Those of you who read this blog regularly, or get cornered by me in the real world, will know there are two things in particular that I am particularly passionate about
- clarity around government online strategy, and
- how to innovate online, especially piloting the use of social media tools
I think these are important issues for government webbies (and by government, I don’t just mean Whitehall but right across the public sector). Talking to colleagues I know that these issues important to them too.
I’ve been talking for a while with colleagues in the transformational government team (they who are driving the website rationalisation / convergence, and other related, initiatives) about how we can harness the collective knowledge and intelligence of all those with an interest in improving how government does all this web stuff. Its becoming more important as we start to explore the possibilities and opportunities of government online beyond our corporate websites and intranets.
My proposal was to run a barcamp event, where those who want to participate in developing ideas, sharing their expertise and swapping tips can come together as a community. For those not familiar with the barcamp concept, check out the wikipedia page. The key point is that you come if you have something to offer and you participate, rather than simply observe.
I’m delighted to report that they agree, so I’m pleased to seed the message here that we aim to have the event run across the last week of January 2008 (Saturday 26th/ Sunday 27th). I say ‘aim to have the event run’ because it will only work with the input, energy and enthusiasm of the participants. We have suggested a proposition and date, we’re hoping that enough people will want to be part of this to come along and also to help organise the event.
A page has been set up on the barcamp.org website. Please visit it, and sign up if you want to be part of this event.
If you know others who might be interested, let them know about it. In particular, if you blog then please point your readers to the page on the barcamp website.
I really do hope that together we can work together to get a common sense of purpose, and share some innovative ideas about government’s approach to all things online.
Whitehall Webby 
This ia GREAT initiative! Will certainly like to attend, and will try and help out where I can.
This is inspired, and should be inspiring, I shall certainly sign up as soon as I can find something of value to say or offer. To be helpful, though, I thought I might just let your readers know that to sign up you have to go to ‘edit page’ and then use the BarCamp password which is c4mp…
Fantastic idea, count me in.
I am very interested in attending the Barcamp event. I’ve recently joined the COI Digital Media team and am quite fascinated about the topics. I feel confident that I can contribute to discussions (my background is in developing digital media to support the education, museums and heritage sectors ) however, I don’t feel able to offer a presentation – does this exclude me? Can I offer to be a volunteer to help with other areas?
I’ve just learnt that my team are talking about this – so please ignore my comment! Thanks.
I’m sure you can contribute. I’ll post a bit more later in the week to reassure potential contributors. When I say ‘presentation’ it could be a two minute demonstration of something to three people or a 2 hour powerpoint (god forbid) to 50. It really depends on what you think you can offer. But we certainly need volunteers to help make the event happen.
Oops, sorry too late!