Open Government

Research Note: Is Your Government Open or Closed? October 2011 14 at replacing most of the activity currently hosted on numerous departmental publishing environments. The Efficiency and Reform Group‟s Government Digital Services recently unveiled an e-petitions website on the Directgov website. The system, developed using SMEs, open standards and open source technology, gives citizens a voice to make government more accessible through online petitions. Ironically the launch coincided with the UK riots, and traffic to the site peaked at 5,000 hits a minute as many disgruntled citizens voiced their opinion and created over 8,000 petitions in two weeks. Australia’s Operating Model The Australian Federal Government is also dedicated to Government 2.0 strategies, as seen in Figure 8 which depicts the departments that are pledging efforts towards Government 2.0 initiatives in green. Figure 8 - Gov 2.0 within the Australian Government Department Mission Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (Key roles: Secretary, Deputy Secretary of Infrastructure) Lays the foundations for Australia's digital infrastructure, facilitates innovation and sets regulatory frameworks conducive to enabling citizens to safely and securely realize the full innovative potential of the digital economy. Head of State: Julia Gillard DEPARTMENT OF BROADBAND, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE DIGITAL ECONOMY (Minister Stephen Conroy) DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND DEREGULATION (Minister Penny Wong) AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT INFORMATION MANAGEMENT OFFICE headed by Ann Steward GOV. 2.0 TASKFORCE DEPARTMENT OF INNOVATION, INDUSTRY, SCIENCE AND RESEARCH (Minister Kim Carr ) INNOVATION DIVISION DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE (Minister Stephen Smith) CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER GROUP (CIO Greg Farr) THE OFFICE OF THE INFORMATION COMMISSIONER (Professor John McMillan) PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET portfolio (Parliamentary Secretary, Kate Lundy)