The last month has seen some major announcements from the Australian Government regarding Government 2.0.

The Government's response to the Gov 2.0 Taskforce Final Report, their response to the APS review report and even the release of the Australian Government budget under Creative Commons licensing have all laid testimony to the growing support for Gov 2.0 adoption and implementation within Australian governments.

To support this trend, May's Gov 2.0 lunch in Canberra will feature two speakers with very different experiences and perspectives on implementing Government 2.0.

First is Senator Kate Lundy, who will have just returned from the Gov 2.0 Expo in Washington D.C. Senator Lundy will provide a round-up of the US's progress in implementing Government 2.0 initiatives and of the Expo.

Senator Lundy has represented the ACT in the Senate since 1996 and is a well-known advocate and user of Web 2.0 technologies, spearheaded Gov 2.0 initiatives such as her Public Sphere events which facilitate online public collaboration on policy development. In September 2009 Senator Lundy was recognised for her leadership in Gov2.0 online innovation when she was ranked 13th in a short list of 25 global leaders by the International Centre for E-democracy and Politics Online.

Next is Kate Carruthers, a marketer, technologist, educator and strategist and one of Australia's leading proponents of Web 2.0 and social media. Currently working as a digital strategist for interactive agency Hyro (www.hyro.com), Kate has also worked in the tertiary & technical and further education sectors.  She also has extensive experience in senior IT roles in enterprise and government.  She blogs at www.katecarruthers.com/blog and can be found on Twitter @kcarruthers

Kate's talk will cover:

The digital revolution is already here and it is changing the way people expect to communicate or share knowledge and information. Governments are facing technology changes together with changing expectations from citizens about the use of technology in an government context.

A key challenge for government is the delivery of services and communication in this new context. This growth of social and collaborative technologies that reach outside the traditional walls of governmental institutions offers both new challenges and opportunities to government.

Here governmental institutions can learn some lessons from business.  This talk will highlight some of the lessons learned in web 2.0 and social media and how they can inform government practice.

Cost

The Dining Room serves a buffet lunch which costs $29.95 per head. Drinks are extra.

People attending the Gov 2.0 lunch are expected to be partaking in this - paying at the venue. Note that I am not paid for running this event, the cost is purely for the Dining Room.