An exciting weekend in the UK

It's been a really exciting weekend in the world of e-government and the web, here in the UK.

Yesterday (Saturday, 31-Jan-09) was the second UK Government Web Barcamp. Check out: http://www.ukgovweb.org/ or search for #ukgc09 on twitter, flickr, facebook etc, or see http://friendfeed.com/rooms/ukgc09 

Two main themes from the day that this group will recognise:
* open government data (the challenges, hows, whats and whys - also the launch of http://innovate.direct.gov.uk) 
* social media and consultations - how do we use "web 2.0" to better engage

And with perfect timing, this morning the Power of Information Taskforce (an independent taskforce advising the UK government http://powerofinformation.wordpress.com/) has posted its report, including an ambitious set of recommendations which covers exactly these two topics. 

The report has been published in a form which allows comments etc. and the taskforce is asking for people's views (please do look and contribute). See: http://poit.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/poit/ Of course it is very UK centric, but I think the report is a *must read* if you are interested in government and the web, and there is much which will be of wider interest. 

Finally, on the theme of open data, Jeni Tennison has blogged what she would have said at ukgc09, which is essentially a conversation this group has had around "web basics". I think Jeni makes some good points and her post is well worth reading too: http://www.jenitennison.com/blog/node/100 

John Sheridan 

Head of e-Services and Strategy
Office of Public Sector Information
The National Archives
5th Floor
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ

Tel: 0203 334 2785 
Fax: 0208 487 1983



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Received on Sunday, 1 February 2009 14:06:37 UTC