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About Civil Servant 2 0

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on April 2, 2013 at 11:19:25 am
 

 VoorpaginaRedactie | Stichting | Programma | Denktank

 

About Civil Servant 2.0

 

 

The Civil Servant 2.0 book is now available Uk_flag_300.png in English (read the blog on Govloop or on ePractice.eu)

 

 

Introduction

 

Civil Servant 2.0 is a Dutch platform and network for civil servants and civilians to discuss the effect that web 2.0 has on government and the public sector and to support initiatives and experiments to improve the successive workings and the work of the Dutch government. The network now has some 9.000 members and is run on a voluntary basis. 

More information can be found at about.ambtenaar20.nl and an English version of the site can be viewed at english.ambtenaar20.nl. The books can be downloaded in English at book.ambtenaar20.nl. For more information about Pleio (Government Square), please visit this page.  

 

For more information please contact Davied.

 

 

Description

 

 

About the Civil Servant 2.0 network

 

Civil Servant 2.0 is a platform and network for civil servants and civilians to discuss the effect that web 2.0 has on government and the public sector. The changes that web 2.0 brings will not only affect the relationship between citizens and government, but also the internal structure of governmental organizations and the way civil servants work.

The role of the Civil Servant 2.0 platform and network is to create awareness and alert civil servants to these changes and possibilities, to discuss them and to stimulate pilot experiments in order to implement the ideas. By sharing these experiences and supporting initiatives we hope to improve the successive workings and the work of the Dutch government. The ultimate goal is to optimize (online) public service for Dutch society. 

Civil Servant 2.0 is mostly run on a voluntary basis by civil servants and others who are committed to improving government with the tools and mindset of web 2.0. For this we make use of free online software to share knowledge and ideas and collaborate on new plans.

 

See also: presentation about Pleio at the Digital Agenda Assembly in June 2012

 

   

About the new book: "We, the government. Cocreation in the network society"

 

Davied van Berlo has published a new book about the role of government in the network society. It has not yet been published in English (sponsors are welcome to contact me) but can be downloaded in Dutch at boek.ambtenaar20.nl.

 

Davied has used parts of his new book in the presentation he gave to the Dutch chapter of the Internet Society. The presentation can be viewed on the left. More information in this blog.

 

 

 

 

 

Some questions and answers about Civil Servant 2.0 and Pleio

 

1. What led you to create the site and how many users does it have?

I noticed (back in 2007) how people were coming together online and discussing issues in society on social networking sites and forums. I wondered, if people were gathering and organising themselves over the internet, what would that mean for government? How should government react to this development? And how should we as civil servants change to stay connected and use these online tools to improve our own way of working? I started the Civil Servant 2.0 network to get people together to discuss this issue. Currently the network has about 7000 members in the Netherlands and Belgium.

 

2. How long has the site been around for and what impact has it had on the government sector?

The blog started in February 2008, the networking site followed in June (same as Govloop by the way). People from all levels of government have since joined and through the network ideas have been shared and members have been empowered to put the government 2.0 transformation on the agenda in their own organisations. I think Civil Servant 2.0 has had a huge impact in creating awareness about the 2.0 change and this has lead to changes in government as well. However, there has not been an official Gov 2.0 Taskforce or report. It's still very  much a bottom up movement.   

 

3. What kinds of conversations have been the most common on the site?

There is some talk about tools (Yammer, iPad, etc.), but the majority of discussions are about how to behave as an civil servant online (most of the time the answer is: be professional and don't be stupid). Another big issue is organisational change, working from outside the office, new managerial styles (leadership 2.0) and result based management. And of course how to connect to society: webcare (helping people online), e-participation, crowdsourcing and all the way to transparancy and open data. Sometimes people will write a blog, but you can also ask questions, organise meetings (open coffee), etc. 

 

4. What trends are you seeing emerge in the Gov 2.0 space?

When I started out in 2008 the main discussion was whether or not there would be a change for government. Now it's about what that change looks like and how to act upon it. In nearly every part of the government professionals are looking at what these changes mean for them: webcare in public services, crowdsourcing in policymaking, policemen using Twitter, etc. The wave of civil servants using online tools in their work is unstoppable and there are a lot of social media courses being held in government organisations. In connection with a movement called The New Way of Working this is changing how and where civil servants do their work and how government is organised. And we're only at the beginning of all these changes ... 

For my long term view of trends, see the second book, chapter 3.

 

5. Are any of your users Australian? If so, how many and what kinds of topics are they discussing?

The Civil Servant 2.0 network is open to everyone who's interested in government 2.0, but it's in Dutch so we have mainly Dutch and Flemish members. However I keep a keen eye on developments in Australia. I have written a number of blogs and your Gov 2.0 initiative us featured in my books. There's a lot we can learn from each other!

 

6. What's coming up next on your IT agenda?

We've been using Ning for the Civil Servant 2.0 network. However, we want to make it easy for every civil servant to start their own group and collaborate with people from inside government or invite people from outside. That's why we've started our own online tool, called Pleio (Government Square), so we can provide everyone with a free and safe tool (all data is stored in the Netherlands) to work online. By doing so we create a platform for government 2.0 to take shape. Government organisations can also use Pleio as their intranet or to build their internet sites with, so they're no longer locked into their ict silos. I think this is really a momentous change!

 

Read the whole article on ComputerWorld Australia

 

 

Presentation: introduction to Civil Servant 2.0

 

 

List of activities and results


To learn more about Civil Servant 2.0 please read about several of our activities below. Links to the different activities are provided at the end of each line. The Dutch sites have been translated into English by Google Translate (http://translate.google.com):

  • Web log: The blog site publishes articles from several bloggers about government 2.0, about projects and experiments in governmental organizations and about new plans and activities: see http://english.ambtenaar20.nl.
  • Network: A networking site was launched in June 2008. Currently about 6000 members from different organizations are able to connect and share knowledge and experiences: see http://network.ambtenaar20.nl.
  • Book: In addition to the website, Civil Servant 2.0 has published a book which is freely available online and in print. This book explains web 2.0 and its consequences for governmental organizations and civil servants, but also gives practical advice in using web 2.0 effectively and safely: see http://book.ambtenaar20.nl.
  • Education: Empowering civil servants in using web 2.0 starts with educating them. Therefore we give classes on the impact of web 2.0 and on which tools to use to enhance the way civil servants work: see http://classes.ambtenaar20.nl.
  • Speakers: Civil Servant 2.0 has also founded a speakers academy that gives inspirational speeches for (local) governmental organizations: seehttp://speakers.ambtenaar20.nl.
  • Meetings: We also organize biweekly meetings with guest speakers called Open Coffee. These gatherings are publicly accessible: seehttp://opencoffee.ambtenaar20.nl.
  • Tips: We are currently working on a service which regularly publishes tips and tricks for civil servants to use web 2.0 to work more efficiently and effectively. This way the members of the Civil Servant 2.0 network can teach one another: see http://tips.ambtenaar20.nl (work in progress, Dutch site).

 

Who participate in Civil Servant 2.0?


Although Civil Servant 2.0 was initiated by the Dutch ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, currently people from a number of governmental organizations and civilians participate in maintaining and improving the internet sites and services. The initiative has no budget and relies on the support of its network to remain active and grow. This is done using free online tools to stay in contact, collaborate on new activities and find new contributors. Civil Servant 2.0 is currently in the process of becoming an independent foundation in order to be able to receive donations and to broaden its activities.


Reasons for starting Civil Servant 2.0


March 2008, the Dutch ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality decided to start a research project called Civil Servant 2.0 regarding the effect of web 2.0 on the ministry. In the spirit of web 2.0 the project manager started a public blog site to discuss developments and share knowledge. This site soon attracted civil servants from other national and local governmental institutions and became the focal point for discussing the future of government 2.0 in The Netherlands.

Besides doing research and exploring the possibilities of web 2.0 for government, the project focuses on educating civil servants in using internet tools and adapting to the mindset of a web 2.0 society. This will empower civil servants to work more efficiently and openly but also to cooperate more easily and interactively with other government officials and with civilians. This will lead to a government that is transparent, accessible and responsive.


Target group


Civil servants and civilians in the Netherlands who are interested in improving the work and workings of the Dutch government by using the possibilities and mindset of web 2.0. Further, because the site is in Dutch, we also have a number of Belgian members.

Civil Servant 2.0 attrackts a lot of interest from all levels of government. There's clearly an interest in the possibilities and the demands of web 2.0 for government. Also there's a great need for civil servants with an interest in web 2.0 to come together, ask questions and share experiences, forgoing the borders between different organizations and government levels.


Implementation and Management Approach


The initiative relies on it's open character in terms of contibutions from numerous governmental organizations, professionals within both public and private sector and last but not least the participation of civilians presenting themselves based on individual "special interests". The collective of Civil Servant 2.0 initiaves relies on "the power of crowds" and "open environment". As a result, it's network growth is organic, establishes consistent widening variety of topics/discussion and a sustainable continous improvement in terms of the quality in content.

This also leads to additional deepening and expansion of discussion and learning within the generic peer-group(s). As a result, the intensity of moderation and guidance on the online channels of the collective remains relatively limited leaving room for continuous development for/by core-contributors.


Technology


Civil Servant 2.0 is using free social media sites, e.g. a network site (Ning), a blogging site (WordPress, self hosted), a wiki (Wetpaint), etc. Next to that other online services are used, e.g. Google Groups, MailChimp, FeedBurner, Disqus, etc. We have used 'Best of Breed' web 2.0 products, all of them are either open source software, or are SaaS (software as a service) products with an advertizing revenue model. This means that the investments in software and services are extremely limited; which made it possible to start and grow this initiative on a purely volunteering basis. Both public sector and private sector involvement is on this basis.

For a comprehensive service offering, we have choosing the following products and platforms:

  • WordPress weblog (wordpress.org, implemented as www.ambtenaar20.nl) hosted at a webhosting company, This is the main user interface, it ties the other products together;
  • Ning community SaaS-platform (www.ning.com; implemented as http://netwerk.ambtenaar20.nl);
  • WetPaint wiki software SaaS-platform (www.wetpaint,com); several wiki's have been implemented with this platform, e.g. werkplaats.ambtenaar20.nl.


Using the menustructure of the Ning and of WordPress, users can easily navigate to all these platforms, and access the comprehensive functionality with no need for any training. This ease-of-use enabled the rapid growth of the community (about 15% growth/month, one of the fastest growing Dutch Ning communities).

Some future developments that are planned:

  • During 2009 we will enhance the ease-of-use by introducing some market leading modules for authentication (a combination of Google Friend Connect and/or Facebook connect and/or OpenId Hyves connect and/or Twitter OAuth authentication), and and comment management (probably www.disqus.com). This is currently under investigation. Usage of these platforms is free-of-charge;
  • Complete integration with the emergent microblogging platform Twitter. This will enable users to more easily give comments on blogposts, which will probably lead to a higher growth rate (in number of users, number of posts and dialogues).


Some other out-of-packet expenses are:

  • hosting the WordPress weblog, - developer license for the Thesis WordPress template ($187);
  • one-time expense for eliminating the advertisements at the Ning community site (EUR $29 per month).


These expenses are carried by various members of the community, a clear sign of the commitment of these members.

No installation of extra software is needed, although the use of Firefox 3 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or higher is advised for an optimal web experience.


Prizes and awards

 

 

Route through the site


Front page and blog site (English): http://english.ambtenaar20.nl
Network site (English): http://network.ambtenaar20.nl
Members (Dutch): http://ambtenaar20.ning.com/profiles/members
Discussions (Dutch): http://ambtenaar20.ning.com/forum?sort=mostPopularDiscussions
Blogs by members (Dutch): http://ambtenaar20.ning.com/profiles/blog/list
Biweekly meetings (English): http://opencoffee.ambtenaar20.nl
Someone posted a film (Dutch): http://ambtenaar20.ning.com/video/rene-jansen-van-winkwaves
Speakers Academy (English): http://speakers.ambtenaar20.nl
Form to request speaker (Dutch): http://ambtenaar20.wufoo.com/forms/ik-zoek-een-spreker/
Several classes (English): http://classes.ambtenaar20.nl
And a book (English): http://book.ambtenaar20.nl
Also containing tips and tricks (Dutch): http://boekambtenaar20.wetpaint.com/page/Handigheden
A growing tips collection (Dutch): http://tips.ambtenaar20.nl
Online workshop for collaborating on new plans (Dutch): http://werkplaats.ambtenaar20.nl
The sites' editors (Dutch): http://redactie.ambtenaar20.nl
All these texts were written in a wiki: http://about.ambtenaar20.nl


About Davied van Berlo


Born in 1972, Davied van Berlo first came into contact with the world wide web in 1995 while studying history at the University of Leiden. Since then he has been fascinated by the changes in society as a result of internet, especially with the possibilities of web 2.0. As he was interested in working for the community he joined the ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality in 1999, focusing on improving collaboration and knowledge sharing using internet technology.

Together with a group of colleagues he initiated a research project into the effects of web 2.0 on the ministry. After setting up a blog and a networking site under the name of Civil Servant 2.0 the initiative has grown to encompass all civil servants in the Netherlands. His conviction is that to improve government we have to empower civil servants and to prepare them for the interactive 2.0 world of tomorrow. To this effect he has written a book and founded the Ambtenaar 2.0 Foundation.

Davied lives in the city of Leiden in the Netherlands and is married. He continues to write for a number of online magazines and give speeches on Civil Servant 2.0 for governmental organizations and at schools and universities. In 2009 he was elected Information Professional of the year.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/davied

 

 

 

 

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