Some of you might enjoy reading an article on Wired.com about how the General Services Administration of the U.S. government is working to put government content on the websites that everyone already uses.
The GSA ,which led the effort for 12 agencies over the past nine months, has finally worked out arrangements with Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo and blip.tv, saying these are “representative of high volume and innovation on the Web.”
All of this information is already in the public domain, and it’s available through other websites and offices, but having it on the “public web” will make it more accessible to the community at large.
Do you think that this will help ordinary citizens become more engaged in government? Do you see any potential problems? What sort of government content would you like to see on the internet?
I understand why the President would want to have their governmental activities publicly available so that citizens may see the real deal BUT…
A reason that, for many decades, the government kept their activity within their walls was to allow them to focus on issues amongst themselves without interference.
We’ve already learnt about how a simple publication can create such a riot (I’m talking about the story with the stolen phone). If the government puts everything for the public eye, people will have even more to say and most may not even be able to comprehend why the government is doing such a thing.
But, we are in a time of change so, only time can truly tell what benefits or vice this may bring. I believe they should still put a limit to their “transparency”
I work for the federal government and the government makes lots of rules. They have policies and acts in place so strict you’d think you were living in the pre-colonial era. But some rules regarding websites are necessary to prevent fraud activities. I know that it’s a good thing for the government to get involved with the public in order to spread the word about government jobs, communicate government issues, and let the people respond to their actions. If the government did not make good use of technology then they are really far behind and asking for trouble from rebels. It is necessary for government to be involved in social networks because this breaks down bureacracy by making government more sympathic. They are also increasing their value or respect by the people by getting involved with the private sector and not just benefiting their own, the public sector.