Has government found its feet in social media?

Craig ThomlerGov 2.0 Advocate

Managing DirectorDelib Australia

IABC 15 October 2013

The short answer….

andYES

NO

The longer version

NOand

YES

Source: Museum of VictoriaCSIRAC - World’s 5th stored program computer, oldest surviving 1st gen electronic computer.

First ran in 1949, retired 1964. Played first digital music in world 1950-1.2x768 20-bit word storage, 1000 Hz processor, 10 milliseconds access time.Needed 30 kilowatts to run, weighed 2 tonnes & required 40 m2 floor space.

Agencies have made huge strides…

1949 – CSIRAC first ran (in use until 1964)

1990s – ATO is using internal discussion forums

2004 – GovDex pilot launched

2006 – First Australian Government blog

2008 – First Australian Government Twitter accounts (in order: Questacon, Nat. Film & Sound Archive, DEEWR TrainingGovAU, Sandi Logan)

2009 – Gov 2.0 taskforce, APSC releases interim protocols for online media participation, data.gov.au beta launches

2010 – Declaration of Open Government by outgoing Finance Minister

2011 – data.gov.au launches, 150 Australian Government Twitter accounts

2012 – APSC revises guidance on participating online

2013 – Australian Government indicates it will join the OGP, over 200 Australian Government Twitter accounts

Source: Facebook February 2004

Particularly compared to the corporate sector…Facebook map of the world 2004

Source: Facebook December 2010

Facebook map of the world 2010

Source: Facebook September 2013

Facebook map of the world 2013

Source: Australia.gov.au Feb 2004 - The Wayback Machine (harchive.org/web/web.php)

Australia.gov.au - 2004

Source: Australia.gov.au Dec 2010 – The Wayback Machine (harchive.org/web/web.php)

Australia.gov.au - 2010

Source: Australia.gov.au Oct 2013 – Live Yesterday…

Australia.gov.au - 2013

Never used social media

Use social media

35%

65%

38%

62%

38%

62%

100%

0%

2004 2011 2012 2013

Australian social media use (as we define social media today)

Source: Sensis Social Media Report 2011-13

“The use of Web 2.0 is now commonplace in APS agencies.

There are hundreds of government social media sites, including Twitter accounts, Facebook pages and YouTube channels.

Web 2.0 approaches are regularly used in policy development opportunities and many Australian Government datasets are included on data.gov.au with more being added regularly.”

- APS State of the Service Report 2011-12

Source: APS State of the Service Report 2011-12

Digital is considered mainstream for government

Public sector use of social media

Australian public

Use internet: 86%Use social media: 65%

Australian Governmentofficial use of social media

Agencies: 73% Politicians: 77%(prior to 2013 election)

Sources: Sensis 2013, eGovAU 2012-13

However….

NOand

YES

• Culture of public service

• Awareness and accurate knowledge of social media

• Concern over career impacts

• Sufficient base of skilled and experienced professionals (and the training and support to develop this)

• Political winds….

Still deep-rooted challenges to address

LeadersFast followersSlow followersTail-enders

Communication

Attorney-General’s

Defence

Agriculture

Foreign Affairs and Trade

Education

Finance

Health

Human Services

Immigration and Border Protection

Industry

Infrastructure and Regional Development

Resources, Energy and Tourism

Social Services

Prime Minister and Cabinet

Veterans’ Affairs

How Australian Government departments are doing

Treasury

Source: Craig Thomler – review of APS Department social media progress – 2008-2013

Environment

Hope• The genie is out of the

bottle (won’t fit back in)

• Interest is broadening beyond Comms/IT

• Seniority of early adopters is growing

• APS expertise is growing

Hope or despair?

Despair• No political leadership

• Grey and restrictive APSC guidance

• Focus still on quantity, not quality

• Old guard have not yet stepped down

On balance

NOand

YES

Takeaway

So can you teach an old dinosaur new tricks?

Takeaway

Yes, if you update their plumage

Takeaway

And the APS is on its way…slowly!

Thanks

Craig Thomlercraig@delib.net@CraigThomler

http://eGovAU.blogspot.com

www.delib.net/australia/@Delibaunz

Cross-Agency Social Media (CASM) forum25th October – at DEEWR (50 Marcus Clarke)

Featuring

• Hootsuite

• Twitter Australia

• #Aboutthehouse

Interested? Email: socialmedia@deewr.gov.au

Source: APS State of the Service Report 2011-12

Shoutout