GC2.0 Research Wiki
Nearly a decade into the first widespread use of Web 2.0 technologies it is a good moment to pause and look back at the development of some unique communities and initiatives to modernize, innovate, and reform the public service in Canada. Sparked in part by recent discussions on Twitter about the fate of the #w2p community (see: Wither #w2p?) and blog posts by Nick Charney and Kent Aitken, this space can help to capture some institutional knowledge about the formation and evolution of online communities in the Canadian public service created in the intersections of digital technology, policy innovation, and public sector reform. Canada has a unique story to tell in this space, and capturing our collective memory of the past decade is the first step in understanding what this means for the future and other governments facing similar issues.
Research Goal #1:
Please visit this page to contribute to a timeline of key milestones in the development of online communities in the Canadian federal public service.
Research Goal #2:
Aquire a full data-set of historical Twitter activity for the key hashtags related these communities and perform a network analysis on them. Hashtags of interest include:
- #w2p
- #gc2020
- #SMCoP
- #LeadersGC
- #GCdigital
*NOTE - help is needed to secure the historic Twitter data as initial inquiries back in 2015 found a very high pricetag (approx $15K for the #w2p dataset alone). Good primer on options for getting Twitter data for research here: https://gwu-libraries.github.io/sfm-ui/posts/2017-09-14-twitter-data)
Research Goal #3:
Develop a case study based on the data on the evolution of online communities in the GC, and potential insights/lessons
Comments (2)
m.t.hellstern@... said
at 6:46 pm on Sep 28, 2015
Something I'm particularly interested as a result of this conversation is what lessons can be drawn for similar efforts currently underway... for example, we have the nascent #policyinnovation community starting within the GC. Is the rise and fall of such communities inevitable? What can we learn from other tangentially related groups that shared similar aims of supporting innovative practices in the GC, such as LOCoP (Learning Organization Community of Practice) and UXWG (User Experience Working Group)? One interesting thing I've discovered as I return to the GC is that a number of once highly active communities, even more formalized ones like UXWG and some of the Communications Community Office communities of practice, are dormant or nearly dormant. What happened? Is it a coincidence that many of these communities saw their rise in the late 00's and early 10's, then saw their peak and fall start around 2013-2015? Is there something about the structure of community-driven practice that doesn't fit within the current environment, or is it something else? Anyway, these are some of the thoughts I'm left with as I'm re-entering the public service to support the PCO Innovation Hub in their efforts to build a policy innovation community in the GC. I feel like this would be a great MA project for someone... ;)
Joy Moskovic said
at 7:21 pm on Apr 26, 2017
This could be good content for GCcollab
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