Knowledge Hub (part 2) No comments yet

It’s taken a while for me to get around to posting an update to my ‘Knowledge Hub Part 1’ post, mainly as a result of being fully immersed in the technology procurement process these past several months.  This phase is now almost complete and we will shortly be starting on the actual development of the Hub, so now seems to be an opportune moment to remind everyone what this ‘Knowledge Hub’ thing is, and to give a first airing of the accompanying video (commissioned from Learning Pool – thanks guys). The following is brief summary, partially lifted from an explanation I produced for http://www.local.gov.uk/knowledgehub – and in plain English as far as I’m able:

What is it?

The Knowledge Hub is essentially the next generation development of the highly successful local government CoP platform (a previous project of mine).  It will replace the existing infrastructure with new open technology facilitating integration with mainstream social media applications (for example Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN) and the rapid assimilation of new applications and web services as they emerge.  This will enable, for example, much better personalisation and permeability of content.  In addition Knowledge Hub will provide facilities that allow data on performance to be combined and shared (so called “linked-data”) potentially providing the framework to deliver the wider move to transparent government

Why is it important?

As the UK moves towards economic recovery it is expected there will be greater demands on local government to:

• continue to demonstrate cost-effective delivery methods
• be ‘fleeter of foot’ in gathering and using sector knowledge – not only to learn from others’ experience but also to accelerate the development and implementation of innovative delivery.

The strategy is based on the premise that knowledge of ‘what works’ and ‘what doesn’t work’ can be found within the local government community. Unleashed, this knowledge can be collectively focused on excellent public service delivery.

The overarching outcome of the Knowledge Hub programme is that by 2012/13, the culture of local government will be one of collaborative knowledge generation. This will involve everyone learning, sharing and problem-solving using a technology platform provided by LG Improvement & Development but owned by the local government sector.

While a working title of a ‘Knowledge Hub’ is being used it is perhaps more appropriate to use the metaphor of a dynamo-powered light, which shines brighter and illuminates the way more clearly the more involvement there is from participants and users.

What is the scope?

The Knowledge Hub will comprise three interdependent elements:

(a) Technology:

This includes the systems, software applications, hosting and service support.

(b) Data:

This will be a combination of:

• user-generated content (blogs, wikis, forums, libraries etc.)
• system-generated content (data visualisation, graphs, reports, statistics)
• approved datasets (open and linked data)
• incoming data feeds (RSS, Atom etc.)

(c) Knowledge Ecology

Support for and development of culture and user behaviours that will foster the dynamic evolution of knowledge sharing and innovation through improved evolutionary networks of collaboration.

Some of the key features

The Knowledge Hub will not replicate or replace any similar initiatives currently being used, developed or proposed by individual councils or partnerships. Rather, the Hub will bring together information about innovation and good practice from any number of these sources to help the development of the whole sector.

• It will be a web-based service and will be accessible through any device with web capability, including mobile phones and PDAs.
• The technology and systems will support ‘agile’ development, allowing new functionality and services to be added quickly.
• It will find and follow people with same/similar interests, leading to opportunities for collaboration coproduction and partnership working.
• It will provide visualisation tools e.g. ‘heat maps’ showing emerging trends and ideas.
• It will enable performance data to be shared between councils for comparison and benchmarks.
• It will have a ’serendipity engine’ which will identify related ideas and themes.
• It will aggregate and integrate conversations and content from different sources and enable key themes to ‘bubble up’ to the top.
• It will support open standards and be available as an open platform with a published application programming interface (API) enabling third party developers and social innovators to create new applications, widgets and mashups.
• It will be launched in the first quarter of 2011.

Now see the video!

Ordnance Survey datasets and products available for free use and re-use from 1 April 2010. No comments yet

On 23 December 2009, the Government published a consultation paper on policy options for geographic information from Ordnance Survey. The purpose of this consultation was to seek views about how to best implement proposals made by the Prime Minister on 17 November 2009, to make certain Ordnance Survey datasets available for free with no restrictions on re-use. This was part of the PM’s vision for the role of public data and information in the delivery of Smarter Government that would empower citizens with better public services and a thriving private sector market based on the data that government produces.

A response to the Government consultation on making Ordance Survey (mapping) datasets available for use and re-use is available on the CLG website.

Key points from the consultation are:

A package of datasets will be made freely available to the public and will be released under the product name OS OpenData™.

The datasets that are released as part of OS OpenData will continue to be maintained by Ordnance Survey to a high and consistent standard. To ensure the product set remains relevant and continues to fulfil its objectives, it is envisaged that this product set will be reviewed periodically by an expert panel appointed by government and reporting to CLG Ministers.

The OS OpenData will include

• OS Street View®
• 1:50 000 Gazetteer
• 1:250 000 Scale Colour Raster
• OS LocatorTM
• Boundary-LineTM
• Code-Point® Open
• Meridian™ 2
• Strategi®
• MiniScale®
• OS VectorMap™ District (available 1 May 2010)
• Land-Form PANORAMA®

The OS VectorMap™ District dataset is a new product and is available in both raster and vector formats. It is designed to be a flexible and customisable product specifically designed for use on the web. It will enable developers to select, customise and modify maps to their specific requirements.

OS OpenData products will be available from 1 April 2010 in hard media and as an on-line service at www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/opendata

In addition OS OpenData will include an on-line viewing service of a selection of the OS OpenData topographic products.

This initiative continues the trend in making public data public (over 30000 datasets now available through the http://www.data.gov.uk portal) and will no doubt spawn the development of a whole new raft of innovative mashups, widgets and apps by social innovators. Exciting times!

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/corporate/pdf/1528263.pdf

Communities of Practice Case Studies 2 comments

Just picked up from Nick Milton’s blog, the Kuwait Petroleum Company have published a series of case studies from the communities of practice his company  helped them to launch and build over the last year.  Some of thee case studies include early-stage estimates of value generated. All of them are interesting studies of young communities, in the Middle Eastern culture, beginning to deliver value through new ways of working.

Can Government ever be agile? 6 comments

Paul Canning writes about the changing and shifting priorities of central government in relation to ‘eDemocracy’, and specifically the possible demise of the International Centre of Excellence for Local eDemocracy (ICELE), which  is – or was – a government funded ‘National Project‘.  I believe Paul’s point is that this is not so much a case of government being particularly capricious in this instance as being devoid of any real understanding of what is happening in the egov world.  I’d agree with all this, and the execellent summary of why IT projects fail that Paul writes about in a separate blog.

But while government blunders about in ever-decreasing circles, with huge monolithic ‘e-projects’ that will take years to deliver any benefits, (and more likely be canned when costs get out of hand), there are surely some opportunities for the small/entrepenurial consultancies and individuals in the Web 2.0 space to fill the gaps with what may start out as tactical solutions but could ultimatley be part of core strategy.  I admire MySociety for taking this approach, and maybe this is an example for other practitioners in this space.

I just wish that Government would realise they don’t need to create enormously complex governance structures for what should be agile e-gov projects. But perhaps ‘agility’ and ‘government’ is after all an oxymoron!

See also comments on this debate from Dave Briggs .