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The World is Flat 3.0

Dan ORourke — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 08:01:30 -0400

Technology is leveling the playing field in the world of citizen engagement. Social computing tools are creating new ways for government to connect with citizens. You may find this lecture (44 minutes) by Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman interesting. Friedman discusses how technology has leveled the field between people, ideas and countries.

Posted by Dan O'Rourke

The Current - Podcast up

Dan ORourke — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 10:33:18 -0400

CBC Radio's "The Current" has released their segment on the topic of Twitter as a podcast.

Check it out.

Posted by Dan O'Rourke

CBC The Current is all a'twitter

Dan ORourke — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:57:27 -0400

Today, The Current on CBC Radio held a lengthy discussion on the topic of Twitter. I've posted about Twitter on the VP blog in the past, and I believe in the possibilities Twitter presents for connecting people, ideas and government.

In fact, I disputed some of what was being said on The Current today as I listened, and sent off a quick Tweet to @thecurrentcbc where it was promptly read on the air. I think that stands as an interesting example of how Twitter allows for instantaneous connection with an audience. It works with Media, and I think the principle translates equally well to government.

The Nova Scotia government is already dipping its toe in the water. Nova Scotia Archives were first when they set up their Twitter account just a couple weeks ago, and the Come to Life folks followed shortly afterwards. The use of social computing tools to further engage with citizens looks to be an interesting and new horizon, and I look forward to seeing how we at Voluntary Planning can incorporate them in future projects.

Posted by Dan O'Rourke

Cognitive Edge - Its still a little blurry

John Bennett — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:47:39 -0400

Seems like Dan has beaten me to the punch regarding our experience at the Cognitive Edge training that we were involved with last week. Yet, I would be remiss not to share a few of my own thoughts on the training.

Needless to say, it was highly theoretical, enlightening and quite extensive. Knowledge management and solving problems using complex adaptive systems are not for the faint of heart, but quite interesting nonetheless. Interwined with the theory was the importance of storytelling, or narratives, in addressing a wide variety of issues and problems.

By day 3, after seeing how the Sensemaker software was used, I was experiencing an occasional brain freeze. But having a few days to take a step back made me realize that the training was a great experience. Now its just a case of turning theory into practice.

Posted by John Bennett

Cognitive Overload

Dan ORourke — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 11:23:33 -0400

The Cognitive Edge Accredidation Course was quite an experience. It's a little ridiculous just how much they tried to cram into a 3-day course.

There's little doubt that the work the theoretical framework they've put together (and by "they" I mean "Dave Snowden") is impressive. Both John Bennett and I felt like we could see multiple ways to implement the things we learned into our processes here at Voluntary Planning.

I was hoping to give some highlites, but I think condensing what we learned into a blog post is well beyond my skill. I recommend those interested in dealing with complex 'human' systems and gathering information (either from citizens or employees, etc...) spend some time over at the Cognitive Edge website. If you can plow through the jargon, there is tons of fascinating stuff.

Posted by Dan O'Rourke