Gov 2.0 – What does it mean to the federal government?

Amid the excitement and flurry surrounding a new Administration, federal agencies and workers must remember the call for transparency and accountability. To do so, they must understand and embrace the concept of Gov 2.0. Like Web 2.0, taking advantage of Internet technology and Web design, Gov. 2.0 will, according to the Wikipedia definition, “enhance creativity, communications, secure information sharing, collaboration, and functionality of the Web.”

President Obama set an example during his campaign by leveraging Web 2.0 communities and technologies, such as Twitter and text messaging, and he understands the value and the opportunity that technologies like these provide for creating the transparent and interactive government he has promised.

But how does a federal agency adopt Gov. 2.0 to create something useful and meaningful for its agency and constituents? There are five key opportunities that support the vision to empower citizens and create the efficient government envisioned by the Obama Administration:

• Citizen services must meet the increasing expectations of citizens in a managed, controlled, and cost-effective way, while increasing responsiveness and access to critical services. Not only will doing so make it easier for agencies to interact with citizens, but it will also streamline processes and, as a result, save time and taxpayer dollars.
• Citizen engagement includes an opportunity for outreach to, interaction with, and participation of key constituents in an open and collaborative way. It provides an opportunity for citizens to work with government, whether in an emergency situation, helping to solve challenges, or provide ideas.
• Security-enhanced collaboration to connect staff through security-enhanced portals and to enable the exchange of data online. It should also include citizen relationship management solutions that allow agencies and staff to work more securely and integrate across organizational boundaries to access people and agency information from anywhere.
• Helping secure data to simplify and optimize the identity management infrastructure and create environments in which no single breach of trust will expose critical data.
• Compliance and accountability to meet the mounting pressure to better align an organization’s performance and improve agency accountability to its citizens, while adhering to federal mandates, like FISMA and ISO 27002 regulations. This includes the opportunity for federal agencies to evaluate how emerging technologies, such Cloud Computing and desktop-to-server virtualization, can help them reduce their total cost of ownership.

There are challenges to getting to Gov. 2.0. Among the more daunting are the revenue shortfalls created by our dismal economy. Others include an aging workforce; the need to ensure security and identity protection; the reality of an aging and possibly outdated technology and disparate technologies that could impede progress; and the need to understand and comply with myriad regulations.

President Obama made it clear that technology is an enabler. So, while it may not be easy to get to Gov. 2.0, it is possible. It’s a great opportunity to create greater transparency and efficiency in government, while empowering citizens to take part.

What do you think? Is America ready for Gov. 2.0? What do Americans need to do to get there?

Susie Adams is the Microsoft Federal Civilian and IGO Chief Technology Officer.