September 9th, 2009
Government as a dialogue: Will the Gov 2.0 Summit contribute?
Guest editorial by Andrea Baker
A fall breeze has come to Washington DC in the form of the Government 2.0 Summit. This week in Washington on Sept. 9 and 10 O’Reilly Conferences and TechWeb bring to our mostly political town to talk shop with the whose who of Goverati. The Summit is about Government as a Platform, according to the man behind the conference, Tim O’Reilly.
I feared at first this conference might be too vague in thought. As I looked at the conference being planned and the names announced presenting, many Web 2.0 thought leaders are talking, but few actual inside Government change agents — going into today it feels more balanced. The Government 2.0 Expo seemed to feature those types mostly, but the marquis event–the summit billed towards decision makers in government screams more “Industry Tell Us What To Do”! I do not doubt this line up is stellar, but are the efforts of our own being out-shadowed by the cool and the hip? I hope I am wrong.
I hope the decision makers in Government 2.0 come out to hear our successes and this is not another echo chamber. For those of us breathing and living Government 2.0 have seen many of these names representing government before. I am optimistic there will be those open to the message O’Reilly is bringing to us over this week. I know one of my government customers will be attending, but he is not the typical government leader. He gets innovation and has been an exemplar for others. The ideal attendee is one that has heard these buzzwords and has a strategic plan to collaborate and transform their organization to a more open one, but is just starting to implement the plan.
We aren’t immediately considered innovative in DC in tech or new ideas, but we are very much a buzz every night of the week. In fact, while I am attending the summit with great hope for new ideas and momentum. I am also fraught with skepticism on how experts in Web 2.0, whom I can hear at the Web 2.0 events are going to impact what is already happening in the Gov 2.0 world.
Pages: 1 2
Jennifer Leggio, aka "Mediaphyter," writes about the "social business" side of social media - including enterprise, security and reputation issues. See her full profile and disclosure of her industry affiliations.
For daily updates on Jennifer's activities, follow her on Twitter.
Subscribe to Social Business via Email alerts or RSS.
