Back in June 2006, when Facebook was still a university phenomenon, a group of civil servants started up the Government 2.0 Think Tank (G2TT) in Ottawa. Led by Patrick Cormier, then a military lawyer and a project director at the Department of National Defence (DND), G2TT's aim was to provide a forum to connect people who want to use open source and Web 2.0 concepts to make governments more efficient and interactive.
The initiative attracted dedicated, energetic civil servants across all levels of the Canadian government, the U.S. and even far-flung places such as New Zealand united in their desire to devote their personal time and expertise to develop concrete solutions to common problems.
After getting clearance from public affairs and other authorities, G2TT's executive group of about 20 people drew up a charter, developed an interactive Web site and created a list of key projects to tackle. A glowing review about the initiative that appeared in The Ottawa Citizen newspaper attracted more new and enthusiastic members. The group seemed primed and ready to get going and get things done.
But shortly thereafter, G2TT'S Web site disappeared without explanation, and the initiative faded away.
Now retired from the DND at age 37 after 20 years of service, Cormier reflects on the experience. One major source of inspiration was the open source movement, in which he'd participated for several years. "I really like the open source software development approach, not so much as a product but as architecture for participation," he explains. "It promotes people who are good at what they do, so it's a meritocracy. And you can push things forward - years down the road, the project may still be alive even though it's not with the same people as at the start."
Another source was the Information Management Leadership initiative (IMLI), an 18-month training program sponsored by the Treasury Board Secretariat that brought people together from across the government on a regular basis. "We quickly discovered the problems we were struggling with were the same and not peculiar to our individual environments," he says.
These two central ideas came together in a presentation Cormier made at a government conference in 2006. "Why not create a similar architecture of participation for government to advance solutions instead of open source code? The deliverable for us would be a report, something that can be tabled and published, and that governments could consult and use as they see fit."
People working in government silos are only exposed to their areas and have no forum for sharing experiences about similar issues, he explains. And they're bound by whatever legislation exists in their area, so they don't have the freedom to think outside the box. Even a fresh, viable solution can get quickly bogged down by records management, bilingual and other requirements.
But these should not be used as excuses for inaction, he says. "There may be obstacles right now, but you don't stop because of those obstacles. Instead, you just lay out a report about the nature of the problem, what the potential solutions are, and what steps are needed."
Cormier believed this approach would not be threatening to superiors, as they would be free to accept or reject a report's recommendations as they saw fit. "My gut feeling was, if a report is prepared by knowledgeable people in government that's comprehensive and covers all bases, it would create the interest to allow the solution to move forward."
It can't be seen as threatening in a democracy, as this is what society is about. There are many groups, NGOs, and think-tanks out there that put ideas and studies on the table, and G2TT would have been just another group."
Continued: Culture of control
Related content:
Interview with Ken Cochrane, CIO, Government of Canada
Government intelligence embraces Web 2.0
Government faces Facebook reality
icon.
