ANU.

Table of Contents

• Glossary of abbreviations
• Executive Summary
  • Introduction /Context
  • Methodology
  • Key Findings
  • Summary of key recommendations
  • Implementation
  • Acknowledgements
• Introduction

1. Chapter 1: Views from within the Australian Government
   1. ICT Investment Decision Making
   2. Project delivery
   3. Organisational capability
   4. People
   5. Managing ICT spend
   6. Procurement and ICT Outsourcing
   7. Use of best practice
   8. Views on existing whole-of-government arrangements
   9. Views on data centres
   10. Views on the ICT industry
   11. ICT arrangements in Ministerial Offices
2. Chapter 2: Views from outside the Australian Government
   1. Better utilisation of ICT assets
   2. Shared services
   3. Standardised/coordinated approach to procurement
   4. Use of Commercial Off-the-shelf Solutions
   5. Need for standardisation
   6. Whole-of-government governance
   7. High costs of tendering
   8. The Australian government compared to other governments
   9. Skills shortage
   10. Green ICT
   11. Security Clearances
   12. Best practices
3. Chapter 3: Summary of survey findings
   1. Survey approach
   2. Survey Results
4. Chapter 4: Key findings
   1. Weak governance of pan-government issues related to ICT
   2. Agency governance mechanisms are weak in respect of focus on ICT efficiency and understanding of organisational capability to commission, manage and realise benefits from ICT-enabled projects
   3. The business as usual ICT funding in agencies is not subject to sufficient challenge and scrutiny
   4. Disconnect between the stated importance of ICT and actions in relation to ICT skills
   5. There is no whole-of-government strategic plan for data centres. In the absence of such a plan, the government will be forced into a series of ad hoc investments which will, in total, cost significantly more than a coordinated approach
   6. The Government ICT marketplace is neither efficient nor effective
   7. There is a significant disconnect between the Government’s overall sustainability agenda and its ability to understand and manage energy costs and the carbon footprint of its ICT estate
5. Chapter 5: Recommendations
   1. Recommendation 1 – Strengthen pan-government governance
   2. Recommendation 2 – Strengthen Agency Governance
   3. Recommendation 3 – Tighten the management of ICT business as usual funding
   4. Recommendation 4 – Enhance the management of the APS ICT skills base
   5. Recommendation 5 – Data Centres
   6. Recommendation 6 – Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the ICT marketplace
   7. Recommendation 7 – Sustainability of ICT
6. Chapter 6: Implementation
7. Appendices
   1. Terms of Reference
   2. Submission questions
   3. Survey instrument
   4. Submissions received
   5. Consultations
   6. Agencies with ICT Spend over $20 million in 2007–08
   7. Agencies with ICT Spend $2 million to $20 million in 2007–08
   8. Candidates for whole-of government approaches
   9. Proposed criteria for whole-of-government approaches and arrangements subject to opt-out
   10. Proposed role of AGIMO
   11. Linkage between Terms of Reference and Recommendations
   12. Details of ICT Review Team

From: Review of the Australian Government's Use of Information and Communication Technology, Sir Peter Gershon, 28 August 2008 (released by Minister Tanner 16 October 2008)

Key Findings

After detailed analysis of the evidence, the review identified the following key findings:

1. There is weak governance¹ of pan-government issues related to ICT.
2. Agency governance mechanisms are weak in respect of their focus on ICT efficiency and an understanding of organisational capability to commission, manage and realise benefits from ICT-enabled projects.
3. The business as usual (BAU) ICT funding in agencies is not subject to sufficient challenge and scrutiny.
4. There is a disconnect between the stated importance of ICT and actions in relation to ICT skills.
5. There is no whole-of-government² strategic plan for data centres. In the absence of such a plan, the Government will be forced into a series of ad hoc investments which will, in total, cost in the order of $1 billion more than a coordinated approach over a 15-year period.
6. The government ICT marketplace is neither efficient nor effective.
7. There is a significant disconnect between the Government’s overall sustainability agenda and its ability to understand and manage energy costs and the carbon footprint of its ICT estate.

At the heart of these findings is a conclusion that the current model of very high levels of agency autonomy, including the ability to self-approve opt-ins to whole-of-government approaches in the ICT domain, leads to sub-optimal outcomes in the context of prevailing external trends, financial returns, and the aims and objectives of the current Government. The impact of this autonomy has been heightened by a previous lack of strong focus on whole-of-government ICT issues at both Ministerial and top official levels. This conclusion applies no matter how well-intentioned individual agencies are in their pursuit of whole-of-government outcomes.

The current model of operation is very close to treating FMA Act agencies as though they were independent private sector entities. The agencies are, however, very different in a number of aspects: they are funded by the taxpayer, they cannot go bankrupt, they have very little or nothing of the ‘time=money’ dynamic of the private sector, and they have no simple bottom line outcomes against which their success or failure can be measured.

Against the background of the Government’s objectives and the pressures to improve efficiency and effectiveness wherever possible, I consider some rebalancing between agency autonomy and coordination across government is both desirable and necessary in measures related to ICT. Such a move is in line with trends in the United Kingdom (UK) and United States (US) Governments, as well as large private sector organisations.

Summary of key recommendations

The following comprise the primary recommendations of this review. The complete list of my detailed recommendations is found at Chapter 5 of this report. A summary of how the recommendations meet the Terms of Reference can be found at Appendix K.

Governance

• Establish a Ministerial Committee on ICT to be responsible for the key whole-of-government ICT policies and the overall strategic vision for how ICT should support the achievement of the Government’s outcomes and wider policy agenda.
• Create a Secretaries' ICT Governance Board (SIGB) with a strong mandate from the Government to drive the agreed recommendations arising from the review and focus on addressing the key business issues to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Government’s use of ICT.
• Allow agencies to obtain opt-outs, based on genuine business need, from agreed whole-of-government activities. Opt-outs to be approved by the Ministerial Committee, informed by the SIGB.

Capability

• Improve agency capability to commission, manage and realise the benefits from ICT-enabled projects through the implementation of a common methodology for assessing agency capability based on self-assessment and periodic independent audit. Each agency Chief Executive to propose a target level of capability based on their agency’s and the Government’s strategic priorities, and for this to be independently validated. Agencies to develop a capability improvement plan with commitment, and agreed actions, to address identified gaps.

ICT spend

• Target to move total FMA Act agency ICT spend from an average 77:23% split between ICT BAU activities and creation of new capability in 2007–08 to an average 70:30% in 2011–12.
• As initial steps towards this goal, reduce the ICT BAU budgets of the largest 28 FMA Act agencies (Defence excluded) with ICT spends in excess of $20 million per annum by 15% from 2007–08 actuals (for a list of agencies refer to Appendix F), with a phased introduction over two years.
• Create ICT Review Teams to help these agencies achieve or exceed the target reductions without impairing service delivery to citizens and business.
• In addition, I recommend targeting agencies with total annual ICT spends between $2 million and $20 million to achieve a 7.5% reduction on average of their BAU from 2007–08 actuals (for a list of agencies refer to Appendix G) , with a phased introduction over two years.
• The 15% and 7.5% reductions in total should save the Government around $140 million in the first year and in excess of $400 million in the second and subsequent years. I also recommend that 50% of the savings generated by these recommendations be transferred to a central fund for reinvestment in projects to improve efficiency and effectiveness of ICT BAU activities, such as replacement of legacy software and hardware with high support and maintenance costs.

Skills

• Create a whole-of-government Australian Public Service (APS) ICT career structure, including training and development programs for ICT professionals in key skills areas.
• Develop and maintain a whole-of-government strategic ICT workforce plan.
• Reduce the total number of ICT contractors in use across FMA Act agencies by 50% over a 2-year period and increase the number of APS ICT staff. This should save the Government an estimated $100 million (across both BAU and project-related work).

Data centres

• Develop a whole-of-government approach for future data centre requirements over the next 10–15 years.

Sustainable ICT

• Develop a whole-of-government ICT sustainability plan (in conjunction with the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts) to manage the energy costs and carbon footprint of the Government’s ICT activities.

Implementation

My recommendations entail a major program of administrative reform and cultural change. Based on my experience of creating sustainable change in the UK public sector there are two critical requirements which will determine the success of the proposed program: first, sustained leadership and drive at Ministerial and top official levels; second, ensuring the enablers of change are properly resourced not only in funding terms but also skills of the right calibre.

The early decisions of the Ministerial Committee and the SIGB will need to send out clear signals about the pace and direction of change which is then reinforced through subsequent decisions. It will be essential to ensure that agreed whole-of-government ICT approaches and arrangements are ‘fit for purpose’. ...

From: Executive Summary, Review of the Australian Government's Use of ICT, Sir Peter Gershon, 28 August 2008 (released by Minister Tanner 16 October 2008)

Teaching Computer-Mediated Communication for Governance

At the Varietas Multidisciplinary Teaching Interest Group on Wednesday we discussed what was required for a learning management system (LMS). What quickly became apparent was that selecting an LMS should be treated like other requirements analysis for an ICT system. Rather than start with a shopping list of features found in typical LMS, we should work out what the learning objectives are, the appropriate learning styles for that learning and then how ICT can support it.

LMS can have document creation and document/record management facilities, person to person and person to group communication, meeting management, assessment management and course delivery features. What many of these have in common is computer-mediated communication (CMC):

Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) is defined as any communicative transaction which occurs through the use of two or more networked computers.^[1] While the term has traditionally referred to those communications that occur via computer-mediated formats (i.e., instant messages, e-mails, chat rooms) it has also been applied to other forms of text-based interaction such as text messaging. ^[2] Research on CMC focuses largely on the social effects of different computer-supported communication technologies. Many recent studies involve Internet-based social networking supported by social software.

From: Computer-Mediated Communication, Wikipedia, 28 September 2008, at 11:06

Even the document/record management facilities and assessment, could be considered a form of communication. The record management facilities are used for communicating from now to the future, and the assessed is the assessor communicating to those who may wish to employ the student.

This analysis should work well for the courses on web design and electronic document management I present, as the topic of the course is also Computer-Mediated Communication.

To test if this would be a useful approach I tried the same technique wh9och I had used with "learning commons". A web search on CMC, returned about 2.5 million hits. Narrowing the search to the last 24 hours, produced just over 10,000 documents. This suggested the term was widely used, but the real surprise came when I narrowed the search to CMC for 24 hours at ANU, which found 4 documents, including an announcement of a seminar a few hundred metres from my office by an expert in lexicography and computer-mediated communication: The 5-Concentric Circles Model & the Australian English Dictionary, Vincent B Y Ooi, The Australian National Dictionary Centre, CEDAM Seminar Room, Building #96, 10 October 2008.

Rather than arguing the merits of Wiki, Blog, Podcast, Webinar, Feed or whatever new technology may be around the corner, it should be possible to apply the analysis developed for CMC, such as synchronicity, persistence, multimodality, privacy and security.

My courses on web design and e-document management largely address the needs of governance. This could be generalised as CMC for governance; that is using computer based systems to coordinate an organisation, or a society. In this way we can step back from the detail of how email or word processing documents should be archived in a company or a government agency and look at how computers can be used to make decisions, have those decisions implemented and satisfy the community the process was properly carried out. Different forms of CMC can then be assessed to see how they assist governance.

Environmentalism and Equity

Ms Sunita Narain, Director of the Centre for Science & Environment, just finished the 2008 K R Narayanan Oration at the ANU in Canbera on "Why Environmentalism Needs Equity: Learning from the environmentalism of the poor to build our common future". She nominated fuel cost, climate change and food security as era for our age. One issue, biofuels, wraps up many of these issues and the ones of equity.

It was an honour to be present at this oration. Last year the oration was by Dr Rajendra K Pachauri, who shortly after won the Noble prize for his work as the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Unfortunately the world does not necessarily listen to such eminent persons, as we should.

Ms Narain suggests what is needed is environmentalism of the poor. The industrialised world industrialised first and then responded to the waste generated. Most of the world will demand a new approach where progress will not cause environmental degradation. India's minerals are located where the forests, water catchments and poverty are located.

Ms Narain argued that India's democracy would not tolerate degradation of the environment. She used as an example grass roots action in Goa to block access for mining companies (I saw some of the mining industry on a visit to Goa in 2005).

Another example given was approaches to cleaning up air pollution in cities. She argued that India's use of LPG for vehicles had made a significant improvement in air quality. One problem is that in Delhi most of the road space is taken up by private cars, while most people are transported in buses. The introduction of bus lanes had been opposed by car drivers.Ms Narain did not mention the Delhi Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS, Delhi Metro or दिल्ली मेट्रो), which is an example of the problems with high technology solutions. Perhaps Indian experts could help Sydney's transport problems).

Ms Narain argued that a change in the framework, with equity, so that the global South can implement CO2 reduction, before becoming rich, rather than after, as happend in the North. The system suggested was a per-captia emissions allowance. In this way countries such as India could trade some of their allowance with countries such as Australia. This might be a good way to use carbon trading mechanisms to include the world.

At question time I asked if market mechanisms would be sufficient or was a philosophical change to issues such as climate change needed. The answer was that this is a political issue and the community needs to assert that public goods need regulation and other mechanism to see correct use. The matter is urgent and imporant and can't be left to good will and good intentions.

ps: One point I disagreed with in the talk was the assertion that CO2 emissions were the first environmental issue which required a global agreement to fix. This is not the case as there was previously a global pollution problem with Ozone destroying emissions. A global agreement was reached and has largely worked. CO2 emissions are a much more difficult problem, but the Montreal Protocol shows such problems are not insoluble.

See also:

• Books by and mentioning Sunita Narain

Government electronic document policy

Do you have an e-document policy? Later in the year I will be facilitating a workshop on government electronic document policy with people from Australian and New Zealand state and federal governments. We will aim to come up with some guidelines for Government CIOs. But first I need to get an idea of what is out there now. Any pointers to policies, relevant standards or other documents would be most welcome. I will then collate the results and make it available.

My thinking is that most e-document and e-archiving policies are misdirected. Records managers and archivists need to stop being passive receivers of whatever junk they are given. Instead they need to start with the new "killer applications" such as social networking for business, mash ups and the like and build the policies in there. But I would suggest a more cautious approach than that of the UK Government's "Power of Information TaskForce".

Please include a web address where the policy is available, if possible. After all who would be silly enough to distribute their e-document policy on paper? ;-)

By the way the intention is to use a similar computer assisted format and some of the content from the Electronic Document Management course I ran last year. This used a computer equipped lab and a Moodle based system for content and exercises.

Here is a quick list of items I found with a web search:

1. International: Recommended Practice - Analysis, Selection, and Implementation Guidelines Associated with Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS), Association for Information and Image Management International, April 12, 2006.
2. Australian Federal: "Improving Electronic Document Management: Guidelines for Australian Government Agencies", Office of Government Information Technology, Commonwealth of Australia 1995
3. NT: Position Statement on Electronic Recordkeeping in the NT Government, Northern Territory Archives Service, September 2004
4. Queensland: Digitisation Disposal Policy, Queensland State Archives, April 2006
5. NSW: State Records NSW has an extensive set of documents and references one-documents:
   

   • Policy on digital records preservation
   • Policy on electronic recordkeeping
   • Policy on electronic messages as records
   • Standard on Recordkeeping in the Electronic Business Environment
   • NSW Recordkeeping Metadata Standard (NRKMS)
   • Checklist for assessing business systems (RIB 42)
   • Strategies for documenting Government business: The 'DIRKS' manual
   • Introducing recordkeeping metadata (RIB 18)
   • Selecting records management software (RIB 2)
   • Guidelines on keeping web records
   • Managing the message: Guidelines on managing formal and informal communications as records
   • FAQs - Emails and recordkeeping (RIB 49)
   • Desktop Management: Managing electronic documents and directories (RIB 30)
   • Email and other templates for creating digital records
   • Destroying digital records: When pressing delete is not enough (RIB 51)
   • Future Proof: Ensuring the long term accessibility of equipment / technology dependent records
   • Archives Advice: Protecting and handling magnetic media (NAA)
   • Archives Advice: Protecting and handling optical disks (NAA)
   • Information rights management and recordkeeping (RIB 36)
   • Digital records preservation in the NSW public sector: A discussion paper
   • Digital Records Advisory Group
   • Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative (ADRI) website

By the way the new ISO/IEC 38500:2008 Corporate governance of information technology, based on AS8015-2005, includes a requirement for records management for IT systems. There is also a requirement for record keeping in the Australian Standard on Good Governance Principles (AS 8000-2003), as State Records NSW points out.

W3C on eGovernment

Jose Manuel Alonso will be talking on W3C on e-Government at the CSIRO ICT center in Canberra today. W3C are starting an eGovernment Interest Group in their technology and society section. However, I don't see this as useful, as the needs of governance of corporations and non-government bodies have all the same issues as governments. What we need are technologies which will work for all of these and across the sectors.

CSIRO ICT

W3C on e-Government
Jose Manuel Alonso (W3C)

DATE: 2008-05-20
TIME: 12:30:00 - 13:30:00
LOCATION: CSIT Seminar Room, N101



ABSTRACT:
It's no secret that just as the web has revolutionised business, the media, and many other parts of our lives, it is also revolutionising how governments and citizens interact, and how government provide services. But how to do it well is still something of a black art.

In this keynote presentation, the lead of the W3C's eGovernment initiative, José Manuel Alonso, looks at the opportunities the web provides governments, the challenges, old and new, the web poses, and the role of the W3C in helping to develop underlying, interoperable technologies with which to build these services.

José's presentation will cover best practices and methodologies for providing eGovernment services, and look at case studies of how governments and communities are connecting via the web around the world.

BIO:
José is currently the eGovernment Lead at W3C. Prior to joining W3C, José was the Manager for the W3C Spain Office for three years and also served as the Advisory Committee Representative for CTIC (host of the Spain Office).

José has broad experience in project management, software integration, customer relationship, PR and IT consultancy. He received Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Masters degree in Enterprise Application Integration, both from the University of Oviedo, where he also worked at its Research and Innovation departments as a researcher, developer and lecturer. He also worked previously as consultant and even founded his own Web company back in 1997.

Permit Management System for UN Sanction Enforcement

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has issued a request for Expression of Interest in a "Permit Management System Software tool for UN Sanction Enforcement law". This will be a computer based system for tracking permits for trade restricted by UN sanctions (presumably to prevent a repeat of the AWB debacle). The system will have a web interface , with exporters able to apply for permits on-line and DFAT staff able to monitor applications and exchange information with other Government Agencies. Users will be able to receive UN updates and notifications via a secure web interface.

This sounds alike an excellent idea. I suggest that DFAT should make the system open source and contribute it free to the UN for their use and to the nations of the world. The UN could use the software to provide the sanctions updates and those countries who are unable to run their own system could use a web based interface to an hosted system.

Permit Management System Software tool for UN Sanction Enforcement law
ATM ID DFAT08-DID-016
Agency Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Category 43230000 - Software
Close Date & Time 10-Jun-2008 2:00 pm (ACT Local time) ...
Publish Date 15-May-2008 ...
ATM Type Expression of Interest
Description
DFAT is seeking Expressions of Interest for provision of a comprehensive electronic management system (software) for trade permit applications under, and enquiries in relation to, UN sanction enforcement laws. It is expected that all information related to a query or application will be located in a central repository. Duplication of data entries will be minimised and managers and processing officers will be required to have access to full histories of queries or applications and any related documentation. The proposed solution will need to have a public web interface available to DFAT and non DFAT users. Government users will be able to request advice or seek information in relation to UN Sanctions beyond that currently on the DFAT site. Exporters, and other clients, will be able to apply for and obtain permits on-line. DFAT Managers will be able to monitor the progress of permits, including applications, throughout their life cycle. DFAT officers will be able to exchange information with other Government Agencies, as required. Users will be able to subscribe to a list of UN updates and receive notifications via a secure web interface. ...

From: Permit Management System Software tool for UN Sanction Enforcement law, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade ATM ID DFAT08-DID-016, 15-May-2008

Corporate Governance in Malaysia

This week I attended the Malaysian Corporate Governance Conference at the Securities Commission, Kuala Lumpur, 15 - 16 May 2008. The conference was organized by the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute. These are some impressions from the first day of the conference, format, topics, venue and business in Malaysia.

Format of a Malaysian Conference

A business conference in Malaysia seems to have much the same format as in Australia, but with some of the elements of the one I attended in China. There was more formality with the opening of the program than usual in Australia, the dignitaries being introduced and presented with gifts. There was a generous amount of time in breaks to meet people and the conference organizers spent a lot of time introducing people to each other, which made for a more interactive event than many Australian conferences.

As well as a lectern on the stage there were two comfy arm chairs and coffee table. Each session started and ended with the moderator and speaker sitting down, which made for a more comfortable atmosphere.

Opening Address: CEO Malaysian stock exchange

The conference keynote address was by Yang Berbahagia Dato' Yusli Mohamed Yusoff, Chief Executive Officer, Bursa Malaysia (the Malaysian Stock Exchange, previously the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, KLSE, or Bursa Saham Kuala Lumpur ). Like Australia, the Malaysian stock exchange is a non-government entity, with some regulatory functions delegated from Parliament. Malaysia introduced new governance rules in late 2007, so governance is topical.

The Bursa Malaysia CEO said there was more room for reform in governance by Malaysian companies and they needed to do more than just comply with the rules. He addressed the need for leadership in companies, with accountable and prudent governance in the interests of shareholders, in response to scandals in companies. The board of directors of listed companies are charged with safeguarding the assets of the company. The primary market focus of the stock exchange is to maintain good governance to encourage investment. He said the most important tool was to create a corporate culture for accountable conduct without reducing the need for risk taking. Investors are looking to invest in companies with ethical business practices.

The CEO also mentioned environmental and sustainability issues as ones which make business sense, with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Two years ago Bursa Malaysia produced a CSR Framework for Malaysian PLCs, at the time the government included a requirement for CSR reporting by companies.

This year the role of auditors is being reviewed. The stock exchange has its own guidelines for audit oversight.

The CEO also addressed the need for global standards. In January 2007 corporate governance requirements were changed to require a corporate audit committee.

Having the stock exchange chief at the conference was a high honour for the conference delegates. After his address there was a media scrum with the CEO outside the door.

The Venue: Securities Commission Building

The conference was held in the headquarters of the Malaysian Securities Commission. This is a showcase high technology building by Hijjas Kasturi Associates (construction management by Bovis Lend Lease) is a parkland setting.

One feature of the building is underfloor air distribution, using Cementitious Infill Steel Access Flooring. A false floor is used for the air conditioning and also cables for power and data.

One logistical problem I had was the lack of espresso coffee. I wandered downstairs to the Securities Commission cafeteria, but they did not have any. On the way I noticed that as well as impressive conference rooms, the SC also had a fully equipped video conference facility, called the "Dialogue Room" (there is a video of the room online):

The Dialogue Room situated at the Lower Ground Level 1(LG1) has a seating capacity of 44. The room set-up is ideal for press conferences, small group training, board meetings as well as discussions. The room has a U-shape seating arrangement and each seat is equipped with a touch-panel console for a microphone and a voting system.

From: SC BUILDING Conference Facilities, Malaysia Securities Commission, 2007

One interesting inclusion in the building are day rooms, in the lower level:

Guest Day Rooms These air-conditioned rooms situated at the Lower Ground Level 2 (LG2) are specially built for guests and are supplied with double beds, bathrooms with showers, as well as telephones. These facilities are for guests to freshen-up before their sessions.

Conference sessions for day one

SESSION ONE: CREATING SUSTAINABLE GROWTH IN THE GLOBAL
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Moderator: Mr Puvan J. Selvanathan, Executive Director, Caux Round Table Malaysia
Speaker: Yang Mulia Tunku Abdul Aziz, President, Caux Round Table Malaysia, Former Special Advisor on Ethics to the UN Secretary General

• What are the growing trends in corporate governance in global economies?
• What are the detrimental factors to the sustainability of businesses in global emerging economies?
• What do companies in developed economies do to create sustainability? What can Malaysian companies learn from them?
• Does size matter? Does sustainability differ from a large multinational company to a small company?
• What do Malaysian companies need to leverage on to create sustainable growth in global businesses?

The Caux Round Table is a body I had not previously heard of. My understanding is that it is a non-government body formed in response to problems of corruption in business, to foster more ethical practices internationally with moral and responsible capitalism. Caux Round Table currently do not have an Australian branch, although there are some Australians involved internationally.

Yang Mulia Tunku Abdul Aziz reminded the audience that is is ten years since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. He criticized the misuse of "Asian values" as a cover for corruption, saying that values such as respect for elders should not prevent questions being asked about the actions of corporations.

Puvan J. Selvanathan looked at the details as used in Caux Round Table projects, concentrating on sustainability. Unfortunately he did not define what he meant by "sustainability" (nor did other speakers at the conference). In Australia, this term is currently used almost exclusively to refer to environmental sustainability, but in Malaysia seemed to be referring to social and business issues as well.

Puvan argued that corporations needed to move to an "involve me" model, with shareholders actively involved, not just observers. He then mentioned Corporate social responsibility (CSR), which seems to be a hot topic in Malaysia. He argued that lack of CSR can result in very negative publicity and good corporate governance is a risk mitigation strategy.

Jay Bragdon's 2007 book "Profit for Life", was cited emphasizing companies stewardship of resources. He argued that this "hyppie" language was coming back into vogue for business. He then quoted Porter in the Harvard Business review on companies needing a healthy society. Cannon was given as an example of the Japanese concept of "Kyosei" with companies acting responsibly.

However following the new Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd's emphasis on evidence-based policy , is there evidence to support these claims for CSR? While it might be good in the long term for socially for companies to act ethically, doesn't the evidence show that in the sort term they can make such large profits by acting unethically that this outweighs the risks?

In response to a question about this Tunku argued that there was a need to ask hard questions about the actions of senior people, even if this causes some embarrassment. He used the example of the former Secretary General of the UN setting up a foundation for humanitarian purposes, with prizes given. Even though the funds were given for, and to be used for, humanitarian purposes there were ethical issues as the funds were not to be used through the UN. Puvan advocated using a code of ethics, using the example of that for architects (he is by training an architect). This seems to be essentially the same issue as ethics for ICT professionals. The Malaysian 2020 plan also got a mention from one of the questioners at question time (an interesting comparison could be drawn with the Australian 2020 Summit).

See also Books:
Corporate governance
Technology and Corporate Governance
Leadership in corporate governance
Audit and Corporate Governance
Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
Shareholder Activism

Malaysian Corporate Governance Conference Program

I will be attending the Malaysian Corporate Governance Conference, orgainsed by the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute, 15 - 16 May 2008 at the Securities Commission, Kuala Lumpur. Anyone else going? Here is the latest program for the event:

Organised by:

Malaysian Corporate Governance Conference

"Forging Leadership & Sustainability in the Global Environment"

15 - 16 May 2008

Conference Hall 1, Securities Commission, Kuala Lumpur

PROGRAMME

DAY 1 - Thursday: 15 May 2008

8.30am Arrival and Registration of Participants

9.00am Arrival of VIPs

9.15am Welcome Speech by

Yang Berbahagia Puan Sri Datin Seri Susan Cheah

Director, Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute

Executive Director, Sunway Management

Official Opening & Keynote Address by

Yang Berbahagia Dato' Yusli Mohamed Yusoff

Chief Executive Officer, Bursa Malaysia

9.55am Morning Refreshments & Contact Break

10.15am SESSION ONE: CREATING SUSTAINABLE GROWTH IN THE GLOBAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

• What are the growing trends in corporate governance in global economies?

• What are the detrimental factors to the sustainability of businesses in global emerging economies?

• What do companies in developed economies do to create sustainability? What can Malaysian companies learn from them?

• Does size matter? Does sustainability differ from a large multinational company to a small company?

• What do Malaysian companies need to leverage on to create sustainable growth in global businesses?

Moderator:

Mr Puvan J. Selvanathan

Executive Director, Caux Round Table Malaysia

Speaker:

Yang Mulia Tunku Abdul Aziz

President, Caux Round Table Malaysia

Former Special Advisor on Ethics to the UN Secretary General

11.30am SESSION TWO:POWER OF THE BOARD "" LEADERSHIP CALL IN GLOBAL BEST PRACTICES

• Some parties have argued that many Malaysian directors do not take corporate governance seriously enough. This does not only hurt the organisations, but the society and nation as a whole. Thus, what role does the board of directors play in ensuring the welfare of the society and the competitiveness of the nation? What are the principal responsibilities of the board?

• What constitute an effective board and what would be the demands and challenges to assume a leadership role in the emerging global environment?

• Having good judgement is a subjective matter, but it is important especially in determining the size of non-executive participation. Thus, what factors are deemed good judgement? Is there a quintessential guide in exercising good judgement for directors?

• Maintaining a successful relationship between the board and management is all about an issue of effective communication. Thus, what are the key elements in ensuring an effective communication between the two parties?

Moderator:

Mr Philip Koh

Senior Partner,

Messr Mah-Kamariyah & Philip Koh

Speaker:

Mr Jiv Sammanthan

Senior Executive Director

PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services

12.15 pm SESSION THREE:IMPACT OF COMPANIES (AMENDMENT) ACT 2007 AND CAPITAL MARKETS SERVICES ACT ON BOARD DECISION MAKING

Speaker:

Mr Philip Koh

Senior Partner,

Messr Mah-Kamariyah & Philip Koh

1.00pm SPECIAL SESSION: Leveraging on Technologies to Manage Challenges in Corporate Governance

Ms Michelle Yee

Solution Architect - Governance, Risk & Compliance,

SAP (Asia-Pacific Japan)

1.45 pm Networking Luncheon

2.45pm SESSION FOUR:

ACCOUNTABILITY & INTERNAL AUDIT FUNCTION (IAF)

• What are the duties of audit committees in relation to IAF? What are their roles in accountability?

• How do audit committees establish and preserve their independence with the management?

• What would be the expectations and perceptions of internal audit in the continuous engagement with the management?

Moderator:

Mr Walter Sandosam

Vice President Audit, Maybank and Vice President, Institute Internal Auditors Malaysia

Speakers:

Mr Lee Min On

Partner, KPMG Business Advisory and

Governor, Institute of Internal Auditors Malaysia

3.45pm Afternoon Refreshments/Contact Break

4.15pm SESSION FIVE: SHAREHOLDER ACTIVISM AND PROTECTION OF MINORITY INTEREST "" THE MALAYSIAN EXPERIENCE

Moderator:Ms Marghanita da Cruz Principal Consultant & Director Ramin Communications, Australia

Speaker:

Mr Lee Leok Soon

Head, Client Services

The Minority Shareholders WatchDog Group

5.00pm End of Day 1 conference

DAY 2 - FRIDAY: 16 May 2008

8.30am Arrival and Registration of Participants

9.15am Arrival of VIP

9.30am Special Keynote Address on:

Malaysian Corporate Governance and Its Impact on the Competitiveness of the Country"

by Yang Berbahagia Datuk Ranjit Ajit Singh

Managing Director, Securities Commission:

10.00am Morning Refreshment & Contact Break

10.30am SESSION SIX:BUILDING ACCOUNTABILITY & SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH INVESTOR RELATIONS

• What is the power of investor relations (IRs) function?

• How does a company maintain an effective communication policy with shareholders through IRs?

• How would one draw the line differentiating between Corporate Social Responsibility and IRs? They seem the same, but they are not.

• In order to achieve greater transparency and accountability in financial performance reporting, what would be the best IRs initiatives proposed/practiced by award winning companies?

• Whilst limitations on voluntary disclosure do exist as it may facilitate comparison by competitors, too little disclosure will defeat the purpose it serves. Thus, what would be the "˜right"™ amount of disclosure to ensure the desirability of disclosure is achieved?

Moderator:

Mr Puvan J. Selvanathan

Executive Director, Caux Round Table Malaysia

Speaker:

Mr Justin Leong

Chairman, Malaysian Investor Relations Association (MIRA)

Head of Strategic Investments and Corporate Affairs, Genting Bhd

11.45am SESSION SEVEN:ICT IN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE "" THE AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE

The importance of information and communications technologies (ICT) can not be ignored as the world is heading towards this direction for effective sources of information, communications and world-wide connectivity. Thus, this session aims to cover the followings:

• Overview of Standards

• Electronic Reporting

• Fraud and other Threats from ICT

• ICT impact on Corporate Performance

• ICT Corporate Compliance Requirements

Moderator:

Mr Puvan J. Selvanathan

Executive Director, Caux Round Table Malaysia

Speaker:

Ms Marghanita da Cruz

Principal Consultant & Director, Ramin Communications, Australia

12.45pm Networking Luncheon

2.45pm SESSION EIGHT:COMMITING TO RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS PRACTICES"

• How do responsible business practices contribute to the success of a company in global businesses?

• What kind of value do companies see in committing to responsible business practices in the long run?

• CSR encompasses many different aspects in relation to responsible business practices. The concern is how does a company manage all different aspects of CSR in the global competitive environment? What is the art of balancing the social aspect, economic welfare and environmental aspect of CSR?

Moderator:

Mr Puvan J. Selvanathan

Executive Director, Caux Round Table Malaysia

Speaker:

Dr Geoffrey Williams

Managing Director, OWW Consulting

4.00pm End of Conference & Afternoon Refreshments

Notes:

• The Organiser reserves the right to alter the content and timing of the programme in the best interest of the conference and are not responsible for cancellations due to unforeseen circumstances

• The Organiser accepts no responsibility for statements made orally or in written material distributed by any speakers at the forum. In addition, the Organiser is not responsible for any copying, republication or redistributions of such statements

• Copyright © Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI) 2008. ® All Rights Reserved

• as of 12 May 2008

Multi-Stakeholder Governance

Jeremy Malcolm is launching his book "Multi-Stakeholder Governance and the Internet Governance Forum" at the Melbourne Hotel from 6.30, 28 May 2008 (RSVP to events (a) waia.asn.au). While his sounds a bit esoteric, I suspect this will shortly become as hot a topic with government people and lobbyists as social networking is for business. The idea is to use Internet based tools to provide forums for making policy, without the expense and logistical problems of events such as the 2020 Summit.

If you can't wait for the book, you can read the thesis it is based on, for free: "Multi-Stakeholder Public Policy Governance and its Application to the Internet Governance Forum".

Governance and the Internet Governance Forum
By Jeremy Malcolm ...

Multi-stakeholder governance is a fresh approach to the development of public policy, bringing together governments, the private sector and civil society in partnership. The movement towards this new governance paradigm has been most marked in areas involving global networks of stakeholders, too intricate to be represented by governments alone.

Nowhere is this better illustrated than on the Internet, where it is an inherent characteristic of the network that laws, and the conduct to which those laws are directed, will cross national borders. Thus momentum has developed to bring multi-stakeholder governance to the Internet, through reforms such as the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). In this groundbreaking and incisive book, Jeremy Malcolm examines the new model of multi-stakeholder governance for the Internet regime that the IGF represents, and builds a compelling case for its reform to enable it to fulfil its mandate as an institution for multi-stakeholder Internet governance. ...

* Published on: 2008-05-09
* Binding: Paperback
* 640 pages

Malaysian Corporate Governance Conference

I will be attending the Malaysian Corporate Governance Conference, orgainsed by the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute, 15 - 16 May 2008 at the Securities Commission, Kuala Lumpur. Anyone else going?

In the world of globalization, there has been a growing need to efficiently compete internationally for global emerging economies. As a rising economy with robust regulatory and legal framework, it is not an exception for Malaysia either.

Many would agree that sound corporate governance in the global markets is imperative to national economic welfare as well as to the stability of a global economic environment. Asian countries like Hong Kong and Singapore realized that being small is not an option. For sound corporate governance framework is a key component of market competitiveness, good governance practices would counter the lack of market size and push the economy back into the investors’ loop.

As Malaysia falls into the radar screen of investors, industry players, professionals and public listed companies must indoctrinate strong compliance and greater corporate governance cultures. Furthermore, investment choice is aplenty amidst the capital market liberalization as institutional investors now have the option to invest locally or overseas.

Recognizing the intense market competition, the review on the Malaysian Code of corporate governance in October 2007 was timely to further strengthen corporate governance practices in Malaysia. In addition, competing in the international business arena requires good leadership, as it is what corporate governance is all about. While mergers and joint ventures are on the cards for many local institutions to achieve economies of scale and greater corporate synergy, there are also government initiatives to help SMEs meeting the challenge of the global emerging competition.

Nevertheless, those who truly emerge as winners are those who are able to crave out a niche for themselves in the industry.
So long as making a difference in business stands out and emerges as a leader, a good business cannot survive without sustainable growth. ...

Welcome Speech by Dato’ Dr. Michael Yeoh
Chief Executive Officer, Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute

Official Opening & Keynote Address by Y.Bhg. Dato' Yusli Mohamed Yusoff CEO, Bursa Malaysia Berhad

Session One
CREATING SUSTAINABLE GROWTH IN THE GLOBAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
• What are the growing trends in corporate governance in global economies?
• What are the detrimental factors to the sustainability of businesses in global emerging economies?
• What do companies in developed economies do to create sustainability? What can Malaysian companies learn from them?
• Does size matter? Does sustainability differ from a large multinational company to a small company?
• What do Malaysian companies need to leverage on to create sustainable growth in global businesses?

Session Two
POWER OF THE BOARD – LEADERSHIP CALL IN GLOBAL BEST PRACTICES
• Some parties have argued that many Malaysian directors do not take corporate governance seriously enough. This does not only hurt the organisations, but the society and nation as a whole. Thus, what role does the board of directors play in ensuring the welfare of the society and the competitiveness of the nation? What are the principal responsibilities of the board?
• What constitute an effective board and what would be the demands and challenges to assume a leadership role in the emerging global environment?
• Having good judgement is a subjective matter, but it is important especially in determining the size of non-executive participation. Thus, what factors are deemed good judgement? Is there a quintessential guide in exercising good judgement for directors?
• Maintaining a successful relationship between the board and management is all about an issue of effective communication.
Thus, what are the key elements in ensuring an effective communication between the two parties?


Session Three
IMPACT OF COMPANIES (AMENDMENT) ACT 2007 AND CAPITAL MARKETS SERVICES ACT ON BOARD DECISION MAKING

Session Four
ACCOUNTABILITY & INTERNAL AUDIT FUNCTION (IAF)
• What are the duties of audit committees in relation to IAF? What are their roles in accountability?
• How do audit committees establish and preserve their independence with the management?
• What would be the expectations and perceptions of internal audit in the continuous engagement with the management?

Session Five
SHAREHOLDER ACTIVISM AND PROTECTION OF MINORITY INTEREST - THE MALAYSIAN EXPERIENCE

Session Six
BUILDING ACCOUNTABILITY & SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH INVESTOR RELATIONS
• What is the power of investor relations (IRs) function?
• How does a company maintain an effective communication policy with shareholders through IRs?
• How would one draw the line differentiating between Corporate Social Responsibility and IRs? They seem the same, but they are not.
• In order to achieve greater transparency and accountability in financial performance reporting, what would be the best IRs initiatives proposed/practiced by award winning companies?
• Whilst limitations on voluntary disclosure do exist as it may facilitate comparison by competitors, too little disclosure will defeat the purpose it serves. Thus, what would be the ‘right’ amount of disclosure to ensure the desirability of disclosure is achieved?

Session Seven
“COMMITING TO RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS PRACTICES”
• How do responsible business practices contribute to the success of a company in global businesses?
• What kind of value do companies see in committing to responsible business practices in the long run?
• CSR encompasses many different aspects in relation to responsible business practices. The concern is how does a company manage all different aspects of CSR in the global competitive environment? What is the art of balancing the social aspect, economic welfare and environmental aspect of CSR?


Session Eight
ICT IN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE - THE AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE
The importance of information and communication technology (ICT) can not be ignored as the whole world is heading towards this direction for effective sources of information, communications and world-wide connectivity. Thus, the questions are:
• What is the implication of ICT for Malaysia?
• What can ICT offer to companies in achieving better corporate governance?
• Are Malaysian companies ready for it?
• Can companies do without ICT in global businesses?
• How do Malaysian companies leverage on ICT in measuring, monitoring and benchmarking of CSR activities?
• Can ICT manage the challenges of non-financial performance?
• There has been an increasing number of cyber fraud cases. What are the pre-emptive measures that companies should take to prevent online fraud or fraud in ICT?

Session Nine GLOBAL BEST PRACTICES – EMERGING AS A LEADER IN GLOBAL BUSINESSES ...

From: Malaysian Corporate Governance Conference brochure, Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute, 2007.

Open Governance: Running Organizations and Governments like an Open Source Software Project

The National Archives of Australia have asked me to help teach e-archiving to public servants from state governments and the federal government in November. This would use some of the material from the course I ran at ANU last November.

Apart from adding some new material on OOXML, I was thinking of suggesting that Open Source could be a model for government.

One thing I have been musing on is why it is so hard for organizations to do web sites. The technology is cheap and easy, but many organizations find it very difficult to maintain a basic web site and most find blogs, wikis and social networking beyond them. Another thing I have been thinking about is what all the different sorts of web based content management tools have in common.

I suspect this is because the governance structures of organizations do not match that of the web technology. The traditional approach to this is to adapt the web technology to the administrative and decision making processes of the organization. The natural response in a government organizations or a university to "how to we improve the web site" is "lets form a committee". The reaction to Wikis has been to ban them.

My advice in the past has been for organizations to avoid having social networking and online discussion forums. Government agencies can't cope with having a lot of people discussing what they are doing on an official government web site. Instead I suggested they get some non-government organization to host the discussion. This way when something is posted which is controversial, the agency can say: "not our web site, not our problem".

But perhaps it is time organizations learned how to use web based tools effectively. I suspect this will require the organizations to change their governance structures, not just their administrative processes. They could simply replicate current structures online, but they will then miss most of the benefits. A lot of what goes on in organizations looks like time wasting nonsense, to someone used to online working. Instead, some of the techniques of open source development could be used for running organizations and nations.

One thing which content management systems have in common is that they need some way to manage. Management is not just about being able to change the footer on all the web pages with one command, but about deciding who does what. Perhaps governance (management at a higher level) could be something open source software could provide as a separate service. The particular application the governance was applied to, such as publishing a journal, running a course, business or government, could then be a separate add-on function.

In doing a quick search on "Open Governance" I discovered this is something government people are discussing, using government web tools. A search found a discussion of government in the Australia Government's GovDex online collaboration forum. Much of GovDex is restricted to government people working on particular projects, but some is publicly accessible and indexed by web search engines. This is a refreshing change for government agencies.

Online Community Cabinet meetings needed

The new Australian Federal Cabinet is holding a series of Community Cabinet meetings around Australia. The local community gets to meet Cabinet ministers and ask them questions. What is needed is an online extension to the process for those who can't get to the meetings.

The first meeting was held in Pereth in February and the second in March in Brisbane. Assuming one meeting is held per month and 800 people attend each (as did in Brisbane), then less than 10,000 citizens in all will have the opportuinity to attend each year. Also those people who do not live near one of the meeting locations will be excluded, as will those unable to attend due to a disability.

To address this discrimination, the Community Cabinet Secretariat could network the meetings, using the Internet, taking questions via the web and SMS. Also it would be useful if summaries of what was discussed were provided on the government web site and there was an RSS feed of items ralted to the meetings. All of thise would cost a fraction of the cost of one face-to-fcae meeting and reach many hundreds of times as many citizens.

China New Media Conference 2007: Money, Art and Governance

These are some thoughts on the China New Media Conference in Brisbane last week. Items from the event are listed under "China".

The essential point seemed to be that you could do online digital media in China for profit, or artistic purposes, and slip in a little political comment in it, as long as you were careful to self censor.

One theme running through the conference was the effect of the Beijing Olympics on new media. I was with the skeptics on that one. The Olympics is not going to see a blossoming of digital video art on 3G phones and the like.

QUT's Kelvin Grove campus, where the event was held, is most impressive. Having part of the ABC on site (relocated from the abandoned Toowong offices) ads to the media atmosphere. The campus is an interesting combination of education, business and real estate development.

The QUT's digital art gallery I was less impressed with: this is essentially a big white empty building (with as much warmth as the NASA Vehicle Assembly Building) . In place of art, it has images projected on the blank walls. It would have helped if they had thought to install some human comforts, such as a toilet.

Thanks to the Online Opinionites for buying me pizza. There is a discussion of China and democracy running in the OO forum.

ps: What was the Wiki conference some people were at in the same venue?