When we started this journey to rank and rate cities on contextual use of technology, we identified ten key trends to drive our research agenda. So it was interesting to find analysis about the collaborative economy, which touches on three of these: consumerization, the shift to mobility, and changes in sourcing trends. Jeremiah Owyang, then an industry analyst from the… Read more →
Does ‘online open government’ sound like a tautology or, worse, a myth? As private citizens, we have embraced the way that the internet can empower us as consumers of goods from private companies. Now we’re starting to demand the same thing from the public sector. And slowly but surely, the public sector is starting to respond. In an age of… Read more →
Intelligent communities? An odd term perhaps, but one which is becoming increasingly relevant, particularly in this digitally-driven age. An intelligent community is one which is taking active steps to embrace the challenge of the broadband economy. One which is technically geared to using fast-evolving communications technologies to the benefit of local businesses, individuals and the environment. One which gains an… Read more →
As we discuss open source policy with a number of government officials, a remarkable pattern is emerging. Misunderstanding about open source persists. Often we found the need to pare back to basics. Simply put open source software is software that confers on users the ability to run, distribute, study and modify for any purpose. It is a collaborative software development… Read more →
Last November, WordPress launched WordPress.com/cities as the one-stop solution to start a site for cities or other municipal bodies. The toolkit includes starter content that automatically create the pages most commonly needed on city websites, such as Parks & Recreation, City Hall, and Law Enforcement, and add them to the main menu. The best part? The starter level is free…. Read more →
Six weeks ago, Salesforce.com joined the UK government’s G-Cloud. This initiative allows government agencies to procure services without the need for separate contract negotiations. Brainchild of Minister Francis Maude, it promotes a cloud-first approach with transparent variable costs to public service delivery teams. What’s in it for Salesforce.com? With this agreement, all Salesforce.com’s services across its six produce lines of… Read more →
While it is normal for tech awards to focus on the achievements of IT teams, we also like awards that recognize the use of technology to solve everyday problems without requiring the intervention of an entire IT team. TED’s City 2.0 award does just this.
Faced with budget constraints, governments at all levels are taking a hard look at how services can be delivered more cost-effectively. We believe information technology will continue to play a big role in public sector efficiencies.A research driven initiative to monitor and assess effective e-government implementations is needed.