Public sector still figuring out how to make Gov 2.0 a reality

According to an HP survey, government IT professionals are still trying to define and find practical applications for Gov 2.0.

By Jolie Lee
Federal News Radio

The idea of Gov 2.0 is not new, but what it means and how it can be used is still up for debate in the federal community.

A survey from Hewlett-Packard found government IT professionals define Gov 2.0 as a “movement towards collaboration, transparency and technological innovation.” Agencies are using social media, blogs, videos and multi-media sharing, according to the survey. (The entire survey is available below – scroll down).

Half of the public sector is using Web 2.0, according to the survey. But, a quarter of the more than 100 respondents said they still don’t know what Gov 2.0 entails, even as 80 percent are about to enact a comprehensive strategy for Gov 2.0 sometime within the next two years.

The main barriers to agencies adopting Web 2.0 include security concerns and costs.

Christina Morrison, public-sector marketing manager for Hewlett-Packard, told Government Technology, “I think a lot of people are still waiting for their manager to step up and take the lead.”

O’Reilly Radar provides ten lessons from the Web 2.0 Expo that can be applied to the government.

As the use of Gov 2.0 in the public sector is still in its infancy, what will — and won’t — work is still unknown.

“Many aspects cannot be discerned at this point, but one thing is certainly clear: It’s about all of us. Creating a smarter, more innovative government matters to every citizen,” according to O’Reilly Radar.

And for those of you still skeptical about the practical applications of social media, check out Mike Strand’s blog post from Sector: Public.

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