Lighten up and make it real...

I picked up this Connected Republic story on Facebook this morning, conveniently bookmarked by Nick Booth, who runs the excellent Podnosh project in Birmingham (check out this 'pro Brummie' project too). Anyhow, Martin Stewart Weeks concludes that Government 2.0 is clearly desireable in terms of its potential for reconnecting citizens with government and its representative democracy. But after a video linked meeting between government insiders and a group of New Zealand high school students, he had these observations to make:

"...they had some direct and practical advice to politicians…you have to open up to criticism, be prepared to engage in real discussion, stop broadcasting messages and start having conversations.

"I’m more and more convinced that it will be the combination of these two changes – making the debate about technology mainstream and investing more time and effort in the transformation of representation – that will drive the breakthrough we’re seeking. Until then – and I’m pretty sure we’re a fair way off that moment in most of the jurisdictions I know – the whole discussion about the transformative potential of technology in politics and government still feels peripheral.

"For the most part, we are still talking with a relatively small group of technologists and occasional enthusiasts whose position in the public policy process remains peripheral. To be perhaps a little unfair, we spend too much time talking to ourselves, reinforcing our own enthusiasms and passion for the broader eGovernment project but, too often, unable to convince sufficient numbers of the really important players that it’s a passion they ought to be sharing."