Yesterday the MuniGov group held the first virtual conference for government in Second Life. This event was the result of about five months of planning and hours of volunteer work by members of the group. Registrations for the event totaled 166 people representing all levels of government from the U.S., Canada, and other countries along…
Tag: General Government
Government 2.0 Club – Open Source Software for Gov 2.0
Government 2.0 Camp – Open Source Software for Gov 2.0
Transparency in Public Works
Construction inspectors are responsible for making sure a project is built correctly and meets plans and specifications. Over my 25 years of inspecting, I have had jobs where this is easy because the contractor and his crews are committed to meeting all of their obligations. However, I have occasionally had a worker on a jobsite…
Lose the Politician
While I don’t normally like to touch too strongly on politics in any article or blog I write, I saw something today on the GovLoop site (posted by Andrew Krzmarzick) that is so potentially life-changing, you need to see it. This very short video presents a thought-provoking and powerful message about how government is and…
MuniGov 2.0 – Not Just a Buzzword Anymore!
Web 2.0, Web 3.0, virtual worlds: are these buzzwords and their related technologies something you really need to worry about? Studies, reports, and white papers seem to be saying “Yes.” And that is a big fat “yes” even if you work for government. In fact there are already a few of us government folks headed…
Reaching Out in 140 Characters or Less
People are information hounds. They always want to know what is going on, particularly with their friends and neighbors. The need to gossip can sometimes be so strong that some people will even create stories just to have something to talk about. If you work in government you have probably already experienced this aspect of…
Web 2.0 & Government – Helping us to Just Do It!
“With the adoption of social computing and social media by citizens under the age of 25 already exceeding 75 percent, government organizations now need to plan and implement initiatives to engage and service the citizens of today and tomorrow.†This is a statement taken from “Leveraging Web 2.0 in Government,†a recently released paper published…
Government as the Surrogate Parent
Recently I read a blog about the need for the federal government to rebrand their Uncle Sam image. Well, after watching the way government at all levels is accepting more and more responsibility for fixing everyday problems faced by Americans, I think I have a suggestion. Instead of Uncle how about Dad or Mom? Why…
MuniGov 2.0 is Launched
A few weeks ago, I was introduced to Greever Wemyss (Second Life name) by a mutual friend who realized we both have an interest in local government and its use of Web 2.0 and virtual worlds. After a few discussions, we decided that we would create a Second Life group that is specifically focused on…
Civic Forum Launch
Starting today at 4pm SLT (PST), I will host a Civic Forum on Public Works island. This forum is intended to be an informal and open discussion about city government. So bring along your ideas, questions, concerns and teleport over to Public Works. Below is a little more background information on why I feel hosting…