Government 2.0 Taskforce

On Monday 22 June 2009, the new Government 2.0 Taskforce was announced. The Terms of Reference for the Taskforce are that the Taskforce will advise and assist the Australian Government to:

• make government information more accessible and usable — to establish a pro-disclosure culture around non-sensitive public sector information;
• make government more consultative, participatory and transparent — to maximise the extent to which government utilises the views, knowledge and resources of the general community;
• build a culture of online innovation within Government — to ensure that government is receptive to the possibilities created by new collaborative technologies and uses them to advance its ambition to continually improve the way it operates;
• promote collaboration across agencies with respect to online and information initiatives — to ensure that efficiencies, innovations, knowledge and enthusiasm are shared on a platform of open standards; and
• identify and/or trial initiatives that may achieve or demonstrate how to accomplish the above objectives.

If the Taskforce follows through on its Terms of Reference, I think it will do great things. Read more on the Government 2.0 Taskforce blog. The website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australian licence.

My boss, Professor Brian Fitzgerald, is one of the members appointed to the Taskforce, along with Dr Nicolas Gruen, Mia Garlick and others. Brian's is an excellent appointment - he is an internationally recognised IP and technology law expert, whom I'm confident will contribute much to the Taskforce.

The Taskforce is also running a competition to design the Taskforce website's banner. All entries will be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 2.5 Australian licence.