Literally just back from #Gov20LA - and lo and behold what appears in my Twitter stream but GovFresh's video of the event!

More on the event itself shortly over here, but for now check this out for a flavour of what went on over the weekend.

Some people say this was no big deal. I disagree.

With 11,696 questions (and admittedly only time for 0.2% to be asked!) that's some engagement exercise.

To read how Google managed all the information, take a look at their blog.

We thought you might be interested to hear that NHS London's Go London social innovation competition is now live!

We're pretty excited about this one as it has so much potential to get people thinking about new ideas to get London physically active. As the site says:

"By encouraging conversations about the opportunity for and benefits of being physically active we hope to capture bright, innovative ideas that drive up participation in physical activity resulting in a competition to make the winning idea a reality.

The call for ideas is open until Friday the 19th of March, with the competition being held on Friday the 9th of April at City Hall."

So take a look at the chatter, spread the word and get involved. We look forward to hearing from you!

The Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government (IDeA) is developing a 'Knowledge Hub' for the sector in the UK as the next stage on from its current site, which offers 'Communities of Practice' for local government types to get together and share information and ideas.

The Knowledge Hub represents the next step and there's a steering group, which FutureGov is on, that meets regularly to review progress and guide the IDeA's thinking. 

These are the notes from the latest Knowledge Hub Advisory Group meeting, which took place last month, and far from being a dry committee session it looks like they got crazy with the post-its.

The thinking has already moved on significantly from the first meeting - initially the plans felt very much like an attempt to control all local government knowledge (see our blog post from the first meeting!).  However there's been a shift in mindset and the current proposals look much more porous and like the IDeA is moving towards becoming an important node in a wider network of applications, sites and other information sharing mechanisms.

Time will tell how the Knowledge Hub will develop but there's only one way to shape it and that's to get involved so let us know what you think in the comments or you can contact Steve Dale directly.

Ideas for how we might use Foursquare in government anyone?

(thanks to We are Social for sharing)

Apparently today is Data Privacy Day 2010. To mark the occastion Google have published their 'Privacy Principles':

• Use information to provide our users with valuable products and services.


• Develop products that reflect strong privacy standards and practices.


• Make the collection of personal information transparent.


• Give users meaningful choices to protect their privacy.


• Be a responsible steward of the information we hold.

Not quite the values of VRM FutureGov's Carrie is a passionate supporter of (ask her for more details on that one if you're interested - well worth a coffee and a chat), but interesting to see nonetheless.

For more on Google thoughts on privacy, you can read their full their blog here.

Online is not the only potential solution to the problem of how to engage people in the democratic process but many factors make it a good place to start.

However so many projects start to drift towards the 'just another website' zone rather than really looking at how to really use social media to make a difference to democracy.

Why? Because the shiny technology distracts everyone from the fact that this is all about people. The good news of course is so is democracy.

We need to embrace the idea that this really is social – you can't expect the public to have relationship with 'the council' – they need to interact with actual people and this involves finding ways to equip officers and members to take part in these conversations.

Want to read more, click here

As many of you will know, UK GovCamp 2010 happened on the weekend, generating lots of pre- and post-event debate.

Although I wasn't able to make it along to the event itself, catching up on my reading one contribution that stood out was this presentation from Michele Ide-Smith and Paul Henderson on the work they are leading on in Cambridgeshire.

Plenty of lessons on approaches to researching and boosting local digital engagement.

The future is a date, but it’s also a story about our lives today.

Recently, the near-collapse of financial systems, looming fears of climate change, and continuing ‘wars on terror’, have reinforced predictions of an apocalyptic future, that have long been a part of science fiction. But where do our individual aspirations of ‘a better life’ collide with these dark futures?

From this question came ‘The Power of 8’.  Following a video appeal, designer Anab Jain assembled a heist-like cast that included a biotechnologist, a policy advisor, a permaculturalist, an educator, a retired civil servant, an urban designer and an architect. To imagine optimistic, collective expressions of our futures, today.

A series of public engagement efforts brought to the forefront concerns around climate change alongside a deep-seated nostalgia for a ‘green’ world. Buried amidst this, the group sensed a hope that ‘fantastic technological innovations might still triumph and save us from doom’. So they created an alternate ecosystem of the future called ‘Acres Green’, where people balance a pragmatic requirement to live closer to nature with their natural human impulses to subvert and control it. Prototypes, films and installations illustrate this ambiguity between the natural and the technological: Prosthetic trees bear multiple fruits, synthetic pollinating creatures called the ‘Beamer Bees’ live in harmony with radiowaves, and robotic flocking clouds create microclimates, bringing rains to specific areas.

The project has produced one vision of many possible futures, hoping to exemplify an inclusive approach to the development of our shared future, lives and environment.

Check out the project site for our stories, methods and ideas!

The Wikipedia entry on the 2008-2009 Icelandic financial crisis is a very good overview of how "big boys" play with "big numbers" - for short term benefits for themselves, never thinking long term, let alone the public.

The entry refers to "sovereign debt" as a key issue.

But nobody questions the sovereignty of issuing Cash and spending it into the economy. Everybody assumes that money has to be borrowed as Credit, so that the beneficiaries get their interest payments.

Money as Debt, also known as Credit is a crime on humanity. It started in 1694, when the Bank of England was founded. More on http://moneyasdebt.wordpress.com

Sabine [enraged]

This site is most remarkable in its design, layout, content and, above all, intentions!

Through the Forum for Stable Currencies, we've been trying to raise awareness about the national or public debt and its devastating consequences at the House of Lords and Commons since 1998.See http://forumforstablecurrencies.org.uk

I trust that this vehicle will speed up the process considerably!

With best wishes for more and more power to your coding and communicating elbows,

Sabine

Organiser, Forum for Stable Currencies

http://forumforstablecurrencies.info

This presentation is an overview of what's wrong with the financial system worldwide: national debts are the systemic longterm cause that hardly anybody understands. But people who create their own currencies a la LETS do!

A rather interesting study of how Parliamentary staff around the world compare in terms of how they communicate on and off line. France has some way to go it seems...

("apologies" for the French but hopefully the numbers and graphs will tell the story whether you're a French speaker or not!)

Thanks to digital technologies, more people are creating content and collaborating online in ways that weren’t possible before.

If we want radical efficiencies, it can’t be about doing the same for less, but about doing things differently, cheaper and better, as well as measuring what matters.

If we look at where the web is most successful at driving social change, it’s where it mobilises untapped resources – people’s energy and innovation – for mutual benefit.

Read more here

http://transformedbyyou.blogspot.com/2010/01/resolutions-wont-be-televised.html

Classy, thought provoking presentation from Georgetown University's Evgeny Morozov.

Many thanks to @odilas for sharing.

"Sir Simon Milton and Professor Jonathan Raper in discussion at the launch event for the London Datastore on 7 January 2010.

The London Datastore will see City Hall release, for the first time, huge realms of previously unavailable data for everyone to see and use free of charge. This is part of the Mayors ongoing campaign to boost transparency and accountability in the capital.

The Datastore launches formally at the end of January 2010."

Yet another in a long series of breathtakingly good social commentaries from Cassetteboy, this time with DJ Rubbish, reviewing the events of 2009 rap stylee.

For more treats check out Cassetteboy's heavy hitting take on the state of UK political parties (could become a viral classic in the run up to the election?) and a spoof Christmas message from the Liberal Democrats (not sure if it's Cassetteboy this one).

Big thanks to @flosskebabs for passing them all my way.

Just through on email from Google's Policy Blog, Google today announced:

"the latest in a series of online safety videos as part of our Digital Literacy campaign. As we engage more students, parents and teachers about how to make good decisions online, many have noted how difficult it is to identify and avoid online scams. We know how tricky scammers can be. Our new video, Steering Clear of Cyber Tricks, shares some tips on how to avoid tricky online scams."

A useful addition to the work going on in the UK in this area, including from Tempero and the Local Government Information Unit and Tim Davies.

What else is going on out there that we should all be aware of and what more can be done?

Here's an article I came across (via @Kursteekins) on how open innovation can help companies during harsh economic times.  Lots of application to public services as well.