IIM Newsletter - August 2009

 
    IIM Newsletter August 2009


Vlad Videnovic
National President

Dear Member,

This issue of the IIM newsletter is dedicated to the Government 2.0 initiative and also a reminder about our Annual Conference held in Canberra in October this year.

IIM has been asked to make a submission to the Government 2.0 Taskforce on their issues paper (click here to see the issues paper). I have had a privilege to represent the Institute at one of the round tables held recently. At this round table, representatives from many government agencies shared their views, concerns and ideas about using Web 2.0 technology to expand the uses of Commonwealth information and improve the way government engages with citizens. 

The Government 2.0 Taskforce was established in June to investigate and make recommendations on how to:
  • make government information more accessible and usable — to establish a pro-disclosure culture around non-sensitive public sector information;
  • make government more consultative, participatory and transparent — to maximise the extent to which government utilises the views, knowledge and resources of the general community;
  • build a culture of online innovation within Government — to ensure that government is receptive to the possibilities created by new collaborative technologies and uses them to advance its ambition to continually improve the way it operates; and
  • promote collaboration across agencies with respect to online and information initiatives — to ensure that efficiencies, innovations, knowledge and enthusiasm are shared on a platform of open standards.
You can find more details about this initiative on the Government 2.0 Taskforce website (http://gov2.net.au/).

You may also find it informative to look at the final report of the UK Government Taskforce, which had a similar charter and reported in March.

There is an opportunity for the IIM to have a say in what seems to be a significant government initiative in our area of professional interest and which is also likely to have a direct impact on us as citizens. The taskforce has a very short timeframe for responses and I have already sought an extension for the IIM response. I am proposing to respond on Monday 7 September. I plan to keep the IIM response to high level issues (probably at level of the 13 OECD principles) rather than matters of detail.

I would like to invite those of you who are interested please read the issues paper and email your views before 5pm (Eastern time) on Thursday 27th August to iim@iim.org.au with “Government 2.0” in your message.

Web 2.0 is one of the hot topics that will be discussed at the IIM Annual Conference 2009 that will be held in Canberra on 7th of October. This conference is organised by the ACT Branch, but is focused on topics that are of interest of information professionals nationally. Please note that we now offer a special discount is now available for groups of 4 or more delegates from the same organisation. Note that current rates are valid for registrations received and processed by 15 September.

To see more details about the conference, including the exciting conference program and to register, click here.

Finally, I would like to inform you that the IIM will again be involved in organising the Information Awareness Month (IAM) next year. The purpose IAM is to increase public awareness of the breadth of the information industry through a series of events organised through the month of May. IAM is a collaborative initiative between various bodies within the information management community, including IIM.

Currently proposed theme for the IAM 2010 is "Access across the generations". If you would like to propose an alternative theme, send it to us in an email with “Proposed IAM theme” in the message title before 15 September 2009.

Yours sincerely

Vladimir Videnovic
President