Teaching Open to Government

For GovCampNSW, I suggested the topic "Teaching Open to Government". The idea is that government is made up of people, if we want them to work in a more open and consultative way, using on-line tools, we will need to teach those people how to do that. Some of the techniques used for teaching creative thinking and innovation could be applied, along with teaching how to converse on-line. Examples:

1. Cancer Council Australia' wiki platform: Publicly accessible web site for building complex medical policies. Only registered experts can edit the documents, but anyone can comment.
2. Wosk Centre for Dialogue: Purpose built facility for having public dialogue and deliberative democracy events.
3. Innovation ACT: A program for university students in Canberra, teaching how to take an idea and turn it into a business.

A blended teaching mode, combining face-to-face sessions with on-line eduction would suit for teaching openness to government. For the mechanics of how to do social networking, there are some tools, such as Backupify. There is a Social Media 101: A beginner’s guide for Finance employees. The NSW Department of Education has a School A to Z on Homework and study. My own course on Electronic Document and Records Management, may be of use.

As a last thought training for senior military officers, such as the ANU Military Studies Program, might provide insights for the public service.