Embracing Government 2.0 ?

You have to agree that Singapore is one of the few countries that is actually evolving in its own progressive strategies, slow to adopt the technologies but you see the transition here and there. One noticeable change is how the government has been leveraging web and mobile tools to engage and interact on personal level social media platforms with its citizens.

I was reading the Chinese newspaper (yes, CHINESE) and came across an article which was talking about Aljunied GRC’s iPhone app called “iLink@Aljunied GRC” and I thought it was quite interesting to see this additional channel apart from the usual “Meet the People” sessions that happen every month (I think) at the GRC of your neighbourhoods.

So basically residents of Aljunied can use their iPhones to send pictures and feedback via this app to the Town Council. Simple as that ! For example, broken chair at your void deck or bulky garbage that are blocking the walkway. The article mentioned that it was almost an instant reply and action taken from the Town Council, sounds better than having the need to call and forced to listen to weird music tones while waiting for the almost-nonexistence operator. Great for allowing residents to have a say in their own environment and encourages community involvement. But will it end up becoming the next ‘Stomp’ (ie uploading of making-out pictures and all sorts of nonsense etc) ?

So my question is (or rather, questions are) – How do you filter out the ‘noise’ or the ‘off-topics’ from the meaningful things that the government should hear from the public ? How do you engage the public without addressing to their issues inappropriately or simply being accountable ? How do you know when the government or even the public is ready for such ‘grassroots democracy’ ?

I think in a way, Gov 2.0 certainly make things alil more transparent or even turn it into a crowd-sourced scrutiny. However, I believe that this is just a starting point. Citizens need to be mature enough to understand the various constraints of a governing body while the government must be ready to handle both +/- impact of being on such platforms. Having the public participating only signifies a driving force for the organizing engine to take action. However, we as citizens are not just voices but ‘lending hands’ to provide information and constructive comments. Who knows, maybe election voting in the future will be just a tap on your iPhones too. At the end of the day, there’s no way we can measure the success of leveraging on these platforms …can we ? Will be interesting to hear from the social media ‘experts’ or ‘social scientists’ =)

So what does Gov 2.0 means to you ? And how far do you think it’ll go ?

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