BasicGov / BLOG

Government 2.0, also called Gov 2.0 and e-government, essentially gives easier access to government information.

There are many benefits of Gov 2.0 from more citizen engagement, paperless office, faster processing, and better service with added convenience.

Examples of Gov 2.0 and greater citizen participation include blogging and web portals.

1. Blogging to communicate with citizens

• Montgomery County, Maryland, Division of Solid Waste has a blog titled “Talkin’ Trash“

• The government of Rhode Island has a media center on their portal, including a place where you can read state agency blogs

• EPA.gov has established blog writing and blog commenting guidelines, which include sample blog posts

• To read tips for starting a government agency blog, click here

2. Web portals for citizen services such as

• Submit building plans for permits and check progress on permit approval

• Apply for or renew business licenses

• Schedule construction inspections

• Report graffiti or other neighborhood complaints

• Click here to see citizen portal example

• To learn more about finding the right services for a citizen portal, click here for a down-loadable book

3. More resources

To learn about strategies and planning for Government 2.0 initiatives click here

Feel free to share your examples and resources …

A Mashup generally combines data into a visual presentation (read more about definition here).

An interesting mashup on nytimes.com is one showing distribution of ethnic groups in North America.  It used local data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, based on samples from 2005 to 2009 and turned it into an interesting visual tool that you can scroll through and zoom into see specific neighborhoods.

Here’s a list of the 10 best mashups on the web http://webtrends.about.com/od/webmashups/tp/10-best-mashups-on-the-web.htm

Mashups and Government

Mashups are currently being developed and used by agencies as diverse as Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the California Health Care Foundatation (CHCF), and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). (source: Programmableweb )

Click here to see a directory of mashups used by government agencies http://www.programmableweb.com/tag/government