Future eGov conference

Something of a blog hiatus as I have had multiple laptop traumas – am actually looking forward to catching up with it – just shows this blogging business is addictive.  I need to add a post from the ministerial conference in Malmo, our Europetitions and also our Virtual Town Hall meeting in Chorley.

But more immediately – just had an excellent day at the Future eGov conference.  As promised here are my slides which have the stats in and also actually reference the Don Tapscott diagram properly:

Lots of really good content at the conference.  I really appreciated sharing the session with Hugh Flouch from Networked Neighbourhoods as a lot of my work is predicated on the existence of his – and he is able not only to engage a local community but also to articulate what he is doing.

I also enjoyed the final question time debate – and I am intrigued by the idea of a post-democratic society from Tom Harris – will have to read more in case this is just a really good sound bite….

Couple of general observations:

• The issue of moderation of sites is really key – and less is more – we need to really adjust our thinking about risk and support the idea of self-moderation wherever possible – we have to trust the community
• I really liked the phrase “online is a catalyst and not a cause” – can anyone remember who said it??

Another thought which is really a hangover from Malmo – I think we have to be careful about assuming that social capital results in social outcomes – there is no guarantee that a highly ‘capitalised’ community will behave in the way that we expect.