Social networking for local government

Bernard de Broglio, Internet Coordinator at Mosman Council, will give a free talk on "Dr Strangelove or: How I Learnt to Stop Worrying and Love The Gov", at the National Library of Australia Digital Culture talk 25 September 2009 in Canberra. He will talk about new forms of participation online for local government. My view is that local government is the most important but least resourced when it comes to Government 2.0. These techniques could also be applied to the fourth level of government in Australia (cluster housing).

Digital Culture talk

Dr Strangelove or: How I Learnt to Stop Worrying and Love The Gov
You can credit Barack Obama for bringing sexy back to government - it's 2.0! - but the change has largely been driven by self-organised communities collaborating across disciplines and borders. Who are these people? Well, us. Citizen activists, ethical hackers, open source public servants, digital library and museum workers. The web has allowed collaboration between people (and their machines) on a scale never possible before. Customers, constituents and people within the public sector are all beginning to feel a new sense of agency. It's not e-gov, it's we-gov. But let's not be a tease. How does it work, now? Bernard de Broglio, Internet Coordinator at Mosman Council, will share some of his stories of internet life at the local level.
Bernard studied English at university but ended up writing HTML and CSS. He has been working at Mosman Council since 2002, pushing more acronyms (okay, abbreviations) like API, XML and RSS. His interest in the social aspect of network communications was sparked by FidoNet and the Sydney BBS (Bulletin Board System) scene of the late 80s and early 90s. That early promise – of new forms of participation online – is now being realised. Based in Mosman Library, he has been fortunate to be surrounded by information professionals who understand the benefit of the open web and the need to take Council's web presence beyond its website. The cakes are good too.