Gov 2.0 Conference to drive citizen engagement

Featuring a high powered line up of speakers from Australia, the United States, the UK and New Zealand, and devised to report feedback to the Federal Government’s recently announced Government 2.0 Taskforce, Gov 2.0 is the first event to be held in Australia under the CeBIT Global Conferences outside CeBIT Australia in May. 

Governments around the globe have been some of the most enthusiastic adopters of social media. The growth of such sites as FaceBook, which now boasts approximately 250 million users globally, and Twitter, which has experienced growth of more than 1000 per cent in the past year, makes these networks an ideal platform for governments to interact and engage with citizens. 

“We’re building on the popularity and great success of our ever-growing CeBIT conference program to bring exciting, topical and valuable events all year round,” the Managing Director of Hannover Fairs Australia, Ms Jackie Taranto said. 

“Our aim is leverage our strong global reputation and expertise to organise events that offer maximum value to delegates and participants. 

“The whole Web 2.0 area, and particularly its embrace by governments, is a hot topic around the world and already produced some exciting and effective new applications using interactive technology to drive greater citizen-centric engagement between governments and the public.” 

The inaugural Gov 2.0 conference will be especially relevant this year in the light of the recent formation, announced by the Federal Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Lindsay Tanner, of a Government 2.0 Taskforce (www.gov2.net.au) to study, report on and make recommendations on the greater adoption of interactive, technologies to build a bridge between government and citizens. 

Minister Tanner said recently: “While Australians now regard the internet as key way of interacting with government, they continue to identify areas where the delivery of e-government services could be improved.” 

“Such improvements may have the potential to lead to ever increasing use of e-government services. Governments at all levels also need to recognise that they must adapt to a world in which interaction increasingly occurs online and that they will need to do so at a greater rate.  

“New technologies such as blogs, social networking websites and wikis are now being used by Australians in all parts of the country and in all age groups. These changes present both opportunities and challenges for governments to deliver services that can keep pace with the rapidly evolving expectations of Australians.” 

The one-day conference, which will have a strong emphasis on content-rich real-life case studies, expert advice and policy panel discussions, has already attracted a powerful roster of exciting speakers from Australia and overseas. 

Heading up the local line-up is ACT Senator Kate Lundy, one of the government’s most experienced users of Web 2.0 technology and a strong supporter throughout her parliamentary career of Australia’s technology industry. 

Overseas experts include Dr Melodie Mayberry-Stewart, the Chief Information Officer and Director of the Office of Technology for New York State in the US, who will discuss best-practice use of Gov 2.0 in the United States, and Dr Andy Williamson, Director of the UK's Hansard Society's eDemocracy Programme, who will outline British advances in the use of technology for public engagement.

A full speaker list, and Agenda for the conference, is available at www.gov2.com.au

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Hannover Fairs Australia is the largest business technology exhibition and conference event organiser in the region. Its flagship CeBIT Australia 2010 event will be held from May 24-26 2010 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour. For more information on CeBIT Australia, please visit www.cebit.com.au.

Hannover Fairs Australia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the global trade group company Deutsche Messe AG. Hannover Fairs Australia also assists Australian companies in attending other international events organised by Deutsche Messe AG across the world. For information about other Deutsche Messe global events please visit www.hannoverfairs.com.au.