Civil Servant 2.0. New ideas and practical tips for working in government 2.0

Full text

Davied van Berlo
In this book Dutch civil servant Davied van Berlo explains the signicance of
web 2.0 for government in terms of its internal organisation, its relationship
with the public, and the working methods of the civil servant. The second
part, Civil Servant 2.0 beta, provides a practical interpretation of the
concepts expressed in the rst part, and contains action points and ideas
for government organisations to develop their own strategies for government
2.0.
Over 25,000 copies of these two books have been distributed to civil servants
in the Netherlands and Belgium. They have now been translated and
combined in one volume that offers an overarching vision of the future role of
government 2.0 and the civil servant, and which contains a large number of
useful examples and handy tips. Van Berlo offers inspirational new ideas and
practical pointers for interpreting these ideas.
The Dutch Civil Servant 2.0 network currently has about 7000 members. It is a
platform for forward-thinking civil servants who wish to innovate government.
The Civil Servant 2.0 books have been an excellent resource for getting Dutch
civil servants started. With this translation these experiences can be shared
with civil servants worldwide.
Davied van Berlo is a civil servant and founder of the Civil Servant 2.0
network.
www.ambtenaar20.nl | netwerk.ambtenaar20.nl | boek.ambtenaar20.nl
Davied van Berlo
Civil Servant 2.0
New ideas and practical tips for working in government 2.0
Civil Servant 2.0 beta
Action steps towards government 2.0
Ambtenaar 2.0 | Ambtenaar 2.0 beta
www.ambtenaar20.nl

Civil Servant 2.0
New ideas and practical tips for working in government 2.0
Civil Servant 2.0 beta
Action steps towards government 2.0

2
Civil Servant 2.0 (Ambtenaar 2.0) is a Dutch network of people, both civil servants and citizens, who wish to study
and raise awareness of the consequences of web 2.0 for government. They discuss the issues involved, exchange
ideas, knowledge and practical experiences and contribute to training, support and practical tips for working as a
civil servant 2.0.
Civil Servant 2.0 http://www.ambtenaar20.nl
Civil Servant 2.0 network http://netwerk.ambtenaar20.nl
Civil Servant 2.0 book http://boek.ambtenaar20.nl
The following licence applies to this publication:
Creative Commons Attribution - Non-commercial – No derivative works 3.0

3
Foreword
Dear colleague,
Governments throughout the world are facing signicant changes. New
concepts about the structure and role of government are emerging in
many different countries: ‘open government’ in the US, ‘the big society’
in the UK and ‘government 2.0’ in Australia. The government of the
Netherlands is also undergoing major changes.
The ‘Compact Civil Service Implementation Programme’ aims to transform
the Dutch Government into an organisation that accommodates social
dynamics and requires less public funding and fewer staff.
An intrinsic part of the Government’s new way of working is based on
a combination of proposals for cutting costs, including in housing and
ICT, and for providing professionals in government with sufcient space
to operate through management based on results and trust. In addition
to the basic skills of the civil servant 1.0 (preparing reports, managing
decision-making processes, dealing with politically sensitive issues), the
civil servant 2.0 is procient in the use of social media and interactive
policy making and can offer solutions to society, involve members of the
public in policy and apply new forms of online cooperation. The concepts
presented in this book respond seamlessly to these developments.
Davied van Berlo is the epitome of the civil servant 2.0, and in this book
he provides insights on developments within and outside government
and on the status of government 2.0 in the Netherlands. This book is
therefore essential reading in the era of ‘The New World of Work’.
I hope the ideas and examples described in this book will provide
inspiration for civil servants both in the Netherlands and abroad. Now
more than ever, governments are in need of innovative staff who can
come up with smart solutions to improve how government works. This
book is a valuable resource for the civil servant 2.0.
Jaap Uijlenbroek
Director General
Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations

4

5
Contents
Foreword 3
Civil Servant 2.0 7
Civil Servant 2.0 beta 91
Appendices
• About Pleio (Government Square) 200
• List of sources 201
• Overview of shortened internet addresses 204
• Dictionary 207
• Acknowledgements 210

6

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 7
Civil Servant 2.0
New ideas and practical tips for working in government 2.0
December 4th, 2008
Ambtenaar 2.0
Davied van Berlo
Nieuwe ideeën en praktische tips
om te werken in overheid 2.0
www.ambtenaar20.nl
Ambtenaar 2.0
Internet maakt deel uit van ons leven en ons werk. Een tweede generatie
van internetsites zorgt ervoor dat de samenleving, en de rol van de overheid
daarin, fundamenteel verandert. Deze ontwikkeling wordt samengevat onder
de naam web 2.0.
Davied van Berlo zet in dit boek zijn ideeën uiteen over wat de gevolgen zijn
van web 2.0 voor de overheid: voor de relatie tussen overheid en burgers,
voor de interne organisatie van de overheid en voor de manier van werken
van de ambtenaar. Daarbij spreekt hij zijn collega-ambtenaren rechtstreeks
aan en gaat het gesprek aan over de betekenis van deze veranderingen voor
hun werk.
Maar hij geeft in dit boek ook een aantal tips mee. Dat maakt het boek tot
meer dan alleen een prikkelend betoog, het is ook een handig naslagwerk met
nuttige sites en praktische handreikingen.
Davied van Berlo is ambtenaar bij het ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en
Voedselkwaliteit en initiatiefnemer van het platform Ambtenaar 2.0.
www.ambtenaar20.nl | netwerk.ambtenaar20.nl | boek.ambtenaar20.nl
Davied van Berlo

8 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 9
Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction 14
Chapter 2. Internet and web 2.0, a different perspective 16
Chapter 3. Characteristics of web 2.0 25
Chapter 4. Web 2.0 and the impact on society 33
Chapter 5. What does web 2.0 mean for the government? 38
Chapter 6. Government 2.0: the relationship between citizen and government 45
Chapter 7. Organisation 2.0: the government’s internal work methods 61
Chapter 8. Employee 2.0: the civil servant’s way of working 73
Chapter 9. The end is the beginning 81
Chapter 10. Why me? 84
Box texts
What is Twitter? 24
RSS makes it easy to gather information 32
eParticipation on the map 37
BDplaza, the social network of the Dutch Tax Authority 44
Wiki neighbourhood in Drachten 48
Guus.net: working via a community 54
The British do it better 60
Flexible working environment at Microsoft Netherlands 68
Getting started as manager 2.0 72
How to handle information 76

10 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
Full contents
Chapter 1. Introduction 14
Background 15
Chapter 2. Internet and web 2.0, a different perspective 16
A world without space or time 16
Overwhelmed by everything on offer 16
Dilemmas of a new reality 17
1. Personalise your world 17
The Long Tail 18
Everyone is a niche 18
2. Finding and being found 19
a. Human lter 19
b. Social lter 19
c. The algorithmic lter 19
3. Mass collaboration 20
Wikinomics 20
Crowdsourcing 22
Summary 23
Chapter 3. Characteristics of web 2.0 25
Denitions 25
1. Open 26
Being transparent 26
Being open to other ideas 27
2. Social 27
An internet made up of people 27
Horizontal networking 28
Self-organisation 29
3.User centrality 29
Create your personal dashboard 30
User generated content 30
Giving users space 31
Summary 31
Chapter 4. Web 2.0 and the impact on society 33
What has been changed by the internet and web 2.0? 33
1. Digital integration 33
2. Democratising the debate 34
3. Social potential 35
Questions for government 35
Where to begin? 36
Chapter 5. What does web 2.0 mean for the government? 38
Search for your added value 38
Government is quick to realise the consequences 38
What areas of our work are affected by web 2.0? 39
1. The relationship between citizen and government 40
The social debate 40
Communities based around themes 40
Mass collaboration 40
Open Government 41

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 11
2. The government’s internal organisation 41
Space for staff 41
Working in networks 41
Management 41
A transparent organisation 42
3. The civil servant’s work method 42
Availability of resources and tools 42
Developing skills 42
Position of the civil servant 43
The work/leisure balance 43
Summary 43
Chapter 6. Government 2.0: the relationship between citizen and government 45
TNO research on “User generated State” 45
Recommendations 45
Questions and risks 45
1. Working with mass collaboration 46
Being open 46
Peering 46
Sharing 47
Acting globally 47
2. Communities 49
Why work via communities? 49
Using communities rather than internet consultations 50
Question to ask yourself before you begin 51
What do you have to be aware of? 52
Make use of the possibilities 53
3. Open Government 55
Example: the inaccessibility of parliamentary information 55
What is Open Government? 56
The potential 56
Principles of Open Government 57
Summary 58
Chapter 7. Organisation 2.0: the government’s internal work methods 61
Who should work with organisation 2.0? 61
1. Openness 63
Collaboration requires a transparent organisation 63
A closed work approach does not lead to added value 63
Taking responsibility begins with having enough information 64
2. Networks 64
Complexity calls for exibility 64
Working in different network teams 65
What you don’t know you have to learn through others 65
Organisation structure and exibility 65
3. The employee is central 66
Using your employees’ potential 66
Give employees the facilities they need 66
Personalise your way of working 67
Summary 67
How do you set up an organisation 2.0? 68
Find colleagues who are open to this experiment 69
Investing in knowledge and solid agreements 69
Conceiving a strategy for your environment 70
Your work is also personal 70
Manager 2.0 71
Summary 71

12 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
Chapter 8. Employee 2.0: the civil servant’s way of working 73
Empowerment: knowing what you can 73
Instruments must support existing activities 74
Where can I learn this? 75
How to handle information 76
Empowerment: knowing what you should and shouldn’t do 76
Civil service code 77
Protection and storage of information 78
Who is employee 2.0? 78
Employees 2.0 seek meaning in their work 79
Internal enterprise 79
Personal branding and personal development 79
Hierarchy is a relic from the past 79
Sharing knowledge means multiplying knowledge 79
Summary 80
Chapter 9. The end is the beginning 81
Economic advantages 81
A changing society 82
Platform Civil Servant 2.0 82
Chapter 10. Why me? 84
1. Forming part of society 84
A more efcient and interactive government 84
2. My network is my organisation 85
Sharing knowledge 85
Personal branding 85
 3. Theworldatyourngertips 86
Personal dashboard 86
I can do it all by myself 86

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 13
You must be the change you want to see in the world.
Mahatma Ghandi

14 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
Introduction
Let me take you on an adventure - my adventure as an independent
government policy consultant. My journey through the urban jungle of
central government, and my quest for Civil Servant 2.0.
This adventure will lead you along the yawning gap between citizen and
government, and show you how much easier it has become to bridge
this gap. We will steer through the pillars of horizontal government
organisation and discover new forms of collaboration. And you will
learn how to cut a path through the growing mountain of information
and how you can arrange your environment to suit your way of working.
This is a book for you, as a civil servant. As civil servants we have a
public task to perform, and we want to do that as well as we can. Our
working environment is constantly changing, and increasingly more is
possible. As a civil servant, you have to be open to these developments
and curious about how you can perform your work at an even higher
standard. If this is something you recognise, then this book is for you.
In the last chapter I will explain who I am and why I have written this
book. After all, this is the personal account of a civil servant. In this
book I put forward what I know about internet developments and the
concepts behind web 2.0. I also describe my own outlook on work
and the function of government functions, and hope to unearth some
provocative ideas and pressing questions in the process.
However, let’s begin with the rst chapter, in which we will discover
which new worlds have been created and try to understand the
fundamental changes in the world that we know. We will nd out what
web 2.0 is, how the developments on the internet have affected society
and what the consequences and possibilities are for government. Armed
with this background knowledge we can embark on our journey.
We will then apply this knowledge to the government. I will share my
ideas on how we as government can perform our work with more public
interaction, what possibilities there are for more integrated work
within and between governments, and how civil servants can full a
more central role in this respect. I will present several examples, but
the main focus is on presenting practical tips and advice.
I believe the result is a book that provides an insight into what web
2.0 is, but primarily offers ideas about different ways of looking at
our work and our organisations. The aim is to stimulate debate and
provoke thought, and to experiment After all, this is all about new
developments, which means there are no ready-made answers. The
only way we are going to nd any answers is through discussion and
experimentation.
Davied van Berlo
What is web 2.0?
Also known as the ‘social web’. Web 2.0 is
a collective name for various websites
that emphasise interaction between users
and for the culture that this engenders.
This is in contrast to websites that only
transmit messages or offer services.
Chapter 1.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 15
Background
Civil Servant 2.0 is a government-wide open initiative launched by
the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture. The aim is to assess, on the basis of
discussion and experimentation, what the consequences of web 2.0 are
for our work and for the government’s way of working. Discussions are
published on the site www.ambtenaar20.nl and interested parties can
join the network on netwerk.ambtenaar20.nl.
Besides the central theme outlined above, throughout the book’s
margins are practical tips and information about web 2.0, functionalities
and handy internet sites, as well as other sources and further reading.
This book is therefore also a reference guide.
Furthermore, various texts also appear on www.ambtenaar20.nl
These include contributions from Anja Feijen, Gerbrand Haverkamp,
Paul Lanse, Ramon de Louw, Rob Oele, Arnout Ponsioen and Jeroen Vis,
to whom I am very grateful. I would also like to thank all the other
contributors who have provided me with inspiration and ideas.
Please visit boek.ambtenaar20.nl for more information. The following
licence applies to this publication: Creative Commons Attribution –
Non-commercial – No derivative works 3.0.
boek.ambtenaar20.nl
www.ambtenaar20.nl
netwerk.ambtenaar20.nl

16 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
Internet and web 2.0, a different perspective
Over the last ten years the world and our lives have undergone
fundamental changes. New computer and internet technology has made
things possible that until recently were unimaginable. And all these
new possibilities are within everyone’s reach. Although the reason for
this are technological developments, the consequences are much more
fundamental: for society, for culture, for the economy and also for
government. To make use of this, we as civil servants must attempt to
understand what these fundamental changes involve. This chapter will
address that issue.
A world without space or time
In our lives we are limited by natural laws. The world is very large and
these days we can quickly travel to any part of it. However, our ideas
travel further and go much faster than we can. We can put these ideas
in writing so that they can travel to places where we ourselves cannot.
Since the invention of the printing press they can be copied many times
over and reach different places at the same time. And thanks to the
telephone they can be spread much further than we could bring them
in person. Although we cannot escape the laws of nature we are able to
step outside the boundaries of time and space.
In the material world everything occupies a space and bringing people
or objects together or moving them takes time. Now we can bridge
these distances. But our dreams are not affected by these restrictions.
Let’s start imagining then. Let’s imagine that these restrictions in space
and time no longer exist, that everything is close at hand and always
available. The whole world within reach at all times of the day. All
information, all discussions, all people. Just imagine!
Overwhelmed by everything on offer
When you try to picture such a world, without space and time and where
all information is accessible, I imagine you would run into a few problems.
First you would simply be overwhelmed by everything on offer. You
would be unable to see the woods for the trees. It would be impossible
to oversee or comprehend. Unworkable. So to be able to handle that
enormous quantity of information you have to make the right choices.
And then what do you need? How will you arrange your environment?
What people do you want to have at your table? What information do
you want on your desk? What instruments do you want at hand? What
will you choose?
When you’ve thought about what you need, the second problem is how
to actually nd it. You have brought everyone together and you can hear
everything they say and read everything they have written. But it is of
course impossible to actually follow everything. That has to be made
easier. How do you bring together your own personal mix of people,
information and objects that you need for the job? Or rather, how do
you nd it?
And say that in the end you have managed to bring your own personal
combination together. You are in contact with the people you have
chosen, gathered the information you were searching for and you have
World Wide Web or internet?
The term ‘web’ is often used as a synonym
for the internet. The internet is literally
the network through which all types of
services can be offered.
The rst and best known service is email,
sending a message over that network.
Another service is the World Wide Web
(www). This was introduced to allow
information to be viewed on another
computer. The web was conceived
and developed in 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee
of CERN and was made freely available to
the general public in 1993.
Chapter 2.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 17
everything you need to get started. How do you know that you are talking
to the right people? Isn’t there any further information you didn’t know
about? Are there better ways of going about things you didn’t yet learn?
How can you proceed with greater certainty?
Dilemmas of a new reality
Although the above is just an outline of a general, hypothetical
situation, the existence of the internet confronts us with the same
questions:
1. If everything is available, how do you know what to choose? For
example, now that I can connect with all the people involved with
the same subject as me through the internet, which people are of
most use to me? And who do I therefore want to contact? What can
this Australian internet advisor contribute?
2. When you can see everything, how do you nd what you’re looking
for? For example: someone, somewhere in the world must have
practical experience with the same activities I am concerned with.
But how do I get hold of these insights, and what form are they
available in? As a report? As a blog? As a video? Does someone in
the world actually already have experience in setting up a digital
network for government employees that is similar to Civil Servant
2.0?
3. And when you’ve gathered everything you want, how can you really
be sure you have everything you need? For example: I’ve just had
a brainstorming session with my department that generated many
good ideas. But would I be able to get even better results with other
people who I don’t happen to know? How can I get other people to
share their thoughts with me about the issues I face?
The world is emerging from a time when possibilities were limited, in
which a group of professionals were put together in a building because
there was no other way of cooperating and dealing with a problem.
Then, the only information available was the resources in the building
because it just wasn’t possible to obtain any other sort. Then, parties
representing interests were invited to solve problems because it was
impossible to get all parties involved to share their thoughts. Much of
what was not possible back then, is possible now. The following three
dilemmas illustrate this point.
1. Personalise your world
In our attempt to gain a deeper understanding of these new concepts
we can turn to a number of interesting books. The Long Tail by Chris
Anderson offers an insight into the problems caused by the abundance
of choice. The book focuses primarily on economic aspects, but it does
put forward an important principle. This principle has not so much
arisen because of the internet, but due to the internet’s capacity to
remove the barriers of time and space.
Dictionary: Blog, a web log is a report or
description of something you are doing
that you want to share with others and
invite reaction to.
Chris Anderson - The Long Tail: Why the
Future of Business is Selling Less of More
(2006).
The machine is us/ing us
For a brief, conceptual history of the
internet and web 2.0 I recommend
Michael Wesch’s lm clip “The Machine is
us/ing us”. It explains which aspects of
our world have been changed
fundamentally by the internet. It is
available on YouTube: http://twurl.nl/
vdcq5w

18 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
The Long Tail
So what’s this book about? The long tail refers to the economic principle
that an abundance of supply does not only lead to a small amount of big
sellers, or ‘hits’ to generate cash (high sales or few products), but that
the sale of an enormous number of niche products can also generate a
healthy prot (low sales of many products). The chart below illustrates
why this concept is called the ‘long tail’.
A condition for this long tail is of course that the offer of products must
be very large to enable sufcient prot to be generated. The internet
has provided a breakthrough in this respect because the stock held by
internet stores is virtually limitless and is not restricted by shelf space,
as is the case with the shop on the corner. As a result the online store
does not have to concentrate on a couple of hits, but can offer all the
items it wants. It is the emancipation of the niche market.
Everyone is a niche
The fact that companies can generate money through niche products is
not the only revolutionary concept put forward. It does not mean just
emancipation of the niche, but also of the individual. Ultimately, every
individual is a niche market. The sum total of everyone’s tastes, interests
and circumstances is unique. Faced with a limitless offer of products,
people choose what is best for them. The common denominator is no
longer the only guideline. In addition to mass production, there is now
mass customisation.
This phenomenon rst manifested itself in the market for cultural
products. This market in particular has an enormous variety in products
and tastes, and covers various items including books, lms, clothes, etc.
Book and music stores were only able to offer a fraction of what was
on offer and therefore only stocked the best-selling hits. Online stores
such as www.amazon.com offer a much wider assortment of products
and have therefore taken such a large share of the market. The long tail
also manifests itself in other markets. Google has successfully applied
this principle to the online advertising market by also giving small sites
the opportunity to place advertisements, and there is certainly no
shortage of small websites!
But let’s return to the original question: If everything is available, how
do you know what choices to make? Of course, people have to make
these choices for themselves. People decide their own niche. But the
www.amazon.com is the largest online
store. It started as an internet book store,
but the range of product on offer was
continually expanded: rst second hand
books, then other product groups, and even
supermarket products.
Nowadays, Amazon lets you to hire a
complete internet store space of your own,
or just space on the server to start your own
internet business.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 19
Long Tail makes it clear that we no longer have to restrict to the hits.
And that we should not expect members of the public to do so either..
2. Finding and being found
I mentioned above that internet stores offered added value because
they stock a wider range of products than a high street store. But if
that was their only advantage then they wouldn’t have come as far as
they have. Because if the offer of products is so wide, how can you nd
what you’re looking for? Isn’t it then a case of not being able to see the
woods for the trees? An enormous range of products only offers added
value if you can bring the right product to the right customer. In other
words, now everything is available and within reach on the internet,
how can you single out what you need? What type of lter do you need?
There are three main types of lter.
a.Humanlter
The human lter is traditionally the most well known: the expert
who knows what is good, e.g. the lm critic, the music magazine, the
purchaser for a big wine merchant, the editor of a newspaper, etc.
These professionals are under pressure and there are many discussions
about what internet and web 2.0 means for them. Such ‘connoisseurs’
will retain their function in the internet era, but they have lost some
of their authority, partly because we are no longer dependant on them
to nd something.
b.Sociallter
The social lter has also been around for some time: friends, whose
tastes you know recommend lms or good clothing stores for instance.
The intensity of contacts with friends increases through, for example,
MSN, Twitter or Hyves (see section on ‘My Brands’), and therefore the
importance of the social lter also increases. The term ‘friend’ also
has an increasingly looser denition. Rather than believing an expert,
consumers are more likely to put more trust in a person like me (the
marketing term), e.g. sites with reviews and evaluations of various
products and services, such as www.iens.nl for restaurants and www.
vergelijk.nl for retail products. You can also receive tips and information
via personal networks: messages in forum groups which you belong to, or
a link from someone in your network at www.delicious.com.
c.Thealgorithmiclter
The algorithmic lter has become possible because search engines and
other sites can process many terabytes of user statistics to identify the
behavioural patterns of users. The internet has made this algorithmic
lter possible, but has also enormously expanded the reach of the social
lter, and it is therefore what gives internet companies and search
engines added value: not only in offering a massive variety of choice,
but assisting users in the choices they make. Amazon.com (and Bol.com)
let users know that customers who bought “The Long Tail” for example,
also bought “The Wisdom of the Crowds”. Google shows advertisements
that relate to your search query, on the pages you have visited, or the
gmail you read. The music site www.last.fm registers the music you
listen to and comes up with suggestions. This allows you to further
rene your search results according to your own tastes and interests,
webmessenger.msn.com is the online
version of MSN Messenger. In the
Netherlands, MSN is the most popular
instant messaging software. If you are
unable to install the MSN software on
your computer, you use web messenger to
still make contact with your network
anyway.
www.twitter.com is a microblogging site:
provide regular updates of no more than
140 characters about what you are doing
and follow other users to read about
what they are up to. More information is
available elsewhere in this book.
www.hyves.nl is, with ten million users,
the largest online social network in the
Netherlands. Hyves offers many
functionalities, but is aimed more
towards personal use than for work.
Hyves makes the Netherlands an
exception in the world of social networks
as people in most other countries make
use of international sites such as www.
myspace.com and www.facebook.com
www.delicious.com allows you to
bookmark your favourite websites so you
can access them from any computer.
www.last.fm is an online social network for
music and bands. Apart from the
opportunity to contact others and state
your own musical preferences, the site
offers you the chance to listen to your own
‘radio station’ that broadcasts music based
on your tastes, or which sound similar to
your favourite band.

20 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
and allows you to go deeper into the long tail. The conclusion is that the
professional groups who have always functioned as ‘human lters’ now
have a weaker position in society. They are working hard to reconsider
what their added value (their niche) is in this new world (for example,
journalists on www.denieuwereporter.nl) as their work is increasingly
being done by other internet users (such as bloggers). A similar situation
could arise for civil servants. This subject is dealt with in greater depth
in Chapter 5. As civil servants, we must realise that members of the
public no longer automatically look to government for solutions, but
will look around for other options. And we should also assess how we
ourselves can make use of the social networks and the possibilities
the internet offers us to do our work better, just like the businesses I
referred to do.
3. Mass collaboration
It is a well known fact, but one that perhaps needs to be repeated.
As a government, we know a great deal. We have some of the best
professionals and experts, which means we have a lot of in-house
knowledge. But we don’t know everything, which is why we involve
other people in our work: we hire the services of companies, commission
research and invite interest groups and other such bodies to share their
thoughts with us. This costs a lot of money, and we hope it will ll the
holes in our knowledge: the things we know that we don’t know. But
even this leaves another category of knowledge: those things we don’t
know we don’t know. How do we nd out what they are?
You can probably use the same graph as for the long tail: the small
group of experts who can contribute the largest amount of knowledge
and ideas, while the long tail comprises the invisible knowledge and
ideas of an enormous group of people you don’t know about. It is
important not to focus on the whole tail, but on being able to pick out
that one idea we need, or nding the right person who makes the right
contribution to a text or project.
The government is working towards becoming smaller, better and more
exible. One of the ways it can achieve this is through outsourcing
to the crowd, or crowdsourcing. I will return to this term in the next
section, but one book which deals in greater depth with this concept
is “Wikinomics. How mass collaboration changes everything”, by Don
Tapscott en Anthony D. Williams. How can we as the government make
use of mass collaboration?
Wikinomics
The book actually has two important messages. The rst is that to get
on in the world and stay on top as an organisation, you cannot just
rely on your own organisation and employees; you have to know how
to implement knowledge and ideas from outside the organisation. The
second message is that this is not easy to achieve. It requires a mental
shift of the boundaries, and learning how to take a new approach.
But the most successful companies have been the ones who have
implemented the most radical changes.
Don Tapscott, Anthony D. Williams
-Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration
Changes Everything (2006).
Dictionary: Crowdsourcing, ‘outsourcing
to the crowd’. This is when organisations
assign tasks to consumers and the public.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 21
Wikinomics describes seven models of mass collaboration. They cannot all
be used by government, but I will try to mention some examples that can:
• Peer pioneers are large networks of volunteers who work together
quickly and efciently to come up with a product. Examples are of
course open-source software and Wikipedia, but also the initiative in
California to record all ofcial schoolbooks in a wiki. One condition is
that the work relates to digital tasks (much of the government’s work
is digital), that can be divided into sub-tasks and then easily joined
back together to produce one nal result;
• Ideagoras, or open innovation is a marketplace for ideas and innovation.
There are two kinds: one where problems are posted (such as www.
innocentive.com) and one for solutions (e.g. www.yet2.com). These
problems could of course also be issues affecting society;
• Prosumers are consumers or customers who further develop and
innovate existing products. One example is Lego, which allows its
customers put together their own kits and brings out the most popular
as a product. Second Life, where almost everything is built by users, is
another example, or www.wuz.nl, the news platform of de Telegraaf
newspaper. What government information could you use as a basis for
a useful internet site? For further information, see chapter 6, which
deals with open government.
• New Alexandrians, companies and scientists who work together and
exchange knowledge to tackle large or complex challenges. I can
imagine that in government, it would be extremely benecial for
efciency to have online access to an updated overview of all the
studies and results thereof published by all the ministries;
• Platforms for participation offer an open platform which users can
contribute to. Google Maps is of course a well-known example, and
www.ickr.com and www.youtube.com could also be termed in this
way. But also Amazon, where everyone can start their own store, using
all the functionalities that Amazon itself has. The BBC has launched
an initiative called BBC Backstage (backstage.bbc.co.uk), which
allows users to create their own programmes. The best programmes
are then selected by the BBC;
• Global Plant Floor: in The World is Flat, US journalist Thomas Friedman
describes how businesses are increasingly expanding their activities
throughout the globe on the basis of costs, knowledge and other
requirements. Tapscott and Williams take this concept further, to
include the involvement of consumers in the design process (as BMW
does) and the allocating of tasks between suppliers such as Boeing in
aircraft construction. They refer to an ecosystem of businesses and
organisations that harmonise their activities and production lines.
Government organisations also operate such ‘ecosystems’. Would it
also be possible to develop a policy plan or a piece of legislation, by
allocating tasks to the organisations around us?
Dictionary: Wiki, online software that
allows people to work together on one
document, and where each amendment is
logged.
Dictionary: Open innovation, involving
the public/consumers in product
development, with the aim of mobilising
knowledge or ideas from outside the
organisation.
Dictionary: Second Life, 3D environment
where users can create a character, set up
landscapes and buildings, and have contact
with each other.
www.ickr.com is a site where you can
upload photos and share them with others.
It has become one of the largest sources
of photo material in the world. Even
national archives (also in the Netherlands)
publish their historical material on Flickr.
www.youtube.com is a site where you
can upload videos and share them with
others. The site is a mix of the
inexperienced and the professional, from
adolescent jokes to new forms of art. The
videos can reach audiences of millions and
some have a wider audience than
television programmes.

22 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
• Wiki workplace, about the advantages of mass collaboration for the
internal organisation: the horizontal collaboration and co-creation
between staff over organisational boundaries, internal communication
via blogs and discussion forums, drawing on ideas from lower levels
of the organisation (for example, Google employees are allowed to
devote 20% of their time to their own plans and projects) and the use
of prediction markets to support decision making, etc. The authors
are actually bringing other models such as peer production and
ideagoras to the work oor. They also describe the consequences for
hierarchy and decision-making, the advantages of openness and self-
organisation and the need to seek a new balance between hierarchy
and self-organisation. There is further information about this subject
in Chapter 7.
Crowdsourcing
Another term often used in this context is crowdsourcing. This is a term
(and also the title of a book) conceived by Jeff Howe. As he explains it
himself, it is about: outsourcing to the crowd. He suggests that most
knowledge and ideas are not found within your own organisation,
regardless of how big your R&D department may be. You can always get
more from the public domain, so how can you nd the right people to
help you? The answer is open innovation, and below are a few examples
from the book.
Crowdsourcing is not a new phenomenon. The solution for the eighteenth
century problem of determining longitude is perhaps the rst successful
example of crowdsourcing. At the time, seafaring nations had poor
navigational skills in the open seas. As soon as the coast was out of
sight there was no way to accurately measure longitude, and boats
could veer far off course. To solve this very costly problem the British
government put up a prize of 10,000 pounds for a suitable solution. And
a solution was found, not by a civil servant or a scientist, but by a clock
and furniture maker named John Harrison.
In terms of open innovation the internet has also made it possible to
work on a much larger scale, and to therefore really use crowdsourcing
as a tool for organisation strategy. One example of this is Innocentive.
com, where businesses put complex problems online, with a prize
for the solution. This encourages people from a wide variety of
disciplines to get involved, and makes it possible, at a relatively low
cost, to source the right solution from countless individuals and ideas.
According to Tapscott en Williams, pharmaceutical giant Procter &
Gamble is convinced that in 2010 open innovation will account for 50%
of innovation. This is a considerable statement by a company that itself
employs 9,000 staff in R&D.
What is striking about Jeff Howe’s account is the emphasis he places
on diversity and uniqueness. It is therefore not about the average
contribution of the masses. Crowdsourcing should not be understood as
a mechanism that allows ‘the masses to collaborate on the development
of a product (although this may be the case sometimes). No, the fact
the whole world is connected by the internet is exactly what makes it
possible to connect to people with unique and specialised knowledge
and characteristics with problems or innovations that seem impossible
Thomas L. Friedman - The World Is Flat:
A Brief History of the Twenty-rst Century
(2005).
Jeff Howe - Crowdsourcing. Why the
Power of the Crowd is Driving the Future
of Business (2008).
Read more about John Harrison on
Wikipedia: http://twurl.nl/ljhpmw
Brainstorming and gathering ideas
If you want to brainstorm online or to
collect ideas from your network or the
public, try visiting www.uservoice. com or
www.crowdsound.com. If you register
with the site you can create a page with an
introduction or question. Everyone you
invite can then launch an idea. Others can
respond and rate ideas. As the ideas grow.
the most popular ones will slowly emerge.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 23
to solve or achieve. And one general principle applies: the less you are
involved, the greater the chance of an original solution.
Summary
Internet is a relatively new phenomenon, also for government. It brings
with it new questions and concepts. It asks us to look at the world in
a different way, to think differently. The reasons for this development
are technical, but the consequences are social. This results in new
questions and dilemmas, but also new opportunities. In this chapter
I have sketched several new ways of looking at the world of the
internet, and therefore our own world. I have also outlined a few of the
consequences, and the potential that can be unlocked. Now that we are
stepping over to web 2.0, this potential is becoming clearer, and the
way it can be applied to the work of the government is becoming more
tangible. Before we go any further we rst have to know what the term
‘web 2.0’ really stands for. In the next chapter we will take a more in-
depth look at the elements that characterise web 2.0.

24 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
What is Twitter?
How often do you think to yourself: “Pity I didn’t hear about that earlier, then we could have ...”
It is crucial for everyone to know what their colleagues are doing (in your department, in your organisation, in
government, or outside, in short everyone you work with. That way you can prevent the same work being done
twice. It also enables you to respond quickly to other people’s activities and build on them, reaching across
boundaries and through compartments. To do this, you can use blogging, or microblogging in the form of Twitter.
On Twitter you can let people know what you are up to using no more than 140 characters. Your message, which
is called a tweet, offers a snapshot of your activities. Register on www.twitter.com and choose other users to
follow. They in turn can follow you. Visit www.twitter.com/davied and you might see someone you know in my
list of followers. If there’s anything you want to share with me, that you’re reading this book for instance, add @
davied to your message.
A couple of tips
To get into the swing of writing, just think every hour, “What am I doing now?” Also report things you are proud
of or anything unusual you notice.
• Do not hesitate to follow many people. You can always “unfollow” them if there are too many to keep track of;
• Make sure you nd people around you who also twitter to get you started;
• Also follow a few famous twitterers to get ideas on how to make the most of Twitter;
• Make sure you are notied via search.twitter.com or www.twittermail.com of any messages that are sent to
you (@davied), so you don’t miss them;
Integrate Twitter into your working environment through a platform like Netvibes or iGoogle (with an rss feed
or widget), so you do not keep having to go to Twitter.com;
• You can also use Twitter to search globally through search.twitter.com. You can use mail and RSS to notify you
when someone uses a term in which you are interested;
• It is very useful to have a mobile internet device (e.g. your phone) so you don’t have to rely on being at your
desk to access Twitter;
• Everyone in the world can access Twitter, but you can also protect your tweets so only your friends can see
them. This is recommended if you’re dealing with sensitive issues
Other handy features of Twitter
• For the latest updates, you can also subscribe to newsletters and messages from organisations. For example, if
you want to read the latest blog about civil servant 2.0, subscribe to @ambtenaar20.
• Increasing numbers of politicians use Twitter. There are US politicians who send tweets live from the oor of
Congress. Maxime Verhagen, Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, also uses Twitter;
• During conferences or other meetings there are often several people who use Twitter to send comments and
insights about speakers . Read these tweets to learn more;
• Organisers often request twitterers to use codes in their tweets, e.g. #db. All tweets tagged with this code will
be displayed on a screen, enhancing the interactivity of such meetings;
• You can also search tweets through search.twitter.com. Type in the subject (e.g. countryside) to nd out who’s
discussing it.
Chapter 3.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 25
Characteristics of web 2.0
What is web 2.0? The answer seems simple - the second version of the
world wide web, but that’s not really accurate. There are two reasons
why: it is the generic name for a variety of developments and it is
originally a technical innovation that nonetheless has consequences
for society. It Therefore it is difcult to clarify what web 2.0 actually
means. The term web 2.0 was rst used by Tim O’Reilly, publisher of ICT
books and internet visionary. He cites its two most important features:
1. The network is the platform: online is where it happens and that
brings with it a different way of thinking;
2. Users add value: the more people use a site or online facility, the
better it gets (user generated content).
I would also like to add a couple of other terms:
3. Everyone’s connected: this means that everyone has the potential
to be reached;
4. From read only to read-write: or going from one medium for
broadcasting information to an interactive platform.
In the last section we saw a few examples of the consequences and
possibilities offered by the internet and web 2.0. But what is the
denition of this term? When is it web 2.0 and when is it not? Wikipedia,
itself a product of web 2.0, uses the following denition:
“web 2.0 is a term describing changing trends in the use of World Wide Web
technology and web design that aim to enhance creativity, information
sharing, and collaboration among users.” (Wikipedia, August 2008)
This denition rmly places the emphasis on the technological
background of web 2.0 and what these technologies have made
possible. It is a bit more difcult to dene the mentality and culture
associated with web 2.0. Some of these aspects will be described in the
next section.
Denitions
Valerie Frissen holds an extraordinary professorship in ICT and Social
Change at the Erasmus University Rotterdam and is a researcher at the
TNO research institute. In the spring of 2008 she was commissioned by
the Ministry of the Interior to study the consequences of web 2.0 for
government (also see Chapter 6).
In her report, ‘Naar een user generated state’ (Towards a user generated
state) Frissen denes a number of concepts. She refers to the ’social
web’, based on networks, an open environment where there is room for
user generated content. According to Frissen, web 2.0 can be dened
as the emergence of platforms on the internet where users can organise
themselves, cooperate, maintain friendships, share, exchange, trade
or create. These platforms are: 1) accessible to all and decentrally
organised 2) allow users to actively contribute 3) make maximum use
of all results.
Chapter 3.
Dictionary: User generated content,
Information that is added to a site by
users rather than administrators.
The report ‘Naar een user generated state’
(Towards a user generated state) can be
found on the website of the Dutch Ministry
of the Interior and Kingdom Relations:
http://twurl.nl/hjz4k4. The report is only
available in Dutch.

26 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
Frissen believes web 2.0 offers the public the opportunity to decentrally
organise themselves, work together on the co-creation of products,
collect and remix user-generated content, and build on existing
services.
The three key characteristics of web 2.0, as indicated by this and other
denitions and descriptions, are as follows:
1. open: accessible and transparent;
2. social: based on people and contacts between them;
3. user-oriented: offer users the opportunity to do ‘their own thing’.
It is vital to remember these three factors. Let’s examine them in more
depth.
1. Open
‘Open’ is a word you often encounter on the internet: open source
is the most well-known. Open standards is another common term,,
as is open data. Open API, (Open Application Programming Interface)
allows computers to automatically exchange open data, while OpenID
allows you to log-in to all these sites through just one password. ‘Open
innovation’ is another term that appears in this book. Chapter 6 deals
with Open Government.
In short, being open is a key characteristic of the internet and particularly
of web 2.0. The network was originally intended for military purposes,
and was anything but open when it was developed. Thanks to various
parties, particularly Senator Al Gore, the network was allowed to be used
for non-military aims, principally for education and research. Since then,
there have been regular discussions about the degree of openness on the
internet and the extent of government inuence. People and computers
are subject to statutory regulation, but the internet continues to be of
an open nature, and operates on a supranational level.
This culture of openness has been the basis for many innovations on
the internet. Openness makes it possible to nd, distribute and add
to innovations. Organisations with a closed and internally minded
internet presence receive a great deal of criticism. They are put under
considerable pressure to operate more openly. This calls for greater
openness and also raises new problems (and new solutions), in areas
such as condentiality, copyright and privacy, but the basic principle of
the internet is openness, any limitations to openness. Working on this
basis, any limitations to this openness are then looked at.
Being transparent
The rst aspect of openness relates to your own work method, as an
individual or organisation. Gaining trust means transparency in your
dealings, activities and results. To develop collaborations, participate
in a community or generate involvement in your activities you have to
be open. If you are open, you are genuine. It means you don’t have a
dual agenda, but an open mind and nothing to hide.
Characteristics of web 2.0
Web 2.0 refers to an approach and a
culture of how you get on with each other
and collaborate. It is:
1. open: accessible and transparent;
2. social: based on people and the
contacts between them;
3. user-oriented: users have the
opportunity to do ‘their own thing’.
Don’t forget these three characteristics
if you if want you want to start working
with web 2.0

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 27
As well as being transparent, you also have to be ndable and accessible.
As we already established for ‘the long tail’, each project is a niche,
and there are always people who want to contribute to your project,
but how do you nd them? That will largely depend on your image: the
social lter only gives you the information that is considered to be good
(network effect, word of mouth). A characteristic of web 2.0 sites is
that they are often highly user-friendly. You can quickly see what you
can do and you can get started straight away. That, too, is a form of
openness.
For that matter, openness does not mean that all the doors have to be
ung wide open. There are plenty of reasons why certain information
should not be disclosed, and no one will raise an eyelid. Nevertheless,
decisions to keep information internal must be well-considered. Nor
does openness have to mean the whole world has to know, it could
also relate to openness within a group, organisation network or other
collaborative relationship. The intention is to collaborate and exchange
knowledge and ideas within that relationship and within the group (and
that may even include the whole world).
Being open to other ideas
Working together with other people means being open. Although
that sounds obvious, it is not. Being open calls for action. Generating
involvement in your site or project is very hard to achieve. For
instance, people must understand that there is scope for openness,
Create scope by making it easy to become a member of your site, give
insight into what you do and provide plenty of opportunities for people
to make a contribution. After all, everyone’s contribution is valuable as
it strengthens the community and the dynamic.
Not every contribution will lead to the solution you seek, but the
solution may well arise from this dynamic. For example, someone who
you had not considered may put forward the idea you are looking for,
or someone could use your activities as a platform to build on, or perhaps
someone else may make the right connection on the basis of the discussion
or other ideas. But this type of ‘cross-fertilisation’ can only occur in an
open environment where those involved can exchange insights about your
problem. And that is one idea to which you must be open.
2. Social
I mentioned above that openness is crucial in involving people in an
issue, product or problem. And that’s the second aspect of web 2.0:
the social. Web 2.0 is also often referred to as the social network, as it
is more about the internet being a collection of people, rather than a
collection of documents and other sources.
And because almost everyone is connected to the internet, you can
easily gather together the people you need to tackle a project or a
problem. This social aspect manifests itself in various ways in web 2.0.
An internet made up of people
You cannot overemphasize how fundamental people are to web 2.0. I
don’t want to make a website, I want to communicate my message to
other people. I don’t want to organise meetings, I want people to come
Dictionary: Community, in an online
community participants share knowledge,
have discussions or collaborate on a
particular subject

28 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
together and enter into discussion. Communities and organisations are
made up of people, so that’s where it has to happen. As a civil servant,
everything you wish to do or achieve by yourself will never progress
further unless other people get involved, by passing on the message,
building on your efforts, etc.
Almost all the websites and instruments of web 2.0 have network
functionality. The most popular are of course network sites such as
Hyves and www.linkedin.com, but there are increasing numbers
of other sites that have networks around them. YouTube used to be
solely for uploading video clips, but now you can also make proles,
connections with other people, subscribe to their work, forward
interesting videos, nd out what videos a person likes, etc. That is also
true for music on last.fm, for photos on Flickr.com, for documents on
www.scribd.com and for wikis on www.pbworks.com.
The reason so many sites (including netwerk.ambtenaar20.nl) allow
prole and network possibilities is because it expands and deepens the
functionality of the sites. When someone adds text to a wiki, you want
to know who that person is and what kind of background they have. Then
you can evaluate a comment. It’s the same with a forum discussion or
if you read a blog. It strengthens collaboration if you know who you’re
working with. The emergence of these proles and network possibilities
offered by sites is recognition that it is about people and their opinions,
and not just about something they have written (or a video, photos,
etc.).
Horizontal networking
It therefore doesn’t matter which product or subjects form the basis
for groups. New networks and groups develop all the time, and vary
in intensity, duration and seriousness. Everyone, even in terms of
IRL (the internet term for in real life, which is therefore outside the
internet) is organised in several groups, networks and collaborative
relationships. They may be friends, or colleagues, and the groups may
be organised according to interests and be hierarchical or egalitarian.
This was always the case, but on the internet these connections are
much clearer, for example, the sites which you are a member of, the
subgroups within and the connections (‘friends’) you have.
What is striking about these networks and groups, is that there is hardly
any in-built hierarchy. There is of course a site manager and sometimes
moderators to keep an eye on things, but in general everyone involved
in a discussion or network site has their own page and the same rights.
So whether you are a newspaper delivery boy or the president, you
have the same prole space and the same contribution rights. You join
the discussion on even terms. Your position in the social network is
largely based on your contributions to the community, your ideas and
your input, not on your position, education or age.
The egalitarian nature of such groups strengthens involvement and
creates new forms of contact, collaboration and ways of exchanging
knowledge. It is easier to allow bottom up initiatives to appear and
develop and to nd support for them. Networks that go beyond the
boundaries of organisations can make cooperation quicker and more
www.linkedin.com is a social network site
dedicated to professionals and businesses.
The site is very popular in the Netherlands
and it has recently expanded the
functionalitieson offer. The site also has a
Civil Servant 2.0. group
www.scribd.com offers the possibility of
publishing documents in for example Word,
Powerpoint or PDF on the internet and then
embedding them in your blog or site. But
you can also search Scribd to see if you can
reuse someone else’s document or
presentation.
www.pbworks.com is a site that allows
you to open a wiki, invite participants and
follow discussions on what you are
developing together. It is an easy and
interactive way of building a site.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 29
efcient. Your networks may also produce new ideas (in the same
way that crowdsourcing does). If it’s useful then it’s good. One recent
example from the UK is how a minister and a civil servant from a
different ministry were able to come into contact through Twitter to
make progress on the issue they were working on.
Self-organisation
The disappearance of hierarchical structures does not means that
everything is plunged into chaos. Open-source-projects also need to
be administered, and even the editors of Wikipedia have a hierarchical
structure. However, this structure is based on the quality and quantity
of the work contributed. The organisation is therefore formed on the
basis of everyone’s contribution in the group. This same process can
often be seen in online communities: in horizontal networks the most
active contributors prevail and there is always someone who keeps the
online environment in order. Because everyone has the same resources
at their disposal, changes can always be reversed if necessary. So if a
particular format or structure is retained, then it has the support of
the participants.
Of course, this kind of self-organisation calls for group involvement,
and naturally, this doesn’t apply to so-called trolls who browse a dozen
sites in an evening to air their opinion. But if someone is involved with
a community or a network, then they feel responsible for what happens
on the site. They may take someone to task about a contribution (e.g.
in a discussion) or they may repair any damage caused (e.g. in a wiki).
Many sites offer a button or a functionality for this, such as the ‘This
is not OK’ option on Hyves. It is a way of using the involvement people
feel with a site or a subject to make a contribution to the community.
Clay Shirky, author of the book “Here comes everybody: The power
of organising without organizations” goes as far as to suggest that
self-organised mass collaboration is the most important organisational
form for the twenty-rst century. In the twentieth century, centrally-
controlled, hierarchical organisations, were the most powerful
organisations. In the twenty-rst century the most powerful organisations
are decentralised, horizontal networks. Not because companies will no
longer exist, but because a variety of social initiatives and networks
will emerge through social software on the internet that can be
quickly formed and organised. In the coming years we will therefore
see an unprecedented increase in the number of social activities. The
challenge for government will be to identify the right waves to ride.
3.User centrality
The user is central
In Chapter 2 I presented the digital world as a world full of niches. Everyone
has their own niche because everyone has a collection of interests,
activities and contacts that are unique to them. Because everything on
the internet is uid, everyone can put their own environment together.
You can shape your own environment exactly as you wish: what you need
for your work, what your interests are, what you get from your network,
etc. There is so much information and so much to do that you must make
choices, as everything that’s unnecessary just costs time.
Clay Shirky - Here Comes Everybody:
The Power of Organizing Without
Organizations (2008).
Photos? Put them on Flickr or Picasa
I know from personal experience that
most organisations have network drives
that are lled with photos of departmental
outings and leaving parties. This can be a
nuisance, and costly. Now you can also do
this online. www.ckr.com allows you to
upload 100 megabytes per month, while
picasaweb. google.com lets you upload a
total of 1 gigabyte. You can create folders
to save your photos in and then share this
folder with your colleagues, so they can
view them at work or at home.

30 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
Create your personal dashboard
In short, you want to organise your life and therefore your environment
as efciently as possible so that you have time left for other activities
and you don’t drown in a ood of information. That is why lifehacking is
currently so popular: lifehackers are people who want to organise their
lives as efciently as possible and exchange tips about which tricks and
tools can be used to achieve this. web 2.0 makes this much easier: there
are various handy sites that you can use and because there are so many
standards on the internet, the instruments can easily be connected with
each other.
As an internet user you can personalise your computer. Sites like
www.netvibes.com
or
www.igoogle.com
allow you to bring together the
sources of information (thanks to rss) and applications (in widgets) that
you need. You take what you need from the internet and piece together
your own personal dashboard. This allows you to turn your computer to
your own personal window on the world. And not only your computer at
work, also your computer at home, your mobile telephone, your laptop on
the train, etc. If you’re online, you can access your dashboard. Any time,
any place, any device.
User generated content
Internet users therefore expect to be able to create their own
environment, and adapt the internet to their own requirements. The
requirements and expectations do not of course end with your own
dashboard, and the same degree of exibility is also expected from
other sites. If the web is exible, remixable and personalisable, why
would anyone visit the website of an organisation which has been
conceived by someone else, and which is the same for every user? If I
choose to grace an internet site with my presence, I want to do what
I came there to do as quickly and efciently as possible.
This is something major web 2.0 sites like YouTube and Hyves understand
only too well. When you register you are given your own page. You can
often choose your own colour and design to give you the feeling that
it’s your own site. This stimulates a greater feeling of involvement with
the site and puts you at greater ease. That’s important because these
sites want your contribution. You show something of yourself, whether
its photos or videos, your friends or contacts or your opinion or idea.
To encourage this user generated content, users have to feel that they
have the space to express themselves and have control over what they
put there. So even if they want to remove all the content they have
contributed, the option should be there.
That feeling of controlling the environment in which you are active is
even reected in the way the sites themselves are constructed. You
may often see the word beta, next to a site logo, such as www.gmail.
com or in a site like www.lifestrea.ms. In the world of software this
means a product that has not yet been nished, is still being tested and
therefore hasn’t been ofcially released. On the internet these versions
work well. By referring to them as perpetual beta, the impression is
created that the functionality is constantly being tuned to the wishes
of users. The button you can use to send ideas or reactions is usually in
Wat is lifehacking?
Lifehacking is a movement of people
looking for handy tips and tricks (including
for computer use) to manage their lives
more efciently. According to pionier
Martijn Aslander it is a mix of time
management, knowledge management and
personal development, with a dash of web
2.0. To subscribe to new tricks and learn
more visit: www.lifehacking.nl.
Dictionary: Rss, the standard through
which a site can display unedited
elements of an article (such as title and
summary), easily allowing other sites to
incorporate the text.
Dictionary: Widget, a building block with
information or a software programme that
can be embedded in another site.
www.netvibes.com and www.igoogle.
com are free to use and allow you to
create your own home page or dashboard.
Both sites allow you to ll small windows
with information or applications.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 31
a prominent place. In this way, the users help to determine how the site
looks, and there is still room for the website to evolve.
Giving users space
The difference between web 1.0 (although this is of course not how it was
referred to when it rst came out) and web 2.0 is mainly interpreted as
the shift of initiatives away from organisations (businesses, governments,
etc.) to individuals (consumers, citizens, etc.). Computers have become
cheaper, software is often freely available (see www.download.com)
and broadband internet is available virtually everywhere. Handy web
2.0 sites (which often began as a one-person business or a start-up)
offer functionalities through which you can easily publish content online
and meet others. Users often have more resources at their disposal
(empowerment), while organisations with their large systems and rigid
structures lag behind. If I really need to do something then I work from
home.
The user / consumer / citizen therefore has all the resources at their
disposal and can develop their interests and step onto the worldwide
platform. They may be able to make music and publish it on www.
myspace.com. Via Hyves or www.schoolbank.nl they can trace old
classmates and organise a reunion. But they can also put issues on
the agenda, (such as www.vroegopstap.nl) or create a site for their
neighbourhood. If we as the government want to harness this energy (e.g.
for internet consultations or crowdsourcing) then we do have to consider
how we create an environment (or nd an existing environment) they wish
to participate in. These users are members of the communities we want to
work with. As the government, how do we give room to that involvement
and that potential?
Summary
‘Open, social and based on the needs of the user’. These three terms
underlie the changes that can be seen on the internet. We refer to
these changes as web 2.0 or the social network. These three terms
describe the culture that has emerged on the internet, and which is
also largely possible thanks to internet en web 2.0. But the internet is
also connected to the rest of society. Internet and web 2.0 culture has
an increasing inuence on how we regard areas of the world, and the
government. Web 2.0 therefore has a growing inuence on society, and
this will be examined in the next chapter.
Dictionary: Beta version, a draft version
of new software, that does run, but isn’t
fully ready (because there may still be
bugs for example).
Internetsites ‘in beta’:
Dictionary: Perpetual beta because an
internet site or service is never fully
developed and because it can always be
modied, there is never a denitive version
(it remains as a beta version).
www.myspace.com is after Facebook the
largest social network site in the world.
The original site took only ten days to
build in 2003 and by 2006 already had
1000 million visitors.
www.schoolbank.nl was one of the rst
online social networks in the Netherlands,
themed around schools and classmates.
Most services offered by this site are not
free.
Dictionary: Rss feed, the stream of
information users can integrate in their
page (e.g. Netvibes) to keep up-to-date
with the news.

32 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
RSS makes it easy to gather information
Information overload is becoming an increasing problem: you browse magazines, email newsletters arrive
in your inbox and you have to visit all kinds of sites. And even then you can’t be certain if you’re up-to-date
with your specic area of expertise. Information overload mainly comes from the failure to make the right
choices. How many articles in that magazine are actually relevant? And do you really have to sign up to both
the mailing list that is specic to your area of interest as well as the general mailing list?
But you can also deal with information overload by organizing your information supply more efciently,
and that’s where RSS comes in. With an RSS feed, you no longer have to visit the site for information, but
you can ensure that the information on the site comes to you. Not in an email, but in an easily manageable
list in which the most recent information is clearly marked. You can bring all these feeds together on one
page (such as Netvibes or iGoogle) which allows you to view all the latest relevant information at a glance.
You can begin by registering with www.netvibes.com or www.igoogle.com. You then get your own page, or
‘dashboard’ with a number of empty elds that you can ll with information through RSS feeds. Visit your
favourite sites and see if there are RSS feeds available, recognizable by the orange logo. If you click on this
logo you can see the unedited text. You can add the link from the website to your dashboard on Netvibes or
iGoogle to keep track of all the latest information, as and when it becomes available.
This logo lets you know if an
RSS feed is available on a
website
Hoofdstuk 4.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 33
Web 2.0 and the impact on society
Some of the changes and innovations I have discussed so far will be
entirely new concepts to you, while others will be familiar. I want to
show you the world from a different perspective. To encourage you
to think about a world that is completely connected and to give you
an impression of what that means for internet culture. The border
between the internet and ‘the real world’ is blurring. Web 2.0 brings
about changes in society. In its Topic Overview report, Forrester
Research formulates this as follows:
“Most of the technologies comprising web 2.0 are evolutionary, but the
convergence of these technologies is resulting in revolutionary changes
in consumer behaviour, business efciency, and the technology sector.”
MIt is ultimately not about the term ‘web 2.0’, which is partly the
product of hype (although it is easy to be able to refer to all these
developments with one word). It is also not specically about sites
(Hyves, YouTube or eBay), as there are new and better sites appearing
all the time. The key aspect is that web 2.0 has brought about
fundamental changes. What is the impact of these changes on society?
What has been changed by the internet and web 2.0?
As I mentioned, the internet began life as military communications
network, and was then developed into a computer network for scientists,
a realm for ICT nerds and ultimately into a digital copy of reality. The
internet has become an integral part of our lives and our society, and at
the same time it has enriched our lives providing us with new concepts
that make new things possible.
These new developments mean the government has to stop and look
around. Not only because we have other things to do, but because
we have to do things differently. As society changes, our relationship
with society changes. What developments have occurred that make
organisations think fundamentally about how they use the internet?
Below I outline three of the main changes.
1. Digital integration
As I mentioned in the introduction, the internet underwent a phase in
which it was considered to be a digital copy of reality: We continued
to do the same things, but digitally. Concepts on paper transferred to
the web. Companies and institutes would place their brochures on a
website so people around the world could view the information at any
time. The internet was not conned to time or space and that offered
advantages. But this approach did not generate any new concepts. The
internet remained a separate world, and the computer was yet to enter
people’s living rooms.
That was just a few short years ago. These days the computer is a
laptop that you can use relaxing on the sofa, always within reach. You
can even access the internet through the phone in your pocket. This
is not only because the number of functionalities and possibilities has
grown enormously. Indeed, most Dutch people do their banking on the
internet, www.marktplaats.nl has replaced its paper counterpart and
Hoofdstuk 4.
Source: Forrester - Topic Overview: Web
2.0 (2007): http://twurl.nl/d2tbzh

34 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
for the latest news you go to www.nu.nl. The reason we always want
to be online via ADSL, wi and umts is because the internet has become
part of our lives. And more. New concepts have been developed that
make smarter use of the digital possibilities. We can do things we never
could before: and that is true added value.
The arrival of the internet meant that email replaced letters to
maintain social contact. Contacts remained one-on-one. But now,
social networking sites such as Hyves are emerging, and this is where
new groups are formed and new contacts are made. Now you can do
your shopping from home or start a business without having to invest
in accommodation. Products and services can be marketed through
Google Adware, avoiding exposure to people who are not interested in
them. New concepts, new possibilities, a changing world.
The integration of the internet in our lives will only grow in the coming
years. A couple of years ago most people still used a pseudonym online.
Now, millions of people lay their lives bare on social networking sites. As
all this information becomes interconnected, our digital shadow begins
to look more like who we really are. Mobile technology in combination
with GPS not only pinpoints where we are in Google Maps, but can
also provide up-to-date information about the actual location. It is an
extension to your environment that is known as augmented reality.
We will therefore not only be more visible on the internet, internet
information will also become more visible in our environment, and this
is a very exciting development.
2. Democratising the debate
One of the key areas of society where these changes are most prominent
is in the media, which now gives people the power to express their own
opinions to the outside world. Before the arrival of the internet, this
possibility was primarily reserved for organisations. The opportunities
for individuals to express themselves were limited to opinion pieces in
newspapers, or they could release their own publications, which had a
very limited reach due to costs and logistics.
Internet gives each user a platform to express their views, and this
possibility is fully exploited. From profound thoughts and elaborate
plans to knee-jerk reactions and verbal abuse on internet forums (or
trolling as it is known). One person may contribute to a national political
discussion, someone else may relate what they have done during the
day, while another may pursue hobbies or interests with like-minded
people. Everyone has the means to join in.
Now that there is the possibility for everyone’s voice to be heard, the
need to be heard has also increased. To participate in the debate and in
setting the agenda (horizontalisation). For the government, which is so
used to working with intermediaries (interest groups, press, etc), this
presents new challenges and questions. How does it deal with all these
individuals and opinions? But it also offers opportunities, namely the
ability to tap into knowledge from across the whole society. Prior to the
internet, this knowledge was unattainable.
www.marktplaats.nl is a useful site for
selling any old belongings, but it’s also
great for nding special collectors’ items.
The site now also offers services in direct
competition with Yellow Pages.
Marktplaats.nl has been one of the three
most popular sites in the Netherlands for
some time.
www.nu.nl Has quickly become one of
the largest news sites in the Netherlands,
and now offers images, videos, business
news and regional news. An interesting
spin-off is www.nujij.nl, where users
place their own news stories and rate
those of others.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 35
3. Social potential
To be clear, this is not about referendums or direct democracy. Each
and every reaction or contribution does not have to be recorded and
used. Still, all organisations require knowledge and ideas to be able
to do their work. To this end, employees, networks of individuals and
organisations are brought in or are assigned to these tasks. Useful
knowledge and ideas are sifted out and put into practice. There may
have been relevant experience or solutions that were present externally,
but they stayed invisible. Through the internet this knowledge can be
made accessible. As the ‘sieve’ becomes wider, so does the possibility
of obtaining new knowledge and ideas.
One example of this is the mining company Goldcorp, which put its
geological data online and invited amateur geologists to help locate
seams of gold, offering a reward for the participants with the best
methods. www.waarneming.nl is another example. It is a collection of
sightings of ora and fauna posted by nature lovers from all over the
Netherlands. Increasingly, spatial planning projects attempt to involve
the public through simulations and computer games in order to tap into
local knowledge and experience. With these resources available, every
organisation must see for itself how it can perform its tasks better.
If the appropriate government agencies do not make use of that social
potential it is equally possible the initiative will come from somewhere
else. Waarneming.nl originated separately from the nature associations
connected with the Ministry of Agriculture. In England www.mysociety.org
(an independent organisation) enables the public to report loose paving
stones and litter. In the Netherlands actions to challenge required school
hours and other initiatives, such as Stop Fout Vlees which encouraged
people to re-examine their attitudes towards meat consumption, showed
how easily and quickly a movement can organise itself.
Questions for government
In his book, The world is at, Thomas Friedman describes how the process
of globalisation has been reinforced and accelerated by the development
of computers and computer networks, particularly the internet. This
process of globalisation was already underway, but powerful computers,
the growing ease with which users can interact with them, and in particular
the fact that all these people are interconnected through a global network
offers new opportunities and has thus sped up this process.
The same acceleration is also occurring in the government’s sphere of
work. The three developments I have outlined are the consequence of
the challenges we came up against in Chapter 2:
1. Increasing numbers of people and increasing numbers of activities are
online because the internet has become a part of our way of life, but
who are we going to collaborate with and what are we going to share?
2. The process of horizontalisation and the changing role of the
government in society is strengthened and accelerated through
the ease with which the public can participate in the social debate
via internet (through forums, blogs and polls), but how do we nd
what is most relevant to us?
www.waarneming.nl is the initiative of
three nature lovers who were convinced
that the habitats of animals could be more
efciently mapped out, so they built a site
where everyone could report sightings of
animals.
www.mysociety.com has resulted in
several sites that strengthen the
relationship between citizens and
government and politics, e.g. www.
fxmystreet.org and www.theyworkforyou.
com

36 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
3. There are new instruments available to organise collaboration and to
contribute to developing policy or plans (mass collaboration). These
confront organisations, and particularly the government, with an
increasing number of high expectations and initiatives from society.
More than ever, the government is expected to take up its role in the
horizontal society.
Where to begin?
All the resources I have discussed are therefore at our disposal if we want
to make use of the long tail of knowledge, ideas and efforts from people
outside our organisation. It offers the government a major opportunity to
work more efciently, effectively and interactively while offering so many
new opportunities that it is difcult to keep them all in focus.
Time and place has no bearing on the internet as all the information is
always available and can be accessed in milliseconds. Almost all Dutch
citizens and the entire professional world are online and connected to
each other. You can invite whoever you want to help you come up with new
ideas and seek new knowledge, as long as you go about it the right way.
And you can t all the blocks together until you’ve found the mix that’s
right for you. This approach is no longer yesterday’s dream; it’s today’s
reality.
As I said, in just a few years we have gone from a scarcity to an abundance
of ideas, knowledge and contacts. However, this change is so great and
has happened so quickly that we can barely begin to understand the
implications,, and cling on to the way we were used to working. We still
sit from nine to ve in a building, we go to meetings and we try to solve
problems in small groups, while ignoring all the other options we have
dealt with so far.
Why do we approach our work in this way? As a civil servant you want to do
your work as well as you can. It is vital to have the right information, involve
the right sort of people and select the most appropriate instruments. The
most signicant obstacle is that we just don’t have any idea about the
potential of all these new possibilities. What is possible? And how do you
make it possible? What are the risks? Who can help me? These are the
questions we have to attempt to answer together.
The reality and realisation that place and time have become irrelevant,
the understanding that every citizen of the world can be in the same room
as you which means you don’t have to go it alone, and the insight you can
gain from being able to put together your ideal work environment are
concepts that are very remote from our current approach to work, which is
based on spatial constraints and scarcity of information. There is a dizzying
amount of concepts to get your head around. But these are the principles
for working on the web, and working in the 21st century. This is something
we must understand if we are to make progress.
Always save your text!
One of my pet hates is when you are
preparing a long response, such as in a
discussion forum, or in response to a blog,
and the browser or the webpage crashes. In
most cases the text you were writing
wasn’t saved and you lose everything. It’s a
waste of effort and often the reason to give
up and not prepare a new response.
You cannot save your text while you are
writing it. What you can do, is press CTRL
and A at the same time to highlight a
paragraph you’ve just nished, and then
press CTRL and C to copy the text. It is now
saved on your system, so if anything goes
wrong you can paste it back using CTRL and
V (and let’s hope that it wasn’t you’re your
system that crashed, because then you will
have lost everything anyway).
Internet sites in other languages
Distances and borders pose no barriers
for the internet, only other languages can
form a barrier to gathering knowledge
and cooperating worldwide. Google
allows you to translate specic texts or
even whole sites. translate.google.com

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 37
eParticipation on the map
The government wants to improve how it tailors its services to public requirements. One basic principle is
that improving public services, public administration and the mechanisms of democracy is only possible if
you involve citizens. Smart use of ICT is one way to achieve this, and eParticipation projects are the result.
These projects are a widespread phenomenon and receive a tremendous amount of enthusiastic support.
However, as can be seen from Burgerlink,(which translates as Citizen Link) a government initiative to help
tune policy to public requirements, these projects often do not follow a structured approach. There seems
to be a major requirement to get an overview of various examples, to draw inspiration and to exchange
knowledge. Burgerlink addresses this need through the eParticipation map.
In the period May-June 2009 Burgerlink commissioned sCompany, a consultancy from the Utrecht University
of Applied Sciences, to perform a study to obtain a clear overview of the status of eParticipation in Dutch
municipalities. Which municipalities involved citizens in developing policy through digital means? Who uses
the internet to get the public to contribute to improving the neighbourhood? Also, what do municipalities
think about the uses of eParticipation – and do they put these thoughts into practice? With a response rate
of almost 70%, the outcome is representative for the whole of
the Netherlands.
Based on the outcome of the research, two recommendations
were prepared for small and large municipalities. These can
be downloaded from the Burgerlink website (only available in
Dutch) www.burgerlink.nl. Perhaps even more importantly,
the study provides a thorough overview. Many initiatives
are worth nding out about. Burgerlink offers a GoogleMaps
application on its website, which literally and guratively puts
eParticipation in the Netherlands on the map.
The overview can be found on www.burgerlink.nl/landkaart/
eparticipatie.html.

38 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
What does web 2.0 mean for the government?
A while ago someone asked me if I thought attempting to use web 2.0
to increase interactivity and public engagement in the government’s
approach to work was a hopeless task. He suggested that the strong
hierarchical structure, political sensitivities and the large number of
older workers meant government was not an ideal place to introduce
the web 2.0 approach.
We could of course have a lengthy discussion on this topic, but this is
ultimately a moot point. Change comes from the outside. As society
increasingly embraces the principles of web 2.0, the government will
be expected to do the same in its approach. In short, it is not a question
of making a choice, it will happen with or without you.
Search for your added value
This made me think about the music industry and the press. Ultimately,
web 2.0 will have consequences for everybody, and for every
sector. Look at the examples in mining (Goldcorp), footwear (Nike),
development (1% club) or toys (LEGO). But some organisations have to
cope with these changes earlier than others. The music industry and
the press were the rst that had to change their methods as a result
of the internet. The choice was taken out of their hands because their
customers no longer went to them to get their music or news – they
used the internet.
It is only logical that these sectors were the rst to suffer the
consequences. Their products can be digitalised and therefore easily
distributed over the internet. There was still a need for these products,
but there was no more use for the middleman. Before the internet
the music industry decided what music could be sold and the press
decided what news to publish. They have since lost these positions as
the internet allows everyone to publish or download the music and
news they want.
Time Warner and papers such as The Guardian were among the rst
to respond to these developments. They had to come up with new
concepts and business models to strengthen their position in the sector.
Where are the actual benets for the organisation, and how can they be
exploited? The Guardian, for example, has become more multimedia-
oriented, involving people with the site in an effort to create a broad
platform for debate. The music industry is also looking hard for new
concepts to preserve its position.
Government is quick to realise the consequences
Government is of course very different from the companies referred to
above. The government is not selling a product, and does not have to deal
with legal issues surrounding copyright. But there are also similarities:
• the government’s ‘product’ is largely digitisable: it is engaged in
seeking and gathering knowledge and information, writing texts and
documents, reports, collaboration, harmonisation and networking,
which are all things that can be done digitally.
Chapter 5.
www.1procentclub.nl allows people to
make small contributions to support
initiatives in developing countries.
The Dutch site www.petities.nl is an
initiative of Burgerlink, which makes it
easy for anyone to start or sign a
petition. It is also possible for the
petition recipients to receive and respond
to petitions on their website. The right to
petition is one of the oldest rights in the
Dutch Constitution. A petition is a request
to the government to take action, and
provides the public with the opportunity
to criticise policy. Petitions are a key
instrument for raising awareness and they
also have symbolic value.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 39
• The government has a very valuable ‘product’, namely, how the
Netherlands is run. Many people are engaged with the areas we deal
with, and have ideas about how to approach them. Our activities are
also in the media spotlight and new developments can spread quickly
and easily;
• The ‘customers’ can also perform activities themselves: various
activities performed by civil servants can also be performed by others,
and if these activities are digitisable, they can also be done online.
Of course there are some functions that are inalienable to a government.
That is not the issue. But there are also examples of government tasks
that are already being dealt with online by the public. One example is
the UK site www.xmystreet.com where you can report cases such as
litter or broken street lights. This site, which was set up independently,
then passes these reports on to the local council. The Netherlands has
sites such as www.ikregeer.nl, which posts parliamentary questions. Or
have a look at the wiki for a Wind Energy Act. This may just start as one
person’s idea, but the potential is much greater. When will the rst wiki
laws be enacted by parliament?
There are also parts of government that will have to face the
consequences of web 2.0 before others. For example, take the
ministries and departments that deal with public participation and
communication. They will be among the rst to be confronted with the
implications of web 2.0 for their work. Yet ultimately, everyone should
ask themselves the question, just as the music industry and newspaper
publishers. What does web 2.0 mean for my work, my role and my
added value? This is a hot issue for government, and one which I think
can be resolved through active use of web 2.0.
What areas of our work are affected by web 2.0?
The internet has become an integral part of Dutch society: nearly
the whole population can go online, and it has become a platform
for services, social contacts and collaboration. The advent of web 2.0
signicantly increased the number of possibilities for using this platform
to communicate and exchange knowledge. Also for government, the
possibilities for working in a more exible, interactive and more
transparent way have grown, both within the organisation and with the
outside. There are opportunities for a smarter approach, to do more
with less people. How can the government interpret this new task over
the coming years?
The inuence of internet on how government works is now beginning
to take shape in various policy areas. It has not only created new
forms of interaction amongst citizens, but also between citizens
and the government, and internally among civil servants. These new
developments offer new opportunities to work in a different, more
efcient and altogether better way within government and outside it,
but they also present new threats and uncertainties. Furthermore, all
these developments place new demands on the role of government and
civil servants.
www.xmystreet.com has in eighteen
months received over 20,000 reports of
litter in the street, broken trafc lights
and vandalism in public places, which
have been passed on to the local council.
www.ikregeer.nl provides an overview of
parliamentary bills, questions and their
responses, and offers various subscription
possibilities. The site is an initiative of
two employees of the Erasmus University
Rotterdam.

40 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
This of course raises many questions. Is government prepared for the new
situations these developments will produce? What are the opportunities
and risks? And how can government exploit the opportunities offered
by web 2.0 to increase awareness of their environment and to work in
a more efcient and more interactive manner? What does this mean for
the internal organisations of government and for the position of the civil
servant? The consequences of web 2.0 can be seen in the following
interrelated areas:
1. The relationship between citizen and government;
2. The government’s internal organisation;
3. The civil servant’s approach to work.
I have outlined these three areas below, and will use the next chapter
to explore them in greater depth.
1. The relationship between citizen and government
Dutch people are used to doing their administration (such as taxes
and banking) digitally and via the internet. The government has
made considerable efforts to increase the level of digitalisation of
administrative contacts. In addition to these administrative contacts, it
is increasingly normal to exchange opinions, knowledge and information
over the internet, or to cooperate online in personal (such as eBay) or
social (such as community work) activities. Businesses, governments and
other organisations are identifying an increasing number of opportunities
to get customers, citizens and other stakeholders involved in their
activities. For the government, these changes occur in four main areas:
The social debate
All users of the internet can express their views through various online
channels and media. This offers opportunities to pick up on signals from
society, but how can the valuable contributions be ltered from all those
terabytes of information that are put online each day? Furthermore,
new media sites such as www.geenstijl.nl and YouTube are becoming
more prominent, and the social debate is becoming more dynamic, and
its focus is switching more quickly. The government should consider
how it should deal with all these views and this mediacracy.
Communities based around themes
Web 2.0 bolsters the attening of society (horizontalization) and
therefore offers opportunities for strengthening civil society. It is also
possible that citizens or cooperative partnerships assume government
tasks. I already mentioned Fixmystreet.com and Waarneming.nl in
Britain and the Netherlands. The government should also consider how
social networks can be used in a smart way to enrich policy and provide
information to the public.
Mass collaboration
Involving citizens in the tasks and processes of government offers many
perspectives, in areas such as policy making, supervision of laws and
enforcement, but also harvesting ideas from society by making use of
Web 2.0 not only has consequences
outside the government
The consequences of web 2.0 for the
government can be seen in the three
following interrelated areas:
1. The relationship between the citizen
and the government
(government 2.0);
2. The government’s internal organisation
(organisation 2.0);
3.The civil servant’s approach to work
(employee 2.0).
The Civil Servant 2.0 project addresses
all three areas.
www.geenstijl.nl is a biting blog with a
right-wing, populist tone. Thanks to its
confrontational approach it has become
one of the biggest weblogs in the
Netherlands and has come to occupy a
powerful position in the media landscape.
Dictionary: Social networking,
Websites that allow users to become
members, make contacts and join groups.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 41
open innovation for instance. Web 2.0 allows organisations to be more
interactive and to increase awareness of their environment. Examples
are the use of wikis for developing plans for a residential area in the
Dutch municipality of Smallingerland and www.politieonderzoeken.nl,
which invites the public to assist police with their investigations. How
can we as government 2.0 take advantage of sharing responsibilities or
even outsourcing tasks?
Open Government
In order to give citizens the opportunity to participate or cooperate in
government tasks it is necessary to provide an insight into government
processes. Knowledge and information must be supplied. Disclosing more
information (documents, databases, etc.) to the public produces new
initiatives in society, many of which are outlined in this book. Making
processes transparent gives citizens the opportunity to join in at the right
stage. This applies to an even greater extent to transparency within the
organisation. However, information is sometimes difcult to protect and
guaranteeing safety, condentiality and privacy is therefore a prerequisite
when taking this approach.
2. The government’s internal organisation
In order for the government to capitalise on all these developments,
respond to them and offer the possibility to perform your work better,
internal organisation also has to change. Not only to maintain a connection
with society, but also because it will be expected by new, young government
employees. They are used to a different way of working, collaborating and
communicating. What kind of settings and attitude do managers and staff
need for what is referred to as The New Way of Working? What kind of
conditions have to be developed to accommodate these developments?
Space for staff
Hierarchies and work methods in the civil service tend to mimic business
procedures, with dened roles and managers who visibly want to
demonstrate their control. With knowledge workers, it isn’t always obvious
if, where and how they are working. They require space and condence to
perform. The current civil servant approach tends to be ‘one size ts all’.
Civil servants should be offered a wider range of choices so they can put
together their own more personal, user-friendly working environment. Civil
servants become entrepreneurs, and their managers become the facilitators
who provide the framework and establish the results they expect.
Working in networks
While civil servants belong to specic departments and sections, they
often have closer relationships with people in their network that work in
the same areas as them. These may be colleagues from other departments
or other ministries, but they can also be representatives of public
organisations, or active or involved citizens. Working through networks is
about penetrating the boundaries of departments, and therefore requires
different competencies and a different approach to management.
Management
Hierarchy clearly demarcates responsibilities within an organisation, but
is also perceived as being too rigid and obstructive. Working in networks
www.politieonderzoeken.nl is similar to
the UK TV show Crimewatch. It uses
public knowledge to get leads on crimes
and missing persons. The police force has
a highly active presence on web 2.0 and
makes use of various sites and resources
to do its job more efciently and
effectively.

42 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
is about working across boundaries of organisations. What are then the
consequences for management? If employees can be physically anywhere
and potentially working on any number of things, how do you as a manager
get an overview of the areas of work you are responsible for? And how
do you run your department in a way that ensures that all assignments
are carried out by the end of the year? New resources such as blogs can
help you monitor what employees are doing. Additional knowledge
both inside and outside the organisation can be brought in through
open innovation and crowdsourcing. But this does require a different
approach to management.
A transparent organisation
Enterprising civil servants require knowledge and information to
be able to perform their roles. The new generation of civil servants
regards knowledge and information as public goods, rather than private
goods that should be withheld from other parties. This knowledge and
information should be available as and when required, in other words,
not on inaccessible private networks. If it isn’t clear what civil servants
are working on some work may be duplicated. And if it isn’t clear what
managers are doing, it will be impossible for employees to represent
their organisation to the outside world. Transparency is a prerequisite
for employees to perform their work well and on an independent basis.
3. The civil servant’s work method
Earlier I referred to the ‘open, social and user-centric’ features of a web
2.0 based approach to work. This also applies within the organisation:
there are increasingly greater opportunities for employees to determine
the shape of their work, but this brings with it more responsibilities.
Availability of resources and tools
Web 2.0 has made various sites and functionalities available where
people can nd each other quickly, can form groups and networks and
work together online. These tools are available not only to the public but
also offer new opportunities to civil servants. Anyone with an internet
connection at home and at work can make use of a host of potential
new resources and tools to organise their work more efciently, operate
on a broader and more effective basis and collaborate more effectively
and more interactively with citizens. That has a lot of implications for
the way we work.
Developing skills
It is primarily up to the employees themselves to give shape to this new
way of working. However, to do this they must be properly equipped.
This involves not only providing the right tools, but also developing
knowledge, competencies and e-skills, primarily through following
courses. These courses may also deal with subjects such as the
consequences of web 2.0, the use of web 2.0 in work, risks and pitfalls,
as well as the protection of information, archiving, tools, attitudes,
etc. Employees must be able to get the very best from themselves
and from their environments to perform their duties and achieve their
goals.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 43
Position of the civil servant
The government is a political organisation and the role and actions
of the civil servant in the outside world is subject to rules. In an
organisation that increasingly works online and networks and interacts
with the public, these rules are being stretched ever further. Having
an active presence on the internet and fullling your role there places
a great deal of responsibility on employees: after all, when you are
ofcially representing the view of the minister it is not always possible
to express the opposite view. The organisation should clarify the
professional remit for civil servants to work freely, experimentally and
interactively in a publicly engaged manner.
The work/leisure balance
Do you have to remain a civil servant in all aspects of your digital life?
Do civil servants always have to be acutely aware of their actions on the
internet, and constantly remind themselves not to express themselves
too personally over matters of policy in which they are involved? And if
civil servants are always accessible and can work in any environment,
how will they be able to feel as though they are exerting control over
how they structure their own time, without slipping into a situation
where they are ‘on call’ 24/7? The government should express its
opinion on these matters.
Summary
The developments that have been set in motion by the internet and web
2.0 can be felt in all three of the abovementioned areas: the balance
with society is shifting, the complexity of organisations is increasing
and the potential of the civil servant is expanding. As afrmed by
the independent innovation organisation, TNO, these are disruptive
developments, and they will continue to evolve for some time in ts and
starts. But it is a path government has to follow if it wants to maintain
a connection with society, attract new, young talent and strengthen the
efciency and effectiveness of its staff.
The aim of this book is not to answer these questions but to raise
awareness of the challenges we face and to give some examples along
the way. In the next chapters I will describe the insights into government
2.0, organisation 2.0 and employee 2.0 which will address some of these
matters described above.
Web 2.0 course
Civil Servant 2.0 is about a way of
working, and about the associated new
instruments. The web 2.0 course provides
an explanation of what web 2.0 is and
what the consequences are for the
government. It also helps identify the
right sites that can support you in your
work through:
• Maintaining contacts with your
network, with the people you work with
in your remit or team, in and outside
the government;
• Acquiring knowledge and keeping
abreast of developments in your policy
eld;
• Keeping up-to-date with your work
environment (colleagues, management,
contacts, network);
• collaborating to prepare texts (policy
documents or reports) or to achieve
other results.
If you want to register for this course
visit cursus.ambtenaar20.nl (in Dutch)

44 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
BDplaza, the social network of the Dutch Tax Authority
Many employees of the Belastingdienst, the Dutch Tax Authority, were active on the Dutch social networking
site Hyves and had formed groups. They used the site to discuss all sorts of things, but work was of course
one of the topics they dealt with. However, Hyves is an environment where other people can follow your
discussions. So the Tax exmployees set up their own social network.
What is BDplaza?
BDplaza is a social networking environment, just like the civil servant 2.0 networking site. The difference
is that BDplaza is a closed environment that can only be accessed by employees of the Dutch Tax Authority
using a password and a username.
These employees may exchange information with colleagues (in the form of blogs, photos, videos or other
documents) and can create private or public theme groups and use these as work platforms. There are no
other rules in place, although if there are transgressions the managers of the site can contact the poster
of the offending content. That has to date only occurred once, and the content was voluntarily deleted by
the poster.
The site has been a success. Many employees have joined, simply through word of mouth. BDplaza now
has 15,000 members and many groups, both within departments and between different departments and
across various locations.
Unorthodox approach
BDplaza came into being in an unorthodox way. The initiators did not take the time to develop a master plan
or risk analysis, they started work on the site straight away and management approved of their methods, so
brought in external expertise to assist them. The rst version was ready in two weeks, but more time was
required afterwards to netune the result. The site has a modular structure, so can be expanded with new
functionalities as and when needed.
BDplaza provides a platform for staff to collaborate and exchange knowledge, and is an environment in
which you can work together and exchange knowledge. Last but not least, its a place to do fun things.
Compare it to workplace conversations around the water cooler, where people just have a quick chat in
between meetings. The management fully supports this approach based on trust. So far they have not been
disappointed with the results.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 45
Government 2.0: the relationship
between citizen and government
One of the characteristics of web 2.0 is that it allows internet users
to add their own content to sites. This content may take the shape
of photos, video clips, links, comments, evaluations, tags, but also
articles. The collective name for all these details is user-generated
content.
TNO research on “User generated State”
In the spring of 2008, Valerie Frissen from the TNO research institute
published a report on the consequences of web 2.0 for government (see
also Chapter 3). The title of that report is: “Towards a user-generated
state”. She presents a number of examples occurring across various
elds of government activity:
• Democracy 2.0, through improving the exchange of information,
forming of opinions and mobilisation of citizens;
• Public services 2.0, by which citizens participate to improve public
services;
• Enforcement 2.0, where citizens make an active contribution to
detection and enforcement;
• Supervision 2.0, whereby citizens play an inspection role and demand
government transparency. This marks a shift, with citizens occupying
the role intermediary organisations once had.
Recommendations
Although there are still many questions to be answered, Frisson believes
government cannot afford to ignore them, and states that “The
greatest challenge is for the government and public administration to
be prepared.” Social developments follow their own course and the
government must stay in touch with them. She makes the following
recommendations:
1. Set civil servants 1.0 to work: experiment more!
2. Value the web 2.0 competencies of the network generation;
3. Make more use of knowledge, information and creativity of citizens;
4. Provide a sharper focus on experiences, preferences and problems
of citizens;
5. Invest in solutions for pressing problems;
6. Start experimenting with other forms of self-regulation;
7. Explore the practical consequences of web 2.0 for the civil servant 2.0;
8. Identify social risks of web 2.0.
Questions and risks
In addition to the opportunities web 2.0 offers, it also presents us with
a number of questions. What, for example, do these changes mean for:
Legitimacy, with the public taking over the tasks of the government;
The ideal of peering, when all services are becoming more personalised;
• privacy, as increasing amounts of information about citizens becomes
available;
• cultural fragmentation, if everyone creates their own personal offer
of media content;
Chapter 6.
Dictionary: A tag is a word or term added
to a text, photo, video clip or person to
provide a better description and so make
it easier to nd.
www.watstemtmijnraad.nl shows how
municipal councils have voted. The aim is
to increase the transparency and
accessibility of municipal councils. Not
only can you see what issues were voted
on, you can also see how members of the
council voted. You can search according
to political party, subject, council
member, name of proposal, date of the
meeting or key word (tag).
Watstemtmijnraad.nl is inspired by www.
politix.nl, a site that provides details of
votes in parliament.

46 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
• the gap in knowledge between citizens who are familiar with this
technology and those who are not;
• the accuracy and the quality of information, as manipulation becomes
easier and sources become less clear;
• illegal content, copyright and reuse of information;
• the effects of intensive internet use.
I assume these studies will lead to developments. However, what’s
more important is that we as civil servants start to work according to
these new methods. These recommendations and questions relate to
our work, so it’s therefore up to us to do something with them. Several
examples and different ways of interaction have already been discussed
In the previous chapters. They will be dealt with in further detail in the
coming chapters and I will attempt to set out some rules.
1. Mass collaboration: based on the rules set out by Tapscott and
Williams;
2. Communities: what are the advantages and the points for attention
for working with communities?
3. Open Government: government information as a means of attracting
public creativity to improve public services;
1. Working with mass collaboration
Chapter 2 dealt extensively with mass collaboration and the various
forms it can take. The internet has made a great deal possible in this area
and the government offers opportunities for us to perform our tasks with
the public in a more interactive and efcient manner. But this requires a
substantial change of approach for civil servants and citizens. It has to be
just right in terms of topics, attitude, and expectations for instance. If
we do intend to use it, we must think carefully about how.
In their book Wikinomics. How mass collaboration changes everything
Tapscott and Williams interviewed many employees who have experience
with web 2.0. When addressing these examples, they explain how these
companies changed their culture. On this basis, they arrive at a number
of conditions and recommendations for mass collaboration, which are
summarised below:
Being open
• Making more sources of information accessible to the public and
offering an open standard allows other people to add and develop
their own ideas;
• This requires an open mentality, being open to ideas from outside and
not restricting yourself to the information available within your own
organisation;
• Transparency also encourages trust, which is important if want
other people to help you think and invest time in your problems.
Peering
• Peering is a voluntary interconnection of administratively separate
networks, and if you want to encourage public participation, it
is important to follow this principle, rather than working on a
hierarchical basis. Of course, your own participation is also required;
The Ministry of the Interior has issued a
response to parliament about the Frissen
report, which can be found on http://
twurl.nl/yju63x (only available in Dutch).
This response is primarily about the
consequences of web 2.0 for the
relationship between citizen and
government. The implications for
government organisations and employees
are not dealt with, which is a
shortcoming, seeing as these areas belong
to the Ministry’s policy remit.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 47
• Each process requires a form of organisation, but not through a top-
down approach. The norm is self-organisation, and taking a supporting
role can be effective;
• The most important advantage of this approach is that you do not
have to look for support for the end result, as it is already there.
Sharing
• Sharing knowledge leads to a win-win situation as you work collectively
towards one goal;
• Access to interim results and new insights allows other participants to
build on what has been achieved.
• This also leads to a more effective use of resources as participants will
not duplicate work.
Acting globally
• Allocate responsibility to those areas where the knowledge is and do not
allow yourself to be restricted by the boundaries of your department or
organisation;
• The possibilities for this are widely available: wherever you are, you can
contact and collaborate with whomever you want, however you want.
• This also increases the need for standardised tools and support. The
structure only needs to be set up once and then it can be used anywhere.
After all, all boundaries are articial.
Have you been keeping score? How do we rate as a government? How about
your own organisation? Every organisation and project calls for an inquiry
into which of the above points apply, and the extent to which they apply.
This is yet another area in which we need more experience. The following
case study is a good example of how this experience can be gained.

48 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
Wiki neighbourhood in Drachten
A neighbourhood with tomorrow’s possibilities. This is what Drachten envisions for its new residential area.
What makes this new residential area so special is not the technology behind it or even the spatial planning.
It is the way in which it will be built. Welcome to the very rst wiki neighbourhood!
The idea behind it is that everyone in the world can assist in designing the new residential area. This
will ultimately generate a myriad of ideas, the best of which can be selected. To unlock these ideas the
municipal council has commissioned social media organisation The Crowds to put together a community.
Involving as many people as possible
The new housing project is planned on the south edge of the village of Opeinde, a few miles northwest of
Drachten. Normally, the municipality determines in advance how many and what category of homes have to
be built. On this basis, they develop an urban plan that is then discussed. However, in the case of Opeinde
the municipality does not have anything at all on paper, apart from the area that will be occupied by the
new housing development. The only denitive boundaries are the area (which is roughly 17 hectares) and
the requirement that the neighbourhood must be future-oriented. In other words, the municipality does
not want a standard plan, but an approach that will produce revolutionary or visionary results in as many
areas as possible.
The project aims to involve as many people as possible in the process of developing innovative ideas. These
may relate to trafc, architectural style, technology, sustainability, harmonisation with surroundings and
supplying utilities, but also nancing, management of public space, social cohesion, etc. This process is
supported by the website www.wijbouweneenwijk.nl.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 49
2. Communities
Government policy deals with all areas of society. The division into
ministries and portfolios is basically there to ensure that all the issues
or topics are covered. When a new issue emerges, the government
should immediately determine who is involved, to isolate and deal with
the issue. This is the function of government: keeping track of these
issues so that citizens do not need to involve themselves in every issue.
As a citizen you do of course tend to limit your focus to the issues that
affect you, your work or your surroundings. I’m interested in elds that
are relevant for my work as a civil servant, but developments in areas
such as SMEs mean less to me. I want to be involved in what’s happening
in my neighbourhood, but a similar issue in a different city affects me
less. I want to engage in areas relating to my interests and hobbies, but
I do not invest time in other activities going on in the world. In short,
I choose a limited number of subjects I want to put my energy into.
And there are many others who want to invest their knowledge, ideas
and energy into the issues that interest me. It gives us something in
common. If those people can be brought together into one online
community that combines their vast potential, the benets could
be enormous. Before the internet, a great deal of money (cost of
advertising, administration, stamps, etc.) and time was required to
bring together people with the same interests or concerns in a group,
club or association. With the internet, this has now become virtually
effortless.
As a result every subject and every interest group is now represented
on the web. From local to international, from small to large, from the
11,000 members of the Global Classroom 2.0 Network on www.ning.
com to seventeen Chihuahua lovers in Spokane, Washington, USA on
www.meetup.com. It’s about people and people are the ones who
run it: they are volunteers who donate their time and energy to the
subjects they feel passionate about. As the government, we can make
use of what these communities have to offer. We can use the energy,
knowledge and ideas to make progress in an area. But why exactly
should we do that?
Why work via communities?
As the government, we represent the interests of all citizens, but not
all citizens have interests in the same areas. However, for every subject
or issue there is a group of people in society who are more actively
involved and more interested. As a civil servant you are therefore
always faced with groups in society that address your area of activity.
These groups can of course organise themselves and create their own
platform, but the government can also play a more active role here, for
the following reasons:
www.ning.com is an online platform that
enables everyone to create their own
community with a couple of mouse clicks.
500,000 communities have since been set
up in this way. The site is also very
popular in the Netherlands. The Civil
Servant 2.0 network is also built with
Ning.
www.meetup.com offers the opportunity
to create a network around an event,
meeting or activity. Unfortunately the site
is not free, but it is upcoming. yahoo.com
offers the same service

50 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
• To use external knowledge or ideas from the community: knowledge
provided by specialists (not all knowledge is available within your
organisation), local knowledge provded by residents or knowledge of
recent developments occurring elsewhere in the world;
• To make connections and contacts with your users (citizens, customers,
etc.): partly to gather support and keep lines of communication open,
but also because they might otherwise approach another person or
organisation to meet their needs;
• To work more efciently: achieve more with fewer people as tasks are
partly handed over to the community;
• To facilitate smoother cooperation between various parties, as you
are all sitting around a virtual table. And that includes you as a civil
servant!
The most important aspect is that you don’t do your work alone. You
are always working for people and with people, which is why it is better
to involve people and keep them involved.
Using communities rather than internet consultations
This new approach presents a completely different perspective to
the current internet consultations performed by the government. The
Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, as well as
the Ministry of Agriculture are very active in this area, and the Ministry
of Justice is even preparing legislation here. Internet consultations
involve asking the public for their opinion about matters such as policy
or new legislation. For a period of one or two months a discussion forum
is opened where the public can air their opinions and respond to each
other. The forums are then closed and opinions given are taken into
account during the next step of the process.
My main objection from the perspective of web 2.0 is that internet
consultations are chiey about the policy process, a website, and the
entries made there. But what it should be about is people and their
contribution. Participants in discussions are just passing by – they give
their opinions and then move on. Yet here we have citizens that are
deeply interested in the issue. And we let them get away. Each time we
build a community only to allow it to disappear.
So start with communities of people who are involved in the same issue.
Find them or get them together. Internet consultations have helped us
to involve many people in these issues and identify networks, and this is
something we should continue to do, as a community and as a platform.
These are the places where the public debate is conducted, where you
as a citizen or interested party can contribute, keep up-to-date and
where you can be involved in the government activities in that area.
With platforms such as these the government can support the public
debate and thus meet its role as facilitator.
Platforms such as these should of course meet the three conditions of
being ‘open, social and user-centric’ (see Chapter 3).
As a participant you must be able to make a prole, see who knows who
Your own community?
The rst question you have to ask yourself
if you want to set up a site for your
network or community is: “Does it already
exist?” With so many initiatives already on
the internet, there is a good chance that a
similar online group already exists. If you
can connect to this group, you will save
yourself valuable time.
You should then seriously consider how to
set up the community. This book provides
a number of pointers, and Martin Kloos’
weblog also has some good
recommendations: http://twurl.
nl/7d1b4s

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 51
(‘friends’) and invite others to join the discussion and the network, and
your responses and those of others should also be accessible. You can
keep up-to-date with the issue through RSS feeds to external sources
such as articles, blogs, relevant sites and discussions elsewhere, etc.
You can also follow developments in parliament and the EU through
integration with Parlando or Ikregeer.nl. This creates a platform to
which you can address your questions.
Question to ask yourself before you begin
Web 2.0 and the possibilities it offers for working in a more efcient
and interactive way are all new tools that we as civil servants have
very little experience with. There are still very few examples that can
be followed and there are no manuals available for how you approach
something like this. It is a new way of working. That’s why when you’re
setting up a platform you have to get it just right. Although this book
does provide some tips, everyone ultimately has to make their own
choices about how they want to work.
To be able to make the right choices you have to ask yourselves the
right questions. Mark van Twist is professor of public administration at
Erasmus University Rotterdam and dean and member of the board of
the Netherlands School of Public Administration. He addressed some of
these issues at a meeting about e-participation. He presented several
guidelines for those thinking of starting up a community or other form
of mass collaboration:
1. participant identication: are contributors required to identify
themselves? Is an email address enough? And to what sort of areas does
this apply?
2. representative: are you looking for representative ideas, or are you just
looking for good ideas, more knowledge, etc.?
3. dominant positions: what do you do if your community is hijacked by a
dominant party or interest?
4. motives of participants: what will people’s interest be? Will they
participate through commitment or through pleasure, to make friends
or contacts, to be valued and build a reputation or to use their
creativity in a new environment. What can you offer in that respect?
5. transparency: working via a community requires a fully transparent
process. Is that what you want and is that possible?
6. managing: working with a community means that you as the
government must take the lead in certain issues, and must also
step back at times. But how do you know when to do this, and what
elements need to be managed?
7. aim: what do you want for yourself from the community? How are you
going to use contributions to assist you in your work?
8. dening structure: do you communicate in advance about the limitations
(in terms of subject, budget, rules, etc.) or do you let people think about
these issues and discuss them freely before narrowing things down?
9. decision-making: how is harmonisation with the political processes and
hierarchy? How can the community gain a position in the process?
10. subject: which subjects are suitable? Is size relevant? What are the
limits?
If you want to work with communities, try to bear these points in mind.
The Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning
and the Environment has for some time
involved citizens in shaping ideas and
policy, such as in discussions about
Randstad 2040 structural vision:
www.randstad2040.nl
The Ministry of Agriculture has so far held
two internet consultations, about
common agricultural policy and
landscape.

52 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
What do you have to be aware of?
If you, as a member of a government organisation, wish to make use of
communities, then you should bear in mind the following rules:
• You ask citizens and stakeholders to invest time and effort in the
community and into what you as a civil servant wish to achieve via the
platform. That means that you have to give participants the space to
do something (e.g. to develop something, provide an opinion, etc.).
And that means that you have to be able to relinquish control;
• In addition, participants must be given the means to be able to do
something. This may mean providing the right facilities on a site, but
also the right background information, such as research data. With
insufcient input, the output will also be insufcient;
• Do it yourself: if mass collaboration is part of your working process,
you have to participate in the community on an equal footing. Ross
Mayfeld, of the company Socialtext, calls this operating in the ow,
as opposed to just oating above the ow. You yourself are part of the
community and perform a facilitating role from that position;
• This facilitating role also means you are responsible for keeping
the site ticking over. In principle, everyone is welcome to join in,
but things do not just happen by themselves. Someone is needed to
welcome new members, start discussions, launch initiatives, nd
ambassadors, keep an eye on the balance in discussions, provide
motivation and stimulate;
• But it is ultimately not about you and the individual contacts you have,
it is about setting the community in motion and allowing members to
interact. You must make sure that there are opportunities for this,
that everyone can make contributions and that participants can also
evaluate each other’s contributions (peer review);
• But not anything goes. Long-term planning is needed to focus people
and activities, rules for cooperation and agreements are required to
organise the community, and it must be possible to intervene if these
rules are broken;
• Setting up a community takes more than sending a press release to
the paper. It has to grow over a long period of time as you want
to gather people together from various groups. It is important to
be pro-active, invite people, leave posts about the community on
other blogs, provide access to a widget that other people can put on
their site, try to set a network effect in motion (such as through viral
means that directs interested parties to the community from their
network), use RSS feeds, etc.
• But the most important thing to remember is to be yourself. If you
want people’s trust you have to be honest, open and authentic.
Source: Weblog Martin Kloos - Be ‘In the
ow’, not ‘above the ow’: http://
twurl.nl/n3hi88
Arranging a meeting with Upcoming
You are organising a conference or a
meeting and want to invite people.
People register, and then nothing else
happens until the event itself. And that’s
a pity. upcoming.yahoo.com gives you a
new handle. Create a site for your
meeting and use it to issue invitations.
When people reply to the invitation.
they automatically create a prole. Not
only does this generate a list of who’s
coming and what they will contribute, it
also enables discussions to start before
the event itself. After the meeting the
site can be used to continue discussions
and publish photos for instance. It’s an
instant internet site for your meeting.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 53
Make use of the possibilities
From my own experience I know that we civil servants are often heavily
focused on text and discussion. Perhaps the reason for this is that we
often choose internet forums as a means of online interaction, although
this can be quite uninspiring, not in terms of content, but as regards the
dynamics, possibilities for interaction, multimedia, etc. This approach
means the focus is primarily on sharing pieces of text in chronological
order. Hardly any use is made of video (by ourselves or through the
option to upload videos) or embedded maps (e.g. a map of where the
responses come from), and there is no option to upload photos (for
discussions on spatial planning or landscapes) and so on.
If you do in any case decide to work with the text, there are several ways
to visualise opinions and discussion. This is possible through presenting
the discussion in more visual environments, such as a 3D environment or
a ‘serious game’. But you can also present debates in ways other than
just showing a list of entries. You can organise responses according to
timeline, by ltering words, etc. For a good example, visit the BBC’s
White Spectrum site or www.wefeelne.org, a site which tracks how
the internet community feels by searching for the word feel. I for one
am very curious about what new forms of expression and exchanges will
appear in the future.
Dictionary: Embedding, integrating
information or an application (widget)
from one site to another site, such as a
YouTube video clip in a blog.
Dictionary: Serious game, an online
computer game for the purpose of
communicating a message or raising
awareness.
www.bbc.co.uk/white/spectrum.shtml
shows the result of an integration study
in the United Kingdom. Consensus on
opinion is colour clustured. If you click a
particle, a quote appears or invites the
reader to respond.
www.wefeelne.org processes
information from the latest blogs and
other web sources and presents them
with the help of graphics, colours and
animations. The accompanying text can
be viewed by clicking on the graphic.

54 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
Guus.net: working via a community
Networking is not new to the countryside. Throughout the decades there have been many changes in the
social and knowledge systems, from annual markets to communities of practice. Exchanging knowledge
through these networks helps preserve the vitality of the countryside, and they have therefore always been
supported by the Ministry of Agriculture through agencies such as the University of Wageningen. But the
advent of internet and web 2.0 calls for a new approach. So how can the Ministry stimulate the exchange
of knowledge these days?
Strengthening the multifaceted rural network
Knowledge about the countryside and rural development is being developed and exchanged in many places
Practice shows that different approaches and methods emerge to meet needs: workshops, knowledge
ofces, regional innovation centres, countryside exchanges and even village greens are some examples.
There are already a great deal of activities in this respect, but the transmitting knowledge and experiences
to residents and users of the countryside is still not easy. Is an online community the best platform to
achieve this?
An initial survey shows that such a knowledge network for a vital countryside must:
• be based on regional agendas and practical initiatives;
• reect the specic questions in the area;
• disclose any knowledge, exchanges and development;
• provide an overview and where necessary coordinate;
• not be an organisation but rather a community or communities;
• not only consist of virtual networks but also include actual meetings.
A new knowledge centre is therefore not a new, and certainly not a static institute. Nor is it something you
can physically visit. Rather, it is an orientation, and should primarily be part of a vital network. The Ministry of
Agriculture supports such an approach and has therefore made funding available for www.guus.net. However,
the Ministry does not pull the levers as rather than actually making decisions, it is a member of the community.
This is a new and stimulating support role for the Ministry.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 55
3. Open Government
Since 2006 citizens have been able to visit the site www.politix.nl to
see which bills have been brought before parliament, and how parties
have voted on them. If you want to keep abreast of parliamentary issues
you can visit www.ikregeer.nl and subscribe through RSS, email and
Twitter. Both sites make use of government information, but neither
is a government site. They are initiatives of concerned citizens that
contribute to strengthening democracy. More sites like these would
certainly be welcome.
Example: the inaccessibility of parliamentary information
The sources of information used and referred to by these sites is
Parlando, an online collection of all the ofcial documents of the Dutch
Government. However, visitors to the site cannot reuse the information
they nd there, and it is not even possible to create a link to a
parliamentary report. The explanation given by Politix.nl is as follows:
“All the information comes from Parlando, which contains all
parliamentary documents since 1995. You can nd the original text
by entering the dossier number and number of the bill. We would of
course have preferred to directly link this information, but that’s too
modern and too open for Parlando.”
The popular online magazine www.sargasso.nl, that addresses
scientic, political and cultural issues, complains about the closed
nature of Parlando:
“For some days I have been writing about the ‘parliamentary bill of the
day’ in an attempt to make politics more accessible and increase public
involvement, but when I do try to follow it, I immediately feel as if I
am being blocked by Parlando, parliament’s own information system”
This problem is partly solved by the site www.geencommentaar.nl,
which has built a site directly before Parlando. Not only does this site
provide the necessary parliamentary documents, it also provides a link
to the document so you can keep using it. A very convenient solution,
and I know that many civil servants make use of it. The question is: why
is it necessary? Why are there hurdles for citizens to use an information
resource provided by the government?
The site Ikregeer.nl had to overcome an even bigger hurdle before
it could launch its services. Not only does this site direct visitors to
parliamentary bills, but to be able to offer more functionality, all the
documents on Parlando have been transferred to Ikregeer.nl., The site
now offers visitors a whole a range of possibilities for subscribing,
responding, making statements, etc. This is a valuable asset to any
interested citizen or civil servant. Indeed, the Ministry of Housing even
used the site in one of its annual reports. But this was only possible
after the development of a different way to access these documents.
www.sargasso.nl is one of the better blogs
from the Netherlands, and became known
for the in-depth information it provided
about the EU constitution. The issue of
privacy receives a great deal of attention
on this site.
www.geencommentaar.nl is a left-leaning
blog about various political themes. It
focuses on various political themes and
aims to make an active contribution to the
social debate.
www.politix.nl gives details of all
parliamentary bills since January 2003.
You can see how the parties voted and
whether the bill was accepted or
rejected. Users can also discuss proposals
or vote on them.
parlando.sdu.nl is an overview of all the
parliamentary documents and is a
publication of the company SDU. The
government sites www.overheid.nl and
www.tweedekamer.nl refer to this site.

56 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
Meanwhile, the government is working hard to develop a parliamentary
information system (Parlis) to organise internal information ows.
However, both www.overheid.nl and www.tweedekamer.nl still refer
to Parlando for documents. It would seem that it is difcult to build a
site where citizens can easily access these documents. However, this is
not what Sargasso, Politix.nl and Ikregeer.nl are asking for. They don’t
want a site, they want the documents. If they are able to access these
sources of information more easily they would be able to build the site
and develop all the useful functionalities themselves. That should be
possible, shouldn’t it?
What is Open Government?
Open Government is an initiative to increase the amount of online
government information in an open format like XML or RSS, or via an
API. Of course the government must also take care of user-friendly
websites where visitors can access government information, but we do
not have to come up with everything ourselves. Because the information
is publicly available, others can build on it and innovative applications
can emerge such as Ikregeer.nl. Open government information can
therefore support democracy and strengthen innovation.
The Government Information Act gives Dutch citizens the right to
request access to government documents. However, the evaluations
performed by the Wallage and Wolffensperger commissions have
called for the government to disclose more information. ICTU, a Dutch
institution that helps public authorities improve their ICT performance,
has subsequently begun to disclose information through the internet,
focusing on regulations, permits and reports. This information can now
be seen online in various municipalities, but again, the information
cannot be reused (for example, linking this information to a property
website so you can see what has happened or what is going to happen
in the vicinity of a house you are considering buying).
ICTU has also begun to disclose the content of databases that is deemed
by the Government Information Act to be of a public nature and which
is useful for citizens and businesses. This content could be quantiable
results, statistical data, addresses of institutions (e.g. schools,
municipalities), maps, etc. However, this initiative has yielded few
results, and the few results that have been generated unfortunately do
not lend themselves well to reuse. For example, the Dutch Food and
Consumer product Safety Authority has put some reports online, but
these are only available through the site’s own search engine.
The potential
The conclusion is that we are working on several fronts to make
information available online, but that information is only accessible
through specic government sites, and then only if you perform a
specic search for it. As a citizen, I don’t want to have to go to the
municipal council’s website to nd out if there are any problems with
for example, a permit in my neighbourhood. I want to be able to access
all information from all sources in the environment of my choosing. Via
mail, via RSS or on a site that has developed a convenient functionality
for this purpose.
The website of the Ministry of General
Affairs provides more information about
the Wallage commission at http:// twurl.
nl/585n3i, and about the Wolffensperger
commission on http://twurl.nl/ ssghpj
ICTU is the government’s ICT
administration organisation and its
purpose is to support the government in
developing, introducing and
implementing innovative ICT applications.
See www.ictu.nl
Dictionary: XML, eXtensible Markup
Language, a standard for structuring data
and distinguishing text from graphics.
Dictionary: API, application programming
interface, a set of agreements through
which sites and computers can work
together to exchange information.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 57
This is not something that has to be developed by the government.
There are enough businesses and initiatives that will rush in to ll
this need. Take www.buurtlink.nl, a site that provides visitors with
all sorts of information and facilities based on their postcode. As the
government, it is up to us to make all the information we have available
so it can be used by creative outlets such as Buurtlink. Then we can give
the creativity of citizens and the innovation of businesses the space
they need to ourish. I’m very curious what kind of interesting sites and
mash-ups this will result in!
There are already some wonderful examples that can often provide
valuable, but also simply enjoyable information. A well-known mash-
up is www.everyblock.com, where the residents of several American
cities can obtain information about crimes committed in their postcode
area, but can also nd out about the results of hotel and restaurant
inspection sites, building permits and the like. In the Netherlands
there are similar sites including www.misdaadkaart.nl or www.
alarmeringen.nl. You can obtain this information via RSS. For example,
in Netvibes I receive all police and re service alerts that occur near
my house.
Many mash-ups use maps (such as Google Maps) to present information
through a map. Google started to make this information available in
mid-2005, and in many ways this can be seen as a new era. Google
information is also available through an API, which can be quickly and
easily integrated with other data. The result of this is an interactive
map which can then be included on a page through embedding or with
a widget. For more information about Dutch mash-ups with maps, visit
www.nederkaart.nl.
I think mash-ups mark the beginning of larger developments. Mash-
ups are all about collecting, integrating and presenting information.
With all the information that is available on the internet, the
possibilities are limitless. It seems to be a question of time before
smart interfaces (incorporating geographical information) are used to
meet our information requirements better and more quickly. A question
like “which bicycle paths in my neighbourhood are safe” can then be
answered through a map that displays information about alerts, crime,
repairs, etc over a certain timeframe.
Principles of Open Government
Efforts are also underway in the United States to disclose government
information, and this was one of Barack Obama’s presidential
campaigns: “Obama plans to make government data available online in
universally accessible formats to allow citizens to make use of that data
to comment, derive value, and take action in their own communities.”
If we wish to implement open government in the Netherlands then it
is of course important that we think about the way we are going to do
this. Obviously, when providing this information issues such as privacy
should be taken into account, but there are also other constraints.
In the United States an Open Government Working Group has been set
up to publish government information (see www.opengovdata.org).
This working group has established a number of principles that must be
www.buurtlink.nl is a social network site
for your neighbourhood, based on the
postcode you enter. Messages are exchanged
between residents, calls for action are
made, activities organised, etc. The site
displays other sources of information based
on your postcode. This site offers municipal
councils and other government services a
great opportunity to keep in contact with
residents.
www.everyblock.com provides government
information in the cities of Boston,
Charlotte, Chicago, Los Angeles Miami, New
York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Jose,
Seattle and Washington DC.
www.misdaadkaart.nl provides an overview
of crimes and police alerts by category and
location (shown on the map).
www.alarmeringen.nl gives a current
overview of police and re service activities.
You can subscribe by entering your postcode
and RSS feeds can keep you updated about
what’s happening in your area
www.nederkaart.nl is a blog about online
geo-information. The site refers to many
sources, including government ones.
Bron: BarackObama.com - Barack Obama
on technology and innovation:
http://twurl.nl/2dzogp
www.opengovdata.org is a wiki with
eight principles for open government
information, set up in December 2007.

58 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
Embedding, how do you do that?
Many sites have video clips, presentations,
photos or maps you can embed. So how does
that work? Isn’t that something only techies
can do? Not necessarily. It basically means
you can place a part of the site, such as a
video clip, presentation, photo or map on
another webpage. This could be your blog,
but could also be in a response on a forum,
such as netwerk.ambtenaar20.nl
How does it work? Go to a site like YouTube,
copy the embed code you see next to the
lm clip and then go to own page on the
Civil Servant 2.0 network. You can add a
response at the bottom of the page. If you
paste the embed code in the text eld and
click on ‘save’, the lm now appears
embedded in your page.
met by open government information. This checklist could also be used
for a similar undertaking in the Netherlands:
“Government data shall be considered open if they are made public in
a way that complies with the principles below:
1. Complete : All public data are made available. Public data are data
that are not subject to valid privacy, security or privilege limitations.
2. Primary: Data are collected at the source, with the nest possible
level of granularity, not in aggregate or modied forms.
3. Timely: Data are made available as quickly as necessary to preserve
the value of the data.
4. Accessible: Data are available to the widest range of users for the
widest range of purposes.
5. Machine processable: Data are reasonably structured to allow auto-
mated processing.
6. Non-discriminatory: Data are available to anyone, with no
requirement of registration.
7. Non-proprietary: Data are available in a format over which no entity
has exclusive control.
8. License-free: Data are not subject to any copyright, patent, trade-
mark or trade secret regulation. Reasonable privacy, security and
privilege restrictions may be allowed.
Compliance must be reviewable, which means:
• A contact person must be designated to respond to people trying to
use the data;
• A contact person must be designated to respond to complaints about
violations of the principles;
• An administrative or judicial court must have the jurisdiction to
review whether the agency has applied these principles appropriately.
Summary
At the beginning of this book, I attempt to describe in depth the
impact of the absence of place and time on the internet. Nevertheless,
we still spend most of our time in the physical world, where these
dimensions still determine how we organise our world. It is therefore
unsurprising that copies of the physical world are often copied online.
This can clearly be seen in the design of government websites. They are
virtual concepts with an entrance, organisational structure and a place
for everything, and they are organised according to very strict rules.
Yet this is an increasingly inaccurate reection of how society works.
Every citizen with some ICT knowledge can create a similar building,
or a better functioning version, or a useful part of it. Again, we should
Dictionary: Mash-up, a remix of tools and
data from various internet sources such as a
combination of statistical details with
Google Maps.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 59
look at what we as government have to do ourselves and in what areas
we should encourage initiatives from society. The wealth of information
the government holds is a catalyst for such public initiatives and may
even lead to the creation of new enterprises. We as a government
should therefore place more emphasis on making information available
in an open format. This should be the basis of Open Government.

60 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
The British do it better
Several years ago the Belgians do it better was the motto used by the Dutch government to encourage a
more effective approach to electronic services. But when it comes to government 2.0 the motto should be:
the British do it better. Of course, it helps that there was a minister (Tom Watson) who actively pursued
policy in this eld, but otherwise it’s just a case of them making good use of the instruments found on the
internet. Here are some examples:
British 2.0 initiatives
This is not of course an exhaustive list, but some ideas are presented below that can easily be used in the
Netherlands:
• A Civil Service Code has been prepared to provide civil servants with guidelines on how to conduct
themselves in online discussions and similar situations. See also Chapter 8;
• The Power of Information Taskforce (poweronformation.wordpress.com) also has its own blog. As with
the rst version of Civil Servant 2.0, it can be freely accessed online with WordPress.
• The Taskforce has launched a competition called Show us a better way (www.showusabetterway.com)
which challenges people to respond to the question “What online tool would you like to build with
public information?”. This is a prime example of crowdsourcing, and generates many ideas which can be
followed on Twitter and which you can respond to. It’s a shame you can’t vote for ideas as that would
make the judging the ideas much easier;
• In order to know what public information is available for you to build on, a list of information sources
has been prepared, and the Taskforce is working hard to make more public information available online.
Furthermore, a Public Sector Information Unlocking Service (www.opsi.gov.uk/unlocking service) has
been launched which allows citizens to report what information they would like to see released online.
Although this is unfortunately only available on a standard non-interactive website, you can vote to
support a proposal.
• Finally, the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (www.dius.gov.uk) is engaged in an internet
consultation through a forum and online survey. This isn’t very different from the approach taken by some
of the ministries in the Netherlands
When it comes to web 2.0, the British approach is much better. But we can certainly catch up – after all,
we have more than enough ideas. So now it’s time for some Dutch experiments!

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 61
Organisation 2.0: the government’s
internal work methods
In Chapter 6 I explored the potential of web 2.0 in the relationship
between citizen and government. But we’re the ones who represent the
government so it’s up to us as civil servants to take up such initiatives
(more about this in Chapter 8). However, to do this we need to have
space within our organisation. Working interactively with elements
outside the organisation also requires a different approach to work
within the organisation. This Chapter also deals with the consequences
for hierarchy, management and the organisation’s culture.
Who should work with organisation 2.0?
I have been involved in several projects that have made use of the
possibilities I’ve described, and my contribution to the process has been
attempting to explain the rules around these new resources. However, I
do stress that responsibility always lies with the policy ofcer involved
(or staff member or contractor, etc.). They are the ones who know the
subject, know the audience, and know what they want to achieve. I
only offer my experience with web 2.0 to address any gaps in knowledge
they may have, but they’re the ones who have to get it done!
I work on the assumption that this knowledge gap is a temporary
situation, that the proper use of web 2.0 resources will become a
standard instrument of civil servants. This is currently not the case:
we’re in a period of searching and experimentation. Some organisations
and departments embrace this new way of working and others are
less enthusiastic. Broadly speaking, there are three ways in which
organisations can approach web 2.0:
1. As an observer by for example ensuring your organisation is constantly
kept informed of online discussions and networks in your own policy
eld. There are many activities in this area. Communications staff
and information specialists gather information for analysis and also
use it to put together internal newsletters. This is a function that
is often centralised within an organisation. However, this does not
always allow policy ofcers to keep up-to-date with the very latest
developments in their eld. From all the information, discussions
and events you can access on the web, you only want to pinpoint
what’s happening in your niche. A collection of press clippings or a
newsletter is therefore not specic enough, and it is too indirect to
provide a response to.
2. As a user, by for example involving external specialist knowledge
relating to specic projects and thereby elaborating and
implementing a web 2.0 approach. Although there is increasing
emphasis on how departments themselves organise communications
around a project, a communications specialist or agency is still
usually involved in running a campaign or other activity. This means
there is no room for interaction with the target group, as the agency
will convey messages on behalf of your organisation, but it is not
actually in a position to engage in discussion. The only one who can
do that is you. In the interactive world of web 2.0, this approach is
therefore inadequate.
Chapter 7.

62 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
3. As a participant, when the organisation has created its own web
2.0 presence, staff have gained an insight into the methods and
possibilities, and it has become an integral part of the organisation’s
way of working. Only then can you properly apply the web 2.0
approach and the web 2.0 resources to generate added value in your
work. This makes it possible to interact with your environment and
society so you can perform your public functions. It is still possible to
outsource tasks to specialists, but as a civil servant you are the one
responsible for how you interpret your role and for developing the
discussion. This is something that cannot be outsourced.
For the purposes of clarication, I have put the above three approaches
into a table:
Through this table, I would like to demonstrate how this changing
relationship between government and citizen is essentially a changing
relationship between civil servant and citizen. If we as a government
wish to participate in the public debate, if we want to engage with
online discussions, if we wish to make use of knowledge, ideas and
efforts from society, then it is something we have to initiate in our own
working environment. It’s up to you to start up your own activities and
monitor the interactions that take place.
This kind of interaction therefore occurs increasingly outside the
traditional hierarchical lines and structures. Civil servants who work
and participate in online networks across organisational boundaries
need the room and the freedom to manage their own activities, which
therefore requires a different approach to management. This means
that the position of the communications department will change, with
the focus shifting away from providing external information and towards
internal support and training. In other words, how can the organisation
help employees to maximise the room they operate in and get the most
out of their knowledge, network and efforts?
In Chapter 6 I described the core features of web 2.0: openness,
networking, and based on the individual user. These are the
foundations for the success of many of the major web 2.0 sites and
are the conditions for successful communities and mass collaboration
initiatives. Government can apply this approach in its relationship with
society if the necessary conditions are in place within the organisation
and these work methods are based on these key characteristics. This
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
Society =
Organisation =

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 63
presents quite a challenge for most government organisations. Here are
those three features at a glance:
1 . Openness, the organisation’s transparency;
2. Networking, horizontal networking vs. vertical hierarchies;
3. Employee-central, instead of based on job descriptions.
In the next three sections I will examine how the government operates
in each of these areas and how its approach can be brought more into
line with the culture of web 2.0.
1. Openness
Collaboration requires a transparent organisation
During my career at the Ministry of Agriculture I’ve worked in many
departments. Because I was mainly involved in short-term projects,
effective transfer of documents and other information to colleagues
was important so they could consult them afterwards. That’s why I
chose never to save my les on my own network, but on the drive of
the department I was working for. But there was also a disadvantage:
I couldn’t exchange documents with other sections of the ministry, as
the departmental hard drives were independent of each other with no
shared access. And an even more troublesome obstacle was not being
able to re-access the les I had created on the previous project.
Not only is this terribly inefcient, it also hampers collaboration across
organisational boundaries. Openness, insight in activities, and access
to information is a prerequisite to being able to collaborate. After
all, what does collaboration consist of apart from connecting your
activities to the activities of others? But to do this you have to know
what the other person is doing, and on what basis they are carrying
out their activities, and what is already in place. I am certain that
more openness and transparency within organisations would drastically
reduce the amount of tasks that are duplicated, and would also mean
that activities could be much more closely aligned.
A closed work approach does not lead to added value
In addition to your network hard drive, the most common instrument
used for collaborating within and outside of organisations is undoubtedly
email. It is accessible and suitable for one-on-one communication where
no direct contact (telephone, instant messaging, and chat) is required.
But it cannot offer more added value than that as it is a closed medium.
Of course, sometimes email is the right choice. If you want to
communicate something directly or condentially, then you don’t want
other people to read it. However, that of course does not apply to most
messages. Documents are often circulated by email, while a better
option would be to display them somewhere where everyone can nd
them. It’s the same when you ask for people to comment on a piece; it
remains one-on-one contact, because people can’t see how others have
responded and a dialogue cannot therefore be developed. Or you send
an interesting link to someone, but you might have other colleagues who
would also nd it interesting or useful, but who will never know about it.
Choosing this closed approach does not generate any added value.
Exchanging documents
Have you given a presentation, written a
good article or report, or have you come
across an interesting document you want
to share with others? You could do that
through email, but it’s even more
convenient if people can download it
themselves. But how do you put a
document on the internet? There are
various sites you could use:
• www.skydrive.live.com Windows Live
SkyDrive offers 25GB of free online
storage. You can use SkyDrive storage
to back up your les online for free, or
to share large les with others. You can
assign permissions and set folders to
public or private, to help you share
individual les with only people that
you select;
• www.scribd.com is a sort of YouTube
for documents: you can upload and
share you own documents, but you can
also nd all sorts of useful documents
from other people and embed them in
your site;
• www.yousendit.com can be used to
send very large les that do not t on
email. You upload your le and the
recipient receives a link to it.
Make sure you never share condential
material in this way and you don’t
accidently disclose information to more
people than you mean to!

64 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
You›ll never get more than what you’re expecting, which is the reaction
of the person you have sent the email to. You won’t receive any new,
unexpected insights. By working openly and sharing knowledge you
can congure your environment so ideas are generated, activities are
aligned, and other people can build on what you are doing. Openness
is key to innovation.
Taking responsibility begins with having enough information
A hierarchical organisation is a “need-to-know-organisation ‘. Given
that each employee plays a specic role in the process (a cog in the
system), they no longer have to think for themselves about why they
need to carry out that task. Information is given to them by their
manager. If the approach to work is strictly hierarchical, employees
do not need any more information horizontally (at earlier or later
stages in the process, or from other departments) or vertically (through
management).
The approach will not normally be as strict as this, but it is the basis
on which most government organisations work. Even from within your
own organisation, it’s often difcult to tell what another organisational
unit is doing, and how management interprets the challenges facing
the organisation. These unknown factors make it very difcult for
employees to assess how they should act and to know what areas they
can take responsibility in. Internally, but certainly also externally.
If the government wishes to place more emphasis on operating
more interactively with the public and working across organisational
boundaries, it must invest in staff with sufcient administrative and
political sensitivity. Such competencies are talents which can be fed
by knowledge and understanding of what the organisation is doing and
where management wants to lead it. This gives employees space and
allows them to take responsibility for initiatives. Again, transparency is
a prerequisite here.
2. Networks
Complexitycallsforexibility
Openness and transparency are essential for cooperation, especially
when this cooperation extends beyond the boundaries of your own
department. And when exactly is that not the case? After all, each
dossier and subject you deal with has several dimensions, and people
who represent these dimensions: You work together with colleagues
who are active in related areas, with people from other organisations
who are busy with the same subject, with citizens or groups that are
dealing with the same topic, with managers who can contribute. In
every task or area you have a network of people around you who you
have to work with.
As the challenges faced by the government become more complex, so
too does its network. And the changing balance between citizens and
government means there are an increasing number of groups, citizens and
other parties in society belonging to that network (horizontalisation).
To be able to perform your task, you have to collaborate with fellow
civil servants, the public sector and citizens, and take steps with them
together. In fact, these are the members of your team. Naturally, each

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 65
team member has his or her own interests, but you all need each other
to make progress.
Working in different network teams
Depending on their aims, network teams may be operational for longer
or shorter periods of time, and may be assembled to a greater or lesser
extent on an ad-hoc basis, comprise people who are local or far away,
gathered together on your initiative, or from other organisations or
perhaps even from society. The point is, you have to use any network
and anyone you need to perform your tasks. In Chapter 2 I outlined a
world in which time and place are absent and information and people
materialise as and when you need them. Similarly, you gather a network
around you when you embark on a project.
Many web 2.0 tools were released in the last few years precisely to
address this way of working. Via networking sites like LinkedIn you
can nd people who are active in your eld, by reading blogs you can
gain an impression of the contribution they may be able to make to
your project, and then there are online workspaces, such as Ning.com
or Google Sites where you can collaborate on a document in a wiki,
have contact by email, instant messaging (MSN), Skype (telephone)
and discussion forums, keep each other informed through Twitter and
YouTube and share information via Scribd and Delicious. This allows you
to put your team together and create a work environment.
What you don’t know you have to learn through others
As I mentioned, you can put together a team like this yourself, but
sometimes you can also connect with existing online communities
or groups that can help you. But people who you haven’t considered
could also assist your project and contribute added value. They can
suggest overlaps you hadn’t seen yourself and provide insights you were
unaware of, provide you with knowledge and ideas from a different
perspective and bring new networks and communities into view.
The added value of working in networks is not only the ability to involve
people from various organisations and situations and put together the
best team possible. The added value also lies in being able to see beyond
your own environment. This increases the potential of the people,
knowledge and ideas you can choose from. Your network allows you to
reach the networks that lie beyond it, or allows these networks to reach
you of course, and this is certainly the case if you work on an open basis.
Organisationstructureandexibility
This Chapter addresses the challenges faced by government organisations
to incorporate web 2.0 in their internal processes. The hierarchical
structure of most organisations can be compared to an archive structure.
Just as a document can be placed in a folder, a subject can be placed in
just one organisational unit, and as an employee you can only belong to
one department, whereas the reality is of course much more complex.
That calls for a specic combination of people and resources to solve
a specic problem. And of course, that specic combination can never
be reected in an inexible organisational structure that has been set
up on a long-term basis.
Arrange an appointment through
Datumprikker.nl
If you want to make an appointment with
colleagues, you can quickly arrange it
through Outlook. But when it’s outside your
organisation it usually leads to a lengthy
process of back-and-forth mailing. A
solution to this is to subscribe to www.
datumprikker.nl. Create an event, choose
the times you can attend and add the
addresses of the people who you want to
invite. The site keeps you informed of any
responses.
www.google.com/sites provides access to
Google Sites which bundles functions such
as Gmail, Google Docs and Google Calendar
in one environment. Google wants to offer
an online ‘intranet’ to compete with
products such as Microsoft Ofce.
Saving your favourite sites
Most people store their favourites or
bookmarks in their browser, e.g. Internet
Explorer or Firefox. But you don’t have
access to these when you’re not at your
own computer. You can also use the site
www.delicious.com. Then you can save
your favourites on the internet and
access them from anywhere. An
additional advantage is that you can
easily share your links with others.

66 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
The current working methods of government organisations are also
poorly set up for an organisation 2.0 approach. To cope with the growing
complexity of society and our activities, we have to make maximum use
of the potential within our organisations. If we want to get to grips with
the working methods of the new generation of employees there is still
much progress to be made, and employees and the tasks they perform
are the foundation for this progress.
3. The employee is central
In a hierarchical organisation, everyone has their own place as indicated
in their job description, and this provides the minimum requirements
you need to be able to perform your duties. I am intrigued by the
word ‘minimum’ in this sense. What else can people do that we as an
organisation can make use of? What knowledge do they possess, what
kind of networks do they belong to? What are their ideas, interests and
energy? Organisations are often unaware of these factors. Shouldn’t we
do something about this for the mutual benet of the employee and
the organisation?
Using your employees’ potential
Earlier in this book I cited the example of Google, who allow their staff
to spend 20% of their time on their own projects. If they have an idea
they think can help the company, they are granted the room to develop
it during working hours and really go for it. That of course generates
many fresh and ripe ideas, but it has also yielded some fantastic
innovations, such as Orkut, Gmail and Google Maps. It is also a fantastic
way to motivate staff. How often have you had a great idea, but didn’t
have the time to execute it, or it was outside your eld of activities, or
didn’t meet with your boss’ approval?
The government does not make enough use of the potential of smart,
involved and energetic staff. It must address this situation. In Chapter
6 I discussed mass collaboration and crowdsourcing in society, but these
resources can also be used just as effectively in government, to give
employees the opportunity to do more than what falls within their job
description. A number of government organisations recently opened the
website www.ideeencentrale.nl to gather ideas from civil servants.
Why can’t this be a government-wide initiative?
Give employees the facilities they need
When you look at sites like Flickr.com and YouTube, it is impossible
to ignore one crucial aspect: these sites could not exist without user
generated content which takes the form of photos and video clips
uploaded by users. The sites themselves are an empty shell, which is
lled by the users. These businesses realise only too well how important
users are and how important it is to provide them with everything they
need. That is why web 2.0 sites concentrate fully on users so they are
able to provide commentaries and contribute improvements. These
sites remain as beta versions so they can be continually modied to
meet users’ needs.
The challenge that lies ahead for government organisations will be to
consider how they can assist and support their employees in their work
Two examples of mash-ups with Google
Maps are www.ckervision.com which
displays on a map of the world photos
published on Flickr.com, and www.
twittervision.com which does the same
with tweets
Online discussions and harmonisation
In many organisations non-standard
software is installed that allows
employees to chat, e.g. MSN Messenger
or Google Talk. If you want to discuss
something online with a group you can try
Campre (www.camprenow.com). The
site allows you to talk in private,
exchange les and display images, invite
others to a discussion, etc. It is just as if
you are working in one room, but then
digitally. You can do this for free with up
to four people.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 67
and their methods. After all, government organisations depend on the
contribution of their employees and their productivity. And they are
rapidly confronted with a generation of new employees who are used to
having much greater opportunities and exibility in terms of resources
and space, and partly as a result of this they are therefore able to easily
switch to another employer. How can organisations assist enterprising
civil servants and help them to develop?
In recent years the government has placed a strong emphasis on
standardisation. In the nineties, the costs of ICT and other facilities,
and their management rose sharply, and the solution was to provide
everyone with the same facilities. We all work from a exible ofce
space, using the same computer and the same software. Special
arrangements can sometimes be made, but these arrangements then
have to be applied to the rest of the department. For example, our
department was provided with the same telephone, which offered me
an insufcient number of functions while offering my colleagues too
many. This is what happens when everyone is made to act as a cog in
the machine.
Personalise your way of working
And that’s the way it was until web 2.0 came along. Through the standard
browser (Internet Explorer 6) we could suddenly access information
and collaborative environments that we could congure ourselves and
choose our favourite approach. The light of personalisation and choice
could nally break through the pervasive darkness of standardisation.
Online software that supports me in my way of working, which is easy to
use and rich in functionalities. That’s the way I want to work. Why can’t
I exchange my phone for a netbook? Why can’t I log into the network via
wi? Why can’t I install the software I need on my work station?
But this personalisation and individual choice is not of course only about
technology. It is also about the space my manager gives me and the trust
he has in what I do, where I do it and when. They arrange for special
areas where you can sit the whole day if you need to concentrate on
writing a report, but you can’t do it in the peace of your own home.
Are you perhaps a night owl who comes up with their best ideas when
it’s dark? That’s a pity, because you need to be in at half past nine and
have to wait till four at least to leave. There were once good reasons
for these rules, and they will continue to apply for certain functions,
but now they are by no means applicable to everyone. Now we are not
constricted by locations and can work from home, where we may even
have better facilities than in the ofce.
Summary
Rules and regulations are always based in the past and they must
therefore be regularly updated to grow with the possibilities available
and the available culture. The culture of web 2.0 and that of the new
(but also the current) generation of employees calls for some of these
rules to be reviewed. In the rst part of this Chapter I held current
rules and agreements up to the light on the basis of three fundamental
characteristics of web 2.0 and the changes they represent. These
changes actually mean that the rules should really be reviewed. Under
what conditions were they developed and do these conditions still
www.ideeencentrale.nl is an initiative
within and between government
organisations to collect ideas (open
innovation). The site currently has a
limited number of participating
organisations, but that will hopefully
change.
Working from different locations
People are increasingly working from
different locations. Not only ‘at work’ or
at home, but also on the go and in other
places, such as libraries or cafés. Here
are a couple of handy sites for ‘work
nomads’:
• www.free-hotspot.com provides a list
of places with free internet (wi),
mostly at restaurants and cafés;
• www.coworker.nl is a map with an
overview of (mostly free) places to
work: sometimes it’s just an internet
connection, sometimes you can join
other co-workers;
• werk-gelegenheid.nl also has a
summary of useful places, but it is a little
shorter.

68 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
apply? The rules also address such issues as protecting information,
contacts with politicians, self-publishing, the Freedom of Information
Act, collaborating on online documents, and contacts outside your
organisation. It’s time to reopen discussions about these rules.
In the second part of this Chapter about organisation 2.0 I’ll give
you some pointers on how you and your organisation can take a 2.0
approach to work.
Flexible working environment at Microsoft Netherlands
This new way of working is omnipresent at Microsoft’s ofces in Schipol. Introduced in May 2008, the ground
oor has a variety of open and closed seating and table arrangements, and there are sofas, a courtyard
and auditoriums. There is something for everyone. The upper oors (which are closed to visitors) provide
employees with fully exible working environments. However, Microsoft doesn’t expect its employees to
work at the ofce. You get your work done on location (or en route to a location), or else at home. The
building is intended for contacts, not for employees.
This approach means Microsoft needs considerably less space at its headquarters, which saves a great deal
on costs. All in all, it does represent a drastic change in how people work. Microsoft does admit that the
organisation has been turned upside down, but that they also have an aim in mind, one that would have to
bear resutls. Here are the three main reasons for such a radical change:
• Firstly, the expectations are that this will lead to greater productivity because there are many more
internal and exible links. Society is becoming increasingly complex and this complexity is poorly
reected in organisational structures;
• The second aim is to maximise openness and transparency. This is vital for a company like Microsoft
because of its inward-looking and closed culture;
• Finally, and this is probably the most important reason, they wish to appeal to the latest generation of
employees.
How do you set up an organisation 2.0?
Andrew McAfee is a professor at Harvard Business School and originator
of the term Enterprise 2.0. He visited the Netherlands for the
Enterprise 2.0 conference in Zeist, where he gave a comprehensive
overview of the potential of social software for organisations
and provided some practical examples. He also mentioned a
number of areas that will be transformed by social software
• Innovation: how new products and services are developed or new ideas
emerge;
• Collaboration: collaboration between employees, but also between
departments and with clients or partners;
• Knowledge sharing: transparent sharing of knowledge between staff
about new ideas, contacts and activities;
• Collective intelligence: development of knowledge and ideas, e.g.
through discussions and adding to existing knowledge;
www.andrewmcafee.org/blog is the
weblog of Andrew McAfee from the
Harvard Business School. McAfee’s area of
expertise is the inuence of information
technology on companies and
management.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 69
• Search and discovery: searching and nding information, to keep track
of what different departments within the organisation are doing.
These are areas that are crucial for an organisation’s success: how do
you generate new insights and innovation? But they are also areas with
a strong inuence on how people work – how you collaborate, what
information you share with each other, etc. But behind the advantages
cited by McAfee there is a different story, involving people and culture.
So let’s leave the grand perspective about the organisation to the side
and start with employees, colleagues, and their perspective.
Find colleagues who are open to this experiment
Members of organisations who wish to take a web 2.0 approach should
rst nd colleagues who are open to such an experiment. We have to
start with people who have welcomed innovations and who realise that
there is room for improvement in the organisation’s working methods.
A basic positive attitude is necessary because we do have some
obstacles to overcome. As I said earlier, it’s a process of searching and
experimentation, and it can only work if everyone joins in. It requires
an investment in time (to learn new things) and attitude (to learn to
approach work differently). Only then can added value and results be
achieved.
Clearly, this involvement should come from both staff and management.
By using web 2.0 work methods and tools we can boost efciency by
for example cutting meeting times and using other tools to reach
consensus. But if you’re going to do both, then you of course duplicate
the workload. If everyone says what they’re doing on their blog, but are
still expected to attend meetings and listen to rounds of monologues,
then it costs more time than it’s worth. Choosing the right group of
employees to start with is vital.
Investing in knowledge and solid agreements
This group then takes a common approach and agrees on the basis for
their cooperation. If the decision is made not to send documents by
mail, but to place them in an accessible location, everyone must of
course be made aware of this. With these possibilities in mind, you
can make agreements on how to structure cooperation and knowledge
sharing. This will be different for each group After all, you start with
the functionalities that harmonise well with work and the working
method of the group, and where there is most room for improvement.
In addition, you must invest in gaining knowledge about the possibilities
available: how can wikis, social networking sites, RSS feeds, blogs and
all the other features be used in the organisation? What works best for
keeping each other up-to-date? This requires more than following a
course on how to push buttons. If your organisation wants to make the
very most of all the new opportunities, they have to be jointly explored
and analysed. Questions should be asked such as: “Is this something we
can do more efciently or with greater public interaction? If so, how are
we going to apply this?”
If you then have a clear picture of which resources are best for the job,
and what you wish to achieve with them, it’s time to get started. If
What’s an unconference?
An unconference is an open meeting
where interested parties from various
backgrounds come together around a
theme. The participants are asked what
they can contribute to the meeting and
the programme is put together using a
wiki in which each participant describes
their input, as opposed to the
conferences where the organiser arranges
speakers and determines the programme.

70 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
you’ve decided to keep each other informed about interesting web sites
via Delicious, then we should all register with the site, create a prole,
install the right buttons on Internet Explorer and make agreements
on which tags we’re going to use and learn how we can easily send
each other tips. If we’re all going to describe what we’re doing on a
blog, then we’re also going to arrange RSS feeds so everyone can easily
follow the most interesting blogs. In short, we also have to arrange
basic facilities together so we can get to work.
Conceiving a strategy for your environment
But those are the easy things; those are the things you can agree on
with each other and which can be organised and controlled within the
group. But our work involves connecting with elements outside the
organisation. It’s not about just the colleagues you share your room
with being able to read your blog, it’s about being able to involve others
operating in your eld. It is not just about receiving interesting links
from your colleagues; it’s all about getting a picture of the knowledge
and information from the rest of your world. Now we’ve agreed on how
we can work together as an organisation, we must consider how we
are going to arrange cooperation within the network. This is a personal
path that each employee has to take. How do you work? How will
you achieve your goals with your network? What works best for your
environment?
This largely depends on your area of work and your network: are
the various parties involved close together or not? Are there any
communities and possibilities for collaboration, or do you have to set
them up yourself? What degree of openness and collectivity works best?
What tasks can you outsource and what do you have to take care of
yourself? What’s your core business value and where’s the added value?
Do we also have to organise courses for the people in your network
or are they already familiar with the resources and working methods
offered by web 2.0? This requires a plan of action in terms of policy or
eld of activity. When your department or organisation addresses this
area it’s good to have a brainstorming session about what works best
for everyone.
Your work is also personal
Except for your closest colleagues and the members of your network,
this approach also has to work for you of course. This is partly in the
facilities: choose the functionalities that best t you and the way
you work. Do you need a laptop or phone? Do you have to work a lot
from home or while travelling? The best set-up is different for each
individual. What do you need to get the most out of your time and your
environment? For example, my phone’s internet connection allows me
to follow developments on email and Twitter between meetings, so I
don’t have to sit behind my computer at the end of the day and be
confronted with a ood of messages.
What’s even more important than considering what facilities you
need is how you can link them to what drives your passions. If you’re
interested in videos, how can you use this to increase interactivity with
your network? If you know all about it, blog about it and get involved in
discussions. As long as you are clear about your role and function it adds
How do I start a blog?
What’s blogging? Blogging is writing a short
text about what you’re doing and making
it available online so other people can
read it and respond to it. A blog is
therefore a personal account and may be
two lines or two pages long. It’s up to you.
Blogging allows you to tell your story, keep
other people up-to-date with what you’re
doing, and allow them to respond with
tips, ideas or approval. Blogs therefore
often call for responses to gain the
perspectives of others.
Where can you blog? There are currently
many possibilities. For example, you can
start a blog on your own page on the Civil
Servant 2.0 networking site. But there are
also a number of specialised blogging sites
that are free, such as www.blogger.com
and www.wordpress.com. All you have to
do is register, choose a user name, layout,
and then get typing. You can set your own
blog up in a minute.
How do you start? The next challenge is to
start typing. There’s actually never an
ideal time to start blogging, you just have
to do it. If necessary, start by composing
an email. That’s the style you should be
aiming for. Pretend you’re writing
someone an email about what you’ve
achieved that day, or the challenges you
have encountered, and then just paste the
text into your blog. In short, don’t make
things too difcult for yourself.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 71
value to your work as a civil servant and reinforces the authenticity
and value of your message. By being open in your approach and in the
motives behind your activities you can also create understanding and
give yourself room to engage in discussions. And last but by no means
least, through connecting your passions you can make your work more
fun. Your work is also personal, and there’s no harm in showing that. If
you want to set up a 2.0 organisation, this is something you should also
bring to the table.
Manager 2.0
Managers have a crucial role to play in putting their colleagues on the
right track. In this respect, the role isn’t strictly as a manager, but more
as a facilitator. What does each employee need to take full advantage
of his or her knowledge, network and efforts? What features and
functionalities can be used to achieve this? How much space and how
much control is required? How can you keep up-to-date with what your
employees are doing and how can you stimulate them? How can you set
up your department or organisation in such a way that the employees
are able to organise themselves? These are interesting questions to
address in the management process. Here are some tips to kick off the
discussion (see box).
The manager also has certain responsibilities, and this is partly due to
hierarchy: there are political expectations and it’s the manager’s role
to ensure these are fullled by the organisation. But the manager also
has to check that the shared objectives of the department are met. If
it was agreed that there would be greater interaction with the public,
has this been applied in all areas of activity? If there are agreements
about how knowledge is shared, do these agreements work and how can
they be improved? In short, the manager has to have a comprehensive
overview. Being a manager 2.0 is a very interesting job indeed!
Summary
I’ve explained my approach for setting up a 2.0 organisation, and have
provided tips for a manager 2.0. These ideas are based on my own
experiences, and they can only be improved if they are put into practice
and discussed further. I hope you’ll participate in this discussion, as
that is after all the purpose of Civil Servant 2.0.
Plain English
Although much is still possible with sound
and video on the internet, most
communication still consists of text. It is
vital to express yourself clearly. The
Taalridders (language knights) are a group
from the Ministry of Agriculture who
specialise in this area, and here are a few
of their tips:
When you’re writing something …
1. Before you begin, think about what you
want to say. What’s the message of my
text?
2. Put yourself in the reader’s place. What
do they want to know? How long do
they have to read the text?
3. First tell a colleague what you want to
say, and then try to write down what
you said. This works better than formal
style of writing.
4. Don’t beat around the bush. For
example, start with: “I have decided to
amend the Dangerous Dogs Act because
it no longer meets current
requirements. In this letter I will
explain why I have made this decision”.
5. Use short sentences. I tend to use to no
more than fteen words per sentence.
6. Try to avoid the passive voice. Rather
than saying ‘the mouse was eaten by
the cat’, say ‘the cat ate the mouse’.
This keeps readers alert.
7. Avoid the use of difcult words. A clever
text is simple enough for everyone to
understand.
8. Try to avoid using bureaucratic jargon
and outdated turns of phrase, such as
‘in this respect’. For example, use ‘if’
rather than ‘in the event that’.
9. Edit your text mercilessly: I keep it
short and if necessary use appendices.
10. Structure your text in paragraphs and
chapters. A good text has an
introduction, a body and a conclusion.

72 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
Getting started as manager 2.0
Working in a different way requires action, so if you want to take this approach in your department here
are a few helpful hints:
• Make information such as reports, gures, etc. available in your department so employees themselves can
look things up and asses situations;
• Limit the number of departmental meetings, but keep a blog to discus dilemmas and progress;
• Provide opportunities for discussion on the dilemmas and decisions you’ve taken;
• Encourage your employees to keep blogs so their colleagues can keep track of what they’re doing;
• Comment on blogs and participate in the discussion so you can exert your inuence to help meet the
required targets
• Encourage communities that are based around particular themes and which go across organisational
boundaries. Such communities are more effective and better able to generate their own more solutions;
• Count on employees to participate in communities and networks, share knowledge and make use of
knowledge from outside, via RSS feeds for instance;
• Ensure staff are properly trained to work with social software;
• Use open innovation, crowdsourcing and other methods to uncover new knowledge;
• Consider which tools are best for which job, such as a wiki to bring knowledge together in one document;
• Don’t worry if you make mistakes, as that’s part of experimentation. As long as you take an open approach
everyone will know where they stand.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 73
Employee 2.0: the civil servant’s way of
working
In a society that’s becoming more complex and atter, it is increasingly
difcult for a rigidly-organised government to take a comprehensive
approach to tackling issues in society. These issues are increasingly
beyond the boundaries of any one division, department, ministry or
government. This means that the civil servant who deals with the issue
also has to work across boundaries both inside and outside government. A
civil servant’s ‘safe place’ within the hierarchy is becoming increasingly
less assured, while knowing how to nd your way as a civil servant and
what your position entails, is becoming more and more important.
That is a very demanding task for civil servants. It means they not only
have to be involved with public issues within government, they also
have to approach the role from an outwards perspective, to be able to
work in horizontal networks within and outside government and know
the right tools to use. And in the meantime they also need to know
when to involve the manager if an issue is beyond their responsibility.
That’s quite a tall order. What do civil servants have to learn so they
can meet this challenge?
In Chapter 7 I already made the case for tailoring facilities to the
needs of employees. If an organisation wants to get the most out of
its employees’ potential then it has to provide technical support. And
this technical support is therefore different for each employee. But
empowering employees like this means more than just having the right
computer or software. On the internet there are literally thousands of
useful applications that can help you in your work. Which of them can
be used for what? How do they work? What are the opportunities and
what are the risks? These are things that we must learn. What can we
do and what are we allowed to do?
I’ll also use this chapter to discuss the characteristics of a civil servant
2.0. Young people entering the job market have a different view of
work and a different way of working. In an increasingly tighter labour
market, the government must therefore also be prepared to keep
attracting the talent of the future, and I also have some tips in this
regard.
Empowerment: knowing what you can
Firstly, what can we do with 2.0 resources? What opportunities and
useful websites are there? The answer is there are a countless number!
Any entrepreneur can now easily start their own internet business:
they don’t have to purchase any stock or production capacity, because
everything is digital. Even a physical store or ofce premises is no longer
necessary because now you can just start it up at home. All you need is a
computer and a good idea – and there are plenty. A new interactive site is
launched every day in the hope that it will be the next Google or YouTube.
Web 2.0 is partly a result of the huge range of useful functionalities for
collaborating and sharing knowledge in any form.
And that’s convenient for us. We used to be dependent on the software
our organisation just happened to have installed on our computers,
Is the internet address too long?
I regularly come across internet addresses
that are anything up to three lines long, e.g.
a link to a location on Google Maps. Luckily
there is a solution to make these links
shorter, namely with the sites www.tinyurl.
com and the Dutch site www.tweetburner.
com. All you have to do is enter the long
address and then the site will convert in to a
shorter one, e.g. http://tinyurl.
com/6y6esu. Tweetburner does the same
thing, but also keeps track of how many
people click on your links, as well as
providing statistics.
Keeping lists
We all keep lists, and then cross off the
things we’ve done. This is possible in
Outlook, but you can also do it on the
internet. Visit www.tadalist.com, a simple
and accessible site that also allows you to
share lists with others. Or use www.
rememberthemilk.com. This offers many
more possibilities for extensive task
management.
Chapter 8.

74 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
whereas now there are a whole range of possibilities where you can
choose exactly what is suitable for you and the task you have to
perform. Here’s what Douglas Merrill from Google has to say about this:
“Fifteen years ago, enterprise technology was higher-quality than
consumer technology. That’s not true anymore. It used to be that
you used enterprise technology because you wanted uptime, security
and speed. None of those things are as good in enterprise software
anymore (as they are in some consumer software).”
In other words, if you want usable and reliable software you shouldn’t
approach your own organisation, but go to the web.
Instruments must support existing activities
Seeing as Google is a provider of software, the above statement is
certainly in the interests of Google, but the fact remains that there is
enormous potential in the instruments available to civil servants. Some
are well known, others less so or some not at all. What matters is that
you’re looking for the right tool for the task you want to perform better
or more efciently. Here are some examples:
• Maintain contact with your network, with the people you work
with in your policy area (within your department or ministry, from
other ministries or governments or with citizens or civil society
organisations). For example, you can use LinkedIn to gain an overview
of a network and expand it, you can use Twitter to keep you up-to-
date with the activities of your colleagues, and can contact them
through MSN, Google Talk, or Skype.
• Gain knowledge and stay on top of developments in your policy eld:
use RSS feeds so you can easily stay up-to-date with a large number
of news sources, create links on Delicious to important sites, articles
and reports so you can always stay connected to areas and share your
knowledge with others;
• Stay informed about your environment (colleagues, management,
contacts, network): you can do this through writing a short blog about
the latest developments and insights (such as in www.wordpress.
com) and clearly indicating your activities and responsibilities on
your site or employee prole. You can of course also provide images
through sites such as Flickr or YouTube;
• Collaborate on texts or to achieve other results. For example, Dutch
civil servants can use the Rijksweb application to take advantage of
collaborative websites and wikis, but that can also be achieved through
Ning and PBworks, and these sites offer much more extensive possibilities.
Online collaboration on a project can also be facilitated through www.
zoho.com, or you can build your own work environment in Google Sites,
including, of course, Google Docs, Google Spreadsheets, etc.
• To organise input and get ideas from your environment (crowdsourcing,
wisdom of the crowds, use of mash-ups, etc.) you can make use of
User Voice (to gather ideas), www.intrade.com (to start a prediction
market) or Google Maps (to indicate locations).
Source: Morgan Stanley – Technology
Trends, June 20 2008: http://twurl.nl/
j70bu7
www.wordpress.com is just like www.
blogger.com in that it offers facilities to
easily start a blog, free of charge. The
site also allows the software to download
and install your own provider. There are
many free plug-ins (additional features)
available to the site which provide even
more opportunities.
www.zoho.com offers a long list of
programmes and software for your own
use or to collaborate with. For example,
General Electric, the largest company in
the world, uses Zoho as an intranet and
working environment.
Wisdom of the crowd: the idea that the
aggregate opinion of a large group of
people is closest to the best solution.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 75
Civil servants require training to get an insight into all these possibilities.
For example, a Civil Servant 2.0. foundation course should in the rst
instance give participants a feel for the possibilities available and should
be specically focussed on their activities. You can talk at length about
the potential of web 2.0 for government and the work of civil servants,
but you have to learn how to deal with web 2.0. That’s also why there
are various practical tips and tricks in the margins of this book.
A web 2.0 course can help to point out the right way, give people more
condence with the internet and web 2.0, and also to provide practical
tips. But I do think the practical advice provided in such a course should
be supplemented with additional information:
explain the culture of web 2.0, e.g. the characteristics, terms such as
long tail, crowdsourcing and mass collaboration, etc.;
• guidance on how to write on the web;
• awareness of some of the risks and concerns, e.g. regarding privacy,
security, archiving and your position as a civil servant. I will deal with
this in greater depth in the next section.
Where can I learn this?
To put civil servants in a position where they can responsibly use web
2.0 resources, their organisation should offer them the opportunity to
learn this, preferably in different ways so everyone can choose what’s
best for them. The following Civil Servant 2.0 learning resources are
under development:
• Web 2.0: The course provides instruction about useful internet sites,
but also about the impact on the relationship between government
and society. The information centre at the Ministry of Agriculture
has organised several courses and the ministries of Foreign Affairs
and Economic Affairs also wants to offer employees this course. The
Government Information Service (Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst) also offers
its own course for communications professionals;
• An online course can reach more people: Possibilities are being
studied for developing an online course on web 2.0 for library staff
(www.23dingen.nl) and a course in a 3D environment or a serious
game;
• Tips and tricks: The network site of Civil Servant 2.0 also offers a
section on ‘tips and tricks’. The idea behind this is to offer practical
advice on how web 2.0 resources can be used to lessen stress and
improve cooperation. You can also visit the site www.lifehacking.nl
for further information.
• Examples: Lead by example. A collection of best practices has been
put together so others can learn from them or draw inspiration from
them.
If you’re interested in following a web 2.0 course click on cursus.
ambtenaar20.nl for the latest news.
www.intrade.com Is an online stock
market (prediction market) where you can
participate in existing markets or even
open your own market. This does not
entail making investments in companies,
but for example, in the likelihood of
something happening, e.g. of the
Democrats being re-elected to power in
the U.S. Intrade is a platform where you
can make use of the wisdom of the crowd.
Google calculator
The calculator on your computer isn’t
easily accessible. It’s much quicker to
enter the sum into Google, which can
perform mathematical calculations,
metric conversion, currency conversion,
etc. Here are some examples:
• 5+2*2
• How many miles is 1 kilometre?
• Convert 2 metres into feet
• How many seconds in 3 minutes?
• 10 USD in EUR

76 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
How to handle information
The advent of the computer meant big changes for many organisations. In the beginning this was particularly
true for typists, but ultimately every civil servant was given their own personal computer and was responsible
for typing their own texts. A much bigger change occurred when computers were connected across a network.
Email and network drives allowed documents and messages to be exchanged and cooperation and exchanging
information within the organisation became a lot easier. And with the arrival of the internet it also became
possible to do this with the rest of the world.
Email became very popular. So popular in fact, that now it’s seen as a threat to the productivity and mental health
of employees. There are courses on how to handle email, and several companies have introduced email-free
Fridays. This is the rst sign of a fundamental change. We have in fact gone from a situation where we had so little
information that it was a struggle to get work done to a situation where we have an abundance of information.
Now the world has become a lot more transparent as a result of the internet and the exchange of information has
become a great deal easier, the amount of information has become overwhelming – information overload.
This situation has arisen because the mentality has not developed alongside the growth of information access
and interactive possibilities. We still think that we have to read everything. In other words, we aren’t selective.
A monthly trade magazine with ten items may contain one or two articles that are actually relevant, but because
the magazine only appears once a month anyway, the fact it isn’t so specic isn’t very important. But if you have
ten email newsletters, twenty websites and thirty blogs to follow that all relate to your eld of activity then
it can all get a bit too much. So what’s the solution? Well there are actually two: be more selective and make
better use of tools such as RSS feeds, Netvibes, etc.
I often speak to people who can’t keep up with all the ows of information. They know of the existence of
websites, blogs, discussion forums, etc. in their eld of activity, but they don’t have the time to read everything,
in addition to all the trade magazines and news clippings. They also make selections, but they select what they
are familiar with, and choose to leave to one side the new ways of exchanging information and public discussion,
saying that they don’t have the time. I think this is regrettable, rstly because I think it’s every civil servant’s
responsibility to be aware of what’s happening. But also because we as government are always struggling to
keep up with what’s going on in society. But mainly, because there is a smarter way of doing things.
Empowerment: knowing what you should and
shouldn’t do
Much of what I have written about the opportunities offered by web
2.0 to facilitate dialogue between government and society call for
civil servants to take a different approach to work. To prevent online
dialogue slipping into overly informal, one-dimensional chit-chat we
need pro-active civil servants who are willing to engage with the public
and who have a visible presence. This calls for civil servants who can
ask the right questions, generate enthusiasm, listen, and confront the
issues so they can stake a clear role in the dialogue.
For example, to actively participate in online networks and discussions
as a civil servant you have to assess what you cannot and what you can
and should say. After all, you are operating in an external position and
cannot therefore subject any of your responses to internal approval.
That will for example have consequences for hierarchical alignment,
management and for civil servants themselves. This can result in many
dilemmas.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 77
Civil service code
So what are the desirable characteristics for civil servants operating
online? In Britain, they have already thought about this and the UK
government has prepared a document entitled Guidance for online
participation, as part of the wider Civil Service Code. The main points
are as follows:
1. Be credible: be accurate, fair, thorough and transparent;
2. Be consistent: encourage constructive criticism and deliberation.
3. Be cordial, honest and professional at all times;
4. Be integrated: wherever possible, align online participation with
other ofine communications;
5. Be a civil servant: remember that you are an ambassador for
your organisation. Wherever possible, disclose your position as a
representative of your department or agency.
One notable aspect of this guidance is that it primarily focuses on
general principles and leaves plenty of scope for civil servants to
participate in the substantive debate. It even allows room to provide
online assurances if they fall within your remit. The fact that this
guidance ts on one page is also striking!
I think we could apply most of these guidelines to the Netherlands.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Dutch Government Information
service are looking into this. There are a few extra areas I would like to
see dealt with in a code like this:
1. Civil servant values: these are well represented in the guidance:
“Remember you are also a civil servant when you’re online and that
means the following”;
2. The culture of web 2.0: there are also references to this in the
guidance, such as transparency, sharing knowledge (unless only
intended for internal use), etc. However, the difference with other
forms of public contact could be better described;
3. Pitfalls, these are also included on the UK site and include realising
that you are identied by your IP address, that you should consult your
manager when in doubt, keeping personal information anonymous,
copyright, making commitments, etc. However, there should also be
references to recording and storage of blogs and reactions.
4. Dilemmas: the guidance does not make any mention of dilemmas.
This code is for civil servants in their strict role as civil servants.
However, the separation between work and home is becoming
increasingly blurred:
a. To what extent can you express a different opinion when you are
online ‘at home’ rather than at work?
b. Can you also present yourself as a civil servant from your IP address
at home?
Source: Civil Service Code – Guidance for
online participation: www.civilservice.gov.
uk/iam/codes/social_media/participation.
asp
For more infromation about the Netherlands
Government Information Service (RVD), visit
http://twurl.nl/76vegr

78 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
c. Online contact can happen 24 hours a day. You must also be
mindful that you aren’t guided too much by that agenda. For
example, make good agreements with colleagues about shifts.
There are still many questions and discussion points to be addressed
regarding this code for civil servants, or this manifesto for Civil Servant
2.0. This discussion will also be taken up by the Civil Servant of the
Future Project, which is part of the project for the renewal of the Dutch
government, so we will certainly be addressing these points again!
Some years ago the Ministry of Agriculture put together a booklet on
web behaviour, which contained the useful rule: “In case of doubt,
always ask yourself if you would tell a colleague or roommate.” This is
a useful rule to keep in mind.”
Protection and storage of information
Working in government also means dealing with sensitive information.
This may be classied information, such as that held by the Ministry
of Defence, but it can often be private information such as data held
by human resources, or knowledge that is politically sensitive, (e.g.
when preparing a collective labour agreement). If you do have such
information, you should always be aware of this sensitivity. Not all
information needs to be available to everyone and it is often unwise
to use applications on the internet for security reasons. Deliberate and
reasonable decisions should be made that are based on sufcient level
of knowledge.
The safest approach when working within a government organisation is
to use your own network or intranet. But that’s not always possible: if
you want to collaborate and share knowledge over the boundaries of your
organisation, you’re still dependent on the internet as a platform. And
the supply of online tools and functionalities is so large and diverse that
if it allows you to work more efciently then it’s almost irresponsible
not to make use of this added value. It’s ultimately about making well-
considered decisions, and keeping in mind the above advice.
The same consideration should also be given to storage and archiving
of data. As a government we are required by law to keep a record of
our activities, such as the steps taken in preparing a law. The more
this occurs via online contact and collaboration, the more important it
becomes to nd solutions to archiving these steps. We should therefore
be able to access wikis and Google Docs (this is often already possible).
And responses to blogs and discussions should be stored automatically
(such as through www.backtype.com). How can we organise this?
Who is employee 2.0?
Much has been written about the digital skills of the next generation
of employees. Are they better equipped to work with the internet?
What’s clear is that they will work differently and have different values
and needs. How do we stimulate young people to come and work for
government? This goes much further than posting vacancies on networks
like Hyves or LinkedIn (recruitment 2.0), it is something that relates to
work culture. See also Chapter 7.
Passwords
There are many useful sites on the internet,
but some require passwords to enter them.
You can often use the same password for
sites that come under Yahoo or Google, but
this still sometimes inhibits your online
activities. However, this situation is
gradually being addressed on the internet.
With OpenID, you can use the password for
your favourite site elsewhere. It works a bit
like the online banking payment system
IDEAL. In the meantime, it’s not necessary
to come up with a whole list of passwords,
because you don’t always use a different
password for each site. I personally have the
same password, but vary it according to the
level of security. So for most sites I use more
or less the same password, but I’ll use a
different password for my email for
example, and another one for very sensitive
matters like my online bank account. But
one thing is clear: never use your
organisation’s internal password online!

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 79
What do employees 2.0 expect from their employer? Do they still expect
good possibilities for self-development, a permanent contract and
secondary benets? These elements will certainly retain their value,
but the new generation demands more. The above questions have still
not been answered, but the discussion is in full swing and the following
themes have emerged:
Employees 2.0 seek meaning in their work
The new generation of employees aren’t looking for a job for life, but
a job they can feel connected to, where they for example have the
opportunity to address social issues. For them, it is about a quest for
values and having a collective ambition within the organisation. Such
a culture and attitude is a good reason to belong to a certain club and
put all your effort into it.
Internal enterprise
Being involved in an area of activity also makes it less likely that
employees will feel like a part of the assembly line of the process. They
need the room to pursue enterprising activities within the organisation,
and this means they will invest maximum level of knowledge, network
and technological capabilities. They expect to be judged on results and
largely decide themselves how they will achieve them.
Personal branding and personal development
The employee is therefore central in the eyes of the new generation.
They present themselves according to the issues they are involved in
and the results they have achieved. Compensation requirements are
also different for each person: some want more leave while others may
wish to follow courses or seminars, or even do an MBA. Training is a
part of your job, and the emphasis is on self-development. As long as
the organisation knows how to stimulate your interests and is able to
contribute to growth, the employee will stay with the organisation, but
job hopping is an increasingly common phenomenon.
Hierarchy is a relic from the past
Hierarchies only inhibit the progress that can be made in an area by
individual enterprise, and the enthusiasm that comes with it. Hierarchy
is not interesting and not impressive, except when based on expertise
and contribution. Employees 2.0 are focused on their subject, and
hierarchical structures, bureaucracy and internal political games only
obstruct this.
Sharing knowledge means multiplying knowledge
A similar barrier can also be presented by colleagues who refuse to
share knowledge. These days it is always possible to obtain the same
(or perhaps better knowledge) through a different route. But this
requires additional effort, and it means the colleague in question will
not be approached again anytime soon. It is important to be open, as an
employee’s strength lies in sharing knowledge rather than keeping it.
Contributing to Wikipedia
Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.com) is an
online encyclopaedia where every internet
user can add their own knowledge. Not only
has this resulted in an enormous collection
of knowledge, it’s also one of the most
popular sites in the Netherlands, partly
because of the many links to this site that
are generated by Google. Many people in
the Netherlands get their information from
this site, including information on
government policy .
When you come across inaccuracies in policy
or your area of activity it is therefore
important to correct them, and this is
simple to do. Every section of Wikipedia has
an ‘edit’ button which you can click to
modify text. When you’ve nished you can
review a draft before it is published online.
When you are at work remember that you
can be identied by the IP address of your
organisation. You are representing your
organisation then, so make sure you act
correctly.

80 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
Summary
In the coming years a new generation of employees, with a different
culture and a different way of working will come to prevail in
government. These employees approach their tasks in a different way,
but also expect other things from the organisation, their manager
and their colleagues. This requires new forms of organisation and
management and it is the process that should be initiated now before
we are faced with a generation gap. These employees can make a vital
contribution by helping government to adapt to the changes occurring
in society.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 81
The end is the beginning
I hope that the end of this book will mark the beginning of a discussion.
The journey I referred to at the beginning of this book marks the rst
step in a greater journey that we as a government and civil servants
have to make if we are to translate developments around web 2.0 into
practice. This is a largely theoretical journey, and it is up to each of us
to discover for ourselves how we can effectively improve our work and
contribute to a better government.
Using my experience with web 2.0 I have tried to provide you with
some useful equipment for this journey. And I have tried to adapt this
knowledge to government: to the relationship between government
and society, the internal organisation of government and in the
approach taken by civil servants to their work. I hope this 2.0 window
on our work and how we do it has also encouraged you to think about
and discuss these ideas. The discussion can be conducted on www.
ambtenaar20.nl and the issues in this book can also be addressed on
boek.ambtenaar20.nl, but this is a dialogue that should preferably be
conducted in the workplace.
Because that’s the main purpose of this book: to initiate discussions
among civil servants about the signicance of web 2.0 for government
and for their work. This book provides background information and various
opinions on what this signicance might be, but the answers must be found
in the workplace, through experimentation and engaging in discussions.
That’s the challenge faced by the next generation of civil servants.
I believe the lines along which this discussion should take place are
‘open’, ‘social’ and ‘user-based’, and each chapter of this book
addresses these three factors in one way or another. At the heart of web
2.0 lies the need to create a at surface, where people can connect
with others and therefore accomplish more. This applies both within
organisations and in working with the public: how can we empower
people so they can contribute more?
Economic advantages
Just as the rationalisation of production in factories has greatly
increased the productivity of factory workers, new concepts in digital
collaboration will also raise the level of productivity of knowledge
workers both within and outside the organisation. In a time of ageing
populations and emerging countries, this could offer valuable solutions
for the coming time. Our economies will have to be in innovation, and
that means our people.
This is not only about streamlining a government by working on a more
efcient and interactive basis. Of course, there are opportunities for
doing the same amount of work with fewer people through greater
cooperation and the smarter use of tools. There are also advantages
in transferring more tasks to the public (crowdsourcing, co-creation,
open innovation), but what’s more important is that government looks
at and understands how the opportunities of web 2.0 in society can
create added value.
Chapter 9.

82 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
One example of this is the open government initiative to make
government information available in an open format so it can be used
and further developed by others. Sources of government information
can be used as a foundation on which to build and market new
applications and websites. This means start-ups or existing businesses
can release new products and business model based on the government
information (and of course the conditions set by government). Open
government provides a stimulus to this sector of industry, while at the
same time improving the services offered by the government.
A changing society
One thing this book attempts to make clear is that society is changing
at a rapid pace, and one of these changes concerns digitalisation, the
internet and web 2.0. The change is perceptible in all areas, from the
entertainment industry to the automotive industry, from health care
to politics, to the children sitting in the classroom, to Minister Maxime
Verhagen sending tweets from the UN building in New York. The web
is sixteen years old, the term web 2.0 is four years old, and Twitter is
two years old.
Technological developments, but also the concepts that accompany
them are accelerating faster by the day. There is already talk of web 3.0,
which will allow us to create an even more complete picture of our online
identity. But our existence is also becoming increasingly integrated with
the internet through mobile technology and GPS. The opportunities
for gathering knowledge and working together independently of
time or place are only becoming greater, which means new concepts
will be developed every year, resulting in new worlds to discover.
Government organisations often tend to develop in ts and starts, e.g.
through major reorganisations. Revolutions such as these are usually
decided at the time the evolution of society reaches a certain point.
However, changes in society occur in such rapid succession that this
raises the issue of whether the current methods of government can
keep pace with society. Shouldn’t a constantly changing society require
a government that is also constantly changing?
The main challenge in the coming years will be to keep up with changes
in society and meet the expectations of citizens. They are the ones who
can see what the possibilities are, and how the business community
can use these opportunities to involve customers more closely in their
activities.
They will also come to expect this from government. The public’s
wishes evolve with the possibilities available, not only in terms of
government services, but also in terms of how they can inuence the
activities government performs for them.
Platform Civil Servant 2.0
There is still so much to discover, but fortunately we don’t have to
do this alone. After all, as civil servants we have a lot of people we
can work with. Anyone with a good idea can inspire others, so all the
methods involving web 2.0 that you can think of to improve how the
The term ‘web 2.0’ was conceived by
Dale Dougherty, an internet pioneer and
manager of the company O’Reilly Media:
http://twurl.nl/kahqcf.
What is web 3.0?
Sometimes also called the ‘semantic web’
Web 3.0 is a vision of the future where
information is connected to concepts or
people to give as broad an understanding
as possible. This is in contrast to the
current fragmented nature of information
spread across various sites.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 83
government works can also be useful for your colleagues. Whatever
level of government you work in, and whatever your department, we
all face the question of how we as civil servants should respond to this
development.
The only thing we should not do is keep these ideas to ourselves. Ask
questions, so people can contribute. Describe your idea so others
can develop it further. By sharing our experience from projects and
experiments, we can learn from each other. We can also use the
resources and principles of web 2.0 to respond the questions web 2.0
raises for the government. Then we can capitalise on the opportunities
available to us.
As mentioned, the exchange of ideas and experiences can take place
anywhere, but it will in will in any case continue to take place on
www.ambtenaar20.nl. Civil Servant 2.0 is the platform for discussing
the consequences of web 2.0 for the government, for asking questions
and setting the right examples, to focus on future developments and
to launch initiatives and experiments. And this can be happen online,
through meetings, or even through a book.

84 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
Why me?
Other chapters have dealt extensively with what web 2.0 means,
what you can do with it and why it’s had such a major impact on the
government’s work. This story is not just about Civil Servant 2.0; it’s
also about me. In a way I am my own research, and I put the results
directly into practice - it’s a case of practicing what I preach, but also
preaching what I practice. So why am I working on this?
1. Forming part of society
After I graduated in 1996 I took a work placement at the strategic
department of a business, and it was our job to think about the
consequences of the internet for publishing. I therefore became
involved with the internet when it was still in its infancy. At the
same time I also became socially active. I joined a political party and
became a board member of the Leiden Heritage Foundation, and for
many years I was able to help set up wonderful events for the public. I
found this voluntary work highly rewarding. It gave me a sense of social
satisfaction that I was unable to achieve through normal work, and I
found it difcult to separate the two worlds.
I came to the conclusion that the world of business could not give me
sufcient motivation. I needed more, I wanted a job that would also
let me contribute to society, and that’s why I wanted to work for the
government. This contribution to society ultimately proved to be a
relatively indirect one, but my motivation stayed the same: improve
the way the government works to also improve how society works.
Government is part of that society, and plays an important role in
it. It is therefore the government’s duty to occupy a central role and
actively participate in society. If an opportunity arises to work on a
more efcient and interactive basis, then we must seize it. That is
every civil servant’s responsibility.
Amoreefcientandinteractivegovernment
And that’s also what motivated me to start the Civil Servant 2.0 project.
There is now a great deal of political attention focussed on civil servants
and how they work. Society demands that civil servants perform
their duties using all the resources they can to work more efciently,
effectively and on a more integrated basis. Giant strides have been taken
in this direction thanks to all the resources available to us today.
But more important than the resources the government uses, is the
approach we take to our work. Partly as a result of the internet, society
and the role of government is changing rapidly. The balance is shifting.
And when society changes, the government should also change with
it. We have only just embarked on this journey of discovery, but there
are still many opportunities to perform our tasks in a more open and
interactive way.
It’s a journey that I’m glad to be a part of. With the arrival of the
internet, a whole range of new opportunities have become available
to the government that can help it work more efciently and more
closely aligned to the requirements of society. A better government for
a better society, that’s something worth working hard for.
Chapter 10.

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 85
2. My network is my organisation
My primary motivation is my enthusiasm for the eld I work in. I can
therefore feel more closely connected to the area I’m responsible for,
and I can use all the resources I have at my disposal and seek out other
likeminded individuals from my networks who might wish to contribute.
And if you too can make a valuable contribution please let me know!
I don’t limit myself to the connes of my department or ministry.
Valuable contributions can also be found outside these boundaries. I
try to keep in touch with the knowledge, ideas and networks of people
inside and outside the organisation who have the same aims. This is the
group I work with. Of course, everyone has their own separate tasks
and responsibilities, but it is possible to work together in the pursuit of
a common social goal.
Sharing knowledge
My loyalties do not lie in any one particular department or directorate,
but with the entire organisation and the people I work with. Further
still, they lie with a government that performs its role in society as
effectively as possible. This way of working across organisational
boundaries can of course only succeed if everyone is open about what
they are doing. Information should be freely available.
I used to spend a lot of my time putting together and distributing copies
of interesting articles, but now I can do that much more efciently
by email, or a whole host of even more convenient ways. After all,
gathering the right information is crucial for our work as civil servants.
I also started a blog to keep colleagues and associates informed
about my progress. This makes it possible for others to collaborate
at the appropriate stage. In short, I can work and communicate more
horizontally (in networks) than vertically (hierarchical lines).
Personal branding
From the start I have tried to work to my own strengths and competences
in an attempt to generate added value. Together with the knowledge
I have built up and the networks I belong to, I have tried to create my
own niche, my own brand.
But it’s taken a long time to actually develop this ‘brand’. What does
it stand for? What services can you expect? What are its strengths and
weaknesses? Over the last few years it wasn’t always clear how my
capabilities and knowledge could be linked to this, but my idea of what
this brand is is now a lot clearer, and in my role as head of the Civil Servant
2.0 project, I’m much closer to occupying the niche that suits me.
In Chapter 8 I already addressed what organisation 2.0 involves and how
an employee 2.0 can operate in this environment. It’s a way of working
that is closely related to my personal work methods and motivation,
and that’s also the potential I want to unlock to make Civil Servant 2.0
a success.

86 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
3.Theworldatyourngertips
This way of working has rewarded me with a very broad and diverse
network. One that I have been able to make excellent use of, even
if does require a lot of time and effort to maintain it. Unfortunately,
I never felt that all the relevant people were in the picture. Much
seemed to be pieced together due to coincidence, the people I came
across and the subjects we’d discuss, and whether it was possible to
do something together in the short term before we lost sight of each
other again.
Social networking sites have completely turned this way of working
upside down. If you add someone as a contact, you always have their
email address and you can always reach them. You can see what
someone is doing and seek to cooperate with them. You can get an
insight in experience and interests that extend beyond the reason for
originally getting into contact with them. And because you can look
beyond your own network, you also get a better understanding of who
else is in your eld. This has greatly increased my professional strength.
Personal dashboard
I’ve always disliked the need to travel. The views can be beautiful
and travel offers the opportunity to sit quietly and read a book, but
ultimately I do not want travel; I want to be somewhere. The internet
is free from the constraints of time and space, everything is connected
to everything else at all times. I have discussed the fundamental
implications of this at length, but it does mean I can access any
information I want when I need it, and make contact with people in a
way that I nd useful.
In short, it gives me the opportunity to arrange my life, my work and
my environment in a way that suits me. When I was young I would bury
myself in encyclopaedias, atlases and dictionaries (and I still collect
them), now all these works of reference are one click away. I’ve always
been curious about everything that happens in my environment and
in the areas that interest me. And now I can organise my personal
dashboard so I can keep up with this information in the most efcient
way possible. And I can do all of this online.
I can do it all by myself
And the great thing is that I can do this all by myself. I used to envy
people who could program computers. If they had a good idea,
they could develop and realise it themselves. I enjoy discussing and
developing ideas, but I’m also pragmatic and want to make things
happen. The online tools that have become available in recent years
have given me the opportunity to do this quickly. Now, everyone has
resources at their disposal that were once the sole preserve of big
businesses. Imagine the potential!
When I started this project, I made sure I used all of these resources.
Setting up a blog on WordPress took just a few minutes. It gave me a
platform to publish my ideas, and the number of subscribers quickly
shot up past the one hundred mark. I also started a community for
people who want to talk about web 2.0 and the government, and there

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 87
are now thousands of members. All of these sites and tools can help
you get started, which is why they are referred to in the margins of
this book.
I don’t know if I qualify as a good example of a ‘Civil Servant 2.0’,
but that’s not the point. What I do want to stress is that this world is
good for me. That’s the motivation behind this project, and that’s why
I wrote this book. At the same time I also make use of all these new
tools to carry out this project as best as I can. That’s the responsibility
of every civil servant: to consider how these innovations will affect
your work and to make use of these resources so you can work more
effectively and efciently. This book can provide you with guidance,
but ultimately, it’s up to you.

88 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)

Civil Servant 2.0 (2008) | 89

90 | Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 91
Civil Servant 2.0 beta
Action steps towards government 2.0
December 4th, 2008

92 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 93
Contents Civil Servants 2.0 beta
Chapter 1. Introduction 98
Chapter 2. A quick review 99
Section I. Trends for a government 2.0 103
Chapter 3. Developments on the internet 104
Chapter 4. What is government 2.0? 117
Section II. Building an organisation 2.0 139
Chapter 5. The three worlds of government 2.0 140
Chapter 6. The government participates on the internet 148
Chapter 7. A platform for internal collaboration 155
Chapter 8. A participation platform to take on tasks together 165
Chapter 9. A strategy for government 2.0 176
Section III. Getting started as a Civil Servants 2.0 181
Chapter 10. Handles for Civil Servants 2.0 182
Chapter 11. What will come after Civil Servant 2.0? 198
Text Box
What does web 2.0 mean for communication departments? 114
Example: Vergunningenkaart.nl, open government in practice 125
 Example:PIANOodesk,onlinenetworkforprocurementofcials 128
Best practice: Verbeterdebuurt.nl, debate platform for public space 131
What does web 2.0 mean for accommodation? 135
What does web 2.0 mean for inspectorates? 146
Example: helping a minister on Twitter 154
Example: Work 2.0 at the Ministry of Agriculture is a learning curve 163
Example: Innovatie 2.0, an online community for policy processes 174
Can organisations twitter? 178
Example: identifying a complaint via Twitter 190
What does web 2.0 mean for ICT departments? 196

94 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Full contents
Chapter 1. Introduction 98
Summary 99
Chapter2. A quick review 100
 Whatwasintherstbook? 100
What is web 2.0?
Web 2.0 and the government 100
Government 2.0 100
Organisation 2.0 100
Employee 2.0 101
Section I. Trends for government 2.0 103
Chapter 3. Developments on the internet 104
Getting together was never easier 104
How organisations operate 104
New forms of collaboration 105
Removing collaboration obstacles 106
How do networks work? 106
It is not about technology 107
What would Google do? 108
Work according to Google’s rules 108
Google’s rules according to Jarvis 108
The Google rules, by Google 109
Google’s internal rules 109
Six trends for government 2.0 111
Trend 1: Borders are fading 111
Trend 2: Society in niches 111
Trend 3: Here and now 112
Trend 4: The government as a platform 112
Trend 5: Openness as the norm 112
Trend 6: Everything beta 112
Summary 113
Chapter 4. What is government 2.0? 117
Six study reports 117
Gartner 117
Accenture 118
Cisco 118
Ogilvy 119
McKinsey 120
Deloitte 120
The United States: from campaign 2.0 to government 2.0 122
The challenges of Whitehouse.gov 122
What has been done so far? 123
Conclusion: the White House is building a government 2.0 124
Australia: the taskforce is ready to take action 126
Politics to focus on openness and interaction 126
Taskforce puts government 2.0 on the agenda 126
Conclusion: Australia is carefully considering possible applications 127

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 95
Great Britain: the priority top 5 129
Invest in civil servants 2.0 129
Make your information visible 129
Make internal systems accessible 129
Build a national deliberation platform 129
Create a digital services waiting room 129
Conclusion: Great Britain inspires new examples and ideas 130
The United States: advice for the Department of Defense 132
Obstacles for government organisations 132
Recommendations for the use of 2.0 opportunities 132
Conclusion: government organisations all face the same challenges 133
Summary 133
Section II. Building an organisation 2.0 139
Chapter 5. Conversations. Between people. Online 140
The internet is a platform for conversations 140
Conversations form the basis for knowledge exchange,
collaboration and processes 140
The relationship between government and society on the internet 141
Contrast between government and society? 142
Three online worlds for conversations and collaboration 142
What do these three worlds look like? 143
Summary 145
Chapter 6. The government participates on the internet 148
Taking part in conversations in society 148
To listen, take part and enable 148
The ten internet principles for government 2.0 149
Summary 153
Chapter 7. A platform for internal collaboration 155
A change of organisational culture 155
The ten organisation principles for government organisation 2.0 157
Summary 162
Chapter 8. A participation platform to take on tasks together 165
What is a participation platform? 165
A participation platform for every government organisation 165
An interactive toolbox for civil servants 166
Ten action items for participation 166
The ten participation principles for government organisations 2.0 167
Summary 172

96 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Chapter 9. A strategy for government 2.0 176
Every government organisation chooses its own strategy 176
And what can be done at the national level? 177
Section III. Getting started as a Civil Servant 2.0 181
Chapter 10. Handles for Civil Servants 2.0 182
Learning about Civil Servant 2.0 182
Working principles for Civil Servants 2.0 184
The working principles 184
The dos and don’ts of civil servants on the internet 186
Frameworks: the code of conduct for civil servants 187
Practical Pointers for civil servants online 188
What 2.0 instruments do I use? 190
Collating and recording information 191
Share knowledge and distribute ideas 192
Making contact and communicating 193
Collaborating and organising 195
Go with the resources that help you along 195
Chapter 11. What will come after Civil Servant 2.0? 198
What is web 3.0? 199
Will there be a Civil Servant 3.0? 199

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 97
“Our commitment to openness means more than simply informing the American people about how
decisions are made. It means recognizing that government does not have all the answers, and that
public ofcials need to draw on what citizens know.”
Barack Obama

98 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Chapter 1. Introduction
How do we create a government 2.0?
This is our challenge. In this book I present the tools civil servants and
administrators need to meet this challenge.
Civil Servant 2.0 discussed what web 2.0 means for government. Since
its publication, society has changed. Our government now faces new
changes. And it must be prepared.
We are seeing debates, on Civil Servant 2.0 for instance, pilots, and
the involvement of parliament. Merely developing bottom-up and ad-
hoc activities is not enough. Instead, government organisations need to
developspecic2.0strategies.
Istartthisbookwithabriefreviewofmyrstpublication,followedby
a discussion of the key trends and developments relating to government
2.0. I then provide a number of action points. These action points form
the building blocks for a government 2.0 that participates in society,
which incorporates work 2.0 in the organisation and is transparent in
how it performs its tasks.
But a strategy alone is not enough. In the end, this is about civil servants
changing their approach to work. A top-down strategy can work only if
it is met by a bottom-up movement. By civil servants who take the
initiative. The book ends with a number of practical recommendations:
the working principles for the civil Servant 2.0.
Together we can take the next step towards improving government.
You too have the opportunities and means to play a role in this. Talk to
others. Take the initiative. Use the building blocks in this book. And do
it with other civil servants 2.0.
After all, as one of my colleagues replied when asked by his son what
2.0 stood for, “Together on the internet, that’s 2.0.”
Davied van Berlo, November 2009
If you would like to join the debate on
web 2.0 and the government, visit forum.
ambtenaar20.nl
Burgerlink maps out e-participation
efforts in the Netherlands. Go to http://
twurl.nl/gqk7v0
For the report on web 2.0 submitted by
the Ministry of the Interior to the House
of Representatives, go to http://twurl.nl/
quvmrm
To contact other civil servants 2.0, or to
submit questions to the network, join the
network site.
See netwerk.ambtenaar20.nl

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 99
Summary
Followinga reviewof therstCivil Servant2.0book, thispublication
comprises three sections:
Section I. Trends for government 2.0: developments since the
publicationoftherstbookhaveledtonewinsightsaboutgovernment
2.0, set out here.
Section II. Building the organisation 2.0: the rst book was a great
inspiration for many to work towards a government 2.0. This section
presents the building blocks to get you started.
Section III. Working as a Civil Servant 2.0: the Civil Servant 2.0 network
is growing fast. But how to put the new approach into practice? Here
are some ideas.
Throughout the body text there are references to relevant internet
sites, explanations of terms used or extra information.
The book ends with a number of appendices, including a dictionary.

100 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
A quick review
Civil Servant 2.0 beta continues where Civil Servant 2.0 left off. If
you haven’t yet read the rst book, I recommend you do so before
you continue. Civil Servant 2.0 introduces web 2.0 and explains what
it means for government. It offers useful tips on how to get started,
explainskeytermsandidentiesopportunities.
What was in the rst book?
This chapter is a quick reminder of the key concepts I presented in the
rstbook.Thesummaryisalsoavailableonover.ambtenaar20.nl.
What is web 2.0?
Society is changing, and fundamentally so. It is changing in how people
ndeachother,howtheyexchangeknowledgeandideasandhowthey
work together. Driven by technological developments (the internet, web
2.0), these changes affect society as a whole. Hence they affect people
and the government: the relationship between citizen and government,
the government’s internal organisation and how civil servants work.
Three characteristics of web 2.0 play a crucial role in these changes:
1. Open: transparent, accessible, exchange;
2. Social: networking, collaboration, connecting;
3. User central: empowering, customised, responsibility.
Web 2.0 and the government
The government must act and respond to these changes. However,
there are no instant solutions. It is our responsibility as civil servants
to dene how these changes will affect how we work, our policies,
implementationandcontrol,andhowwecanworkmoreefcientlyand
interactively by using web 2.0 and the internet. And this starts with
debates, studies and experiments.
Government 2.0
The power of networking was never clearer than during the rallies
against the introduction of minimum required school hours by the Dutch
Ministry of Education. Despite talks with interest groups, there were
massive student protests following an on-line call to action by a 17-year-
old. The protests were organised on the internet, leaving the Ministry
and other stakeholders standing by the sidelines. Public initiatives are
put on the agenda faster, both within and outside government. So how
can we address this new situation? And can we use these opportunities
in what we do? And how should we go about it?
Organisation 2.0
Obviously, there are opportunities for government organisations too.
Working across organisational barriers was never easier. By collecting
the knowledge and input you need, work can be done faster and
better.Knowledgeisused more efciently,andit will bolster support
forthe outcome.Abroad, exibleandopen attitudetowork changes
organisations and management.
Chapter 2.
A general introduction to Civil Servant 2.0
is available on over.ambtenaar20.nl
The Erasmus University Rotterdam
studied the protests against the
introduction of required school hours.
Victor Bekkers et al De virtuele lont in
the kruitvat. Welke rol spelen de oude en
nieuwe media in de micromobilisatie van
burgers en hun strijd om politieke
aandacht? (the virtual fuse in the powder
keg. What is the role of old and new
media in the micromobilisation of citizens
and their struggle to be heard by
government?) (2009)

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 101
Employee 2.0
The developments I have set out above have changed the way civil
servants work. A responsive government needs civil servants who make
active use of the internet. But how? As a civil servant, how far can you
go on the internet? This is something we will need to learn. Web 2.0
alsoofferscivil servants an opportunity to work more efciently and
effectively. “Government entrepreneurs” can achieve more if they use
the right tools and combine expertise.
My rst book introduced web 2.0 and presented lots of illustrations
and ideas. This book is your manual for creating your own government
organisation 2.0. Time to take the plunge.

Section I. Trends for government 2.0
Go to page 111 for an overview of the trends for government 2.0
103

104 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Developments on the internet
Web 2.0 is about online social interaction. How I behave on the internet
is how I would behave in the real world. Let me give you some examples.
I compare Twitter to how I tell an anecdote at a party. At a party, I
want to entertain others with my story. Not every story is as amusing or
dramatic. And of course, if I were to talk about nothing but myself, the
other partygoers would soon stop listening.
The same goes for blogs: a blog is about starting a dialogue with your
targetgroup with whom you share a specic interest. Youdon’t just
take an article, column or lecture and cut and paste it in a blog. This
would be like inviting others to join a debate, but never allowing them
to speak.
Or take a Hyves group of local teenagers. How could you participate
as a civil servant? Discussions in a group are often visible, and you
might be tempted to simply join in when your area of policy comes
up for debate. But that would be like barging in on a youth club and
demandingtobeheard.Bettertointroduceyourselfrst:“IamYfrom
the local council. I see you’re talking about Z. Mind if I join in?”
Not responding to emails or other messages addressed to you is
essentially the same as ignoring someone talking to you. Can you
imagine doing that at a reception? In other words: social interaction is
thesameonlineandofine,somindyourmanners!
I am not saying that it is always easy to know exactly how to act online
as you would ofine. The world is fundamentally changing and with
these changes come new questions and circumstances. This chapter
discusses these changes based on books by Clay Shirky and Jeff Jarvis
and ends with six trends we must keep in mind when we start working
with government 2.0.
Getting together was never easier
Clay Shirky’s ‘Here comes everybody’ has become classic web 2.0
literature. According to Shirky the internet has made it ridiculously
easy to bring people together. This has consequences for how things are
being organised. And that is exactly what civil servants do: “organise
things”.
The term Shirky uses is: “ridiculously easy group forming”. Cyberspace
is no longer a separate place. The internet connects people, and this
becomes easier all the time. “Group action gives human society its
character and anything that changes the way groups get things done will
affect society as a whole.” Shirky is interested in the social implications
of the internet and asks himself: “What is likely to happen to society
with the spread of ridiculously easy group forming?”
How organisations operate
In his book, Shirky studies the bureaucratic organisation model presented
by Ronald Coase in his essay ‘The nature of the rm’ published in 1937.
Chapter 3.
Dictionary: Twittering or microblogging
is posting text messages of up to 140
characters to keep your network
informed of what you are doing.
Dictionary: A blog or web log is a report
or description of something you are doing
that you want to share with others and
invite reaction to.
Clay Shirky - Here comes everybody. The
Power of Organizing Without
Organizations (2008)
More about Ronald Coase in Wikipedia:
http://twurl.nl/kr4csl

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 105
Shirky talks about organisational structures, hierarchic relationships,
closed groups of specialists, and position-based information barriers.
All of these are part of the system.
But Shirky also looks at the reasons why organisations exist. His
principle is: Organisations exist if organising yields more than it costs
to organise. Working as a group can help to generate growth, combine
strengths, or divide tasks, provided people’s activities are harmonised.
It is the meetings, circulating decisions for approval, paperwork, etc,
that costs money.
The mass organisations of the twentieth century have embedded
this system in our way of thinking: in how tasks are divided (who is
responsible?), in power relationships (the director is bound to know) and
in professional groups (my specialty). But these “truths” are shifting.
New forms of collaboration
In the twentieth century organising meant working from an organisation,
be it a business, an association, or a government agency. This would
have positions, administrations and meetings. Problems would be
tackled by people with functional responsibility in project groups that
would meet at pre-arranged times.
In a world where distance was an obstacle for collaboration and where
people relied on tight planning to work together and share knowledge,
this approach made sense. But many of these barriers have come down.
With the internet offering plenty of opportunities for people working
together and sharing knowledge, new forms of collaboration have
become possible:
• not dictated by time or place: internet forums, web meetings and
wikis have made remote collaboration much easier. No longer bound
by time, people can now continue debates or write documents
outside of meetings;
• projects involve more people: since travelling distance and agendas
no longer dictate where and when people can work together, more
people can be involved in solving a problem;
• people contribute less: both travelling and meeting take up a lot
of time, and this eats into the time reserved for a project. Any time
saved can be spent on the actual topic. And if people contribute
less, but more people contribute, the end result is the same. This
makes every contribution to a project, no matter how small, a useful
contribution;
• participation in more than one group: travelling and meeting times
used to make it impossible for one person to take part in two or more
project groups. But following online discussions in your area of expertise
is easy. Focus on the expertise and knowledge you can contribute.
The success of open-source projects comes from the benets of
internet collaboration: a big, distributed group of people contributes
a little or a lot to a single project (here a software program). Obviously,
Dictionary: A wiki is online software that
enables users to write documents
together. Every amendment is logged.

106 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
this will work only if a few people invest time in monitoring the process
(see Wikinomics).Inpublicofcethesearethecaseofcersandproject
leaders. The internet has opened up a whole range of collaboration
opportunities.
Removing collaboration obstacles
People are social creatures. It is in our nature to get together, to
exchange information, to form groups and to work together. And the
fewer obstacles there are to doing so, the easier it is for groups to form
and grow. Shirky: “Social tools don’t create collective action – they
merely remove the obstacles to it.” In civil society, too, we must be
aware of these developments.
Obstacles for cooperation are coming down, offering opportunities for
government as an organisation and for other groups in society. These
groups can be any number of people who share an interest. Shirky
discusses two forms:
• Collective action: people with a common interest or purpose nd
each other to create something, from people who speak Russian in
TheHaguetopeoplewhowanttobanreworksorshareinformation
on Chihuahuas. People who share a common interest or purpose, and
whocan now nd each otherandorganisethemselves more easily.
Shirky: “It’s easier to like people who are odd the same way you are
odd,butit’shardertondthem.”
• Collaborative production: once groups have found each other on a
particular purpose or interest, they may create something new. This
can be software, an encyclopaedia, or even a national innovation
plan, like the wiki for Beleid 2.0 (policy 2.0). The reason why
Wikipedia is unaffected by vandals or criticism is that those who turn
to Wikipedia for information far outnumber those that aim to ruin it.
How do networks work?
These developments require us to adopt a different approach. For
instance, how does a group like this progress? How can people who
collaborate online take decisions? And what about people’s roles?
Someone who visits just once to add a specic bit of information
or to correct a typo has an entirely different role from someone
who visits regularly and who knows how the network is developing.
The rapid information exchange through collaboration tools on the
internet enables groups to organise themselves in new ways (“group
coordination”).
This collaboration is driven by “social capital”. As people in an online
group start to get to know each other, their trust in each other grows.
This applies to everyday life and to online groups equally. People,
their actions and their authenticity are key. Connections are created
between people. And with people knowing other people, connections
between networks emerge. As Shirky puts it:
• bonding social capital: within networks
• bridging social capital: between networks
Don Tapscott, Anthony D. Williams -
Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration
Changes Everything (2006)
On 1 January 2009 Arno Bonte and David
Rietveld started a petition to ban
consumerreworks.Onthesamedate,
digital signatures were given legal force.
Inamatterofweeks,thereworks
petition was signed by more than 40,000
people and submitted to the chairman of
the House of Representatives.
Visit vuurwerk.petities.nl
Beleid 2.0 is an innovation programme
which a group of people wrote as a wiki
in 2008. A few hundred people
participated. For more information go to
www.beleid20.nl
Dictionary: A troll is someone who
responds to blogs or forum discussions in
a consistently negative and non-
constructive manner, thereby disrupting
the interaction.
Dictionary: In a community participants
can exchange knowledge, debate or
collaborate on a particular subject.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 107
From a technical point of view, it’s easy to start a group on the
internet. To make it work is much harder. Of the many networks that
are started, such as Meetup.com, only a few are picked up. All the
successful groups seem to meet a need and are properly managed.
Shirky distinguishes three conditions which online groups must meet in
order to be successful:
• Promise: the message must be convincing. By addressing people
through their common interest they become involved;
• Tool: select the right tool to support your group. This can be a mailing
list, a discussion forum, a wiki or even a tag, as long as it suits the
group and what you aim to achieve;
• Bargain:howwillpeoplebenetfromtakingpart?Whatistheadded
value for them, which implicit arrangement do you make with your
community? Keep this in mind in what you do.
It is not about technology
Clay Shirky stresses that the changes he describes are not primarily
technological. “Revolution doesn’t happen when society adopts new
technologies – it happens when society adopts new behaviors.” The
internet has made contacts between people easier. While technology is
the precondition, the fundamental change lies in our behaviour.
He also explains that there is little point in discussing whether you
should be in favour or against these changes. “When society is changing,
we want to know whether the change is good or bad, but that kind of
judgment becomes meaningless with transformations this large.” What
matters is that you try to understand what this transformation means
for you and your work and that you adjust your behaviour accordingly.
In other words, it was never easier to get together and to work together.
So how does this change your work?
Meetup.com is a platform for people who
want to form theme groups and organise
actual meetings. The site was frequently
used during the US presidential elections
to bring people together for political
meetings and public addresses.
See www.meetup.com
Dictionary: A tag is a word or a term
added to a text, photo, video clip or
person to provide a better description
andsomakeiteasiertond.
Twitter is often used to inform large numbers of people
about lectures and other meetings.

108 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
What would Google do?
The internet holds no secrets for Google. This has made it one of the
most successful and fastest growing companies ever. And it wasn’t
monopolistic behaviour that made it so big, but its sound understanding
of how the internet works and what its users need. The name Google
stands for success, and for ease of use, speed and innovative solutions.
It is an icon. So if you are faced with a challenge on the internet, you
can ask yourself: “How would Google do it?” This is exactly what Jeff
Jarvis, author of ‘What would Google do?’ did.
Work according to Google’s rules
Jeff Jarvis advises media agencies, has founded businesses, is an active
blogger on his Buzzmachine.com site and teaches at the University of
New York. But he is best known as a customer of the Dell computer
company. A disgruntled customer, that is. His blog about his experiences
spread like wildre and even caused a slump in Dell sales. In the
end, Dell decided to change its approach and to take its customers’
complaints more seriously. Since then, Dell has invested heavily in
ndingnewwaysofusingtheinternetandtoimproveitscontactswith
its customers. It became “Googly”.
Jarvis’s book is not just about Google. Besides Dell, businesses like
Amazon, Facebook and Craigslist have also come to realise how to use
this new medium and how it impacts on society and the economy. Jarvis
sets out a number of rules these companies have learned, and refers to
Google’s own set of rules.
Google’s rules according to Jarvis
Google is not a site or a portal. It is a network and a platform. A
platform that enables things to happen, that helps others to create
value. If they are successful, the success is shared by the owner of
the platform. It is about the people and about creating new relations
between people. It is not about organisational or hierarchic structures,
but about networks and environments. Jarvis calls on organisations to
map out their relationships and to invest in expanding and deepening
them. That is where an organisation’s value lies.
Basically, sites like Hyves, Facebook and Craigslist do the same. Mark
Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, put it as follows: “Communities
already exist, let’s support them with elegant organization.” This
creates a win-win-situation. The next step according to Craig Newmark,
founder of Craigslist, is to “Get out of the way.” In short, don’t interfere,
but see what happens so that you can give even more support.
But letting go isn’t easy – you need to be able to rely on your target
group. David Weinberger, author of ‘The Cluetrain Manifesto’ and
‘Everything is miscellaneous’, says: “There’s an inverse relationship
between control and trust.” The more you aim to control, the less
trust you will receive. And vice versa. The time of control is gone. New
media are open to all, and groups can get together everywhere. Jarvis
has even created a law: “Jarvis’ First Law: Give the people control of
media, they will use it.” Hence to gain trust, you must lose control:
“Once you hand over control, you start winning.”
Jeff Jarvis - What Would Google Do? (2009)
Jeff Jarvis shares his views on marketing and
the internet on his Buzzmachine blog.
See www.buzzmachine.com
Facebook is a social networking site, where
youcancreateyourownpersonalproleand
stay in touch with other users. It doubles as a
platform for working with others, sharing
expertise or playing games. It is the
equivalent of the Dutch Hyves networking site
and has more than 300 million users.
See www.facebook.com
Identify relationships and support them with
elegant organization.
(Photo: Jaap Stiemer, Hoorn)

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 109
Jarvis refers to Google’s own rules, but also presents his own list of
rules:
• Customers are now in charge. Everyone in your target group can
now be heard around the globe and have an instant impact on huge
institutions in an instant;
• Peoplecan ndeachother anywhere viatheinternet and coalesce
around your work. This can help or hinder you in what you do;
• The mass market is dead, replaced by a mass of niches;
• The key skill in any organisation today is no longer marketing
but conversing. Organisations and their employees must learn to
converse;
• We have shifted from an economy based on scarcity to one based
on abundance. The control of products or distribution will no longer
guaranteeapremiumandaprot;
• Enabling your target group to think with you, to spread your story, to
support you, is what creates a premium today;
• The most successful enterprises today are networks and the platforms
on which those networks are built;
• Owning pipelines, people, products, or even intellectual property is
no longer the key to success. Openness is.
Projected on other organisations, the rules Jarvis discusses in his book boil
down to three terms: openness, connectedness and decentralisation. Now I
am sure you will agree with me that these terms are very similar to the terms
“open”,“social”and“user-centric”whichIpresentedinmyrstbook.
The Google rules, by Google
So what are Google’s rules? Google understands exactly how the
internet works and how to use it. This understanding forms the basis for
its corporate philosophy. Google uses ten working principles, the Ten
things Google has found to be true:
• Focus on the consumer and everything else will follow;
• Its best to do one thing really, really well;
• Fast is better than slow;
• Democracy on the web works;
• You dont need to be at your desk to need an answer;
• You can make money without doing evil;
• Theres always more information out there;
• The need for information crosses all borders;
• You can be serious without a suit;
• Great just isnt good enough.
Visit the Google site to learn more about these key principles. So if
these principles helped Google become successful, how can you use
them in your own organisation? How would you do your work differently?
Google’s internal rules
Google also has a set of internal principles that are rolled out wherever
possible, says Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO:
• Hire by committee. Everyone’s opinion counts, from manager to co-
worker;
Craigslist is an online marketplace where
users post products and services and
where supply and demand meet. The site
has claimed a sizeable chunk of
newspaper sales and the personal ads
market in the US.
See www.craigslist.org
Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc
Searls, David Weinberger - The Cluetrain
Manifesto (2009)
David Weinberger - Everything is
Miscellaneous: The Power of the New
Digital Disorder (2007)

110 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
• Cater to the employees every need. Employees want to concentrate
on their job, so strip everything that gets in their way;
• Pack them in. No separate ofces, but areas where employees sit
together and they can learn from each other;
• Make coordination easy. Let others know what you are doing.
Employees keep their co-workers informed about what they do so
work can be aligned;
• Eat your own dog food. Everyone at Google uses Google software (for
instance Gmail), which enables them to test it constantly;
• Encourage creativity . Employees get to devote 20% of their ofce
time to developing their own ideas and publishing these on an
internal site for others to assess;
• Strive to reach consensus. As Schmidt puts it: “The role of the
manager is that of an aggregator of viewpoints, not the dictator of
decisions.”
• Don’t be evil. Google’s well-known motto. Make money, based on
respect and tolerance;
• Data drive decisions. Another well-known motto. Calculate and
measure use and study data, and you can work out the way forward;
• Communicate effectively. Information, even strategic information, is
shared throughout the organisation, but is seldom leaked. Give trust,
receive trust.
Of course, not all of the above rules will apply to government. But they
do say a lot about society’s changing rules and they will go a long way
in your own work situation. This is where we can learn from Google and
otherenterpriseswhokeeptheirngeronthepulse.
Or maybe we, civil servants, should ask ourselves an entirely different
question: “What would Obama do?” More about this in Chapter 4. First
I will distil a number of 2.0 trends from the above developments and
describe why these are relevant for government.
For the interview with Eric Schmidt, go to
http://twurl.nl/xvy0cy
‘Ten things Google has found to be true’ is
available on http://twurl.nl/hfpz18

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 111
Six trends for government 2.0
One of the things that inspired me to write Civil Servant 2.0 was ‘De
digitale generatie’ (digital generation) by Chris van ‘t Hof (Rathenau
Instituut). The report describes the use of applications like MSN Messenger
by youngsters and what it means for their friendships, how they form
opinions and how they learn. Technological innovations are changing the
livesofyoungpeople,andthismustbereectedineducation.
These changes extend beyond youngsters and education. With the
entire population on the internet, these changes are sweeping civil
society. Citizens and businesses are exploring the interactive and
public web and are experimenting with new applications. With it come
new concepts, visions and working methods that can also be used by
government. Expectations are high.
To address these developments we must understand what characterises
them, and what characterises web 2.0. After all, many of these changes
are rooted in online developments. By looking at how the internet
works and develops we will get an insight into changes in society. We
can then incorporate this knowledge in our decision making. Trends on
the internet will eventually become trends in society. The government
must anticipate these trends.
Trend 1: Borders are fading
Geographic, cultural or organisational barriers tend to create new
borders. The internet has helped cross these barriers, narrowing
distances, distributing information wider and faster and promoting new
forms of collaboration and organisation. The single point of contact of
the future promises to be a mash up of many different sources.
To some extent, borders between people, groups or organisations are
redenedbytheinternet.Bordersbetweentheinsideandtheoutside,
who is part of a group, and who isn’t, what is the ofce and what
is home, what is public and what is private. Many of these borders
have been institutionalised, in organisations, buildings and regulations
for instance. How can we address these shifts? Which new borders will
emerge, and where?
Trend 2: Society in niches
Borders between groups are becoming more diffuse. People still look
forsocialrelationships,butnowaimto ttheminwiththeirpersonal
interests.Therearesignicantvariationsinparticipationdurationand
intensity. Finding or forming online groups has become so simple that
there is always a group of like-minded people for any interest or goal
you may have (The Long Tail). Based on individual choices, we can now
all put together our own personal social world.
Individuals and small groups make up a new fragmented society. They
use technology to overcome barriers to get together. They expect to
be informed and addressed on an individual basis with information
that applies to them. A government site is but one amidst billions of
other sites. To reach these many niches, organisations must scatter
themselves throughout these networks. Again and again, in tiny bits.
Thinkdistributed!
Christian van ’t Hof, Jos the Haan – De
digitale generatie (2006) (The digital
generation)
Dictionary: MSN Messenger is a popular
instant messaging program. Most MSN
chats are between two individuals.
Dictionary: Mash-up, a remix of tools and
data from various internet sources such as
a combination of statistical data with
Google Maps.
Dictionary: Niches - the fragmentation of
society into personal niches based on each
individual’s unique combination of
preferences and interests.
Dictionary: The Long tail is the economic
principle that an endlessly large group of
poorly selling products generates just as
much income as a small number of
great-selling products.
Chris Anderson - The Long Tail: Why the
Future of Business is Selling Less of More
(2006)

112 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Trend 3: Here and now
People are online, they talk, and they work together. The internet is not
about information, it is about life and work. Life is live. The internet
is not constrained by time and place, it never stops, it is real time.
Like life itself. Take Wikipedia, you could change it now. Go to Twitter
and see what others are thinking, doing and talking about right now.
Beinganactivepartofnetworksmeansdispensingwiththenine-to-ve
mentality and being constantly active.
The expansion of mobile internet has provided an extra stimulus.
Photos and videos of news events travel the world in no time, with
exact positioning made possible by GPS receivers. Google Latitude
lets your friends know exactly where you are, and services like Google
Streetview tell you which tram to take or where the nearest pizzeria is.
Sowheredogovernmentservicestin?
Trend 4: The government as a platform
The internet is a platform: it is open, it grows with input from others
and it is an enabler for new initiatives and innovations. The government
hasaroleto playin awidevarietyofelds. Givepeople thetoolsto
organise themselves and give them room to grow. Apart from a few
basic rules to ensure smooth interaction, don’t interfere. Only then can
new relationships between people and groups develop.
But rst we must understand our own position and the role of
government. Who or what is your platform’s target group for instance?
And will society grant you this role? The government can act as a
platform that brings together the public and their interests and that
lets them take decisions that stimulates innovation and growth, and
that leads to the best solution. The government will supply what is
needed: a platform, a location, funding, expertise and data (Open
Government), contacts, etc.
Trend 5: Openness as the norm
Openness is the norm on the internet. Openness lets you nd what
you are looking for, maintain relationships, and collaborate. Inside
and outside the organisation. It is a prerequisite for co-creation and
crowdsourcing. Make government information available and enable
others to take part in processes or debates. Or use it for new services.
This would make the most of the wealth of knowledge and information
available to all, perhaps in ways you never thought possible.
This also raises the question how far openness should go. Are there
borders to openness? Where? What should be discussed and what should
be worked out privately? What are the arguments in favour of these new
restrictions (privacy, high-risk professions, and negotiation strategies)?
With openness the standard, what should remain private?
Trend 6: Everything beta
As a government we are used to doing our work well, to publish only
after we have found the answers to all our questions, and to study every
detail. Obviously, this takes time. Time to look at the various options,
time to involve all actors. A long and complicated process. Too long
sometimes in a society that is increasingly complex and evolving fast.
Google Streetview is an application for
Google Maps. After pinpointing a location
on the map, the user can switch to street
level, and see the surrounding area in
images.
See www.google.com/streetview
Number of web pages indexed by
Google:
1998: 26,000,000 (26 million)
2000: 1,000,000,000 (1 billion)
2008: 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion)
The government as a platform is a
concept actively promoted by Tim
O’Reilly.
See http://twurl.nl/hephzj
Google Latitude is an application for
Google Maps on mobile telephones. The
telephone tracks the location by GPS or
GSM receivers and pinpoints the location
on the map. The position is then
forwarded to all authorised people in
your contact list.
See http://latitude.google.com

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 113
Software beta versions are software versions which are operational,
butneed ne-tuning. Byplacingthese versionsonthe internet, users
can help adapt and improve them. Wiki documents are documents on
the internet that invite input from users to keep them updated. It is
an open approach that enables fast and exible improvements and
adaptations.
Summary
This chapter discussed new insights on the internet and web 2.0 based
on the books by Shirky and Jarvis. As such, it followed on from the
introductorychaptersofmyrstbook.Ialsodiscussedhowourinsight
in web 2.0 and its importance for organisations is growing. Paths are
emerging that may take us to the future.
I have condensed these paths into six trends as they would apply to
government. These changes in society will affect us sooner or later. As
a government organisation 2.0 we must be prepared.
Chapter 4 will look at government 2.0 and present new ideas and
concepts.
Dictionary: Co-creation is working
towards a joint product, not by means of
a sequential process but by contributing
simultaneously.
Dictionary: Crowdsourcing is
‘outsourcing to the crowd’, in other
words outsourcing tasks to people outside
the organisation with the right expertise
or solution.
Dictionary: A beta version is a draft
version of new software that is
operational, but that is perfected as it is
being used.

114 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
What does web 2.0 mean for communication departments?
‘The Long Tail’ by Chris Anderson was extensively discussed in Civil Servant 2.0. With the internet offering
access to endless information and products, room has been created for niche products and messages
away from popular and mass products and services. The development affects many areas, including the
newspaper and music industries.
It is also affecting government. So what are the most popular services, the ‘hit makers’ , in government
communication? And what channels are being used to reach the audience? Before the internet, these were
of course newspapers and television. And because room in these channels was limited (the number of pages
in a newspaper, thirty minutes for television news) only the biggest stories made it to the front page or
television screen.
Bydenition,onlythebiggestgovernmentnewsreachescitizensbynewspaperortelevision.Thinkofmajor
policy changes, public appearances by Ministers, and of course controversy, leaks and other information
which channels expect will appeal to a large target group. The ever-present “hit tyranny” rules government
communication too. Everything revolves around the bigger stories. Minor successes receive little attention,
if any.
Leaeting can also be used for targeted messaging. This selective distribution gives communication
professional control of the channels but while it may be more effective than newspapers or television, it is
still just a single message being broadcast.
Two paradigm shifts
The internet has turned this world upside down. Some big blogs can still be classed as new hit makers, but
generallyspeakingcommunicationprofessionalsnowneedtochoosefromaninnitenumberofchannels.
So is it possible to tune in to so many channels? There is fragmentation in how citizens are informed. And
this is not just because of the internet. Citizens’ interests also seem to be “fragmented”. Where citizens
would read their papers and watch television and only see the big stories, the ‘hits’, that reached them
through the media, they can now choose from an endless number of channels.
News consumers can now put together their own personal news based on their own interests. They all have
their own little niche. They choose topics that interest them, and that affect them in their lives. These are
not always the big ministerial stories. In fact, it’s usually the smaller messages that reach them.
The internet has changed the work of communication professionals. Now they must choose both the
channels and the tools to reach their target group, and the type of message and how to customise it. Two
paradigm shifts in one. The “long tail” whips two ways.
The citizen as a broadcasting station
Clearly, communication departments cannot maintain so many contacts. It is “fragmentation times
fragmentation”. They cannot go it alone. They need help. But hiring a communication agency won’t do
them any good. What’s caused by the long tail, must be solved by the long tail.
Web2.0hasgivenusallourownchannel.Wecanallblog,twitterorkeepourHyvesproleupdatedtolet
others know about our likes and dislikes. We can now reach all of our friends, colleagues, or the members
in our club, or even people interested in knowing what others think about a particular subject. No matter
how big or how small, we all have our own channel.
There are countless such channels. They distribute the message. From blog to blog, from network to
networkandnally,fromgovernmenttocitizen.Howcanwesetthischaininmotion?

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 115
How can we make our citizens the transmitter and the network the station? How can we enter the long tail?
Here are some tips:
• keep it small: prepare small, bite-size messages that are easy to forward. It is better to prepare a wide
rangeofmessagesonaspecicsubject,thancombineallinformationintoonebigstory;
• Make it personal: not just by engaging someone’s interest, but also by selecting the right tone: by using
unambiguous, rather informal language, without jargon. Bloggers must want to blog about it, and must
want to adopt it as “their own”;
• Make it easy: by being concrete and using the right language, but also by providing technical functions,
for instance by offering widgets that can be easily inserted into the blogger’s own page. And by using
internet standards.
Prosumers
To encourage internet users to pass on a story, it must be more than just factual, more than just a topic
that interests them, more than just easy to pass on. It must also be something they want to use and respond
to. For instance by giving their opinion in a blog, by placing it in a particular context (a widget in a Hyves
group for instance) or even by adapting it. This group of internet users is also called prosumers: content is
used again and again.
This is the idea behind the Open Government initiative: put government information on the internet and
use an open format based on open standards to enable others (prosumers, sites or businesses) to build on
it. This gives internet users the tools to share and distribute the information. Niches are provided with
information and the government moves down “the tail”.
From sending to talking
Communication professionals can capitalise on these fragmented channels and target groups by making the
long tail work for them. They must encourage others to disseminate their information. For this they must
overhaultheircurrentapproachandattitude.Theywillevenhavetoredenetheirroles.
Minister Verhagen using Twitter is a great example of the new interactive approach. He follows people
who follow him, he responds to questions and he initiates dialogues (or sometimes even a discussion) with
others. Twitter is a two-way channel. You can’t use it just to send – others will respond.
The next challenge for communication employees is to release control: prosumers will take your story
and use it and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. And while this was of course also true for
newspapers and television broadcasters, the scale is now much bigger. Not only because there are more
prosumers than news products, but also because this movement extends beyond just a change of channels:
creativity and opinions attract more internet users than news ethics.
HAll you can do is follow how your message is being reused, and act on it, for instance by responding to
blogs (this is referred to as webcare, also see action item 7 on page 75).
Training employees
Finally, the communication department is given a new role within the organisation. Employees no longer
need a communication department to contact their target groups, they can now do it themselves via
the internet. Policy ofcials can use the internet to keep their network abreast of their activities via
Twitter, social networksitesor wikis. Theycanalso respond todebatesin their policy elds.Again, the
communication department has two roles to play.
First, it has a role in training employees who now have the means to take part in internet discussions.
This offers opportunities, but this greater visibility for the ambassadors of an organisation means greater
scrutiny. Training employees in how to participate online is essential, and the communication department
has a very important role to play here.

116 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Secondly, it is possible to actively support employees in their activities on the internet, for instance by
alerting them to relevant discussions and identifying key players in these discussions. A project like this is
already up and running at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.
In collaboration with Carl Rohde and a group of interdepartmental communication professionals headed by
Martijn de Moor, the Netherlands Government Information Service has published a book on the signicance
of web 2.0 for communication departments, titled “Ondertussen … online” (Meanwhile….online). It can be
downloaded from http://twurl.nl/x08adh.
Joost Reus is policy ofcer at the Ministry Agriculture,
Nature and Food Quality. His blog was picked up and became
the subject of a debate on Foodlog, a widely-read blog
about food. On Twitter and Civil Servant 2.0 Joost asked
how he should respond. He also contacted the Ministry’s
Communication Department.
Citizen Participation Network is used
to exchange information about web 2.0
and government communication. See
www.netwerkburgerparticipatie.nl

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 117
What is government 2.0?
In September 2009 I attended the Gov 2.0 Expo and Gov 2.0 Summit in
Washington where hundreds of people had gathered to share experiences
and listen to speakers including Clay Shirky and members of president
Obama’s staff. For three days, all we talked about was government 2.0,
open data, participation and the government as a platform. The congress
hadbeenorganisedbyO’Reilly,thecompanysaidtobethersttohave
coined the term web 2.0. Its founder Tim O’Reilly lectures and writes
regularly about government 2.0, hence this congress.
Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams, authors of Wikinomics, have
also joined the ranks of avid government 2.0 advocates. They believe
the world of government has great potential. They have set up an
international research programme about government 2.0. And they are
not alone, as the list of studies in this chapter clearly shows.
Of course, 2.0 is not an end in itself. As Beth Noveck, deputy chief
technologyofcerforopengovernmentoftheWhiteHouse,putsit:this
is about national challenges that demand collaboration and the use of
the potential of government and society as a whole. 2.0 can help solve
problems. This is the object of White House policy. This chapter will give
a brief outline of the situation in the US, and will put forward ideas on
and developments in government 2.0 in Australia and Great Britain.
Six study reports
It is possible to predict with some degree of accuracy if a particular
trend will become an accepted development. One sign is the
emergence of a countermovement. Take Twitter for instance, which is
regularly criticised. And you just know that a development has become
mainstream when it becomes the subject of research. I have listed a
number of reports that offer some very interesting insights.
Gartner
The Business Impact of Social Computing on Government
Gartner expects web 2.0 to change the role and tasks of governments
fundamentally: “The future of government is a very different
government and, in some cases, no government at all.” The current
economic crisis has accelerated this development, as new solutions are
being found and social network solutions are relatively cheap. But it
also presents huge challenges for governments as they will need to
change their attitude and approach.
Governments put great emphasis on control, security and the division
of tasks. At the same time, boundaries between organisations are
becoming blurred: “Boundaries in government are blurring at every
level.” One such example is cloud computing in IT. Financial and
business operation systems are also increasingly crossing organisational
boundaries with tasks being outsourced or shifted.
Web 2.0 illustrates the increasingly diffuse boundaries between
organisations. Skipping across these boundaries are the social networks
that offer so many opportunities for governments. Unfortunately,
Chapter 4.
For the full report, go to
www.ambtenaar20.nl/?p=3729
Beth Noveck - Wiki Government: How
Technology Can Make Government Better,
Democracy Stronger, and Citizens More
Powerful (2009)
For a summary of the report, visit
http://twurl.nl/ll2esq
Dictionary: the term cloud computing
refers to the use of IT services on the
internet rather than software on one’s
own computer or network.

118 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
governments rarely initiate them. With government initiatives placing far
too much emphasis on control, networks lose their appeal. Governments
should focus on tying in with existing networks. “Gartner recommends
thatgovernments engage selected employees inndingexternalsocial
networks relevant to the agency and its domain of government.”
Government organisations have increasingly little control over
processes. The role of civil servant, case ofcer or executive will
increasingly shift to a facilitating one, overseeing if service demands
and public and political expectations are met. If not, they must engage
the right people to address the situation.
Accenture
Leadership in Customer Service Report: Creating Shared Responsibility for
Better Outcomes
Accenture found that governments fail to deliver when it comes to
service. Service is more than just a transaction. Governments must
focus on maintaining strong relationships with citizens, based on
collaboration and shared responsibility. “Clearly, these are complex
aspirations that will take time for governments to put into practice.
However, we know that not achieving these goals will lead to eroding
publiccondencewithgovernmentandtopoorpublicservices.”
To achieve this strong relationship, Accenture expects governments to
do the following:
• gain better insight into what people need, so whoever needs support
receives it quickly, and whoever wants to take action is given the
space and opportunities;
• initiate contacts with citizens: an interactive government can start
building a relationship of trust needed to work together on public
facilities and value;
• use available tools and relationships, involve internet groups, business,
pressure groups and citizen initiatives to make complementary
connections;
• be open in what they do and respond to how society reacts. It is a
precondition to building the trust governments need to work together
towards achieving public values.
Cisco
Realizing the Potential of the Connected Republic
For Cisco government 2.0 is about three things:
• collaboration: creating platforms to bring people together from inside
and outside the government and to exchange expertise on social issues;
• openness: by being open and transparent, commitment is enhanced.
Restrictions and thresholds become visible and can be dealt with;
• empowerment: placing tasks with (groups of) citizens. For instance, let
citizens distribute district budgets and help people help themselves.
For the full report, visit http://twurl.nl/
bxz1gh
For the full report, visit http://twurl.nl/
z87hg2

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 119
This brings me back to the three characteristics of web 2.0 I discussed
in my rst book, with the rst two characteristics underpinning the
third: “Empowerment means citizens do more for themselves, and a
move away from a dependency culture can help tackle the problem of
never-ending demand for certain public services.” Again we see a shift
of tasks from government to citizens.
Ogilvy
Can brands have a social life? How brands in Asia can benet from
interacting with customers through social media
What does web 2.0 (social media) mean for brands? Research company
Ogilvy studied this for the Asian market. Craig Thomler, the Australian
blogger on government and web 2.0, highlights a few issues. After all
– politicians, managers, the tax authorities and the government are all
becomingmoreandmoreofabrand.Asarecivilservants!
• what consumers and users think and feel increasingly decides the success
of your product or service;
• socialmediareectwhatpeopledoontheinternet;
• the generation of screenagers is alive online, so if you don’t contact
them there, someone else will;
• theinternetisallaboutinuencers”,thenodesbetweenthenetworks:
talk to them so they can spread your message;
• lose control over your brand. It is essential that management recognises
this and is prepared to take this risk and make the investment;
• honesty and trust are crucial in establishing the authenticity and values
of a brand. Sales talks dont work;
• don’t be afraid of receiving contrasting views and differences of opinion,
questions or negative feedback. It will help you being accepted;
• as a brand or organisation, you should contribute to online platforms,
even if you do not expect to get a response.
Ogilvy also expects search engine marketing to become more
important, online social networks to expand and go mobile, blog views
to increasingly become a key factor in purchase decisions and the crisis
to boost vacancy sites and professional networks like LinkedIn. Nothing
too drastic, but areas nonetheless in which government doesn’t have
a leading role.
For the full report, visit http://twurl.nl/
tnl5ud
Dictionary: A node is a place in a network
where several connections come
together, both in computer networks and
between people.
Dictionary: LinkedIn is a social
networking site for professional contacts
that enables online contacts, maps out
networks and helps form discussion
groups.
Follow Craig Thomler’s blog on http://
egovau.blogspot.com

120 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
McKinsey
McKinsey Quarterly: Six ways to make Web 2.0 work
In its report, McKinsey explores 2.0 and how organisations must change
how they work. In the twentieth century, organisations introduced a
range of productivity-boosting technologies like ERP, CRM and SCM.
Web 2.0 presents a new challenge, yet is fundamentally different. Its
added value is not achieved through the introduction of complex and
expensive technology, but through adopting a different approach to
work. McKinsey has six tips to ensure a smooth process:
• the transformation to a bottom-up culture needs input from the top.
Management must lead by example and give others room;
• the best uses come from users, but they need help to scale up. The
use of 2.0 tools cannot be imposed, but you can make them available
and see how they are applied;
• what’sin the workow is what gets used.If its nothing more than
a gimmick, its novelty will soon wear off. It will only get used if it
effectively helps employees in what they do;
• appeal to the participants egos and needs not just their wallets.
This requires new stimulation and management tools, such as
complimenting employees;
• the right solution comes from the right participants. Involve
employees who are already showing the behaviour you are looking
for: the networkers, the visionaries, etc. Select target groups in the
organisation;
• balance the top-down and self-management of risk. Too many rules
canstie ideas and initiatives. But too muchfreedomcan lead to
chaos. Find a balance.
Incidentally, I believe these tips also apply to external interaction, with
people outside the organisation. Again, it is essential to involve the
rightpeople,tomakeconnections,tocreateroomandtondabalance
between freedom on the one hand and control on the other.
Deloitte
Change your world or the world will change you
I would also like to include a Deloitte report here, even though it was
published a while ago. It’s a fun read and offers valid points about
government 2.0.
Conclusion: web 2.0 is a transformation for governments
All studies agree that web 2.0 means a fundamental change to the
role of government, caused by the blurring of boundaries between
organisations and shifting tasks across these boundaries. As tasks
are being reassigned, more responsibilities are placed outside the
government, in society.
New forms of organisation emerge that are neither government nor
business but that do take on functions and roles that were once
considered public. This raises many questions. At the same time, web
2.0 offers major opportunities for governments, for bridging the gap
between citizen and government and for enabling citizens to tackle
social problems themselves.
For a summary of the report, visit http://
twurl.nl/b6tklh
ERP stands for enterprise resource
planning, CRM for customer relationship
management and SCM for supply chain
management.
For the full report, visit http://twurl.
nl/3dspff

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 121
This requires a new government approach. We must assume new roles
to guide the process, to involve people, to offer a platform and to
make available resources and information. It sounds easy enough, but
working with web 2.0 demands an approach that is new to government
and its employees. They are asked to relinquish control, to tighten
relationships with citizens and groups, to invest in trust and to become
more responsive. This demands new characteristics and approaches,
in the relationship between citizen and government, but also between
management and employees.
The main conclusion is that this change is more than just fundamental.
It is unavoidable. And with a new generation of citizens and employees
calling upon the government, this movement will gain strength. Web 2.0
offers governments an opportunity to narrow the gap with its citizens.
Remaining idle will widen the gap. We must act, and we must act now.

122 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
The United States: from campaign 2.0 to
government 2.0
The United States is ready to seize the opportunity and bridge the gap
with society. Barack Obama’s election campaign has become a classic
example of how to use web 2.0 to involve people. But a campaign 2.0 is
no government 2.0. And when Obama wanted to develop this campaign,
he ran into a number of practical problems.
From the start, Obama was clear on how he planned to put together his
government2.0.Hisveryrstmemorandumwason“transparency and
open government” in which he set out his vision:
• Government should be transparent;
• Government should be participatory;
• Government should be collaborative.
His ideas have been put into action by sites including Data.gov (which
makes government information available for re-use) and USAspending.
gov (also known as Transparency.gov), “where Americans can see where
their money goes”. The information and data on government expenditure
can be reused by means of an application programming interface, or
API. Support is provided by Recovery.gov, a site with information on the
objectives of the economic recovery process and action taken.
The challenges of Whitehouse.gov
The Center for American Progress, an American think-tank, described
the obstacles which Obama must overcome for his government 2.0. For
one, Obama will no longer have 170 campaign workers specialised in
social media. At the White House he will have to make do with just ten
experts. And that’s not his only problem. Campaign 2.0 and government
2.0 also differ in:
• scale: Obama has fewer resources to reach a larger target group,
which is now the entire American population;
• attuning: wherean errorbyacampaignofcial canbe awkward,a
mistake by government can have far-reaching consequences;
• responsibility: canvassing by campaign volunteers is acceptable, but
this is not an option for a government.
Also, the government is expected to meet certain standards and
regulations. Easy to comply with on its own site, but harder away from
its site, where the target group is. How can a government organisation
use the software that is freely available on the internet, such as
YouTube, Twitter or Facebook? This is the subject of one of the reports.
The White House faces the challenge of applying the standards agreed
for government in the world of 2.0:
• privacy:thegovernmenthasspecicrulesfordealingwithpersonal
details. Would these also apply to a government YouTube site?
• web guidelines: when it comes to membership and user friendliness,
not all 2.0 services are as accessible. How can we guarantee access
for all?
For the ‘Transparency and open
government’ memorandum, go to http://
twurl.nl/vgskns
The American government publishes data
sets on the internet which businesses and
private persons can use to build services
and internet sites.
See www.data.gov
The American budget is freely accessible
via the internet, and contains detailed
information about its biggest recipients.
See www.usaspending.gov or
www.transparency.gov
All funds made available by the American
government to combat the effects of the
credit crunch are published on the
internet, see www.recovery.gov
Dictionary: API stands for application
programming interface, a set of
agreements through which sites and
computers can work together to exchange
information.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 123
• advertising: there is no advertising on government sites; reference to
any particular site by government should not be interpreted as a seal
of approval;
• conditions: are the user conditions of the 2.0 site in accordance with the
government’s aims and standards?
• Public Records Act: how do we ensure that what the government does
andallrelevantpublicationsarerecordedandled(accountability)?
• security:arethesitessufcientlyprotectedagainstinterference?
Civil servants’ access to 2.0 sites is also discussed, as many organisations
still prohibit access to these sites.
What has been done so far?
The think-tank refers to web 2.0’s vast opportunities for openness
and participation. Opportunities governments must use within their
operational frameworks. But how? The report ends by calling on all
actorstokeepanopenmindandtocontinuetondpracticalusesfor
these new resources as part of sound government and good governance.
One of the resources frequently used by the White House is video (on
more than one platform, usually). The advantage of video is that it is
easily accessible (accessibility), has little interaction (scalable), and
yetcanconnectonapersonallevel.ThereisalinkontheofcialWhite
House to the President’s weekly video address on YouTube.
Obama also used interactive tools. Interactive discussion sites (‘Open for
Questions’) were used to collect questions and wishes from the public.
The result: “92,937 people have submitted 103,978 questions and cast
1,782,650 votes.” Obviously, an impossible amount for the White House
to answer. The public was therefore invited to rate what they thought
were the best questions and these were put before the President.
Obama is said to have been handed ten questions each night to keep in
touch with developments in society. The questions that were rated the
highest were answered by civil servants.
The American government has signed
agreements with a number of 2.0 sites. For
an overview, go to http://twurl.nl/tkg1z6

124 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Conclusion: the White House is building a government 2.0
When Obama became president, expectations were high. How would
he dene a government 2.0? The US is forging ahead, and they are
making more progress than we are. It is inspiring to see what Obama
has already achieved: Open for Questions, Transparancy.gov, Data.gov,
the use of 2.0 sites and the video messages.
Equally inspiring is a look at the underlying discussion. After all, civil servants
in the States face the same questions we will when we start government 2.0.
How do they deal with these changes in culture, for instance? We can learn
from their experiments and from the resulting reports. And when we are
ready for the next step, we can build on their expertise.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 125
Example: Vergunningenkaart.nl, open government in practice
Governments issue all sorts of permits, for all sorts of activities, including construction. The impact of
construction on the local area must be monitored. By civil servants and by local residents. If my neighbour
across the road builds an extension, I want to be kept informed, preferably by email or RSS. Unfortunately,
we haven’t come that far yet. But it has become easier to keep track of permits issued in your local area,
thanks to www.vergunningenkaart.nl.Notagovernmentsite,butaneexampleofOpenGovernment
nevertheless.
Publish permit announcements on the internet
Permits and announcements by local councils are a great example of government information that can
benetresidentsdirectly.Takeforinstancebuildingpermits,treeremovalpermitsoramendmentstolocal
designation orders. Some local councils publish these on Overheid.nl. Type in your postcode, and you may
get a list of all the permits issued in your local council.
But more can be done. Besides Overheid.nl, which is continuously improving its services, there are
many businesses with excellent ideas and the skill to build handy sites using government information.
Vergunningenkaart.nl, for instance, publishes a map based on permits issued. In the interview below, the
people behind Vergunningenkaart.nl discuss some of the problems they encountered building their site.
How does Vergunningenkaart work?
“Weuse the‘Bekendmakingen’search engineonOverheid.nl.This allowsyoutoll in aformto search
for information, and there is an email service too. There is no web service or API to easily access the
information and use it for other applications. Which is surprising, because councils do supply all their
announcements in XML format.
We use a script for the search engine to search every council, translate results with many regular expressions
into XML and then enter the geo-coded locations in our own database.”
So some tricks and tweaks gets you the information you need. And you can just use it?
“Another strange thing: despite the fairly tight XML structure, which is used for storing data and supplying
the announcements, there are substantial differences in how councils supply their information. Many
councils cluster different announcements in a single record and this makes it impossible for us to trace
announcementstoindividualaddresses.Andofcourse,anXMLdenitiondoesn’treallyworkifwealluse
it differently.”
You are now experienced users of government information. Do you have any tips?
“To make this project a success, we believe we need two things. First, we need a web service/API, and
secondly we need more consistency in how councils publish their announcements in XML. We hope that
Vergunningenkaart.nl helps to encourage the further publication of government information.”
For more information about Open
Government, go to openoverheid.
ambtenaar20.nl. For an explanation
about the terms, go to the dictionary at
the back.

126 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Australia: the taskforce is ready to take action
In Great Britain the ‘Power of Information review’ report led to the
Power of Information Taskforce (see the rst book). InAustralia the
‘VenturousAustralia – Building strength in innovation’ report inspired
the Government 2.0 Taskforce. What does this taskforce do and what
elseisgoingoninAustraliaintheeldofgovernment2.0?
Politics to focus on openness and interaction
Kevin Rudd, Australia’s prime minister, is on Twitter (although I don’t
believe he actually does the twittering) and he keeps a blog. You can
talk to him about the environment and health care. There is also a
photo gallery and videos of the prime minister talking to Al Gore and
interviewing the chairman of a healthcare research committee. The
Australian government is clearly looking for ways to bridge the gap
between politics and citizens. The Community Cabinet frequently
travels through Australia.
Senator Kate Lundy also contributes to government 2.0 by organising
meetings about the internet and innovation: PublicSphere. She has
contactedPiaWaugh,anactivist intheeld ofopengovernment and
open source who has a clear vision on how to deal with government
2.0. There is also a detailed wiki that gathers input to present to the
Government 2.0 Taskforce.
The taskforce was set up following a study by the Australian Department
of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. Earlier this year the
Ministry published a detailed report on its innovation policy for the
period until 2020. Some recommendations also related to government
2.0. and included giving government information a creative commons
licence and setting up a taskforce: “An advisory committee of web
2.0 practitioners should be established to propose and help steer
governments as they experiment with web 2.0 technologies and ideas.”
Taskforce puts government 2.0 on the agenda
The taskforce’s site and blog went online in June 2009 and aim to give
recommendations and support initiatives that are best practices of
government 2.0. An issues paper was published in July, initially a beta version
thatinvitedcommentsonlineandofine.It wasfollowed bythe denitive
version. Sebastian Chan, one of the taskforce members says: “We need to
make sure that Government 2.0 isn’t creating another niche lobby group”.
The taskforce posed 35 questions related to the OECD principles for the
release of public sector information: openness, access and transparent
conditions for reuse, asset lists, quality, integrity, new technologies
and long-term preservation, copyright, pricing, competition, redress
mechanisms, public private partnerships, international access and use
and best practices. Some of the key issues the taskforce will address are:
• How can we build a culture within government which favours the
disclosure of public sector information and innovation?
• What are the legal and privacy obstacles and how can they be
adjusted?
• What government information should be more freely available and
what might be made of it?
For the ‘Power of Information Review’
report, go to http://twurl.nl/2ndvbh
For the ‘VenturousAustralia. Building
strength in innovation’ report, go to http://
twurl.nl/jm2qq3
For more PublicSphere 2 reports on
government 2.0, go to http://twurl.
nl/1ocnou
Pia Waugh blogs about government 2.0 and
open government. See www.pipka.org
Creative Commons (CC) is an initiative to
promote the reuse and distribution of
creative products. Instead of traditional
copyrights, it offers a selection of licensing
forms for authors or creators.
See www.creativecommons.nl
For more blogs and publications by the Gov
2.0 Taskforce, go to http://gov2.net.au

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 127
• What are the major obstacles to fostering a culture of online
engagement within government and how can they be tackled?
• How can government capture the imagination of citizens?
The outcome will be encompassing, valuable and instructive.
Conclusion: Australia is carefully considering possible
applications
I believe that politics and government in Australia are making a
deliberate effort to be open and interactive in what they do. The city
of Melbourne for in instance, involves its residents in its development
via FutureMelbourne. Australia is making progress, although plenty of
obstacles remain. What might make them succeed though, is the fact
that public servants in Australia have access to a government-wide
collaboration platform with forums, wikis, etc.
There is a lot we can learn from developments in Australia. Apart from
theresults generatedbythe taskforce,Iam sure wecanalso benet
from studying the open and interactive approach by the taskforce. Isn’t
it time we set up a similar taskforce in the Netherlands?
The site of the Australian city of Melbourne
is set up as a wiki.
See www.futuremelbourne.com.au

128 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Example: PIANOo desk, online network for procurement ofcials
By Kees Tazelaar
PIANOodeskwasfoundedin2002asavirtualcommunityforprocurementofcialsandcontractors.PIANOo
is a Public Procurement Expertise Centre, part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. It was founded in the
wake of the building fraud which exposed the Dutch government’s failure to meet European compliance
regulations.
Initiallyaccessibletogovernmentofcialsonly,PIANOo-desksoonwelcomedotherpublicofcialsoperating
inthiseld.Fromtheinitial1700membersin2005,therearenownearly2800activemembers.
A platform for sharing expertise and information
Active members are members who have logged in at least once in the past four months. Quick browsing
sessions are also classed as an activity - after all, the visitor might have learnt something. At the centre of
the site lies its debate section. This is used a lot. The main section publishes some thirty new questions or
discussions and some 120 answers each month.
Thesiteisalsousedtopostawidevarietyofdocuments.Theaddressbookwithprolesandphotosisalso
extensivelyused.PIANOo-deskhassomeftysubgroups,arranged by organisation (central government,
local council, province, police), interest (electronic auctions, legal, IT) and regional collaboration for
instance. These more or less active groups can make use of the diary function. Functionalities like chat,
enquiry, poll or blog are not used.
Over the past few years PIANOo desk has become the contracting platform. It has helped civil servants
throughout the Netherlands to liaise and exchange expertise, wherever and whenever. This expertise is
essential in ensuring billions of taxpayers’ money is spent wisely.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 129
Great Britain: the priority top 5
Tom Steinberg is founder of mySociety, a British group of volunteers
which has organised various online initiatives in Great Britain to make
government service more accessible (e.g. Fixmystreet.com) and
democratic processes more transparent (e.g. Theyworkforyou.co.uk).
Steinberg also advises the British government on the use of social
mediaandtheinternet.Sometimeagohewroteablogabouttheve
priorities for government 2.0. As they also apply to the Dutch situation,
I have listed them below.
The priorities are not in any order and do not lack ambition:
Invest in civil servants 2.0
The internet is changing at a lightening pace and what citizens expect
from their government is changing just as fast. Without knowledgeable
civil servants with a thorough understanding of what the internet is
about, change will pass government by, and the gap between citizen
and government will grow. Invest in civil servants 2.0, by training them,
and by hiring a whole new generation of civil servants 2.0 before this
gap becomes too great.
Make your information visible
Free your data and information on the internet using open standards
(save for privacy sensitive information), especially maps and other
geographic information, plus non-personal from public services and
implementation bodies. Introduce a presumption of innovation: if
someone has asked for something costly to free up, it’s probable that
they have an innovative concept in mind.
Make internal systems accessible
Give external parties the right to interface electronically with internal
systems, such as health records (with the patient’s consent of course),
council fault reporting services, progress systems for citizen requests
and subsidy requires, or service user data, unless it can be shown to
create substantial, irrevocable harm. It will help identify problem areas
in government organisations and ensure they are tackled fast. Punish
unjustiedrefusalswithnes.
Build a national deliberation platform
Involve citizens in policy development by holding national sessions on
policy areas that have yet to be decided on. This requires the creation
of online deliberation platforms where citizens can contribute and
which will keep them informed on how their responses have contributed
to the eventual policy. Once it has been made to work well, this form
of participation can be legislated into the fabric of democracy, like
elections and referenduma.
Create a digital services waiting room
For all online services and forms, include a function where citizens can
talk to others who are going through the same process. Enable them to
help each other by exchanging tips, providing comments or suggesting
improvements. Users will get a faster response without having to use
the regular service. And if government organisations stay tuned into
mySociety has initiated various internet
sites that aim to strengthen the
relationship between citizens and the
government and politics, such as www.
xmystreet.organdwww.theyworkforyou.
co.uk. Also go to www.mysociety.com
In early 2009 the Dutch Ministry of the
Interiorlauncheditsrststudyinto
opportunities of, and obstacles to Open
Government and open data. The study is
carried out by Ton Zijlstra and James
Burke.
See www.vrijedata.nl

130 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
the debate, they can even see where and how their services can be
improved.
Conclusion: Great Britain inspires new examples and
ideas
If I look at what we’re doing in the Netherlands, I see great activity,
albeit in its early stages, on the second and fourth recommendation.
The Ministry of the Interior and Civil Servant 2.0 are pushing for greater
availability of information on the internet and the Ministry of Justice is
keen to start internet consultations.
I believe the third recommendation is the most ambitious and will
require the most efforts to introduce. The digital waiting room,
however, is something we can set up now. The points for action are
listed in Chapter 8.
Havingsaidallthat–therstrecommendationisthebasisforallfuture
development. These developments are carried by civil servants, so it is
vitalthatthefocusofinvestmentshouldbeoncivilservants2.0!
Internetconsultatie.nl is an initiative by the
Ministry of Justice to submit new legislation
to the public before sending it to the Dutch
House of Representatives.
See www.internetconsultatie.nl
Monique Roosen (province of Noord-Brabant) refers her
followers to an interesting column (see link) by Matt
Poelmans, director of Burgerlink.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 131
Best practice: Verbeterdebuurt.nl, debate platform for public space
Verbeterdebuurt.nl helps local residents improve their neighbourhood. The site offers residents a platform
where they can address their councils about issues in public areas and to present ideas. Verbeterdebuurt is
the Dutch version of the British Fixmystreet.org: crowdsourcing in the public area.
Verbeterdebuurt.nlusesGoogleMaps.Residentscanenterapostcodetondtheirneighbourhoodandpost
an idea or a problem on the map. This is communicated to the council, which may then take action.
Report problems and develop new ideas
The internet site was launched to bring residents and councils closer. It enables residents to report problems
regarding public areas and to contribute ideas. All problems are forwarded to the council. Ideas, however,
areforwardedonlyiftheyhavesufcientsupport.Compareittoapetition-residentsareinvitedtorate
problems or ideas. This encourages a debate on public areas.
Verbeterdebuurt.nl cannot guarantee that all Dutch councils will act upon the reports they receive. What
it can guarantee is that all reports reach the council. And it is then up to the council to decide if it wishes
to act upon the information.
In short - a great initiative. Just try for yourself. If you see any litter, or if you know of any loose tiles,
report it. Verbeterdebuurt.nl offers citizens and civil servants the opportunity to manage and develop
public space together.

132 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
The United States: advice for the Department
of Defense
Mark Drapeau is an Associate Research Fellow at the National Defense
University.Heisaprolicbloggeronweb2.0andthegovernment.With
colleague Linton Wells II he wrote the ‘Social Software and National
Security: An Initial Net Assessment’ report. This report discusses the
theory and practical implementation of, and obstacles for web 2.0 in
government organisations. It discusses government 2.0 best practices,
and the use of social media in conict areas (including Georgia,
Mumbai, Moldavia). The report concludes with ten recommendations
and six conditions.
Obstacles for government organisations
Drapeau starts by sketching a model of interaction and exchange within
and between government organisations: inward, outward, inbound and
outbound sharing. More about this in Chapter 5. He also sketches the
obstacles for these forms of government collaboration and expertise
sharing. He lists seven:
• Interagencyinteractionisdifcult;employeeshaveaninternalfocus;
• Classic bureaucracy regulations on access to the internet and
specicsitesvaryperorganisationorevenperdepartment;
• Information (mission) assurance. Apart from opportunities, web 2.0
also brings new risks. Care must be taken that security does not lead
to passivity;
• Infrastructure. Outdated technology infrastructure at various
government organisations (or parts thereof), in hardware, software
and in networks;
• Employee demographics: many older staff, little exibility and
virtually no digital natives;
• Administration and political changes affect stability and support for
creative processes;
• Budget and resource restrictions and the annual planning cycle affect
stability and creative processes and thwarts long-term planning.
These obstructions hinder organisations in how they respond. They may
put them at a crucial disadvantage, and even stop them from reaching
their organisation goals.
Recommendations for the use of 2.0 opportunities
The report ends by calling on the DoD to recognise the importance of
web 2.0 and to develop a strategy: which conditions must be met and
howcantheministrybenetfromthebroaderinteractionopportunities
and faster developments? To help draft a strategy, Drapeau presents a
number of concrete recommendations:
• Lead by strongly supporting social software. Change must happen
across agencies;
• Analyse the balance between security and organisational sharing
cooperation;
• Create a culture of social software experimentation. This will show
what works and who can relate to it;
• Network government with the new digerati liaise with the creative
The ‘Social Software and National
Security: An Initial Net Assessment’ report
is available at http://twurl.nl/g873yd
Dictionary: Digital natives are people born
after 1985. This generation grew up with
computers and the internet and takes the
digital world for granted.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 133
sector,internetrmsandinnovativefreelancers tokeepabreast of
developments;
• Be prepared to discard some legacy systems and processes to get
something new off the ground;
• Empower some individuals to be authentic in their use of 2.0 tools.
Theorganisationwillbenet;
• Unlock the governments cognitive surplus and use the expertise,
ideas and commitment of the entire organisation and its ecosystem;
• Envision citizens as communities of conversations and use the
information and opinions shared;
• Create return on engagement through sharing information and liaising
online. Make it transparent;
• Develop modern ”brands” and market these employees, products or
organisation departments as recognisable and interactive brands on
the internet.
The above recommendations should help the Department of Defense
change the way it works. There are some preconditions:
• New policies must be agreed on how the ministry can deal with web
2.0 (inward, outward, inbound and outbound sharing);
• Invest in training and provide the right incentives to stimulate
employees to use 2.0 tools and methods;
• Determine which resources suit which processes and how their effect
can be enhanced;
• Draw up a vision on the integration of 2.0 tools in processes;
• Security policy must comprise several security levels to identify risks
for users;
• Develop a new strategy for the role of participation and engage
citizens in what the department does.
Conclusion: government organisations all face the
same challenges
So far the results from Mark Drapeau’s study. A long list of valuable
information and insights. I have condensed and adapted the information
to the Dutch situation and other government organisations. For detailed
information on the American Department of Defense, please read the
report. While the DoD will differ from other government organisations
in some areas, the overlaps are considerable. And don’t forget - this is
theorganisationwheretheinternetwasinvented!
Summary
WithWeb2.0armlyestablishedterm,government 2.0now receives
the attention it deserves. It is the subject of studies, conferences are
being organised, and initiatives are being set up. The United States in
particular is an inspiring example. An open government that participates
appeals to many and inspires innovative ideas and activities across the
world. Over the next few years it will be interesting to see how these
innovations develop and how they will change the way governments
work and collaborate.
Dictionary: A self-employed professional is
also known as a freelancer. Many of these
professionals rely on 2.0 tools to strengthen
their position in the market.

134 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
WendmanyexamplesintheNetherlandstoo,fromorganisationswith
progressive plans and activities (see elsewhere in this book) to public
ofcerswhodevelopnewinitiativesandusenewtoolstodotheirwork
differently. These civil servants 2.0 are the subject of Section III, but
rst we’ll look at how government organisations can work on their
strategy 2.0.
For examples of civil servants who have
taken a 2.0 approach to work, go to the
Civil Servant 2.0 network.
See lidvandeweek.ambtenaar20.nl
@cheeky_geeky is Mark Drapeau’s Twitter name.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 135
What does web 2.0 mean for accommodation?
Government buildings can be formidable and intimidating structures. Many are built like fortresses,
there’s nothing appealing about them. This is in stark contrast with the concept of work 2.0, which
promotes openness, working in networks and putting employees central. So how would this translate
to where we work? Let’s explore this a little further.
The workplace is changing
Organisations tend to guard their computer networks like fortresses. They are secure on the inside,
and contacts with the outside are seen as risky. In other words, “Jericho styled security”. We see
similar walls of Jericho around our government buildings where a myriad security rules get in the way
when we want to welcome visitors or colleagues from other government agencies.
This situation is at odds with social trends. The internet and web 2.0 are blurring the barriers within
and between organisations. Governments are taking a more open approach to society and more and
moreemployees areworkingaway fromthe ofce.Governmentsincreasingly manifestthemselves
as facilitators of social processes and as supporters of initiatives emerging in society. So what
accommodation and working environment would t these developments? And which support and
facilities would these civil servants need?
Working from home has been an option for years, but is rarely stimulated. Most civil servants (save for
inspectorsforinstance)areattheofcefromninetove,sharingacorridorwithcolleaguesworking
inthesamedepartment,andanofcewiththesamecolleagueformonthsoryears.It’swhattheyare
used to. Aside from habit, there are also structural reasons why civil servants are stuck in one location:
• Efcient collaboration: being in the same place with one or two others is an efcient form of
collaboration for most jobs. The disadvantages (dependency on time and place, hence excluding or
restricting people) are usually outweighed by the advantages. But we are seeing a shift. Increasing
numbers of tasks can be made more efcient without actually meeting: collaborating on a
document in a wiki, keeping in touch with a distributed network via Twitter, keeping a broad group
abreastandgaugingtheirresponsesviablog,etcetera.Whyspendallofyourtimeattheofce,
ifitisnotthemostefcientapproachinallcases?Especiallyifyouareconsideringtransforming
to an interactive and transparent work approach;
• Being visibly active: what is also important is that it is clear for all to see that you are working,
that your colleagues can see you are working hard, but most of all, that your boss can see that
you are putting in the hours. It works both ways – both the boss and the employee value this. Of
course, being seen to be staring at a computer screen is no guarantee that you are actually working
(let alone that you are working well). For a manager 2.0 results are all that matter. And there are
ways to meet this need for being visibly active at work. Not via webcams, but by using Twitter for
instance (for regular updates on what you are doing), or MSN Messenger (to let others know when
you are available), a short blog (to report on the steps you have taken), or even your contributions
to a wiki. Open work also meets managers’ needs to know what their employees are up to;
• The social aspect and groups: we should not underestimate the need to actually see and speak to
each other, however. And what better way than having a drink out in the sunshine, or a chat over a
coffee. Civil Servant 2.0 organises coffee mornings, and our Drinks 2.0. Of course - online contacts
can also be fun: you get to talk to people like you who share the same sense of humour. But this
is not the same as actually meeting. No matter how well you get on with someone on the internet
and how well you work together, you must always have what is known as ‘face time’. Just for fun,
or to talk about issues that are just a bit more complex and personal, or to form groups. And quite
oftenyou’llndthatthepeopleinthisgrouparenotthepeopledownyourcorridor.

136 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Your place of work is mobile
You can ask yourself if it is absolutely necessary for you to be in the same building 40 hours a week.
There are plenty of alternatives away from this one location for some of the time. This allows you to
organiseyourworkdifferently.Youmayworkmorequietlyfromhomeforinstance,ornditeasier
to balance your professional and private life. If you are an evening person, you could put in some
hours in the evening, and take it easy in the morning. Or you could do your shopping during the week
rather than on Saturday morning. But you can also work elsewhere. Your place of work is mobile. So
where do you choose to work?
A laptop and a mobile internet connection are all you need to go wherever you want and still keep in
touch with your network and colleagues. We have found that you are free to choose where you work
formostofyourtime.Sohowcanyouusethisfreedomtodoyourworkbetterandmoreefciently?
Some locations:
• On the road: on a train, at a station, in a motorway café, or wherever you are on your way to the
ofceoranappointment;
• With other colleagues: why not join your colleagues in a different department down your corridor,
or go to another municipality, province or ministry if you have a meeting there anyway. You will
hear new things and meet new people;
• Close to home:ifyouneedcertainfacilities,butyourregularofceisalongwayfromhome,why
notgotoagovernmentservicethatisnearer:amunicipalityoralocalofce;
• Central location: if you are meeting people from all over the country, meet them somewhere
central and make it your workplace for the day. Arrange the meeting in another government
building, or book a co-work place like Seats2Meet in Utrecht;
• Fun:ndyourselfanicecomfortableplacetowork.Lookforsomewhereincaféwithwi,oreven
on a terrace outdoors somewhere. It’s a much nicer place to meet people, and you don’t have to
report to security.
Mobileworkingallowsyoutomeetnewpeople,planyourtimemoreefcientlyandgenerallyhave
morefuninwhatyouaredoing.Inprinciple,youcanstartnow.Butyouwillndthatthingsareeven
easier if you make sure you have arranged the following:
• Customised: this is about the technical facilities you need. Employees should be given a budget
and choose what they need to do their work the best they can. Do they want to invest in a laptop,
a mobile phone, or a better workstation at home?
• Mobile workstation: if you want to work mobile, you need a fast laptop that is light and always
connected;
• Online facilities: the internet offers plenty of opportunities for contacts and collaboration, and
employers and governments must provide reliable and user-friendly facilities: access to network
and email, to MSN Messenger and video facilities, as well as to the employee’s own social network
sites and wikis;
• GPS technology (+ augmented reality): where are your colleagues, where do you need to be,
which facilities are near?
• Health and safety: workstations at home or in government buildings must have adjustable chairs
and desks, plus wireless keyboards, mice and high-resolution screens for easy connection to a
laptop;
• Travel costs:theseincludeticketsforpublictransportaswellasrefreshmentsorofcesupplies
like photocopies. Contracts with conference facility chains like LaPlace or Regardz could be an
option. How much would a day’s work at La Place cost compared with maintaining workstations
and buildings?

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 137
Obviously, much remains to be arranged. But this does not mean that we can’t yet start adopting
this approach. For now, I use my own laptop (a netbook), occasionally arrange to meet people in
a café and pay for my own coffee. These are all things that would have to be arranged by a 2.0
organisation.Itwouldbeaninvestmentinanopen,exible,interactiveorganisationthatwouldsave
on accommodation costs.
A minister tower, civil servants clubs, agora buildings and a satellite network
I have explained how we can all work as Civil Servants 2.0, not tied down to a single building, and
free to choose where we work, provided this is facilitated.
A vision on accommodation is based not only on how civil servants work, but also on the role of
government in society. This role determines how we present ourselves as an organisation:
• an open government, which is transparent and accessible, also in its buildings;
• an interactive and responsive government, which is part of society;
• the government as a platform, a supporter and facilitator of social processes.
Based on these principles, I would like to put forward some inspiring new concepts:
Satellite network: Scattered all over the Netherlands are government buildings for local councils,
provincialauthorities,implementationbodiesandofcialinspectorates.Theyallhaveworkstations,
meetingrooms and ofcefacilities.But not forme.I believe wecanuse this vastpotentialmore
efciently. With a tight network of accessible buildings throughout the Netherlands I could work
wherever I am, arrange to meet people wherever it is most convenient, and organise meetings such
as informal coffee mornings wherever there are the most people. All I need is a workstation for
me and my laptop, an opportunity for a quick meeting, and meeting rooms with all the facilities
I require to bring together groups of people. Big or small. The costs could be settled amongst the
organisations;
• Agora buildings: This approach to work requires buildings that are partly public. Not buildings with
“a wall of Jericho” and security gates at the entrance, but semi-open buildings with secure areas.
The public area should be like a marketplace, with a host of facilities to work or meet with other civil
servants or with citizens. The private areas would be secured. The public areas and facilities could
also be made available to local clubs or organisations. Or consider working with companies like the
Coffee Company to increase the appeal of government buildings. We see a similar development at
the country’s larger stations which now also offer shops and catering facilities;
• Civ il servant clubs: If you want to work quietly, you can work from home, and if you want to meet
people, you can choose a convenient location. But sometimes it’s just nice to bump into someone
you know, have a chat and talk about what’s been happening in your group or elsewhere. These
‘clubs’ should of course not be secluded areas for the happy few, but workplace locations where
civilservants caninteractat asociallevel.Theofce functionshouldshift fromworkstationto
meeting location. Apart from workstations and meeting rooms (some of which will be located in
the “agora” areas) there must be areas for casual interaction. A coffee machine alone is no longer
enough. An area with a billiards or a table tennis table, pleasant views or exhibition areas could
also be the perfect setting;
• Minister tower: By rearranging workstations and hours, we won’t need as many workstations
in the future, particularly at the ministries. In fact, would accommodation by ministry be at all
necessary? As it is, buildings are being merged, as are facilities and business operation functions
(local councils).

138 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
With a local network of government buildings, with civil servants who choose where they work based
on what they need to do that day, and with buildings that also have a public and social function,
ministries will need fewer large buildings. Their Ministers can work as a team, accommodated in the
same building where they keep in touch with their staff through a range of multimedia facilities.
Building on today’s developments, this is how I imagine the future of accommodation and work
environment of civil servants 2.0 will be. And we can start right now. The Civil Servant for the Future
project is busy mapping out all (central) government buildings in the Netherlands, creating “hubs”
where people can collaborate on social themes. As a civil servant yourself, you can also contribute
to this process. After all, we have the tools and the facilities. All we need to do now is adopt the
right frame of mind.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 139
Section II. Building an organisation 2.0
For the action points for a government organisation 2.0, go to page 156.

140 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
The three worlds of government 2.0
Conversations. Between people. Online
In 1999 David Weinberger, author of ‘Everything is miscellaneous’
contributed to ‘Cluetrain Manifesto’. The authors listed 95 statements
on the internet’s impact on the economy (society) and on organisations.
Theirrststatementread:“Marketsareconversations.”Conversations,
interactions, debates, that’s what it is all about.
In his book ‘Here comes everybody’ (see Chapter 3) Clay Shirky underwrites
this principle. People are social creatures and communication is an important
aspect of how we interpret this social interaction. Conversations inspire
an exchange of knowledge, ideas and collaboration to achieve something
together. And since the internet, conversations were never easier.
The internet is a platform for conversations
The internet is like a giant collection of conversations. From an abstract
point of view, virtually every link on an internet page is an interaction
with another internet page. Google keeps track of these connections to
improve its search results. After all, every link was made by someone
and says something about the related page. But the internet is also a
platform for conversations, literally. Email conversations are of course
an obvious example, as are discussions on forums, blogs (and their
responses), Twitter, all conversations and connections on networking
sites like Hyves and LinkedIn, video clips on YouTube, wikis, etc. The
internet is one giant conversation.
There are conversations about whatever interests people. And while
not every conversation might seem relevant to you, the reality is that
others must have thought so at the time. These conversations are a fact
– it is up to you to decide if you want to take part in them.
Conversations form the basis for knowledge
exchange, collaboration and processes
Conversations on the internet can take any shape or form. They could
be like chats when you go for a coffee, or talks during a meeting.
Conversations to organise a joint event are called collaboration. If
collaboration has a clear focus, it is called a process. Groups of people
(like organisations) attune their work through conversations. There are
three forms in which they can do so:
• knowledge exchange: even informal chats are a form of knowledge
exchange. Every interaction contains information and knowledge. Not
just the content of the conversation, but also the time and place, the
form, the partners in the conversation, etc. Conversations will tell you
something about opinions, about circumstances, about stakeholders and
about networks. Everything starts with conversation;
• collaboration: if it appears from conversations and the exchange of
knowledge and ideas that there is reason to organise a joint event,
activities are attuned for collaboration. To achieve a goal, the right
persons are involved and arrangements are made about the division of
tasks;
• processes: to some extent, collaboration is laid down in processes,
specifying the steps to be taken, how these are taken and with
Chapter 5.
The ten BurgerServiceCode items
1. Choice of contact channel
2. Findability of government products
3. Understandability of facilities
4. Personal Information service
5. Convenient services
6. Transparent working methods
7. Reliable digital infrastructure
8. Receptive Management
9. Responsible system management
10. Active involvement
For more information, go to www.
burgerlink.nl

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 141
whom.Theseprocessesarefocusedonspecicendgoalsorconcrete
products. This form of collaboration also exists of interactions,
transactions and conversations, partly agreed in advance.
Conversations, between people, that is what society and organisations
are built on.
So why my interest in them? A purely semantic discussion, you could
argue. But we have to go back to basics, back to the origins of human
interaction for a clear understanding of the social and organisational
changes brought about by the internet. The internet is radically
changing the nature of conversations. If we plan to take this onboard as
a government, we will need to start at the beginning.
The relationship between government and society on
the internet
A better and more efcient government should focus on improving
conversations and on making collaboration more efcient by nding
the right people and the right tools. The internet will be used more
and more, for online conversations, online collaboration and online
processes, across organisational borders.
It is difcult to dene the increasingly transparent borders on the
internet. Discussions help to occasionally make clear distinctions between
government and society. John Geraci, working for American publishers
O’Reilly, lists four areas where interaction takes place. In his words:
• Government to Citizen (G2C): making government information accessible
to society;
• Citizen to Government (C2G): offering citizens the opportunity to “talk
back”;
• Citizen to Citizen (C2C): platforms for citizens to exchange information
and to collaborate;
• Government to Government (G2G): exchanging data and information
between government organisations.
Whileaveryclearclassication,itistoorestrictedforourgovernment
to focus its approach on these new circumstances. Mark Drapeau,
researcher at the American Defense University, describes a model and
makes a distinction between the direction of interaction from within
and inside government (also refer to Chapter 4):
• Inward sharing: sharing information within the ministry, both operational
expertise and information and operation and collaboration;
• Outward sharing: sharing information with other organisations and
persons (the organisation’s ecosystem), such as other government
bodies and layers, police, involved businesses and public organisations
orinuentialpersons;
• Inbound sharing: garner input from citizens, for instance to gauge their
opinion on topics, to rate an issue or for crowdsourcing (using citizens’
expertise or ideas);
• Outbound sharing: communicating with and informing citizens, for
instance by using multimedia to share expertise and information or to
put data online to help others.
John Geraci’s article can be downloaded
from http://twurl.nl/m561gt

142 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
While Drapeau’s views are inspired by a government organisation, more
sothanGeraci’s,againIndhisclassicationincomplete.Government
organisations are often structured like fortresses. They may even seem
impregnable to citizens. Where this may be expected for a Ministry of
Defence, it does not make sense for local councils, provinces, water
boards and most other ministries. These organisations could be much
more open.
Contrast between government and society?
Society often regards government as a single institute. In reality,
government is made up of various layers of organisations. And more
importantly: these organisations are made up of people. If you deal
with “the government”, you deal with one or more civil servants.
Ordinary people with whom you can have a conversation.
Geraci and Drapeau present two institutes, “government” and “society”,
andconnectthembyarrowstodenotetheowsofinformation.But
why this constant emphasis on separation? There are natural reasons for
this. The hierarchic and internal culture and the focus of government
organisationsontheirpoliticalofceholdersispartlytoblame.Equally
important is that our buildings and ICT hinder collaboration outside
the organisation. Civil servants are, in a way, ‘locked up’. But you can
leave these buildings, mingle with society and arrange to meet people.
Or you can invite people to visit you in your government building. This
requires action on your part, but it is possible. An organisation’s ICT
environmentisnotusuallythatexible,orneverusedtobeuntilnow.
Thanks to digital advances, the internet offers people an opportunity
to talk to others outside their organisation. A new playing eld has
opened up.
Three online worlds for conversations and
collaboration
There have always been contacts between society and government,
between citizens and civil servants. There is nothing unusual about
that.Citizensandcivilservantstalk,mostlyofine,allday:localpublic
servantstalktolocalresidents,policyofcialstalktorepresentatives
for organisations and businesses, people at desks answer questions,
and so on and so forth. There are ofces and post boxes, there are
participation processes (involvement) and collaborations, drinks and
parties, and much, much more.
Geraciand Drapeau describetheplaying eld as owsofinformation
between government and society, within government and in society (on
the internet). Basically, they emphasise the contrasts between citizens
and civil servants. Unnecessary, I feel - objectionable even.
I believe that we need to look at where conversations are held and
support them.
Viewed from government these conversations take place in three online
worlds, three collections of platforms:
• In society: The internet is the participation platform for conversations
between citizens. People talk to each other, work together online
and use processes and transactions on the internet. From discussion
“Transparency is the new
objectivity”
David Weinberger illustrated the
difference between the paper and the
hyperlinked era when he asked a
journalist which candidate he supported
for the presidential elections. The
journalist answered: “If I told you, how
could you trust what I wrote?”, to which
Weinberger replied: “If you don’t tell
me, how can I trust what you write?”.
The transparency to include the
viewpoint from which you write allows
the reader to compensate for any
prejudice an author or journalist will
have. In other words: transparency is the
new objectivity.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 143
forumsabouttrafcjams and people mapping out mobile network
coverage blackspots to bank transactions for instance;
• For the government: Performing government tasks involves many
conversations: knowledge exchange, collaboration and processes
within governments, between governments and with external
parties and individuals. All of these parties play a role in enabling a
government to function;
• In participation: The internet has made it easier to address government
tasks in collaboration with citizens and public organisations. Putting
issues on the agenda, exchanging ideas and involving expertise from
societyenablesgovernmentstoworkbetterandmoreefciently.
This is not about underlining the differences between government and
society. The challenge lies in supporting interaction. Civil servants and
government organisations have a role to play in each of the three online
worlds. By listening, taking part in conversations, collaborating in
creative processes or offering a platform supporting these conversations
and collaborations.
What do these three worlds look like?
In the coming period government organisations will need to esh
out this participating role and take action. But before I discuss the
government’s new role in the three online worlds, I will describe the
worlds as we know them now. Which platforms bring people together
and enable conversations? In society, within government and for
participation?
A platform is everything that supports and stimulates conversations
between people within these three online worlds. It is a level playing
eldwithminimumobstructionsforinteractionandmaximumscopefor
generating new relations. Provided a platform meets this condition, it
can take on all sorts of shapes and forms.
Wherever conversations take place, there is a platform to support
them.
1. the online world of citizens: the internet
The internet is the platform for conversations and collaboration
between citizens. It is freely accessible, its potential for conversations
is huge and it is open to all, social and user-centric. With so many
sites, businesses and institutions that make the internet possible, we
are spoilt for choice.
What makes the internet so powerful are its connections between the
different sites and platforms. These can be simple links (hypertext), as
well as open standards (like RSS), mash-ups (such as embedding Google
Maps), widgets and other modules (see how Netvibes and iGoogle work),
joint logins (such as OpenID and Facebook Connect) and so on and so
forth. Together these connections strengthen the platform function and
facilitate exchange.
Internet users may not always be aware of these developments, but
what they do know is that it’s becoming increasingly easy to get together
and start a conversation, whether by starting a blog on a platform like
Slechte Dekking is an initiative by Jaap
Stronks. It uses Google Maps to map out
mobile network coverage black spots with
input from users. The maps are published
on the site.
See www.slechtedekking.nl
Dictionary: RSS is the standard used by
sites to make information (such as title and
summary) available to others as plain text.
Dictionary: Embedding: integrating
information or an application (widget) from
one site to another site, such as a YouTube
video clip in a blog.
Dictionary: A widget is a building block
with information or a software programme
that can be embedded in another site.
Dictionary: Virtual teams are project
groups with people from different
organisations or departments who work
together on a task in an online work
environment..

144 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Hyves, or by using a separate site like WordPress. Both offer RSS, the
option of embedding YouTube video clips and space for reactions. Your
story on the internet in just a few clicks. The barriers to conversing
online are coming down.
• For more about the internet principles see Chapter 6.
2. The online world for government is mostly
unexplored
There are plenty of sites and platforms on the internet to get started,
but for the internal world of government it’s not easy to make contact
online and make full use of the opportunities for collaboration. While
intranets are commonly used by organisations, these do not enable
people to get together, to converse or to create something.
The central government has Rijksweb (due to be shortly replaced by
the Digital Workstation Rijk), and enables civil servants to invite people
from outside the government. But there are some major obstacles.
Some workgroups even charge for external access. The site focuses on
sharing documents, rather than conversations or co-creation.
There is no platform for conversations and collaboration within
government and with partners (virtual teams). There are very few
facilities. Ideeëncentrale is a platform that facilitates the exchange of
ideas between local councils and the Ministry of the Interior. It has no
external access. Neemtinitiatief.nl does have a platform function and
brings together initiators from across the government to exchange ideas.
• For more about the organisation principles, see Chapter 7.
3. Building an online world for participation
The number of platforms for conversations and collaboration has grown
tremendously. Yet the government has failed to make the most of the
opportunities to create an efcient and effective organisation. It is
virtually impossible to set up online groups in government and start
conversations or collaboration with colleagues or partners. A chat over
a virtual coffee or in an online meeting room is still a long way away.
The government is also lagging behind in using society’s potential
through the internet. How can a civil servant start an online community
on a particular policy theme? Is there a platform where a policy process
is visualised to involve people? How can you invite people to contribute
ideas and crowdsource solutions for social issues? Where can you make
documents or data available to society?
There have been a few tentative initiatives. Legal opportunities
for internet consultations are limited, but we are seeing some
developments. The Ministry of the Interior has set up Government 2.0,
a site for civil servants to form groups. And there are some private
initiatives, such as Governmentswidgets.nl, Verbeterdebuurt.nl and Jij
en de overhead (you and your government). These are all platforms
that facilitate contact between society and government and between
citizens and civil servants. But we still have a long way to go.
• For more about the participation principles, see Chapter 8.
Visitors who need to register for access to a
sitemustrstcreateanaccountandlogin.
Most people use different login names and
passwords for different sites. It’s needless
hassle. A private initiative (OpenID) may be
the solution, enabling users to access
various sites from a single account. Other
sites enable users to log in via an account
to another site, such as Facebook or
Twitter. This site then acts as key keeper.
The Ideeëncentrale was initiated by the
municipalities of Dordrecht, Zwolle, Oss,
Rotterdam and the Ministry of the Interior
and Kingdom Relations for employees to
share ideas.
See www.ideeencentrale.nl
Neemtiniatief was set up by the Civil
Servant for the Future. It welcomes
initiatives and ideas from civil servants,
and invites others to respond or offer their
assistance.
See www.neemtinitiatief.nl
Government 2.0 is a site created by the
Ministry of the Interior. It enables civil
servants to initiate project sites for group
collaboration. The sites have RSS, blogs and
wikis.
See www.overheid20.nl
OverheidsWidgets is a collaboration
platform for governments to publish
reusable and multi-format information on
the internet.
See www.overheidswidgets.nl
Jijendeoverheid is a portal for citizens with
simple and transparent information about
politics and public government at all levels.
See www.jijendeoverheid.nl

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 145
Summary
The internet presents government with vast opportunities to work more
interactivelyandefciently:bytakingpartindevelopmentsinsociety,
internal collaboration and involving citizens in government tasks. So far,
little progress has been made in these three areas. But the government
of the 21st century should make it work. After all, government 2.0 is
the future.
Before I continue, here a brief summary of what has been discussed so
far:
• Human interaction is shaped by conversations. The internet has
changed interaction fundamentally;
• Knowledge exchange, collaboration or targeted processes are all
conversations;
• Wherever there are conversations there is a platform that supports
them.
• For the government, there are three online worlds where conversations
take place and where government plays a role;
• The internet is the platform for conversations in public society in
which the government participates;
• Lack of solid platforms hampers efcient collaboration within
government and with partners;
• Participation: opportunities for participation by citizens and using
their potential;
• The government needs a strategy to work as government 2.0 in these
three areas.

146 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
What does web 2.0 mean for inspectorates?
Albert Meijer of the University of Utrecht and Vincent Homburg of the Erasmus University Rotterdam
wrote ‘Op weg naar Toezicht 2.0’ (towards Inspection 2.0) (2007). Based on Dutch and international cases
they mapped out the effects of increased transparency during inspections. What have been the effects of
publishing audit data in the Netherlands, Denmark and Great Britain? The study looked at:
•TheDutchHealthandSafetyInspectoratewhichpublishesbusinessassessmentreportsonline;
•TheDanishfoodinspectoratewhichpublishesstudydataonlineandusessmileys to make the information
transparent. These smileys are also used on restaurant menus and in shops;
•TheLimburgenvironmentalinspectoratewhichcompilesaComplaintsTopTenwithanEnvironmentMap
pinpointing locations where problems are reported. Citizens can consult the map and search by postcode;
•TheBritishEnvironmentalAgency which publishes reports and rates businesses on environmental and
pollution aspects.
Meijer and Homburg conclude that the above organisations have made good progress by publishing their
inspection data online and adjusting their organisations to offer high-quality and up-to-date information.
But, they say, this is still inspection 1.0. Because, despite publication of the information online, these
organisationsstillfailtousewhat2.0hastooffer.Distributionofdataisdifcultandthereisnointeraction.
The researchers therefore decided to include in their report recommendations for inspectorates. One is to
assume a wider role for citizens:
•Usecitizenstosignalfaults(restaurantvisitorsforinstance);
•Stimulatecitizenstoinformbusinessesororganisationswhodonotscorewell;
•Act as information broker, for instance by delivering information in an open format (such as local
information to Funda.nl or catering data to Iens.nl);
•Enablecitizenstorespondtoinspectorswork.
Other recommendations included:
•Recognisethediversityincitizens:adoptastrategytoreachdifferenttargetgroupsonlineandthrough
other channels;
•Seetransparencyasoneinamixofcontroltools:publishingdatacanhelpyoureachyourgoal;
•Makeprocedurespublic:showexactlywhichmethods,termsandassessmentsinspectorsuse;
•Distinguishlayersof transparency.TaketheDanish easy-to-usesmileysfor instance.Clickon themfor
more information.
Since citizens and inspectorates have a joint interest in securing adequate and safe products and services,
they could really work together. So far, inspectorates have failed to recognise this. The report’s ideal
picture of achieving better inspection with fewer inspectors is still very much something for the future.
Nevertheless, its recommendations form a great basis for inspectorates’ inspection 2.0 strategies. After all,
there is so much to be gained here.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 147
In the next three chapters I present thirty action points for creating a government organisation 2.0.
You will nd plenty of ideas to get you started, but more ideas are always welcome. So if there is
anything you would like to add to the list, please go to actiepunten.ambtenaar20.nl

148 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
The government participates on the internet
To operate as government 2.0 in these three online worlds, the
government needs a strategy. This will be discussed in the next three
chapters. I then present three lists with action items for the government
to take an active part in online society, to operate as government 2.0
and to involve people in what government does.
Taking part in conversations in society
People talk and work together. This is what makes society tick, this
is what makes it dynamic, socially, economically and politically. The
government has a role to play. Stimulating, restrictive, observing or
evenfacilitating.Tofullthisrole,authoritiesrelyonarangeoftools
such as subsidies and legislation, expertise, action plans, coaching, and
decision processes.
Their role is the same in online society. This society too is governed
by Dutch legislation (take stalking or privacy laws). Digital detectives
roam the internet looking for offenders. Regulations and enforcement
aremadetoreectwebdevelopments.The policeuse socialnetwork
sites to involve citizens in investigations (YouTube) and they search the
internet for leads and evidence (on Hyves for instance).
Progress is being made on police 2.0, and on enforcement of privacy
laws and copyrights on the internet. But government agencies have
yet to step into their role as stimulator and facilitator. And despite
subsidies for inspiring ideas such as Digital Pioneers, campaigns for
digital skills (by ECP-EPN) and a media expertise policy route initiated
by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, not many government
organisations are active in online society.
To listen, take part and enable
Conversations on the internet never stop and communities are active
all the time. Government agencies can use the information and options
sharedonline.Peoplendeachotherontheinternetandgettogetherin
your area of expertise. This can help or hinder you in what you do. How
can you use people’s involvement to your advantage, and how can you
prevent it from turning against you? Where to invest, and where to start?
From the 2.0 perspective, the government has three roles in social
discussions:
• to listen: what do people talk about, and what can we learn from
this?Tuneintospecicconversations or amass and lter information
from conversations throughout society. It is not just the content of
the conversations that is important, but also where they take place
and who the key speakers on any particular topic are (bloggers for
instance);
• to take part: sometimes it’s useful to actively take part in
conversations, for instance if you are addressed or if the discussion
is relevant. Civil servants must be given support and space. It gives
thegovernmentanopportunitytovisiblyfullitsrolein(theonline)
society;
Chapter 6.
Digital Pioniers is an incentive scheme by
the Ministry of Education, Culture and
Science to support innovative social
internet initiatives.
See www.digitalepioniers.nl
Digivaardig & Digibewust is an initiative by
the government, industry and other
organisations to encourage more people to
safely use digital facilities.
See www.digivaardigdigibewust.nl

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 149
• to facilitate: government organisations can also facilitate online
conversations, discussions and collaboration. It can do so by enabling
platforms (Guus.net for instance), by supporting existing platforms
(with input and involvement or by contributing knowledge and
information) or even by taking the initiative to start a discussion.
To adopt these roles in conversations, collaboration and processes
on the internet, government organisations can start by applying the
following action points:
The ten internet principles for government 2.0
1. Map out where the conversations are
2. Go where the action is
3. Trust your employees
4. Assist employees online
5. Provide the right facilities
6. Invest in online platforms
7. Identify problem areas
8. Ask questions and initiate conversations
9. Be human
10. Analyse online data
These items are worked out in detail below.
1. Map out where the conversations are
People all over the internet come together to talk about topics that
also interest the government. If you would like to listen to or take
partin conversations orworkwith others, youmustrstknow where
tondthem.Whereisithappening?Whatarerelevantdevelopments?
Who is active? The landscape keeps changing and demands our constant
attention.
• Have information specialists list the discussions, groups, forums, etc.
on the internet that are relevant for your government organisation
and put the list online for everyone to use;
• Create searchprolestomapout conversations and groups on the
various platforms. Stay informed to be able to respond promptly;
• Map out who is actively involved in a topic and who draws attention.
They are the hubs in the online networks and the people you could
work with.
2. Go where the action is
Civil servants should not just stand by the sidelines. They must be
visible and approachable by the public. The type of online group and the
discussions they choose to join may boost a government’s accessibility.
Joinspeciconlinegroups,orofferadeskfunctiononasite,arranged
in consultation with the site manager.
• Enable employees to join relevant communities and groups. Be
present and available for questions or comments;
• Consult with the communication department to assess the nature of
forums and groups and the type of presence this calls for;
• Consult with the communication department and contact the
Guus.net was created by the Ministry of
Agriculture as a platform for knowledge
exchange in rural areas. For more
informationaboutGuus.net,seetherst
Civil Servant 2.0 book.
See www.guus.net
“It’s not information overload, but
lter failure”
Clay Shirky puts the problem of information
overload in perspective: “If you have the
same problem for a long time, maybe it’s
not a problem. Maybe it’s a fact. That’s
information overload. Talking about
it and especially talking about it as if it
explains or excuses anything is actually a
distraction. We’ve had information
overload in some form or other since the 15
hundreds, what changes now is that the
lterswe’veusedformostofthose500
years are breaking.”
Also see http://twurl.nl/wodhx2

150 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
managers of the site or community to arrange your presence. Not as
a banner, but as a point of contact.
3. Trust your employees
Employees are an organisation’s ambassadors, whether on a working
visit or on the internet. They are professionals with an important task.
As a manager, you should be able to trust they will act responsibly and
professionally on the internet. However, we are only human, and we
all make mistakes, so invest in training and supervision. It will pay off.
After all, it is the employees who make an organisation, online too.
• Support employees if ever a situation grows awkward. Civil servants
aim to serve society as best they can, but things do go wrong
sometimes. Stand by your employees and solve any problems
together. Make it a learning experience;
• Discussions and interaction on the internet are fast, frequent and
24/7. Give employees the information and scope they need to take
part without having to ask permission; as a manager be available for
advice (online);
• Ensure employees have the information they need. If information
is withheld internally, it is impossible for them to take the right
decisions and represent their organisation;
• Make mistakes and learn from them. Of course things can go wrong
sometimes. Make sure that experiences (successes as well as failures)
are shared and discussed so others can learn from them. Use the
Practical Pointers discussion forum for instance.
4. Assist employees online
Civil servants will change how they do their work and they can use all
the help they can get. They can start with training and instructions
on where to start. But they can also turn to a network of colleagues
available for questions, or local experts who can help them with
specic problems or questions. The Communication Department can
play an important role in this.
• Organise training for employees to learn more about what you
can do with web 2.0 and the nature of online conversations and
collaboration;
• Make sure that thelist ofdiscussions andgroupsintheir eld are
available and up-to-date to enable employees to respond adequately
and promptly;
• Set up an internal network that can answer questions. Besides
employees who participate on the internet, the network must have
2.0experts who canassistin difcultsituations.Anonlineplatform
must support the network;
• Who excels? Identify all employees with great online networking
skills. Arrange with the communication department that they act like
spokespersons. They can also help their colleagues;
• TheCivilServant2.0PracticalPointershelpdenehowcivilservants
should behave on the internet. Use the instructions and discuss them
internally. New insights can be added to the Practical Pointers.
The Practical PointersYouwillnda
discussion forum on Civil Servant 2.0 (go to
handreiking.ambtenaar20.nl) if you have a
question or would like to share
experiences.
See http://twurl.nl/evrzww

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 151
5. Provide the right facilities
If you go exploring, you need the right tools. As do civil servants who
explore online. Computers and accessories like webcams should work
properly, run up-to-date software and allow plug-ins. But civil servants
who actively represent the organisation on the internet must also be
madeawareofsecurity,storageandefciencyissues.
• Civil servants must feel secure. The risk of account hacking with
civil servants being impersonated on the web must be minimised.
Apart from detailed information on security and passwords, the ICT
department can assist with smart programs (passwords for instance).
Create a hotline for this topic;
• Online conversations take place on other peoples sites. The
government has no control over these sites. To keep track of who
said what and where, and to promote consistency in your response,
and to prevent your words being used out of context, content must
be stored (for instance using BackType) or be easy to download and
stored in an internal management system (for wikis);
• There are countless ways to improve efciency on the web and
to keep track of developments, for instance through RSS and the
right software and set-ups. Internet dynamics is comprised of lots
oftinyinteractions,and nding, tracing and participating in these
interactions should therefore take little time. Speed is of the essence
andisacriticalfactorforactionsundertakenbyICTdepartments!
6. Invest in online platforms
If a topic appeals to people, they will want to discuss it. Online and
ofine.Todoso, theyneedasolidplatform. It’slikeanonlinepubor
digital community centre. There are many such platforms already. The
government can stimulate public discussion by supporting or creating
platforms.
• Based on policy priorities, list all platforms where topic conversations
are taking place. Then decide on the platforms where you want to
invest to stimulate contacts, discussion or collaboration;
• Identify how a platform can be supported. By funding it, or, preferably,
by offering expertise (as information or by providing experts who
take part in such platforms) or data (Open Government), by giving
it a wider reach, or by providing contacts or networks for instance;
• Government has vast pools of expertise. People are increasingly
turning to the web for information. By putting the expertise of civil
servants online (on Wikipedia or Scribd.com for instance) they add
to society. Enable knowledge departments to share and record their
expertise online;
• There is a strong preference for existing platforms, but if necessary,
a theme-based platform can be created by the government (like
Guus.net) to initiate conversation or collaboration or to inspire new
relations between all those involved. Let’s not build a community
centrewhen you don’thaveto!Andif youdoneedto, takeastep
back and let the community manage itself.
7. Identify problem areas
Solving problems is what civil servants are all about. But before you can
start on problems, you need to identify them (don’t go rooting about
BackType searches responses and
discussionsonline.Logintondan
overview of responses you have contributed
to internet sites. The site can also be used
to look for listings of topics or names.
See www.backtype.com
Scribd is a global library with a search
facility for digital documents for reuse. The
site offers a whole range of opportunities
to read documents, and to distribute and
embed them.
See www.scribd.com

152 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
forthem,orcreatethemeven!).Rememberthatnotall problemsare
reported. But because the internet is so transparent, even implicit
problems are easily recognised, like people complaining on Twitter
that they have trouble doing their taxes. This proactive approach to
solving problems is also referred to as webcare, and a popular example
in the Netherlands is UPC, and Dell worldwide (take @StefanieAtDell
on Twitter).
• Have search machines look for references to your organisation,
products or people (ministers, directors, key employees, etc.). After
all, if someone talks to you, you tend to listen;
• Arrange for the communication department or service desk to make
sure that all questions, reports and contributions are delivered and
addressed by someone;
• Respond. Show that you are listening and show your responses to
comments or information;
• Publish the outcome of your webcare activities. Not only will this
help people, it also makes for excellent PR;
• Gather comments, questions, contributions and complaints and use
them as input for processes, products and communication and how
they can be improved.
8. Ask questions and initiate conversations
The government has a story to tell. Not by leaving messages on the
internet or by spamming discussions, but by joining conversation about
topical and relevant themes. A local councillor on a local site, a policy
ofcer in a relevant discussion, or an implementation ofcer on a
customer forum, they can all introduce topics and ask questions that
feature high on the agenda. If you don’t participate, discussions on the
webcaneveninuencenationalhealthcampaigns. Takefor instance
the failed cervical cancer jab campaign organised by the National
Institute for Public Health and the Environment. It met with erce
resistance which was played out online.
•Determine how to contribute new topics to a community without
disrupting its character. What works and what doesn’t? The government
communication departments should know this;
• Employees must understand the organisation’s priorities to use these
in conversations on the web;
• Start and encourage debates and conversations on platforms in order
to support ongoing campaigns. Use this approach sparingly however.
The type of target group is a decisive factor;
• Ask the communication or policy departments to provide low-
barrier material, like a short explanation on YouTube, a widget or
links, which civil servants can use for online references and further
redistribution.
9. Be human
The internet is a at world. Online conversations and collaboration
take place between people. A blog or a message on Twitter is not an
anonymous press release, but a personal contribution to a discussion.
The internet is personal and to succeed you must take a personal
approach. Be authentic and approachable, also as an organisation (also
see: Can organisations twitter?).
• Respond like a normal human being, and use normal language. Most
In 2008 the National Institute for Public
Health and the Environment (RIVM) called
up all 12-year old girls for a cervical cancer
jab. Opponents started an online counter
campaign, and they dominated the
discussion in online networks and
schoolyards. As a result, not the
anticipated 70%, but only 49% of all girls
got the jab.
See http://twurl.nl/fbhjii
Dictionary: Webcare is a proactive online
customer service that assists people who
blog or tweet about a product or a service
they don’t like..
Stefanie talks to people who complain
about Dell products on Twitter and asks
them if she can be of assistance.
See www.twitter.com/StefanieAtDell
Google Trends publishes social
developments based on search engine
behaviour and news.
See www.google.nl/trends

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 153
organisations will need to put the use of simple language on the
agenda, and provide information and training. With the arrival of
web 2.0, the subject of “language” has never been more topical;
• Use your own name. Make it clear that you speak on behalf of your
organisation, but take a personal approach, like @StefanieAtDell. You
can also use a prole page (also refer to the Practical Pointersin
Chapter 10). Even if you communicate on behalf of your organisation,
your name must be traceable;
• Help people by referring them. If you are part of a conversation and
you receive a question your organisation cannot answer, “connect”
them to someone who can.
10. Analyse online data
Comments and texts are not the only thing that say something about a
country, a province or a municipality. Online behaviour and relationships
canyieldusefuldata.Google’s‘Trends’and‘Zeitgeist’reectthespirit
of the times. It can predict the spread of u on the basis of search
behaviour for instance. Twitter has what are known as trending topics,
and Delicious has fresh bookmarks. Analysed data can be used to gauge
society.
• Develop ways to make social discussions transparent (for instance
BBC White spectrum or Debategraph) or to gauge market awareness
(like the Brandwatch company);
• In consultation with information specialists, have the possibilities of
Google Trends studied for your organisation’s policy priorities;
• Aggregate information about your target group on the internet is
strategic information. Put it on the agenda and share any lessons
learnt with the organisation.
Summary
Clearly, if we want to move towards government 2.0 we have our work
cut out for us. But it will be worth it. Web 2.0 offers great opportunities
for government to become more approachable and closer. The action
items I have listed above will help government organisations on their
way.
At the end of the year it looks back at
developments and data. These data are
analysed and interpreted and combined to
form the Year-End Zeitgeist.
See http://twurl.nl/7t5w7c
BBC White Spectrum shows the result of an
integration study in the United Kingdom.
Consensus on opinion is colour clustered. If
you click a particle, a quote appears or
invites the reader to respond.
See www.bbc.co.uk/white/spectrum.shtml
Debategraph is a project that visualises the
many sides to social discussions on the
internet.
See www.debategraph.org
Brandwatch is a company that follows and
visualises online brand discussions and
developments.
See www.brandwatch.net

154 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Chapter 7.
Example: helping a minister on Twitter
In Luxemburg, meeting with Belgian and
Luxemburg counterparts to prepare for
the 10 o’clock EU meeting of Ministers of
Foreign Affairs.
Remember to congratulate the Luxembourg
ofcials on Andy Schleck’s Liege win
yesterday. That’s bound to create goodwill ;).
You were right – my Luxembourg colleague
is beaming -).

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 155
A platform for internal collaboration
Thelastchapterlistedtheactionitems for government to dene its
role online, in the public arena. This chapter deals with changes in the
internal world of government organisations. Again I list ten action items
which organisations can use to become an organisation 2.0.
Over the past few decades organisations have introduced a range of
innovations based on IT developments: from digital services and internet
desks to CRM (customer relationship management), DMS (document
management systems) and HRM (human resource management) programs,
like P-direct for the central government. While major changes, they
were always inspired by a single discipline or department.
Although support departments have a role in establishing an organisation 2.0,
this transition should not be the sole responsibility of a single department and
must be rolled out across the organisation. After all, this is about adopting
an entirely new way of working for all, particularly in the organisations’ core
processes. Of course, the support departments are involved, but in the end
this is about a new organisation strategy and approach to work.
A change of organisational culture
Organisation 2.0, Work 2.0, and the New Way of Working are all terms
used to denote the next step in a process of organisational change that
started some time ago. Both cultural and technological innovations
leading up to this process have helped knowledge workers and others to
perform better and to break down hierarchy structures. Take email, for
instance. This has radically changed how organisations work and relate.
What started as “electronic mail”, soon became an entirely different
approach to work, both internally and externally.
Web 2.0 is the next phase in how organisations operate. Again it is
not so much about the introduction of new technology, but about the
relevance for how we work together and how organisations achieve
their goals. Like email, web 2.0 opens up the door to new forms of
collaboration, with a whole new culture. Of course there are differences
between the introduction of email and web 2.0:
• web 2.0 is not a single functionality, but offers a whole range of new
opportunities, from chat, blogs and Twitter to social networks and wikis.
This makes it harder to learn;
• web 2.0 is spreading much more rapidly than email which makes it harder
for employees to keep track of changes or to keep connected;
• aside from an organisational change, 2.0 is a societal change, which
requires an entirely new approach and which raises expectations in
society.
Web 2.0 has accelerated and boosted organisational changes in recent years.
It has created challenges for government organisations both internally, and
externally in the performance of their public tasks, as addressed in the ten
action items of the last chapter.
The ten action items below regard government organisations and their
internal work processes.
Chapter 7.
Dictionary: the New Way of Working is a
movement whereby organisations are
arrangedmoreexiblyandman-orientedin
order to boost the productivity of
knowledge workers.
A paradigm shift in organisations:
•fromorganisationstructurestoplatforms
for collaboration;
•fromdocumentstogettingtogetherand
conversations;
•fromworkingasancivilservantto
working as an individual.

156 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
The ten organisation principles for government
organisation 2.0
11. Information is open; activities are visible to everyone;
12. Facilitate online conversations and enable employees to join groups;
13. Invest in civil servants 2.0;
14. Support employees in how they work;
15.Makeemployeesentrepreneursintheireld;
16. Use your employees’ potential;
17. Flexibility becomes the organisational structure;
18. Make space for innovation;
19. Leadership 2.0 is a condition;
20. Make it fun.
These items are worked out in detail below
11. Information is open; work is visible to everyone
A government organisation 2.0 is a transparent organisation, clear
on who is doing what and which information is where. To work with
the right people, you must be able to nd them. To promote what
the organisation stands for, information must be available and easily
accessible to the entire organisation. A transparent organisation forms
the basis for people working together, sharing expertise and making
sure no work is duplicated. It also shows faith in employees and is an
investment in commitment.
• Make sure that all information (documents, network drives, records,
databanks, etc.) are accessible and open to all in the organisation
(with the exception of privacy-sensitive data like personnel systems).
Working in an open manner should not make more work for employees;
• Create a hot-topics page with information on what the organisation
is doing and what it has decided, for instance by gathering reports,
documents, discussions, blogs and other relevant news, through RSS
feeds for instance;
• Provide a system for status updates, like Twitter or Yammer, where
employees can share what they are doing or any questions they have,
whereotherscan ndthemandrespond.This initiativehasalready
been picked up by the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of
Economic Affairs;
• Invest in better search engine technology to inventory relevant
information inside and outside the organisation and ensure low-
barrieravailabilityinfeeds,emailnotications,etc..
Dictionary: An RSS feed is the stream of
information users can integrate in their page
(e.g. Netvibes) to keep up-to-date with the
news.
Dictionary: Status updates are short
communications posted on social network
sites like Twitter or Yammer, or WieWatWaar
on Hyves.
Yammer is similar to Twitter: it enables
status updates to be shared with others who
subscribe to your content. Yammer can be
used in an organisation where people share
the same email address.
See www.yammer.com

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 157
12. Facilitate online conversations and encourage
employees to join groups
Peoplendeachothertotalkbusinessandtoworktogether.Theyshould
be able to do this online too. They should be able to get together on
different subjects and converse. From online meeting rooms to digital
coffee corners or workplaces. Virtual teams must be given a range
of digital tools to collaborate (wikis, discussion forums, mindmaps,
chatrooms, Skype, etc.). This will help create new teams across
organisation borders, with people from outside their own organisation.
• Make the intranet a platform for connections, a social network site
that centres not on information but on conversations between people.
The information supports the online groups and collaboration;
• Stimulate people to get together and converse online, by setting
an example, by stripping away obstacles, or by creating a good
atmosphere for instance. Remember, conversations don’t always
havetobeaboutwork!
• Involve online theme discussion groups, for instance by giving them
a task and support. Build on the roles participants have in groups.
Organise processes around people and energy, not the other way
around;
• Consider making information and platforms accessible to people
outside the organisation involved in virtual teams (by introducing
system access layers);
• Study the consequences of these operational methods (network
organisation) for management, steering and decision processes.
13. Invest in civil servants 2.0
It is the employees that have to do it. Remember that Work 2.0 cannot
be outsourced to an external or support organisation. An organisation
2.0 is made up of, and inspired by, its employees 2.0. They are the
organisation. They know how to work together and they have ideas.
They represent their organisation. Empower employees by giving
them the knowledge and skills they need to work as Civil Servants
2.0. This transition will be easier for some than for others. It requires
commitment and investment, in the form of training for instance.
• Have the HR department develop a strategy to bolster the
organisation’s 2.0 capabilities by providing training, new employees
and overhauling the culture and organisation;
• Train employees in the use of 2.0 tools and methods, and provide
specialist courses for employees or divisions;
• Embed 2.0 training in the organisation’s training policy and integrate
the 2.0 ideas in courses already given: there are many courses that
can implement the new opportunities and work method;
• Assess new employees for their 2.0 skills and make these skills a
precondition when inviting job applications;
• Identify active users of social media and use their skills in visible
projects. Make these users examples or buddies;
• Find out which competencies, capacities and characteristics best suit
your organisation 2.0.
Online collaboration requires the following
basic conditions:
1. an easily accessible platform to drive
interaction;
2. people that inspire conversations and
create connections (community
managers).

158 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
14. Support employees in how they work
Most organisations offer their employees tools based on general
standards or positions, like mobile phones for managers. But to optimise
performance in employees, they need tools tailored to their needs. To
be able to work anytime and anywhere, people have different needs as
regards IT, management and work environment. Empowering employees
tomakethemostofthemselvesbenetsboththeorganisationandthe
employee.
• Assign employees a personal budget to pay for the IT support they
need. This budget will allow them to choose from a range of resources
via the internet;
• Offer facilities to work anytime and anywhere, including access to
the organisations work environment, mobile internet connections or
generic applications;
• Allow employees personal use of 2.0 resources so they get a feel for
them;
• Instruct the ICT division to develop a strategy for the introduction of
individual employee budgets.
15. Make employees entrepreneurs in their own eld
of work
Civil servants who take initiatives independently do their work based
on their expertise, skills and networks. Civil servants are professional
employeeswhoareableto ndsolutions tothe taskstheyface.Have
condenceinyouremployeesandgivethemtheresourcesandspaceto
letthemndtheapproachthatworksforthem.Ifemployeesworkon
topics they can relate to, they will have more fun in what they do and
this will boost results for the organisation.
• Create an online marketplace with projects and activities and have
employees sign up and argue why they are the most suitable person;
• Appointoneperson with responsibilityfora task, caseleor topic
and ask him who on his virtual team will join him in achieving it;
• Result is key. Where necessary facilitate employees in nding the
approach that works for them;
• The government wants civil servants committed to improving society.
Use their level of commitment when allocating tasks.
16. Use your employees’ potential
Government organisations tend to be large organisations with many
employees and huge potential. But this potential is fragmented
through internal directorates, departments or clusters. mGovernment
organisations frequently hire external expertise, ideas, skills and
manpower. But isn’t this available elsewhere in government? Employees
candosomuchmorethanspeciedintheirjobdescriptionsordened
by their department’s remit. And if we also include the “ecosystem” of
businesses and civil society organisations of which government forms
part, this pool of expertise becomes even greater. There is tremendous
potential we have yet to tap into. So what should we do?
• Stimulate the use of online platforms like Neemtinitiatief.nl and
Ideeëncentrale.nl to bring together supply and demand for jobs and
Dictionary: Government entrepreneurs are
civil servants who, like freelancers, take
initiatives to bring together resources and
people from inside and outside of
government.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 159
ideas across organisation boundaries (internal crowdsourcing). This
can also be used to put together virtual teams;
• Map out your colleagues networks, for instance LinkedIn, and use
them. After all, to put together a task or project group, its best to
work with people your colleagues already know;
• Keep in touch with employees who move to jobs elsewhere, inside or
outside of government and build up an active network (like alumni
networks);
• Study how so-called prediction markets (online markets onspecic
subjects issues, like Intrade.com) can be used within the organisation,
for instance to monitor project development or prepare for a
decision-taking process;
• By working online and open in virtual teams, more people can
contribute to a project. Be it an idea, a piece of information, or
even just correcting a typo every little bit helps. There must be a
function to enable this contribution;
• Place manuals, handbooks, scenarios, etc. on the intranet as wikis
where those in the know can keep them updated. This changes the
manager’s role from author to supervisor;
• Lots of employees collect expertise, reports or best practices on
the internet and store them as favourites or bookmarks. Store these
links centrally on Delicious to create a huge and instant topical and
valuable knowledge database.
17. Flexibility as organisation structure
Society is increasingly chaotic and fragmented. Changes are happening
at lightning speed. Organisation structures are becoming harder to
align with how society is structured. To address new developments
government organisations must be able to adjust promptly, for instance
byndingandusingnovelexpertiseexiblyandbygettingtogetherthe
right people (see item 16) and supporting them (see item 12). Virtual
teams can be brought together quickly and given the right tools to get
started. Government organisations must organise around problems
rather than organisation structures.
• Arrange for technology and online facilities to be built up in modules.
Developments can be addressed quickly and new options added.
Always use open standards;
• Most employees and FTEs are allocatedto specicdepartments or
divisions. This hampers their mobility and deployability. Wouldn’t it
be better if they were centrally employed by government so they
could be assigned to tasks and work as and where needed?;
• Facilities like accommodation, meeting rooms, catering, computers,
etc. are reserved for the organisations own employees. Civil servants
who work across boundaries do not have access to these facilities.
What can be done to remedy this situation?
• Map out the expertise and support available outside the organisation
(for instance businesses, freelancers, or co-creation with citizens).
Projects and virtual teams should be able to draw upon these support
troops promptly.
What do you need for an online
cooperation platform?
The internet has become a platform where
people can meet, converse and perhaps
work together as a group. As in a real
building where people chat over a coffee
for instance, the internet must offer room
where you can talk or meet in a facility-
enabled area, as you would in a meeting
room. Looking at the options available on
the internet, what would you expect from
an online platform for internal
collaboration?
•Prolingoptionswhereyoucanpresent
yourself with your position, activities,
expertise and experience;
•Statusupdatesandablogfunctionto
keep others informed and to stay in
touch;
•Joininggroupstocreateavirtualteam;
•Adiscussionforum,toexchangeideas
and present joint views or decisions;
•Awikiforpeoplewritingdocuments
together.
You could also include a (video)chat
function and options to show photos and
video,toaddlesortocreateyourown
dashboard (like Netvibes or iGoogle). And
what else would you expect to see in an
online meeting room?
Dictionary: Delicious is an internet service
where users can store, share and consult
their favourite websites from any
computer.

160 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
18. Make room for innovation
Aside from a exible attitude to adapt to changes in civil society,
organisations must have innovative skills: creativity and new ideas to
address changes and present new solutions and methods. Government
organisations have always focused on risk minimisation and cost control.
They have become command and control organisations. But it is times
like these that government needs innovation and entrepreneurship
to properly perform its public role. This is not a temporary change
project: innovation skills must be embedded in the organisation. How
do organisations continue to evolve?
• Ideas and innovations spring from employees who know their
profession and the environment they work in. Give them room to
work out ideas, for instance by enabling them to devote time to their
own projects or to make improvements (like Google);
• Stimulate connections and the exchange of ideas, for instance by
organising open inspiration sessions (like Open Kofe), by inviting
guest speakers, by connecting employees through what interests
them, etc. Have someone arrange and supervise these activities.
• Highlight new, funny, fresh or stimulating ideas (use the staff
magazine, the internet or guerrilla marketing for instance) to ensure
they are picked up on and can land elsewhere in the organisation;
• Identify creative professionals in the organisation, put them together
and give them the facilities to distribute their ideas and approach in
the organisation (like the “Tigers” at the Ministry of the Interior and
the Ministry of Economic Affairs);
• Clear an innovation budget for experiments (like Rotterdam Idee).
Use an online platform to gather ideas. Have employees rate and
discuss these ideas, and invite their input;
• Make innovation and the use of new resources part of job appraisal
processes and make sure to include them when assessing bonus
schemes.
19. Leadership 2.0 is conditional
An organisation is made up of employees and management. And in
order to become an organisation 2.0, both must evolve (the sandwich
method). The role of manager changes and this requires investment.
Managers must create room for employees to manoeuvre and be open
to new initiatives, and at the same time continue to perform as usual.
How can they make the most of their employees’ skills and at the same
time guarantee good results? Managers will need to get involved in 2.0
to empower themselves and their team. It is a new approach made
possible thanks to new resources.
• Focusonwhatyouwanttoachieve.Denethebroadlinesandmake
sure that your employees can follow them. Propagate the lines and
discuss them to keep them top-of-mind in the organisation;
• Take action, don’t just talk. Lead by example – it is crucial to involve
others and bring across your message. Don’t be too theoretical – put
it in practice so others can use it;
• Make choices. Know what the added value of your organisation is and
make sure that what you do you do well. Work with others to be able
to offer a full range of services. In Jeff Jarvis’s words: “Do what you
dobestandlinktotherest!”;
Dictionary: Guerrilla marketing uses
short, striking and fun actions to get the
target group interested in a new product or
idea.
The Tigers are a group of employees who
use creative techniques in workshops to
inspire innovative and provocative
solutions. The Tigers are facilitators and
call themselves “Ambassadors for
creativity”.
Rotterdam Idee is a project initiated by the
Municipality of Rotterdam that supports
initiatives by local residents for a vital and
living city. Residents and businesses can
provide input to or sponsor ideas posted on
the site.
See www.rotterdamidee.nl
OpenKofeisameetingwhichCivil
Servant 2.0 organises every two weeks in
The Hague for people to meet and talk.
There’s coffee and usually a guest speaker
for a brief presentation.
See openkofe.ambtenaar20.nl

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 161
• Train managers to become facilitators for employees and teams.
They must enable employees to perform to the best of their abilities
and create consensus about decisions. According to Google’s internal
rules: “The role of the manager is that of an aggregator of viewpoints,
not the dictator of decisions.”
• Have managers adopt a 2.0 approach to work, not just to lead by
example,buttobecomeempoweredthroughnetworksandefcient
instruments. Create managers 2.0.
20. Make it fun
Make it simple and make it fun to work with others and share expertise.
Employees should not be forced, but rather tempted to connect and
share. If the goal is fun, it will be easy to achieve it. People who come
together to talk about or work on a project need the right ambiance,
online too. This will be the biggest challenge for organisations, to
recreate such an environment on the intranet. Work does not need to
be done in a sterile environment. Pleasant surroundings will make work
more fun and ultimately better.
• Make resources and sites where people work together and share
knowledge simply (every objection is one objection too many) and
fun (such as the joking monkey in Mailchimp). Create an inviting and
dynamic online setting, like a corporate canteen or city centre;
• Continue to adapt and improve facilities. By continuously monitoring
the use (and abuse) of facilities and involving users in the further
development, they can be adjusted all the time. This must be
embedded in facility management.
• Provide the right incentives to encourage employees to use
2.0 resources and methods, like attention and compliments,
entertainment, ratings (by awarding stars), status or an award (for
the best idea);
• The right people will provide the right approach. Involve employees
who already have the right behaviour: the networkers, the initiators
and such. Employees who like it now, will continue to like it and
inspire others.
Mailchimp is an online service for drafting
newsletters, offering user data and the
possibility to automatise subscription
applications. A monkey assists users and
gives information and encouragement.
See www.mailchimp.com

162 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Summary
These were the action steps towards organisation 2.0. Addressed
individually or as a group, they are mutually reinforcing. A civil servant,
forinstance, will nd iteasiertowork as a “freelancer”(item15)if
it is clear to others what he is doing, and how he is getting on (item
11). To work towards organisation 2.0, organisations must address all
action items. How, is up to the organisations themselves. The strategy
androutetheydecideonmustttheorganisationandemployees.This
requires vision and an implementation strategy.
There are many more creative ideas to drive these action items further:
practicalideastomaketheorganisationmoreexibleandversatileor
to create room for innovation. Use what potential is in the organisation
to come up with even more ideas, have employees decide which they
ndthemostimportant ones and nd people willing to get stuck in.
For an organisation to evolve, its employees must be involved. Inspire
throughleadership2.0!
“Leadership 2.0: will be top of the
agenda in boardrooms across the
world within a few years. Social
media will really break through as
companies start adopting them.”

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 163
Example: Work 2.0 at the Ministry of Agriculture is a learning curve
By Marie Louise Borsje
The Ministry of Agriculture is experimenting with web 2.0 instruments and principles. What does web 2.0
mean for its administration tasks? How should the organisation change to become 2.0? How should you
change if you want to work according to the 2.0 principles? And the biggest question of all, where do you
startifyouwanttouse2.0inpolicywork?Sofar,therstattemptshavegivenussomeinterestinginsights.
Experiments with online collaboration platforms
The Ministry of Agriculture is in the middle of a major change process. It is changing its organisation
structure, and looking for new ways of working. To put words into actions, some departments set up
collaboration platforms. Two departments used Ning to put the debate on reorganisation online.
The differences between these two Ning sites are considerable. One is very lively with the management
initiating discussions, writing blogs and responding. There is lots of input from employees. Emails draw
attention to the site and it works on an interactive basis with the regular soapbox meetings. What makes it
even more fun is that employees of other departments are also invited to join the discussion.
The other department’s Ning site is quieter. Management contributes less, there are fewer members, less
action. Why? Well, if you want a community site to work, you must dedicate as much energy to it as you
would in setting up a 1.0 group. This site did not have a community manager to set things in motion. The
motto for change projects still is: management must lead by example.
Continuous online work meetings
Another department was keen to work together on documents, discussions, blogs and document sharing.
They didn’t yet have an internal platform to support this, but they did want a secure environment. So it
opted for SocialText, a wiki platform with a range of 2.0 functionalities. All of the department’s employees
are expected to take part in the platform and they have all been on an introductory course.
The result: documents are shared and there is blogging. Now blogging can be a very handy tool. For
instance, you can read where your colleagues go and what they do. That saves time during work meetings -
no need to start with an update on who’s done what, you can get to the heart of the matter straight away.
And then there are the shared documents. How frightening – others can change your work. But now there
is some experience with people writing documents together. Discussions via the internet still have to take
off.The groupisveryeasily dened withemployeesworking near eachother.Achatovercoffeeis still
moreefcient.
At the same time, this group has seen what other functionalities the platform has to offer and has gotten a
taste of its vast potential. After getting by on a scooter for years, they are now ready to roll on their bike.
Andwhile theymight atrstride theirnewbikes likea scooter,therecomesapoint whentheywonder
what the other parts are for. That time is now.
Nine ndings
It is not easy to make work 2.0 work. It requires commitment and energy, learning a different approach
as an employee and as a manager, understanding where the organisation’ boundaries are (organisation
sensitivity), and above all tons of imagination and creativity. Now which combinations are there to provide
added value?

164 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
The Ministry of Agriculture has ten departments and projects working with 2.0 instruments such as Ning,
wikis, SocialText and Twitter. They are mostly used to form groups, to blog and to have discussions via the
internet.The rst questionmostusers asked was whichinstrumentthey could use.An understanding of
the principles of web 2.0 is more important, however. Start by learning some basic tools, see what suits
you best and then stick with it. It will make the tools more than just functional - they will come alive. The
course ‘Werken met web 2.0’ (working with web 2.0) gives you better insight into the many possibilities
(see cursus.ambtenaar20.nl).
The initial conclusion from the pilot projects are:
• employees are very keen to explore 2.0 instruments,
• the instruments are used to share expertise,
• the social media are used mostly for internal processes,
• there is support from management to explore 2.0,
• 2.0 tools are not really used to create virtual workstations,
• support departments are not yet equipped to support other departments,
• the Ministry of Agriculture is perceived to be leading other ministries in the use of social media,
• Civil Servant 2.0 is not exclusively young and dynamic, and
• there is no focus for working with 2.0.
This only goes to show – we are never done learning.
Chapter 8.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 165
A participation platform to take on
tasks together
In Chapter 5 I explained that government 2.0 has a role in three areas: on
the internet (that is, in society, see Chapter 6), in internal collaboration
(also with people from outside the organisation, see Chapter 7) and in
collaboration with society (through online participation platforms).
Youwillndallsortsofinformationongovernmentinternetsites,such
aspressreleases andcommunications,aswellasspecicservices like
the digital permit application desk. But government sites do not offer
any room for citizens and civil servants to work together on issues that
take a prominent place in society. Instead of platforms for collaboration,
internet sites are like walls erected between government and society,
with a desk here and there.
Ideally, government organisations should have three sites:
• an internet site that explains what the organisation does for society;
• an access point that explains what the organisation does for individual
citizens;
• a participation platform that sets out the tasks that need to be
addressed together.
What is a participation platform?
Web 2.0 has made it much easier to get together wherever, whenever.
Civil servants can participate in the social discussion and it has become
easier to involve people from outside the organisation in virtual teams.
But we can also use the internet to bring together and tap into the vast
potential of expertise, ideas and energy of society to do our work and
face our challenges together.
What we need is a participation platform. But not a giant site created
for the whole of government. So what should it be?
• a network of internet sites, functionalities and connections that
combine to form a platform for collaboration between government
organisations, citizens and businesses involved;
• a network where the facilities and sites are connected and integrated
via the internet, for instance through links, widgets, APIs and feeds.
All sites and its components should be modular and standardised;
• services and facilities built both by government organisations and
by private parties (businesses or citizens). Verbeterdebuurt.nl for
instance, is developing into a platform where people can report
instances of waste and vandalism in public areas and where they
receive feedback;
• based on modules and internal and external content, all government
organisations can put together their own participation platforms with
topics for collaboration.
A participation platform for every government
organisation
In short, these building blocks can be created by one organisation and
used by another. Take the local map on Verbeterdebuurt.nl for instance
Chapter 8.
21 ways to write a blogpost your
readers will want to read
1. Write something that is useful;
2. Write something that is unique;
3. Write something that is newsworthy;
4. Write something that no one has written
about before;
5. Write something that makes the reader
smarter;
6. Write something that is controversial;
7. Write something that is insightful;
8. Write something that addresses a fear
people have;
9. Write something that helps people
achieve something;
10. Write something that evokes a
response;
11. Write something that makes readers
feel that they belong;
12. Write something that is passionate;
13. Write something that interprets or
translates news for people;
14. Write something that inspires;
15. Write something that tells a story;
16. Write something that solves a problem;
17. Write something funny;
18. Write something that saves people time
or money;
19. Write something only you could write;
20. Write something that can be used as a
source of information;
21. Write something about something
‘cool’.
See Alex Vermeule, Auteursrichtlijnen Het
Nieuwe Werken Blog, http://twurl.nl/
nz0etz

166 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
– it can also be used on the site of the local council’s environment
and management department. Or an application built by a Municipality
which might be very useful to other organisations too. Government
organisations then create a single page listing the various ways in which
people can work with them. This creates a local participation platform.
The participation platform is like a hub, a combination of facilities and
ways in which citizens can contribute to social issues, to society. But
italsohelpsgovernmentsprole themselvesas organisationsthataim
to tackle problems together, and that value solutions put forward by
citizens. There are a range of functionalities:
• invite others to use government information to build on: on the
participation platform publish data sources in a format that can be
reused by businesses or other initiators to encourage the development
of new services and facilities;
• bring stakeholders together on particular topics: the platform
should enable the formation of communities on a partial (policy)
theme (and offer Ning-like functionalities), provided of course these
arenotalreadyontheinternet!
• perform policy routes in an open and interactive manner: a
facility for policy ofcials to make a policy route and its various
steps transparent, to give updates, to act on expertise and ideas
contributed by society and to provide feedback;
• make more use of crowdsourcing in implementation and control:
citizens are a natural partner in implementation and control. They
are everywhere and often share a common interest. Standard
facilities to gather expertise or ideas for instance would be welcome;
• offer a summary of activities on the internet: are there any relevant
discussions taking place in which civil servants are active? Where are
they? Which other facilities does the organisation contribute to? The
participation platform must give an exhaustive list of participation
opportunities.
An interactive toolbox for civil servants
Aexible and modular systemenablescivilservantstoeasilyinvolve
citizens and businesses in their work. They can build a toolbox with
instruments taken from their own and other organisations. These can be
used by civil servants or departments to put together the environment
that is needed for a particular task. Communication departments can
assist in this.
All government organisations can set up their own site with participation
functionalities, developing additional modules and functions. There are
plenty of online facilities and services they can use for this purpose.
Every contribution forms part of the jigsaw that will eventually build
into a participation platform for all of government. A platform that
shows exactly how government and citizens work together on improving
society.
Ten action items for participation
In this chapter I will discuss ten action points for government
organisations 2.0 keen to perform certain tasks and processes in
collaboration with society: from policy to implementation and from
Verbeterdebuurt.nl
Dictionary: Ning is an internet service that
enables you to start your own social
networking site. Others can join this site
and use it for debates, blogging, etc.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 167
communities to crowdsourcing. I will also present a number of practical
recommendations.
The ten participation principles for government
organisations 2.0
21. Give the organisation a participation platform;
22. Make government information available online;
23. Have citizens contribute to policy processes;
24. Involve citizens in implementing government tasks;
25. Create digital waiting rooms for online services;
26. Facilitate communities for your organisation’s disciplines;
27. Remove obstacles for participation;
28. Ensure everything can be shared and distributed online;
29. Organise dynamics;
30. Make full use of input and provide feedback on the result.
These items are worked out in detail below.
21. Give the organisation a participation platform
You cannot build without foundation. So start by setting up a
participation platform alongside an existing internet site to build on.
This would also mark a new start, where tasks and challenges are tackled
together. Besides an introduction, the site can list information sources,
communities in which civil servants take part and online facilities in
which the organisation participates, such as Verbeterdebuurt.nl or
Watstemtmijnraad.nl
• Dont wait too long to present an approach or strategy about the
setup of a participation platform and involving citizens in activities
and responsibilities;
• Lay down the foundations for a participation platform, which will
also help to whet people’s appetites;
• Make a list of the facilities, agreements and modules available online
and at other organisations and use them (organisations like Association
of Netherlands Municipalities or Burgerlink can act as mediators);
• Develop modules and facilities for interaction and collaboration (for
communities, crowdsourcing or online policy routes for instance) and
make them reusable for other government organisations;
• Make user arrangements with facility suppliers to meet government
standards in terms of privacy, stability, accessibility and storage (also
for Google, Ning and Hyves);
• Measure the use and develop and adapt the platform and facilities
accordingly.
22. Make government information available online
Be open and transparent in what you do as an organisation. A condition
for being able to involve committed citizens in processes and tasks is
providing accurate and updated information. Citizens and civil society
organisations need the same information to be able to make a valuable
contribution. An open government makes public information accessible
to and reusable for society (through open standards) and gives
Jeff Howe - Crowdsourcing. Why the Power
of the Crowd is Driving the Future of
Business (2008)
Wat stemt mijn raad (how does my council
vote) shows how municipal councils vote.
The website was initiated by the Ministry of
the Interior in collaboration with the
Municipalities of Almere, Groningen,
Enschede and Woerden. Municipalities who
would like to join the initiative can contact:
aanmelden@watstemtmijnraad.nl.
See www.watstemtmijnraad.nl
Burgerlink, a programme by the ICTU
foundation, aims to be ‘the link between
citizen and government’. The programme
presents the eParticipation Award each
year in recognition of commitment shown
bycitizensandgovernmentsintheeldof
digital involvement. Burgerlink also
develops four e-participation instruments,
including Petities.nl and
Watstemtmijnraad.nl. The instruments are
freely available for citizens, municipalities
and government organisations.
See www.burgerlink.nl

168 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
continuous progress reports. Apart from transparency, this also allows for
external input to add to or amend government data, as is the case for the
Dutch National Archive for instance.
• Ask the information or communication department to draw up a
vision and strategy for Open Government where the organisation
makes information sources and databanks available online, using an
open format (XML, APIs) that others can reuse;
• Ensure that your information is in order and that it is easy to manage
and make available;
• Publish a list of available data sources;
• Map out which information sources are needed in society, for instance
by gauging this need in organisations and citizens (like the British
Unlocking Service);
• Start simple, and use sources that are easy to make available online.
This quickly creates valuable volume people can use;
• Invest the time and energy that is now spent on answering individual
requests for information on making the entire information source
publicly available online;
• Use the Open Data Principles as a guideline wherever possible to
make information available and to promote its reuse.
23. Have citizens contribute to policy processes
Over the past few decades we have learnt a lot about active participation
and interactive policy forming. Web 2.0 offers the possibility to go one step
further and take down some of the barriers in place. By being transparent
about the topic, the expertise available, and the phases of the route from
the start of a process, be it policy or otherwise, citizens can be involved
throughout. Each project phase may draw upon different ideas, expertise or
commitment and use various incentives to attract people. The responsible
civil servant or department acts as a process manager, approaching people,
pushing for progress and providing feedback.
• There is more knowledge outside an organisation than inside it.
Invest in expertise about crowdsourcing and online processes and
their use in government organisations. This could be a task for the
Communication or Knowledge departments;
• Use the internet to present the projects and activities the organisation
is working on and enable readers to respond, by rating developments
for instance. This will clearly show where priority is given and which
topics would be best to get started with;
• Start by providing an insight into the phases of some policy processes,
the information that is available, the parties that are involved and
the decisions taken. Start with an easily accesible topic;
• Set up an internal training route for policy employees to monitor
online policy projects. Employees who have been trained can form an
online knowledge network to exchange experiences;
• Choose a suitable route (based on content, target group and
employees) and start. Be open as an organisation and ask for
feedback about the approach and shape of the route;
• Create room on the participation platform (Twitter for instance)
where civil servants can give easily accessible status updates on
ongoing projects. These can then be forwarded to sites run by
involved communities or neighbourhood sites, for instance.
The Nationaal Archief (National Archive) has
published photos on Flickr.com since
October 2008. Visitors to the site can add
comments, tags or information by email.
See http://twurl.nl/1feid5
TheBritishOfceofPublicSector
Information offers a facility to request
openness of information sources via the
internet, the Public Sector Information
Unlocking Service (beta).
See http://twurl.nl/ozvhpr
The Dutch Government Information Act
provides for government documentation
access and publication. Every citizen has the
right to request access.
Some early adopters of government 2.0 in
the United States compiled a list of principles
online government information should ideally
meet.
See http://twurl.nl/zo87m2
Dictionary: Rating allows people to rate a
topic to identify its most popular or
appreciated part.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 169
24. Involve citizens in implementing government tasks
Citizens’ expertise, ideas and energy can be used not just in policy
formation, but also in policy implementation and control. Citizens are
everywhere and see a great deal. So how could this be used in business
operations? I have already mentioned Verbeterdebuurt.nl as a platform
where citizens can report instances of waste, vandalism or other damage
in public areas. Iens.nl is used to comment on catering facilities, but
the comments are not yet picked up by the Dutch Food and Consumer
Product Safety Authority. By offering low-barrier facilities for citizens
to share their experience and observations, lots of expertise can be
collected and processed.
• List the facilities available on the internet, for instance private
initiatives or initiatives by other government organisations. Many of
these can be instantly applied to one’s own organisation;
• Collaboratewithsiteswhereyouwillndsomeofyourtargetgroups
(for instance restaurant-goers on Iens.nl) and integrate room for
responses and/or data sources in those facilities;
• Start a public online brainstorm session (for instance via the ‘Battle
of Concepts’ site) to collate ideas on how crowd sourcing can be used
and citizens involved in certain tasks (also see Ideastorm.com by Dell
or MyStarbucksIdea.com by Starbucks);
• Select a number of ideas to make a quick start, to gain experience
and to create dynamics;
• Invest in expertise on crowdsourcing and its use in implementation
and supervision. Implementation and supervisory bodies should
set up a separate expertise centre to develop concepts and coach
departments;
• Offer people a platform where they can easily report their
observations (for instance via a tag on Twitter or an email address to
send photos to).
25. Create digital waiting rooms for online services
Government organisation desks deal with all questions individually.
But not every question is unique. Some people may have the same
question. Others may have found the answer already and no longer
need the government’s services. By creating a digital waiting room
citizens can contact each other about a government service, help each
other and share tips and ideas. Civil servants can participate in these
conversations. A site like Getsatisfaction.com is a well-known platform
for “people powered customer service”. It eases the pressure on the
helpdesk and automatically creates user communities.
• Create digital waiting rooms for the online services your organisation
provides. Create room for people to form groups, ask questions,
report complaints and respond;
• Enable employees to take part in these conversations (as regards
support and coaching, as well as training) and make sure they are
easily recognisable as spokesperson for the organisation;
• Draw conclusions from the conversations in the digital waiting
rooms, and use these as input for the development of new services
or adaptation of existing services.
Iens is an online restaurant guide where
visitors can rate and comment on
restaurants they have visited.
See www.iens.nl
Battle of Concepts is a crowdsourcing
platform where businesses and
organisations invite answers to problems
and put up a sum of money for the best
solution. It is already used by government
organisations.
See www.battleofconcepts.nl
Getsatisfaction offers a platform for an
online customer service. Questions asked
here may be supported, added to or
answered by other users. Employees and
theiranswersareidentiable.
See www.getsatisfaction.com

170 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
26. Facilitate communities for your organisation’s
disciplines
There are many reasons why people want to form groups. To offer a
service, for instance. Whatever your organisation is doing, there will
always be people who want to be kept informed, who have a story
to tell, or who have ideas or relevant expertise. There may well be
suitable internet communities already (see Chapter 6). By offering
people a platform for their interests, it is possible to collate this
expertise, ideas and commitment, as Obama did when he introduced
his healthcare plans. Offer people a platform where they can talk,
facilitate communities, listen and learn.
• Offer a platform where people can gather around topics on politics,
or policies drawn up for a particular area, neighbourhood or some
other project. It doesn’t matter whether the platform is initiated
by a civil servant or a citizen, all that matters is that it is easily
accessible;
• Support and facilitate online communities by offering them
functionalities and a platform, as well as information, attention,
pointsfordiscussionandcoaching.Considerhowaspeciccommunity
is best served;
• The role of civil servant is increasingly that of community manager,
facilitating online communities and discussions and using them in
what the organisation does. This requires specic capacities and
thereforespecictraining;
• The further development of the community is public too: be open
about steps to be taken, involve members in developing the platform,
etc. Make sure that conversations about the community actually take
place on the platform and with members of the community;
• Stress that the discussions do not represent the organisation’s
views, but that the organisation wishes to stimulate social debates
by offering a platform. Provide clear rules (like the ones used for
Innovatie 2.0 at the Ministry of Economic Affairs);
• Draw conclusions from the discussions, participants backgrounds
and user data and disseminate this expertise throughout the
organisation. This provides valuable information for strategic and
tactical decisions.
27. Remove obstacles for participation
The more people participate, the more information and data you will
have and the more conclusions you can draw. People must be enticed
to participate. Accessibility of information and sites is partly about
technology, design and language (see the ‘Web guidelines’), but also
about atmosphere and incentives to take part and respond. There should
be few obstacles to participation and it should be fun and familiar. This
requiresanewarrangementandexibleset-upthatisabletoexpand
as demands and insights grow (perpetual beta).
• Make the platform as accessible and easy as possible. Keep it simple
(like Google). Not just the layout and text, but give clear tools to
take part too (“Respond”);
• Appeal to people, ask them questions, involve them in the discussion.
In short, be a discussion leader and tempt people to take part;
• Usually, internet sites are laid out for the sole purpose of presenting
Dictionary: community managers are the
facilitators and hosts of online communities
that stimulate interactively, gauge the
atmosphere and put developments on the
agenda.
For the rules that apply to the Ministry of
Economic Affairs, go to page 173.
Webrichtlijnen.nl is a Dutch government site
that lists 125 quality standards for
accessibility which apply to all government
websites.
See www.webrichtlijnen.nl
Dictionary: A perpetual beta because an
internet site or service is never fully
developed and because it can always be
modied,thereisneveradenitiveversion
(it remains as a beta version).

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 171
information. To enable an environment that stimulates conversation
and collaboration, design a style that promotes participation;
• Also use other forms to involve people, like serious gaming. Be
creativeandndaformthatbestsuitsthetopicandtargetgroup;
• Make sure that the most important sites and pages can be reached
through simple and logical links (like cursus.ambtenaar20.nl or www.
volkskrant.nl/binnenland)whichpeoplewillndeasytoreferto.
28. Ensure everything can be shared and distributed
online
The amount of information and internet sites is growing, as is the
number of channels with all parties vying for attention. Now everybody
can publish. A free blog on WordPress is as accessible as a site that cost
lots of time, effort and funds to build. In order to connect with people
and involve them, use the fact that we can now all publish. A message
that is distributed through a network has far more impact because
the recipient has faith in the sender (someone you know). To achieve
this effect, all obstacles to distributing links, texts or functionalities
should be removed where possible. This enables you to connect to your
product, services or brand and connects the participation platform to
the public discussion online.
• Make everything on the site “widgetable” to allow others to distribute
content online (like embedding YouTube video clips or buttons to add
to Delicious, iGoogle or someone’s blog);
• Use modular constructions based on standards;
• Make sections suitable for internal distribution, via the intranet,
internal blogs and platforms;
• Actively transfer information and parts of the participation platform
to people and groups, both online and ofine. This requires
a communication plan 2.0 designed in collaboration with the
communication department;
• Study the “re-usability” of internet sites and platforms: how can
reuse be stimulated on the site? Which components are shared the
most and why? Which design, words and functions work best?
• Present employees, products or divisions as an recognisable,
interactive brand on the internet;
• Work through networks: keep in touch with the nodes in the networks
(key gures, moodmakers, etc.) to broaden the impact and reach
more people.
29. Organise dynamics
An empty bar is no fun. The same goes for a participation platform.
It needs liveliness, a dynamic atmosphere. To draw attention, keep
communities active and create interaction. There must be a buzz,
movement. This requires investments from a community manager,
for instance by inviting people to contribute or organise something.
Creating the right ambiance also helps, for instance by offering
opportunities for personalisation and subscriptions (through mail or
RSS). Both explicit and implicit (aggregated) information can be used
(for instance best visited pages, “kijk ook eens op” (also see, etc.). The
dynamics can also be used outside the organisation.
Dictionary: A serious game is an online
computer game for the purpose of
communicating a message or raising
awareness.
Wordpress is an internet service where users
can start their own blog for free and without
advertising.
See www.wordpress.com.
The online software can also be installed on
your own internet supplier’s site.
See www.wordpress.org
Dictionary: Re-usability is arranging
internet pages such that particular sections
are easily forwarded or reused (compare
usability).

172 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
• Keep your platform alive and dynamic with regular updates and news.
Keep it interesting and give people plenty of reason to come back
again and again;
• Draw up a schedule for the site or group to present news on a regular
basisandtokeeptheowgoing;
• Involve members or people on site by assigning them a role. This
stimulates people to come back and contribute;
• Organise events that require people to contribute, for instance a
poll, a competition (for a good cause or to build or write something)
or responses to topical issues;
• Make sure that civil servants active on the internet (or on other
channels) are aware of what is being organised and what is available
on the participation platform so they can incorporate links.
30. Use the input and provide feedback on the out-
come
Many citizens are keen to think and talk about issues that interest or
affect them, some of which come under our areas of activity. People
devote time and money to contribute. And they like to see something
in return. I don’t mean that ideas should be instantly acted upon,
butthereshouldatleastbesomeconrmationthattheywereheard.
People can only work together if they trust and respect each other.
Civil servants must be clear and authentic (also see the work principles
in Chapter 10). Decide in advance your expectation strategy and
afterwards provide feedback on was done with the contributions and
why.
• Every contribution is valuable and must be visible and included (save
of course foul language and irrelevant or even insulting language). Be
very careful when removing or barring contributions. It is better to
respond on the basis of arguments;
• Honesty and trust are crucial to establish the authenticity and values
of an organisation or brand and to involve people and keep them
involved. Develop a strategy to broaden the image and a plan to
implement it;
• Make all contributions visible and don’t hide anything;
• Think in advance about expectations management and indicate
the position and phase of collaboration or discussion based on the
positions of government and politics on this theme;
• Provide feedback. An online route runs from the very beginning to
the very last step. Keep interested parties informed throughout the
process, and tell them about decisions taken and progress made, and
show them how input has been used.
Summary
A place where government and society, civil servants and citizens can
work together to create solutions is a brand-new concept. Organisations
needadapting,buildingsareill-tted,andtherearenoonlinefacilities.
It is up to us to create them. We need platforms to locate what web
2.0 has to offer for co-creation and crowdsourcing. Civil servants and
citizens must be given the instruments to get started and nd new
solutions and working methods. This is how we can bridge the gap with
society.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 173
This does require a different approach to work, both internally and
externally. Support departments can provide support, but in the
end, community management should be placed with the responsible
department. It is up to government organisations to think about this
carefully and develop a strategy. In short, there are four steps:
• Make information available online and provide access to what you do;
• Offer a platform for people to get together and contribute;
• Create dynamics to make the platform and information come alive
and promote its distribution;
• Ensure that all input is processed and provide feedback on the result.
This is a new world for government and society, crucial if we want to
develop into a government 2.0 and society 2.0. The question is not if we
will tackle tasks together, but how and when. Professor Valerie Frissen
recently talked about a new gap: between a society 2.0 that is already
up and running and a government 2.0 that is just nding its feet.
But it’s not too late – these thirty action items will help government
organisations catch up.
Someone at the Innovation Lecture 2008 (#IL08) proposed
to crowdsource the innovation policy of the Ministry of
Economic Affairs. The Minister was very keen indeed. And
of course - the news did the rounds instantly. More about
this at http://twurl.nl/g0xuyg.

174 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Example: Innovatie 2.0, an online community for policy processes
By Linda van Duivenbode
When the Ministry of Economic Affairs organised the ‘Innovation Lecture’ in 2008 we had no idea it would
lead to “Innovatie 2.0”. Our guest speaker Charles Leadbeater gave his view on the importance of using
expertise inside and outside the organisation. He also indicated that there were plenty of communities
on the internet applying these new forms of collaboration. It became an interesting discussing and soon
the question was raised if the Ministry itself should also collaborate to establish its innovation policy. An
excellentquestion!
Backattheofce,wedecidedtoexplorethequestionwithinputfromtheCivilServant2.0network.Using
an approved plan of approach we launched the ‘Innovatie 2.0’ pilot. Without exploration, feasibility study,
agenda or budget.
What did we want innovatie 2.0 to achieve?
We aimed to gather input for the policy development and along the way learn how web 2.0 tools (social
network sites, forums, wikis) can be used for policy development. The aim was to:
• develop (building blocks for) innovation and policies to stimulate business in co-creation with participants;
• enhance familiarity with and support for innovation and business policy amongst the target group, as the
policy would be developed in collaboration with the target group;
• provide the Ministry with a better insight into platforms and information communities on the internet,
where individual policies are developed through co-creation;
• teachpolicyofcialstouseweb2.0toolsforpolicydevelopment,sothatonlineco-creationformsstandard
part of engaging stakeholders in policy development and it is embedded in the Policy Communication
Guidelines (Wegwijzer Beleidscommunicatie).
There is so much more to learn, but for now it is clear that web 2.0 has an important role to play in policy
communication and formation, and knowledge management. The next step is ensuring 2.0 is rooted in the
primary process.
What have we achieved?
A lot, looking back at the past year:
• We set up an ‘174Innovatie 2.0 – Community of Talents’ group on LinkedIn as communication channel
and discussion group. To be honest, we didn’t expect it to be this successful. The group has nearly 3,000
members and organises its own meetings;
• Atthemeetingsweaskedforinputfortwopolicyissues.Foroneissuewereceivedftyveryseriousand
detailed answers, and for the other a hundred over six week period;
• The sector is busy creating the Creatieve Industrie innovation programme. This is a long-term and more
complex route that combines meetings and online dialogues;
• We used the Battle of Concepts network to complete a crowdsourcing concept route amongst students
and young professionals (aged up to 30) about services innovation.
Some learning points
We now know that policy input can be obtained quickly and relatively easily. Web 2.0 is the perfect way to
drawonexternalexpertise.Inputqualityandquantityishighlydependentontheaccuratedenitionofthe
issue and the ability to reach the target group. Enthusiasm is great, as is people’s appreciation of a platform
that enables a dialogue with government. For civil servants it is an opportunity to expand their network and
share experiences. It enhances visibility and hopefully public understanding of the role of civil servants.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 175
For the 2.0 approach to work, the organisation must be open to and able to deal with opinions that may
beatoddswiththoseoftheestablishment.Inadditiontoinputtospecicpolicyissues,thediscussionwill
also yield insight into how innovation is experienced by those actively involved. So how do we approach it
(do we actually want to pick up on these signals?) and deal with it (the LinkedIn group has more than 100
discussions, some of which have dozens of responses)? Another point for attention is the choice of platform
and instrument: policy employees should be enabled to use these new opportunities.
Rules set by the Ministry of Economic Affairs for Innovation 2.0
•TheMinistryofEconomicAffairsinvitesyoutoprovideinputtodevelop
policiesinthesethreesubjects.Theaimistondnovelsolutionstoconcrete
policy issues and to develop a more effective innovation and enterprise
policy;
•MinistryemployeesarepreparingapositionfortheMinisterandaregathering
information and opinions. Not every contribution by participants will be
adopted. The position will eventually be decided by the Minister and
feedback given to participants;
•Weaskparticipantstoprovideaninsightintowhotheyareandwhat
expertise they have. This also applies to civil servants who participate for the
Ministry of Economic Affairs;
•Everyparticipantinthediscussionisresponsibleforwhatheorsheposts.
Participants cannot start discussions themselves. Participating civil servants
will not join the discussion unless asked a question directly. In their answer
they must give public and factual information only, not their personal
opinion;
•TheMinistrywillnotremoveanyposts,unlesstheyarespam,i.e.everything
that can be interpreted as recruiting, promoting and/or advertising for your
business, product, service or meeting. If repeated, the participant who
posted the spam will be excluded from the discussion.
See http://twurl.nl/7bzj1n

176 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
A strategy for government 2.0
Internet makes conversations possible, regardless of time and place.
Conversations lead to collaboration, across borders. Collaboration can
help us achieve our goals, with input from all over. Conversations,
collaboration and processes may take place in society where we, as civil
servants, can contribute. Conversations can touch upon internal issues,
or bind people from across the organisation. Or they can be about
challenges that are best tackled together, or provide a participation
platform.
Every government organisation chooses its own
strategy
These opportunities make for a fundamental change in how government
and civil servants work. Civil Servant 2.0 discussed these changes and
their consequences for government in detail. This book builds on this.
It presents practical action items for government organisations to get
started, to take part in public discussions on the internet, to enable
internal online collaboration and to use the vast potential of citizens.
The recommendations to the action items provide handles to implement
government 2.0. However, this book is not a plan of approach.
Despite the correlation between the action items and underlying
concepts, it is up to the organisations to put together a suitable strategy.
This must take account of the organisation’s tasks and principles, as
well as its management, employees and culture.
Thenextstepisdeningastrategytostepup2.0efforts.Whichroute
suitsyourorganisationbest?Whatwouldbeyourrstactionitems?Which
role do support departments, policy departments and implementation
agencies play? Should you start with your own organisation, or outside
your organisation? Which information sources can be put online?
Whatever your strategy, clearly a government 2.0 should never be
the sole responsibility of a Communications or ICT department. Work
2.0 demands organisational changes, cultural changes, and they will
affect all those involved. So give careful thought to how work 2.0 can
be incorporated in your day-to-day work, in existing processes. If it
is presented as yet another gimmick, it has no chance of becoming
engrained. Work 2.0 will only be used if it helps employees to operate
efcientlyanditsaddedvalueisunderstoodbytheorganisation.
It is also important to realise that a work 2.0 strategy should not focus
on just one of the three worlds I discussed. After all, it’s the correlation
that gives the process its strength: civil servants who are active on
the internet are also part of internal virtual teams. Widgets can be
used to embed modules for online policy routes in communities to draw
on the right expertise. These modules can also be used internally. A
strategy requires a broad vision and approach to get government 2.0 off
theground(bothonlineandofine).Thisbookcallsonallgovernment
organisations, administrators and civil servants to dene a work 2.0
strategy.
Chapter 9.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 177
And what can be done at the national level?
Each government organisation will have to devise its own government
2.0 strategy, tailored to the organisation. And what should be done to
create a government 2.0 at the national level? National support could
be given to the following two facilities:
• platforms and modules: everything on the internet can be shared and
reused. Work methods and experiences can be shared, for instance
via Civil Servant 2.0, and modules can be reused. Government
organisations can share their modules, which can also be developed
and prepared centrally;
• advice teams: sharing experiences and documents or asking questions
on Civil Servant 2.0 can be very instructive, but it would be even
greater if someone could come round to address the organisation and
actually explain the concept. Compare these 2.0 teams to the EGEM
iteams. Also, we can learn from developments abroad, like the US
initiativesbypresidentObamaandtherststepstakenbyAustralia;
• a Government 2.0 commission: while it may not sound like the
height of innovation, a commission is a good way of bringing together
a broad group of people to prepare a national recommendation
and put the topic on the agenda. Compare it to the Australian Gov
2.0 Taskforce. And of course this taskforce will work according to
organisation2.0principles!
Anecalltoactiontoconcludethissection.
Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) is still the government organisation’s
standard internet browser. Not all sites are compatible with
Internet Explorer 6, however. Outdated software prevents
civil servants from working efciently. Will you join me on
my campaign to ban Internet Explorer 6?

178 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Can organisations twitter?
I know there are stacks of manuals on how to use Twitter. But now there is a manual especially for civil
servants. Or rather, for government organisations and their communication departments.
What do you think about twittering government organisations?
Of course, there are plenty of ministries and municipalities that twitter. But hang on – is it actually the
organisations that twitter? No it isn’t, it’s people. Who is an active twitterer in an organisation? Well, it
could be anybody. From ministers, mayors, town clerks and aldermen to every single civil servant, like
you and me. Sometimes on private matters, sometimes on business, sometimes on a bit of both. Twitter
is a personal medium you can use to communicate and converse. So how would this t a government
organisation?
Neil Williams, head of digital channels at the British Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, wrote
a twenty-page manual: the ‘Template Twitter strategy for Departments’ http://twurl.nl/2bo4zv.
Key points
The document is based on the communication principles an organisation aims to achieve, namely:
• extend reach of corporate messages;
• provide an informal, 178human’ voice of the organisation;
• provide thought leadership and credibility;
• exemplary use in social media;
• provide low-barrier interaction methods;
• provide ways for audiences to subscribe to updates;
• monitormentionsoftheorganisationandengagewithcriticsandkeyinuencers;
• provide live coverage of events or meetings.
It also presents a range of methods to gather evaluation data and looks at the risks, such as abuse (for
instance hacking) or problems or changes in Twitter itself. These risks can impact negatively on the
organisation and simply destroy whatever credit it built up. The tone of voice must be right. Williams lists
a number of conditions for tweet content:
• varied: the channel will cover a broad base of content types and sources to retain interest levels;
• human: informal spoken language, no automated feeds;
• frequent: not too much or too little;
• retweetable: make it easy for others to retweet;
• timely: in keeping with the ‘zeitgeist’ feel of Twitter, tweets must be about issues of relevance today;
• credible: while tweets may occasionally be fun, they should have a relation back to the objectives;
• inclusive: signpost relevant content elsewhere and retweet messages from others;
• focused: make your subject the primary focus.
What else does the document describe?
• tipsaboutthesortofinformationtrafconTwitter;
• illustrations of internet sites that compress web addresses;
• explanations for dm, retweet and hash tag;
• how to devote Twitter channels to campaigns for instance;
• importance of Twitter and number of users;
• Twitter addresses for government organisations, politics, media, etc. (in Great Britain);
• time devoted by other government organisations on Twitter;
• illustration of Twitter corporate policy.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 179
The twenty-page article was written for communication departments all over. If your organisation wants to
startusingTwitter,thisdocumentwillgetyouofftoagoodstart!
Three items I missed
In the title I asked: ‘Can organisations twitter?’ Twitter means to chatter. In his manual Williams presents
a range of methods to give organisations a human face, for instance by using informal language, answering
questions or steering clear of automatically forwarding questions. Yet Williams chooses to remain an
organisationratherthanahumanbeing(orgroupofpeople).Thisorganisationisopenninetove,follows
automatically and is anonymous. In short, this Twitter strategy for organisations skirts around a number of
issues, including the following three:
• Publish who has access to the organisations Twitter account. We all know it’s run by people, so show us
who they are;
• Automated responses suggest the presence of a computer rather than a human being. Some people are
relevant for an organisation to follow, and you can show this;
• It is not in the spirit of Twitter to leave queries, complaints or reports unanswered for hours or even days.
The team could agree to monitor replies on a regular basis.
And what about the other employees?
Twitter has truly taken off, and most government organisation will have twittering employees. Of course,
a corporate Twitter channel would be great, but remember that every employee on the internet is an
ambassador for your organisation. They all have the same means at their disposal and probably use them
all day. You must consider this when designing your own Twitter strategy.
Addinganewchanneltotheorganisation’scommunicationmixisn’tdifculttodo.Butthisisnotwhatweb
2.0isabout.Theplayingeld ischanging: governmentorganisationsareexpectedto takepartinonline
conversations. The communication department is no longer the only one to represent the organisation. This
has become something all employees do together. This is your new communication strategy.
For the British Department
for Business, Innovation and
Skills Twitter strategy, go
to http://twurl.nl/x6js5t

180 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 181
Section III. Getting started as a
Civil Servant 2.0
 YouwillndtheCivilServant2.0workprinciplesonpage184.

182 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Handles for Civil Servants 2.0
The world is changing fast. This change might be more fundamental for
civil servants than it is for other professions. Government organisations
must invest in the 2.0 skills of civil servants. They cannot achieve
this change overnight. Civil Servant 2.0 offers a range of methods to
gradually introduce civil servants to the world of 2.0. I will discuss this
intherstparagraph.
Sincethepublicationofmyrstbook,manyhaveaskedmehowtostart
working as a Civil Servant 2.0 in their own organisation. What does it
mean, being a Civil Servant 2.0? How is it different? To help, I have put
together the civil servant 2.0 work principles. These are not behavioural
guidelines, but a modern approach to get the most out of your work.
Many civil servants also want to know the dos and don’ts on the
internet. Aside from the working principles, I have drawn up a number
of practical pointers for Civil servant 2.0. As a civil servant you must
observe a certain code of conduct. In the physical world, and on the
internet. But online society also demands interaction by government.
How do you deal with this? The Practical Pointers help.
The working principles and practical pointers mostly address the
attitude and working method for Civil Servant 2.0. However, they say
very little about the tools and online instruments that can support this
wayof working. In myrstbook,I listed a number ofresources,and
have included them in the last paragraph of this chapter as well.
Learning about Civil Servant 2.0
A lot is being written about Civil Servant 2.0 and much more about web
2.0 in general. Some of it comes from the Civil Servant 2.0 members
themselves. Drawing attention to how web 2.0 will affect government and
civilservantsistherststep.Thenextisactuallyworkingwithit.Thiscan
be quite a step if you are new to the overwhelming options available. Civil
Servant 2.0 offers a whole range of tools to learn more about 2.0 and how
to use it, in your own work situation, or with your colleagues.
1. Read the book
TherstCivilServant2.0bookisofcourseaverygoodstart.Itdescribes
what web 2.0 is and what its implications are for government and for
us as civil servants. It also presents a selection of cases and practical
tips and sites. The book is available online, or can be ordered free of
charge.
For more information, go to boek.ambtenaar20.nl.
2. Invite a speaker
To really get your message across, invite someone to explain it. If you
are interested in web 2.0 and you wonder what the implications and
opportunities are for you or your organisation, why not invite a speaker
to discuss it in greater detail. This is where the Civil Servant 2.0 speaker
network comes in. Complete the form, tell us what you are looking for
andwewillndyoutherightspeaker.Gotosprekers.ambtenaar20.nl
for more information.
Chapter 10.
boek.ambtenaar20.nl
sprekers.ambtenaar20.nl
Lifehacking is a movement that encourages
peopletondpracticalmentorsandtricks
(online)tolivelifemoreefciently.Pioneer
Martijn Aslander calls it a mix between
time management, knowledge
management and personal development,
with a dash of web 2.0.
See www.lifehacking.nl

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 183
3. Visit an informal coffee morning
An issue only comes alive if you can talk about it. With colleagues within
your organisation, or elsewhere in government. Of course, you can use
the Civil Servant 2.0 network site, but you can also visit one of the 2.0
events, like the informal coffee morning held in The Hague every other
Monday, or the monthly 2.0 get-togethers or any of the other meetings
throughout the country. Visit an event to meet others and discuss your
ideas. For more information, go to openkofe.ambtenaar20.nl.
4. Complete the course
If you would like to learn more about working with web 2.0, its culture,
instruments and rules, the ‘Work with web 2.0’ course might be for
you. It looks at the tasks and responsibilities of civil servants and gives
examples in government. It is a practical course with plenty of room for
discussion. For more information, go to cursus.ambtenaar20.nl.
5. Learn tips and tricks
The course will introduce you to a range of instruments you can use.
But practice is always best. By collecting and sharing handy tips you
can develop as Civil Servant 2.0. Lifehacking and work hacking for civil
servants. For more information go to tips.ambtenaar20.nl.
6. Ask questions on the forum
If you have any questions about the use of the handy sites and instruments
or about how you can use 2.0 for your project or organisation, post
your question on the forum. The more than 2500 members of Civil
Servant 2.0 are a huge resource of expertise, ideas and expertise about
government2.0,soyouareboundtondsomeonewhoisabletohelp
you. For more information, go to forum.ambtenaar20.nl.
7. Involve your colleagues
You can’t start these new ways of working together on your own.
You need others if you want to promote Civil Servant 2.0 in your own
organisation:
• Contact us to exchange ideas: contact.ambtenaar20.nl;
• Publish an article on Civil Servant 2.0, your staff magazine or on the
intranet: teksten.ambtenaar20.nl;
• Create a group for your organisation and invite your colleagues:
groepen.ambtenaar20.nl;
• Organise a meeting with one of our speakers: sprekers.ambtenaar20.nl;
• Use material available to print and distribute: materialen.
ambtenaar20.nl.
For more ideas and information, go to organisatie.ambtenaar20.nl.
For the Civil Servant 2.0 meetings go to the
agenda: agenda.ambtenaar20.nl
openkofe.ambtenaar20.nl
cursus.ambtenaar20.nl
tips.ambtenaar20.nl
forum.ambtenaar20.nl
organisatie.ambtenaar20.nl

184 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Working principles for civil servants 2.0
Colleagues at ministries, councils, provinces and water boards often
tell me that they have read the book, but don’t really know where to
start. “I would quite like to, but those around me aren’t into 2.0 yet.”
Things are a lot easier if your colleagues are already working as civil
servants 2.0. But don’t let it stop you if they aren’t. Someone has to
betherst,anditmightaswellbeyou.Tohelpyoualong,I’vedrawn
up ten “working principles for Civil Servant 2.0”. In other words: how
does a Civil Servant 2.0 work? In compiling the list I have tried to follow
these working principles. It contains ideas generated by my network.
Dozens of people have contributed through a range of instruments. Now
it is about using these working principles in what the government does
onadailybasis,byyouasacivilservant.Makethemworkforyou!
The working principles
1. Be open and be visible
2.Deneyourborders
3. Enable participation by others
4. The process is your product
5. Keep it clear and keep it simple
6. The whole picture is a sum of little parts
7. Life is live
8. Take the initiative
9. Go for solutions and results
10. Work is personal
But what do these principles mean?
1. Be open and be visible
If you want others to contribute, you must be open in what you do.
Show what you are doing – be visible. After all, you never know what
people may contribute, or where. Be open in your work and you will
inspire trust and commitment. This will connect and involve people in
your process, so they can join the process. It also makes you easy to
ndontheinternet,andthiswillbolsteryourimpact.Itallstartswith
openness.
2. Dene your borders
Borders don’t exists, you choose them. Don’t base your work on
organisations, cases or job descriptions, but on people, themes and
Twitter is developing its own jargon to enable posts of
up to 140 characters. Here Erik Jonker (RT) agrees with
Niels Leerentveld that the tip by Evernote (@MyEn) on
how to couple their program to Twitter, with a link to
more information, was spot on. Erik retweets it to his
Twitter network, and to his colleagues at the Ministry of
the Interior on Yammer (#yam), which is like Twitter for
internal use.
The Noord-Brabant provincial authority has
the working principles pinned to a wall
where everybody can see them.
See http://twurl.nl/m8jg27.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 185
networks. Focus on the subject and choose the right people. Ignore
structures and use what you need to achieve your goal. But remember
todeneyourownborders:yourrole,taskandaim.Berealistic.Focus
on your added value and strength and let others make up the rest.
3. Enable participation by others
Don’t do anything alone, and enable others to contribute. Your network
comprises people with expertise, ideas and energy. Use it. Whatever
the contribution, whatever shape, whatever size. A small contribution
by one person may prove vital to somebody else. And don’t just be
open to this, but support it. What platform or tools should you offer for
others to contribute? You are the process facilitator.
4. The process is your product
Nothing is ever ready - it all starts the moment you do. And this is when
yourworkstarts:makeitvisibleandinvolveothers.Eventheveryrst
idea can prove the start of a much bigger process. Then let it grow and
expand on it until the product has taken hold. You can always go one
step further. So make sure that you continue to adjust and improve
whatever you do. After all, the world around you never stops.
5. Keep it clear and keep it simple, whatever you do
Make sure your work is accessible. Keep barriers low so others can use
your work and take part. Take them by the hand and show them around
step-by-step. The fewer barriers, the more people you can involve. See
the world from the perspective of your target group and make things
as easy as they can possibly be. And don’t forget – being clear saves
time: continue to ask questions, make it transparent, communicate
accuratelyandrelevantlyanddeneopportunitiesandexpectations..
6. Little parts make up a whole
Think big, but work small. Little steps help you get a long way. Frapper
toujours! Astep-by-stepapproachpromotesexibility,enablingyouto
adapt your course to new developments. By visualising smaller parts
they are picked up more easily. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Every little bit counts.
7. Life is live
Time or space do not exist on the internet. Virtually, you could be
anywhere, anytime. Make sure you’re there where it happens, where
other people are. Take a step back to view society online and see how
itworks.Lookbeyond the chaos and nd the patterns. Patterns that
will allow you to follow the developments that are accelerating all the
time. If you want to play a role in this, you will have to keep up. Time
tospeedthingsup!
8. Take the initiative
If you have an idea, take action. Don’t wait for others, but don’t
exclude them either. By taking the initiative, you dene the playing
eld.Otherscanjoin you there, sooner or later.Use your creativity,
experiment and learn. You can only learn through practical experience.
This requires entrepreneurship: the will to achieve something, to
improve government little by little. And it starts with you.

186 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
9. Go for solutions and results
Be positive, see opportunities. There are more opportunities than you
may expect, but you must organise them. Keep your eyes peeled for
risks and hurdles, and work towards solutions. In the end it is not about
your work, but about the impact you have, concrete and practical.
Make progress and achieve goals. This means you can achieve practical
results with your work that are of use to others.
10. Work is personal
The government is about people. Don‘t be afraid of showing the person
behind your position. Respond if you are addressed and be open, honest
and you. Social interaction conventions apply to your position and the
internet too. Bring your personality to work, because that is what makes
you strong. Use your capacities, your commitment, your input and your
network and be unique. Apply your personal motivation, but remember
totakeastepbacktolookatthebiggerpictureeverynowandagain!
The dos and don’ts of civil servants on the in-
ternet
By Pierre Deen
After learning about web 2.0 and its discussions, your challenge is
of course to put this new expertise into practice. Not just working
with other civil servants, but elsewhere too, on the internet. Society
increasingly relies on a responsive and interactive government. What is
the role we must play as civil servant? What can we do and say online?
What should we address? This is where the Civil Servant 2.0 Practical
Pointers come in.
The Practical Pointers section comprises three parts:
• The frameworks: codes of conduct for civil servants and where to
ndthem;
• ThePracticalPointers:ve guidelinestohelpyouoperateasacivil
servant online;
• Frequently asked questions: questions and answers that may help you.
Floor Drees prepares for an interview and uses
crowdsourcing to collect questions.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 187
The frameworks and Practical Pointers are set out below. The frequently
asked questions are available online. There is also a discussion forum for
any other questions you may have. Go to handreiking.ambtenaar20.nl.handreiking.ambtenaar20.nl
“Freedom of speech applies to all. Civil servants can use
Twitter, as long as their comments do not conict with
their responsibilities.”
Minister Maxime Verhagen responds to a question asking
whether civil servants are permitted to use twitter.
Frameworks: the code of conduct for civil servants
Like other employees, civil servants must observe certain rules and
regulations. These provide the frameworks within which civil servants
operate. They also apply to the use of social media like blogs and
discussion forums. Below are rules and frameworks we as civil servants
must observe.
The Dutch Central and Local Government Personnel Act, Section
125a
The Dutch Central and Local Government Personnel Act sets out the
rights and obligations of civil servants. Section 125a focuses on public
servants expressing their opinions in the public domain:
1. “The civil servant shall refrain from making public any ideas or
emotions or exercising the right to unite, to meet and to demonstrate,
if due to such exercising of rights the adequate performance of
his position or the proper functioning of the public service, where
related to his position, cannot reasonably be assured.
2.Asregardstheright ofunion,the rstparagraphshall notapplyto
membership of: a. a political grouping whose appellation is registered
in accordance with the Elections Act, or b. a union.
3.Thecivilservantshallbeobligedtokeepcondentialallthatcomes
to his attention in his professional capacity, where the obligation of
condentialityarisesfromthenatureofthecase.”
Instructions for civil servants and external contacts
A dispute between the Minister of Justice and the Public Prosecutor’s
ofce in 1988 was extensively communicated through the media,
and ultimately led to the ‘instructions for civil servants and external
contacts’.
These were informally known as the Ukase Kok, which would suggest
The Dutch Central and Local Government
Personnel Act can be found at
http://twurl.nl/m4j83b
For the ‘Instructions external contacts civil
servants’, go to http://twurl.nl/khfpwu

188 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
civil servants and their room to manoeuvre were placed under tight
control. In practice, it wasn’t. Rather, it is a modern interpretation
of Section125a of the Dutch Central and Local Government Personnel
Act applied: “First and foremost, the instructions aim to create more
clarity on how civil servants and third parties are expected to act in
functional contacts. Also, the new instructions aim to create more
clarity about the validity of the basic right of free speech when civil
servants act as private persons or otherwise. By providing more clarity
the new instructions aim to promote free speech by civil servants. In a
democratic constitutional state it is important that civil servants feel
no undue reservation when presenting their views on subjects affected
by government policy. In practice most issues arise in contacts between
(members of) the States General and civil servants, which is why the
updated instructions focus on these contacts.”
General Public Service Regulations (ARAR)
The ARAR follows from the Dutch Central and Local Government
Personnel Act and stipulates the material rights and obligations of civil
servants working for government. The Regulations do not comprise any
stipulations on comments made in the public space or how to deal with
external parties.
Practical Pointers for civil servants online
All of these rules also apply to the internet where civil servants
must behave as such. I don’t think I need to elaborate on this. But
a new environment sets new standards with new expectations and
circumstances. The Practical Pointers for Civil Servant 2.0 aim to
address these issues and give some guidelines. They are partly based on
the British ‘Principles for Participation Online’.
Be credible
As a civil servant you are accurate, fair, thorough and transparent
in one-on-one contacts and during open discussions with several
participants. Whatever comments you make, you make them on behalf
of the organisation.
Be consistent and constructive
Your behaviour and attitude towards others must be consistent.
Encourage constructive criticism and deliberation.
Be open and responsive
Share your expertise and be specic about which information or
anything else you need from others. Where possible refer to others.
Show you are listening. Make it clear that you act on behalf of your
organisation.
The British ‘Principles for participation
online’ are available at http://twurl.nl/
rukuyq

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 189
Be integrated
Wherever possible, align online participation with other ofine
communications (multi-channel). Align your participation on the
internet with your regular (ofine) activities. Document your
contributions. Make time for online participation – it takes time.
Be a civil servant
Remember that you are an ambassador for your organisation. Wherever
possible, behave as a good civil servant and be careful, honest and
reliable.
And remember:
• The Practical Pointers Civil Servant 2.0 are about your online
participation as a civil servant. Act as you would when dealing with
other media or public appearances, for instance when speaking at a
congress;
• Disclose your role as a representative of your department or agency
unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as a potential
threat to personal security. Never give out personal details like home
address and phone numbers;
• Participation online results in your comments, personal too, being
permanently available and open to being republished in other media.
Stay within the legal framework and be aware that libel, defamation,
copyright and data protection laws apply;
• This means that you should not disclose information, make
commitments or engage in activities on behalf of your organisation
unless you are authorised to do so;
• Also be aware that this may attract media interest in you as an
individual, So proceed with care whether you are participating in
an ofcial or in a personal capacity. If you have any doubts, take
advice from your colleagues, line manager or the Communications
department;
• Many organisations have an internet code. Find it and stick to it.
For more information, go to the Frequently Asked Questions, the
Practical Pointers section.
Orpostyourquestionsontheassociatedforum,whichyouwillndat
handreiking.ambtenaar20.nl.
“I would love to comment on the
declining number of hospital orders
imposed, but alas, I’m a civil servant on
this subject ...”

190 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
What 2.0 instruments do I use?
Web 2.0 (or “social media”) is the name for a new generation of sites
on the internet that enable people to collect or share information
online, converse with others, and collaborate. For instance, check out
go2web20.netwhereyouwillndastaggeringamountofweb2.0tools
andapplications.Ifyouknowwheretondtheonesyouneed,youcan
really increase your elbow room. It’s what I did.
By using a range of 2.0 sites and instruments, I became both more
efcient and more interactive in my work. I can now process more
informationandndtheinformationIneedfaster.Ialsosharemoreand
Example: identifying a complaint via Twitter
“The Hague Council. It seemed that the civil
servant serving me didn’t know the word for
“miss” as he kept referring to me as “gorgeous”.
You can use the internet to keep track of what
people are saying about your organisation.
“Is this a complaint?”
I read the tweet and pointed it out to some fellow
civil servants at the Municipality of The Hague.
“Do I want to be served like this? No! So treat as
complaint.”
Someone then reported the incident to the
department head.
Go2web20 publishes a comprehensive list
of existing and new 2.0 sites.
Go to www.go2web20.net

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 191
collaborate more. Both have helped me achieve more. Of course, I haven’t
changed, but I have been able to get more out of the qualities I already
had. What makes 2.0 instruments work for me is that they help me to:
•collateandrecordinformation,
•shareexpertiseanddistributeideas,
•makecontactandcommunicate
•collaborateandorganise.
Based on these categories, I will present my story.
Screenshot Gmail
Collating and recording information
I use two dashboards, Gmail and Netvibes. I use Gmail for my emails as
well as reports on, for instance, new followers on Twitter or responses
to discussions I participate in (on Ning or LinkedIn). I use a lter to
assign the information to groups so it doesn’t clog up any one inbox. A
Gmail plug-in then publishes these messages in separate windows next
to the inbox, where I can see them from the corner of my eye, and
decide whether I want to read them later.
But my real dashboard is Netvibes.com. This is where I collect a number
of RSS feeds. A slow feed with a number of blogs of people I nd
interesting and a fast feed with online magazines that publish regularly.
But I rarely look at these, for two reasons: I now follow relevant sites
like Frankwatching and TheNextWeb through their messages on Twitter.
Andmoreimportantly:Irelyonmy“sociallter”.Ifsomeonefrommy
network retweets an article on Twitter or blogs about it, chances are it
isrelevantformetoo!
I also search information on the basis of search words or key words.
Google Alerts sends me a report whenever my name pops up somewhere
on the internet. Twitter Search does the same for my name, my
employer’s name and Civil Servant 2.0. Delicious is used by hundreds of
thousands of people to store their favourite links.
Anyone who uses the tag “government2.0” or similar is likely to be of
interest to me. You can mark feeds for all of these sources and search
results and display them in Netvibes or Google Reader. But even a
dashboard can get swamped in RSS feeds. You can easily bundle one
steam with other streams to make a wide river of information. Use
www.gmail.com is Google’s online email
program. It does not offer a facility to place
information in folders, but it uses labels
(tags), stars (favourites) and a fast search
engine to put information in order. Messages
are grouped by conversation and handy
functionalities can be added via plug-ins.
www.ning.com is an internet service that
enables users to start their own social
network site. Others can join this site, or
use it for discussions, blogging, etc.
Dictionary: RSS feed, the stream of
information users can integrate in their page
(e.g. Netvibes) to keep up-to-date with the
news.
www.frankwatching.comisaninuential
blog aimed at marketing, the New Way of
Working and web 2.0.
www.thenextweb.com is blog with an
international focus about developments on
the internet and in web 2.0.
Dictionary: A retweet is forwarding
another person’s message (tweet) to one’s
own followers.
www.google.com/alerts offers a persona-
lised search engine based on selected words
(your name for instance). When the search
enginendsapagethatcontainsthis
specicword,youreceiveanalertbyemail
or RSS.
search.twitter.com is the Twitter search
engine.Thesearchenginewillalsond
recent messages, which allows you to follow
live discussions on a subject or tag (e.g. the
De verslaglegging (the report) during Open
Kofeeventsonhttp://search.twitter.com/
search?q=openkofe). The results page is
also available as an RSS feed.
www.delicious.com is an internet service
where users can store and share their
favourite internet sites and consult them
from any computer.

192 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Yahoo Pipes for instance. This is where I combine the streams or pipes
ofinformation,remove duplications, lter for words (iftheauthoris
me, I don’t have to see what I wrote) and put everything into one,
encompassing RSS feed. I probably use just 1% of everything a site like
Pipes offers, but at least it saves me lots of time.
Screenshot Yahoo Pipes
Share knowledge and distribute ideas
Civil Servant 2.0 started with a blog I wrote to test my ideas on web 2.0 for
government and to receive feedback. I chose to use WordPress, a free blog
programme without advertising. There are two options. Either you can
place your blog with your own provider (download the software yourself
and re-install it) or you can have your blog stored at WordPress. All you
needto dois ndaname andyouare setto go.Allitmeans isthatyou
have fewer opportunities to add functionalities.
Of course, you can subscribe to new blogs and the responses via RSS. But
there is so much more. Feedburner allows you to generate an automatic
mailing list and keep score of how many people subscribe. Twitterfeed can
help to place your every blog on Twitter via RSS feed. Or you can make your
own mailing list via MailChimp. You can take out a subscription to boek.
ambtenaar20.nl on my mailing list if you want to be updated of how Civil
Servant 2.0, the book, is coming along.
Twitter is as multifunctional as a white sheet of paper. To me, Twitter is
just all around. I also use it to share and distribute expertise. And I retweet
interesting twitter messages, just like blogs and sites which have caught
my eye. If you want to know what happens in the area of government and
web 2.0, all you need to do is follow me on Twitter (which is automatically
linked to Facebook and Hyves). I use Twitter to let you know what I am
doingandthethingsIndimportant.IputotherrelevantsitesonDelicious,
which can now also forward links to Twitter.
But there is more than text alone. I have also posted photos on Flickr
and Picasa, video clips on YouTube and Vimeo.IfIndsomething worth
taking a photo or video of along the way somewhere, I will immediately
forward it to the Civil Servant 2.0 email using the pda (the photo gallery
on Ning) or to MobyPicture, which forwards the photo to Twitter and Hyves.
Presentations are published on Slideshare, but usually on Scribd, where
I also publish lots of documents as well as usable materials for whoever
www.google.com/reader is Google’s RSS
reader. It allows you to keep track of, and
bundle various RSS feeds to keep track of
developments in dozens or more internet
sites.
pipes.yahoo.com is a platform for building
applications online in a simple and
transparent manner. The result can be
embedded in other sites.
www.feedburner.com enables you to send
newsletters automatically as soon as a new
message appears on the site. Feedburner
offers many formatting options, planning
facilities and subscriber management
options. People may take out or cancel
their subscriptions when required.
www.twitterfeed.com enables users to
send information from an RSS feed to
Twitter. New blogs, for instance, can be
twittered automatically. A new twitter
news service can be set up for any subject
by combining various feeds from sites and
distributing them via dedicated twitter
channels.
www.ickr.com and www.picasa.com are
internet sites where users can place and
share photos. Many of the photos are
publicly accessible, and sometimes even
reusable (under a Creative Commons
licence). Flickr is part of Yahoo, Picasa of
Google.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 193
wishes to promote Civil Servant 2.0. And all of these photos, videos and
documents can then be embedded in other sites, for instance my blog.
Making contact and communicating
Iam veryactiveon theinternetand therefore easytond. Lookformy
rstname,andyouwillseeyoucancontactmeinmanyways:viaTwitter,
LinkedIn,CivilServant2.0,etcBeingeasytondisimportant.Itgenerates
new contacts and expertise. I also have my own site, www.davied.nl. Not
much is happening there, just some links to other sites where I can be
foundand alittle informationaboutme.Thesite makesiteasiertond
me, but to make contact and communicate I prefer to go to wherever
there are people. I am also on Hyves and Facebook because this is where I
ndmanyofmyfriendsandacquaintancesandbecausetherearealotof
interesting things going on. For my work contacts and my curriculum vitae
you need to go to LinkedIn. It is important to keep my CV updated here so
others can see how I can be of help. I do not approve every request to link,
only those sent by people I know, or who I work with in some way or other.
I have also joined a number of groups, although I am not very active there.
The LinkedIn groups are a success. While Civil Servant 2.0 aims to be
present on all sorts of platforms, the LinkedIn group is a hub of activity. I
meet many people on the Civil Servant 2.0 network site. The site is built
using Ning. You can use Ning to simply build your own network site around
aspecicthemeandyouwillendupwithagroupwhereeveryoneshares
the same interest. The Civil Servant 2.0 group has some 2500 members,
but there are networks that are much larger. Most members also present a
prole,soyouknowinstantlywhoyouaredealingwith.ATwittercounter
is also handy: if you add this to your site, you can see exactly which
twitterers (tweeps) are reading your site.
If I want to contact people directly, I still use email a lot, although not as
much as I used to. Sending messages via LinkedIn, Ning, Hyves or Twitter
(through a dm) is just as easy. I don’t really restrict myself to any one
particular resource anymore. During the day I mostly communicate via
Twitter. It don’t really chat (instant messaging) via MSN Messenger and I
useSkypeonlywhenmyparents areabroad. Ind theprogramstakeup
too many resources to install and start. Google Talk is easier, and simply
works through your browser and in Gmail. For video calling I could perhaps
use Tokbox more, which is now also available online.
Screenshot LinkedIn
www.youtube.com and www.vimeo.com
are internet sites where users can post and
share videos. YouTube is part of Google.
www.mobypicture.com is a Dutch site
where you can send photos (through email
or upload, where they are stored and distri-
buted via Twitter, Hyves or other sites.
www.slideshare.com is a platform for
sharing presentations. These presentations
can be played, downloaded or embedded
online.
www.twittercounter.com makes it
possible to view statistics for your Twitter
account, for instance to see how many
followers you have. Twittercounter also
enables users to place a widget on their
site, to show which other users are present
or who have visited.
Dictionary: A dm is a message in Twitter
that is not visible to all, but is sent from
one person to another. Dm is short for
direct message.
Dictionary: Instant messaging, or chat, is
having a conversation by sending short
text messages between people who are
online at the same time.
www.tokbox.com is a site where users
can chat or make video calls without
having to install a computer program.
The site uses contacts from MSN, Google
Talk or Yahoo Messenger.

194 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Collaborating and organising
As my network is located all over the Netherlands, I have no choice
but to work online. And unless someone is directly opposite me in the
same room, it is always easier to contact somebody online than actually
getting up and walking over.
The browser I use, even at work, is Firefox. Two plug-ins make Twitter even
easier than it already is. Twitterbar allows me to post communications
via the address bar in my browser. Echofon (used to be Twitterfox) shows
messages at the bottom right of your monitor, where you can just see it.
I feel as if I’m always working with dozens of people. Collaboration is not
always possible in short messages. Sometimes you need to work together
on a joint text or plan. Wikis are ideal for this. I write most of my texts in
wikis, so that others can make amendments and provide input while I am
writing. For those who are actively involved in Civil Servant 2.0 there is
a so-called “workplace”. It stores and updates background texts and it is
used to work out ideas and projects. People also use it to write texts (like
the weekly mailing). For the work place we use Wetpaint, but Pbworks
also works very well as a wiki.
Civil Servant 2.0 also has a group of volunteers who do maintenance
jobs. This group stays in touch through a send list in Google Groups. A
mail addressed here is automatically sent to all board members, and
records are kept. FriendFeed is used for engineering functions. It is
likeanonlinediscussion owthat canbe followedviamailorRSSfor
instance. Besides the workplace wiki, Google Docs is also sometimes
used to collaborate on texts. But usually group members simply join the
discussions or the responses on Ning.
TheMindmeistermindmapshavebeenarmfavouriteofmineforsome
time. I use them to structure ideas, but also to gather contributions
from others. After preparing a layout in Mindmeister, I open the
mindmap and invite people on Twitter to add ideas or comments. I then
work out the ideas in a wiki (open again), and write a blog. But there
are other ways in which you can gather expertise and contributions
from others too. For instance, open a survey on Surveymonkey or create
a form in Wufoo. All answers are stored in a dedicated database.
Screenshot Mindmeister
www.surveymonkey.com offers lots of
opportunities to place surveys online and
manage, interpret or distribute the
outcome.
www.wufoo.com is a site to build and
manage multifaceted forms for a variety of
purposes
addons.mozilla.org is the site where
add-ons or plug-ins can be added to the
Firefox browser. There are more than 5000
additions to adapt Firefox to what you are
working on.
Dictionary: A wiki is online software that
allows individuals to work on one document
and where every amendment is logged.
www.pbworks.com is a free online wiki. It
is easy to use and has no advertising (unlike
www.wetpaint.com).
groups.google.com is a platform to start
your own mailing list. An e-mail sent to the
mailing list is distributed to all members on
the list. A record of all messages is stored
online.
www.friendfeed.com is a versatile
internet site to subscribe to messages
posted by others, to set up groups and to
have discussions.
docs.google.com is an online word
processing program, where documents can
be written and shared with others. Other
versions of the program enable people to
collaborate on spreadsheets, presentations,
forms, etc.
www.mindmeister.com is an online
program for drawing up mindmaps. The
mindmaps can be shared with others or be
published, enabling others to contribute to
the brainstorm.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 195
Go with the resources that help you along
These are all the sites and programs I use on a regular basis. A long
list. The list is so long you might not see the wood for the trees. It’s
important you are selective in what you use. You will learn something
new every time, something you can add to you toolbox. Everything
I have listed is free (sometimes with advertising) and you can use it
without having to be too much of a techie. A little common sense, an
undaunted approach and a bit of a feel for computer programs will get
you a long way. And if you don’t succeed, there are plenty of online
forums where you can post your question, like tips.ambtenaar20.nl.
More important than knowledge of all of these tools are social skills.
Because while they may be different online than they are in the physical
world, basically, you are still dealing with people. Behind every Twitter
account, behind every response, behind every blog and behind every
site there is someone like you and me. Someone you can reach through
these social media, but to really get in touch and collaborate, you will
have to make an effort.
If you are a civil servant and if you would like to learn more about
working with web 2.0, go to cursus.ambtenaar20.nl.
Screenshot Netvibes

196 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
What does web 2.0 mean for ICT departments?
Organisations are increasingly active on the internet and this presents new challenges, for bandwidth for
instance. But web 2.0 and the many applications available on the internet (cloud computing) also present
strategic questions for ICT departments.
Any sizeable organisation, public or private, may be dealing with anything up to hundreds of applications
and software programs. Not just Windows and Word, but all sorts of large and small business systems, server
software and databanks. The licences, maintenance and installation of updates all cost a lot of money.
Moreover, knowledge must be logged and programs must be compatible.
Over the past few years, ICT departments have aimed to limit the number of applications. Whenever they
received a request for a new application, they always looked to see if existing applications could be used.
It seems logical that the random downloading of freeware or shareware is not stimulated. After all, it can
pose security, liability and management risks.
Why use online software?
New applications are assessed for their functionality. To access internet sites, you have a browser. Most
ministries use Internet Explorer 6. To write documents, you have a word processing programme, usually
Microsoft Word. Until recently, you had to make do with what they gave you. You had no choice. But with
web 2.0 has come access to online word processing programs, software as a service, like Zoho Writer and
GoogleDocs.Thechoiceisyours!
Ofcourse,therearebenetstousingstandardisedproducts:allofyourcolleaguesusethemandyoucan
callyourICTdepartmentforsupport.SowhyuseanonlineWord?Well,youmightndithandierasitallows
youto workmoreefciently,orbecause itoffersmore options.For instance,GoogleDocs allowsyouto
collaborate with others on documents, even outside your own organisation. This is a functionality your
standard work station doesn’t offer.
Circle or Ning?
Of course, you could argue: why would an ICT department worry about these sites that are all outside the
organisation? But it’s not that simple. There are security issues, as well as archiving, training, support and
exchange issues. The use of software on the internet is the user’s own responsibility to a large degree: that
yourpasswordsaresecure,thatyourecordandledevelopmentsanddecisionsinpolicydevelopmentfor
instance, etc. if you use your own software, this cannot be arranged for you.
So what do you do? Wait until the ICT department offers the functionality? Rijksweb, the government’s
intranet, offers a wiki functionality, but is not very user friendly. A lot of time and effort has also been put
into “Circles”, used for online discussions and collaboration (like Ning). Apart from the fact that you cannot
use it to collaborate outside the central government, these functionalities will never be able to keep up
with developments on the internet. That is where it’s all happening.
Action items for the ICT department
In short, I believe that the use of online software and 2.0 sites by civil servants will continue to grow for
now: because it offers functionalities internal software cannot provide, because people like to choose for
themselves how and what they can use to perform the best they can and because it is virtually impossible
to keep up with developments on the internet. ICT departments will have to consider how to handle this.
What will be their strategy?
Itis difculttomention everysingly aspect,butI wouldliketo mentiontwopossibleapproaches.First,
there are a number of major resources many civil servants already use, like Google Docs and Ning.

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 197
It makes sense to look at the security of these providers and grant approval or points for attention (like
the Ministry of Agriculture does for SocialText, which is used for the work 2.0 pilots). In studying such sites
attention must be paid to:
• connection security: is it possible to establish safer https connections to prevent interception of
information between your computer and the site?
• service security: how is information stored by a service provider, how are back-ups made, who has
access to which information?
• information management in Europe: the American government has access to databanks in US territory,
including internet sites. Is it possible to use a databank in Europe?
• is the provider future-proof: of course, any provider could fold, but start-ups might be slightly more
prone.
I believe these are issues ICT departments can address now. But they will also need to focus on the new
situation for the long term, for instance by:
•signing contracts with providers, for instance about additional security measures, about the use of a
specicpartofthesiteorabouthostingtheserviceinternallyontheorganisation’sownnetwork;
•givingnewtrainingsessionsandinformationtousers,forinstanceaboutsecurity,archivingandofcourse
the use of the service itself;
•organisingmanagementandsupportandtrainingthehelpdeskinsupportingkeyonlineservices;
•integratingonline facilitiesintheorganisation’sownenvironment,forinstanceperiodicback-ups,the
use of handy plug-ins and add-ons.
Support for civil servants online?
So far I have mostly discussed the use of online software: sites that offer handy functionalities to collaborate.
But civil servants are also active on other sites, when they respond to blogs, take part in discussion forums
ormakechangestoWikipedia.Theseresponsesarescatteredallovertheinternet,they’renotconnedto
a single site. Again this raises certain issues. How can you as a civil servant keep track of your responses?
What if these responses are amended by the site manager?
Again the ICT department can help, for instance through software that collects and stores online responses
and posts. Not so that the boss can check them, but so you have an insight in what you’ve written and can
manage your activities online.
One such site is BackType. Very handy, but it can be used on the internet only. But is BackType secure? Is
thecompanyfuture-proof?There’sbusytimesaheadfortheICTdepartment!
Chido seems to have lost some text he had just typed online
(a response to a blog) as the service went down just as he
sent it. Ingmar refers to a tip in Civil Servant 2.0 book on
how to prevent this from happening again.

198 | Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
What will come after Civil Servant 2.0?
Lots of people ask me this. What will come after Civil Servant 2.0? Some
call it Civil Servant 3.0. After all, there is a web 3.0, isn’t there? Some
even jokingly say that this is the year for version 2.009. An initiative
has been launched to start government 1.7, as 2.0 is aiming too high.
Whatever the case may be: if this is Civil Servant 2.0, surely there’s
something that will follow it?
What is web 3.0?
Web 1.0 was the internet of information, of digital brochures and
forms.Thenamecamelater,asthetermweb2.0wasrstintroduced.
The term was launched to indicate that things were changing on
the internet. That was an internet of people, a social web, where
every internet user could be heard, could discuss with others, make
contributions to online encyclopaedias, etc.
Once the term web 2.0 was established, there had to be a web 3.0
of course. A number of developments on the internet are referred to
as web 3.0: three-dimensional environments like Second Life, mobile
and geographic services (GPS), networks in-house and in your direct
environment (ambient intelligence) and computer generated input in a
real-live environment (augmented reality). In short, it affects all
developments before us. But usually web 3.0 refers to the semantic
web.
Web 3.0 in the sense of a semantic web is an image of the internet
where information on concepts or individuals is combined to provide
a comprehensive image. This is in contrast to information online
now which is scattered across many different sites. Just think where
information about you can be found.
Will there be a Civil Servant 3.0?
Developments on the internet, and therefore in society, affect how
government works. For every technical development, we must consider
how it would impact on how government works. Web 3.0 is a technical
development. One that may raise questions about privacy and security,
but one also that is not expected to have a huge social impact.
This is where the difference with web 2.0 and social media lies. These
technological innovations are interesting and useful, and their social
implications far-reaching. Internet users can express and organise
themselves through a whole range of facilities. The balance between
businesses and consumers, but also between government and citizen
has changed fundamentally. This requires new concepts, new methods
and a new approach by civil servants.
So will there be a Civil Servant 3.0? No. First let’s understand what 2.0
means for government. This presents a big enough challenge for us now.
Let’s start with Civil Servant 2.0 beta.
Chapter 11.
The Government 1.7 initiative was launched
at the Government 2.0 congress of 4
December 2008 .
See www.government17.nl
Dictionary: Second Life is a 3D environ-
ment where users can create characters,
arrange landscapes and buildings and
interact with each other.
Dictionary: Ambient intelligence, also
known as the internet of things, is an
electronic environment where devices work
in concert through wireless networks to
support people in carrying out their
every-day activities.
Dictionary: Augmented reality is the
addition of computer generated input (like
internet images) in a real-live environment
(visible via webcam for instance).

Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009) | 199
Appendices
For the dictionary, go to page 207.

200 | Appendices
About Pleio (Government Square)
If we want to build a government 2.0 we require a government-wide platform
for cooperation, a place where you can easily book an online meeting room
for the people you work with which transcends organisational boundaries.
That’s why Civil Servant 2.0 started Pleio, or Government Square. And at the
sametimewe’recuttingcosts!
Offering a platform
This book describes various ideas for government initiatives to put 2.0
initiatives into practice. However, often there is no platform available to
support these initiatives, either within or outside the organisation. Pleio
meets this need. It is a platform for Dutch civil servants to meet each other,
have discussions and work together with people from their own organisation
or across organisational boundaries. But it is also a place to deal with issues
together with members of the public.
Working in networks
What does this mean in practice? Civil servants work together in various
teams, groups and networks. On Pleio they can bring the right people
together to collaborate on a project or problem, from inside government
or outside. Both civil servants and members of the public can create an
account and make use of the facilities. One can, however, make a distinction
in accessibility: for colleagues within an organization, for all civil servants
or for everyone.
Collaborative approach
Pleio is freely available for all civil servants and all government organizations.
A number of organizations have built an internal subsite to use as an intranet
2.0, others are using Pleio to involve citizens. Pleio has been built using
open source software so all additions built by agencies are added to the
“app store” and can be used by other agencies as well. By using a central
platform and reusable applications the Dutch government wants to bring
down software expenditure.
For more information visit www.pleio.nl.

Appendices | 201
List of sources
The books refer to the following sources:
Books
Chris Anderson - The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling
Less of More (2006)
Victor Bekkers, e.a. – De virtuele lont in het kruitvat. Welke rol spelen
de oude en nieuwe media in de micromobilisatie van burgers en hun
strijd om politiek aandacht? (2009)
Thomas L. Friedman - The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the
Twenty-rstCentury(2005)
Christian van ’t Hof, Jos de Haan - De digitale generatie (2006)
Jeff Howe - Crowdsourcing. Why the Power of the Crowd is Driving the
Future of Business (2008)
Jeff Jarvis – What Would Google Do? (2009)
Charles Leadbeater - We-Think (2008)
Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, David Weinberger -
The Cluetrain Manifesto (2009)
Charlene Li, Josh Bernoff - Groundswell: Winning in a World
Transformed by Social Technologies (2008)
Albert Meijer, Vincent Homburg - Op weg naar Toezicht 2.0 (2008)
Martijn de Moor, Sanne van Houten - Ondertussen ... online (2009)
Beth Noveck - Wiki Government: How Technology Can Make
Government Better, Democracy Stronger, and Citizens More Powerful
(2009)
Clay Shirky - Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without
Organizations (2008)
Don Tapscott, Anthony D. Williams - Wikinomics: How Mass
Collaboration Changes Everything (2006)
Wim Veen – Homo Zappiens, opgroeien, leven en werken in een
digitaal tijdperk (2009)
David Weinberger - Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the
New Digital Disorder (2007)

202 | Appendices
Reports
Accenture - Leadership in Customer Service Report: Creating Shared
Responsibility for Better Outcomes - http://twurl.nl/bxz1gh
BarackObama.com - Barack Obama on technology and innovation:
http://twurl.nl/2dzogp
CabinetOfce(UnitedKingdom)-PowerofInformationReview-
http://twurl.nl/yxc48s
Cisco - Realizing the Potential of the Connected Republic -
http://twurl.nl/z87hg2
Deloitte, Change your world or the world will change you -
http://twurl.nl/d4qchg
Forrester - Topic Overview: Web 2.0 (2007): http://twurl.nl/d2tbzh
Gartner - The Business Impact of Social Computing on Government -
http://twurl.nl/ll2esq
McKinsey - McKinsey Quarterly: Six ways to make Web 2.0 work -
http://twurl.nl/b6tklh
Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties - Brief aan de
Tweede Kamer over Web 2.0 - http://twurl.nl/quvmrm
Morgan Stanley – Technology Trends, June 20 2008:
http://twurl.nl/ciqtvk
Ogilvy-Canbrandshaveasociallife?HowbrandsinAsiacanbenet
from interacting with customers through social media -
http://twurl.nl/tnl5ud
Center for Technology and National Security Policy (Verenigde Staten)
- Social Software and National Security: An Initial Net Assessment -
http://twurl.nl/lhshw4
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Groot-Brittannië) -
Template Twitter Strategy for Government Departments -
http://twurl.nl/74cz60
TNO - Naar een ‘User Generated State’? De impact van nieuwe media
voor overheid en openbaar bestuur - http://twurl.nl/s6z1hl

Appendices | 203
UK Civil Service Code – Guidance for online participation:
http://twurl.nl/3nkbd5
Department for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research -
(Australië), VenturousAustralia. Building strength in innovation -
http://twurl.nl/jm2qq3
To read more about web 2.0, go to the Civil Servant 2.0 database at
kennisbank.ambtenaar20.nl.

204 | Appendices
Overview of shortened internet addresses
The Civil Servant 2.0 books contain various internet addresses that have been shortened for the purposes of presentation
and ease of reading. This page contains an overview of all the shortened links in Civil Servant 2.0 and Civil Servant 2.0
beta. The full internet address is listed beneath each shortened link. This overview is also available on the site boek.
ambtenaar20.nl.
Book: Civil Servant 2.0 (2008)
Page 17, The Machine is Us/ing Us
http://twurl.nl/vdcq5w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g
Page 22, Wikipedia: John Harrison
http://twurl.nl/ljhpmw
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harrison
Page 25, Naar een ‘user generated state’
http://twurl.nl/hjz4k4
http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten-en-publicaties/
rapporten/2008/03/25/naar-een-user-generated-state-de-
impact-van-nieuwe-media-voor-overheid-en-openbaar-bestuur.
html
Page 33, Forrester Topic Overview: Web 2.0
http://twurl.nl/d2tbzh
http://www.forrester.com/rb/Research/topic_overview_
web_20/q/id/42027/t/2
Page 46, Brief aan de Tweede Kamer over Web 2.0
http://twurl.nl/yju63x
http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten-en-publicaties/
kamerstukken/2008/10/28/brief-aan-de-tweede-kamer-over-
web-2-0.html
Page 50, Hoe lanceer je een enterprise online community?
http://twurl.nl/7d1b4s
http://www.martinkloos.nl/2008/10/29/hoe-lanceer-je-een-
enterprise-online-community/
Page 52,Wees‘Intheow’,niet‘abovetheow’
http://twurl.nl/n3hi88
http://www.martinkloos.nl/2008/05/19/wees-in-the-ow-niet-
above-the-ow/
Page 53, Commissie-Wallage
http://twurl.nl/585n3i
http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/
overheidscommunicatie/onderzoeken-naar-
overheidscommunicatie#anker-commissie-wallage
Page 56, Commissie-Wolffensperger
http://twurl.nl/ssghpj
http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/
overheidscommunicatie/onderzoeken-naar-
overheidscommunicatie#anker-commissie-wolffensperger
Page 57, Barack Obama: Connecting and empowering all
Americans through technology and innovation
http://twurl.nl/2dzogp
http://obama.3cdn.net/780e0e91ccb6cdbf6e_6udymvin7.pdf
Page 74, Rapporten over trends in online networking en social
media
http://twurl.nl/j70bu7
http://www.martinkloos.nl/2008/05/05/rapporten-over-trends-
in-online-networking-en-social-media/
Page 82, What Is Web 2.0. Design Patterns and Business Models
for the Next Generation of Software
http://twurl.nl/kahqcf
http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html

Appendices | 205
Book: Civil Servant 2.0 beta (2009)
Page 98, Landkaart eParticipatie in Nederland
http://twurl.nl/gqk7v0
http://www.burgerlink.nl/landkaart/eparticipatie.xml
Page 46, Brief aan de Tweede Kamer over Web 2.0
http://twurl.nl/yju63x
http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten-en-publicaties/
kamerstukken/2008/10/28/brief-aan-de-tweede-kamer-over-
web-2-0.html
Page 104, Wikipedia: Ronald Coase
http://twurl.nl/kr4csl
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Coase
Page 104, Google: Our philosophy. Ten things we know to be true
http://twurl.nl/hfpz18
http://www.google.com/intl/en/corporate/tenthings.html
Page 104, Google: Ten Golden Rules - Newsweek
http://twurl.nl/xvy0cy
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10296177/site/newsweek/
print/1/displaymode/1098/39103950
Page 112, Gov 2.0: It’s All About The Platform
http://twurl.nl/hephzj
http://techcrunch.com/2009/09/04/gov-20-its-all-about-the-
platform/
Page 116, Ondertussen ... online
http://twurl.nl/x08adh
http://ambtenaar20.ning.com/group/kennisbank/forum/topics/2
094330:Topic:841?page=1&commentId=2094330:Comment:35083&
x=1#2094330Comment35083
Page 117, Gartner. The Business Impact of Social Computing on
Government
http://twurl.nl/ll2esq
http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=784212
Page 118, Accenture. Leadership in Customer Service Report:
Creating Shared Responsibility for Better Outcomes
http://twurl.nl/bxz1gh
http://www.accenture.com/Global/Research_and_Insights/By_
Industry/Government_and_Public_Service/2008LCSROutcomes.
htm
Page 118, Cisco. Realizing the Potential of the Connected
Republic
http://twurl.nl/z87hg2
http://s3.amazonaws.com/connected_republic/attachments/11/
Government_2.0_WP_REV1126_NobelDraft.pdf
Page 119, Ogilvy. Can brands have a social life? How brands in
Asiacanbenetfrominteractingwithcustomersthroughsocial
media
http://twurl.nl/tnl5ud
http://www.the-open-room.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/
ogilvyone_brands-sociallife_2008.pdf
Page 120, McKinsey Quarterly: Six ways to make Web 2.0 work
http://twurl.nl/b6tklh
http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Business_Technology/
Application_Management/Six_ways_to_make_Web_20_work_2294
Page 120, Deloitte. Change your world or the world will change you
http://twurl.nl/d4qchg
http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_EC/ec/792ebd7690794210Vg
nVCM100000ba42f00aRCRD.htm
Page 122,Transparency and Open Government
http://twurl.nl/vgskns
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_ofce/
TransparencyandOpenGovernment
Page 123, Terms of Service Agreements
http://twurl.nl/tkg1z6
https://forum.webcontent.gov/Default.asp?page=TOS_
agreements
Page 126, Power of Information Review
http://twurl.nl/yxc48s
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/poi/power-of-information-
review.pdf
Page 126, VenturousAustralia. Building strength in innovation
http://twurl.nl/jm2qq3
http://www.innovation.gov.au/innovationreview/Documents/
NIS-review-web.pdf
Page 126, Public Sphere 2: Government 2.0
http://twurl.nl/1ocnou
http://www.katelundy.com.au/category/campaigns/
publicsphere/open-gov/
Page 132, Social Software and National Security: An Initial Net
Assessment
http://twurl.nl/lhshw4
http://www.scribd.com/doc/14347975/Social-Software-and-
National-Security-An-Initial-Net-Assessment
Page 141, The Four Pillars of an Open Civic System
http://twurl.nl/m561gt
http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/06/the-four-pillars-of-an-open-ci.
html

206 | Appendices
Page 149,ClayShirky:It’snotinformationoverload,it’slter
failure
http://twurl.nl/wodhx2
http://ambtenaar20.ning.com/video/clay-shirky-its-not
Page 150, Discussiegroep Handreiking Ambtenaar 2.0
http://twurl.nl/evrzww
http://ambtenaar20.ning.com/group/ambtelijkmeesterschap
Page 152, RIVM, Dossier HPV Vaccinatie
http://twurl.nl/fbhjii
http://www.rivm.nl/persberichten/2009/dossiers/
Page 153, Year-End Zeitgeist
http://twurl.nl/7t5w7c
http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist/yearend.html
Page 168, Flickr.com, Nationaal Archief
http://twurl.nl/1feid5
http://www.ickr.com/photos/nationaalarchief/
sets/72157622500820677
Page 168, Public Sector Information Unlocking Service (beta)
http://twurl.nl/ozvhpr
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/unlocking-service/OPSIpage.
aspx?page=UnlockIndex
Page 168, Open Government Data Principles
http://twurl.nl/zo87m2
http://resource.org/8_principles.html
Page 173, Balletjes kunnen snel rollen
http://twurl.nl/g0xuyg
http://ambtenaar20.ning.com/proles/blogs/balletjes-kunnen-
snel-rollen
Page 179, Twitter policy
http://twurl.nl/x6js5t
http://www.bis.gov.uk/twitter-policy
Page 184, De 10 werkprincipes van Ambtenaar 2.0
http://twurl.nl/m8jg27
http://www.scribd.com/doc/17650701/De-10-Werkprincipes-Van-
Ambtenaar-20
Page 187, Ambtenarenwet
http://twurl.nl/m4j83b
http://mpbundels.mindef.nl/32_serie/32_100/32_100_1100.htm
Page 187, Aanwijzingen inzake externe contacten van
rijksambtenaren
http://twurl.nl/khfpwu
http://www.integriteitoverheid.nl/kenniscentrum/
kenniscentrum-vervolg/thema/structuren-en-processen/entiteit/
wet-en-regelgeving/details/aanwijzingen-inzake-externe-
contacten-van-rijksambtenaren.html
Page 188, Principles for participation online
http://twurl.nl/rukuyq
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/resources/participation-
online.aspx

Appendices | 207
Dictionary
All terms new to the text are explained in the margin and listed in this dictionary.
Ambient intelligence also known as the internet of things, is an electronic environment where devices
work in concert through wireless networks to support people in carrying out their
every-day activities;
API application programming interface, a set of agreements through which sites and
computers can work together to exchange information;
Augmented reality is the addition of computer-generated input (like internet images) in a real-live
environment (visible via webcam for instance);
Beta version is a draft version of new software that is operational, but that is perfected as it is
being used;
Blog or web log is a report or description of something you are doing that you want to share with
others and invite reaction to;
Co-creation is working towards a joint product, not by means of a sequential process but by
contributing simultaneously;
Cloud computing refers to the use of IT services on the internet rather than software on one’s own
computer or network;
Community online community where participants exchange knowledge, debate or collaborate
on a particular subject;
Community managers are the facilitators and hosts of online communities that stimulate interactively,
gauge the atmosphere and put developments on the agenda;
Crowdsourcing “outsourcing to the crowd”, in other words outsourcing tasks to people outside the
organisation who have the right expertise or solution;
Digital natives are people born after 1985. This generation grew up with computers and the
internet and regards the digital world as a given;
Dm Direct Messages that can be sent to individual users. These are private and can
only be seen by the sender and recipient;
Embedding integrating information or an application (widget) from one site to another site,
such as a YouTube video clip in a blog;
Geocoding adding positioning details such as coordinates or postcodes, to put an object or
event on the map;
Guerrilla marketing uses short, inspiring and fun actions to get the target group interested in a new
product or idea;

208 | Appendices
Hash tag another word for tag, mostly used on Twitter to associate updates with a particular
event;
The New Way of Working isamovementwherebyorganisationsarearrangedmoreexiblyandperson-
oriented in order to boost the productivity of knowledge workers;
Instant messaging or chat, is having a conversation by sending short text messages between people
who are online at the same time;
LinkedIn is a social networking site for professional contacts that enables online contacts,
maps out networks and helps form discussion groups;
Long tail the is the economic principle that an endlessly large group of poorly selling
products generates just as much income as a small number of great-selling
products;
Mash-up a remix of tools and data from various internet sources such as a combination of
statistical data with Google Maps;
Microblogging writing brief updates on what you are doing, which can be read by your network;
MSN Messenger is a popular instant messaging program. Most MSN chats are between two
individuals;
Ning is an internet service that enables you to start your own social networking site.
Others can join this site and use it for debates, blogging, etc.;
Node is a place in a network where several connections come together, both in computer
networks and between people;
Open innovation involving citizens/consumers in product development in order to mobilise
expertise or ideas from outside the organisation;
Perpetual beta because an internet site or service is never fully developed and because it can
alwaysbemodied,thereisneveradenitiveversion(itremainsasabeta
version);
Prosumers People who produce a new creative statement on the basis of creative products
they use as consumers;
Rating allows people to rate a topic to identify its most popular or appreciated part;
Troll is someone who responds to blogs or forum discussions in a consistently negative
and non-constructive manner, thereby disrupting the interaction;
Retweet is forwarding another person’s message (tweet) to one’s own followers;
Re-usability is arranging internet pages such that particular sections are easily forwarded or
reused (compare usability);
RSS is the standard used by sites to make text (such as title and summary) available to
others as plain text;

Appendices | 209
RSS feed, the stream of information users can integrate in their page (e.g. Netvibes) to keep
up-to-date with the news;
Second Life is a 3D environment where users can create characters, arrange landscapes and
buildings and interact with each other;
Serious game is an online computer game for the purpose of communicating a message or raising
awareness;
Social bookmarking internet sites where users can share and record their favourite internet sites, such
as Delicious;
Social networking Websites that allow users to become members, make contacts, and join groups;
Status updates are short communications posted on social network sites like Twitter or Yammer, or
WieWatWaar on Hyves;
Ta g a word or a term added to a text, photo, video clip or person to provide a better
descriptionandsomakeiteasiertond;
Twitter is posting text messages (tweets) of up to 140 characters to keep your network
informed of what you are doing;
User generated content information added to a site by users, not administrators;
Niches fragmentation of society in personal niches on the basis of everyone’s unique combination of
preferences and interests;
Virtual teams are project groups with people from different organisations or departments who
work together on a task in an online work environment.
Webcare is a proactive online customer service that assists people who blog or tweet about
a product or a service they don’t like;
Widget is a building block with information or a software programme that can be
embedded in another site;
Wiki is online software that enables users to write documents together. Every
amendment is logged;
Wisdom of the crowd the idea that the aggregate opinion of a large group is closest to the right solution
(do not confuse with crowdsourcing);
XML eXtensible Markup Language, a standard for structuring data and distinguishing
text from graphics;
Government entrepreneur a civil servant who, like a freelancer, takes initiatives to bring together resources
and people from inside and outside of government.
Freelancer a self-employed person without staff. Many freelancers boost their strength
through 2.0 resources
The following terms have been created for this publication: re-usability, niche
fragmentation and government entrepreneur.

210 | Appendices
Acknowledgements
Many people have contributed to this book. I would like to thank the
following people for their assistance support and inspiration:
André Leinarts, André van der Zande, Anja Feijen, Anne Marie Ijsenbruk,
Arnout Ponsioen, Bart Borsje, Bob Kronenburg, Elise Roders, Erik Jonker, Ger
de Peuter, Gerbrand Haverkamp, Hanneke van der Krogt, Henk Bos, Jacques
Bakker, Jan Willem Duijzer, Jelle Goeman, Jeroen de Miranda, Joost Reus,
Joris Dirks, Kees Tazelaar, Kim Spinder, Krispijn Beek, Linda van Duivenbode,
Marc van der Put, Marie Louise Borsje, Mark Dijksman, Marloes Pomp, Matt
Poelmans, Mieke van Heesewijk, Monique Roosen, Monique Wong Chung,
Paul Lanse, Pierre Deen, Ramon de Louw, Roald Lapperre, Rob Oele, Valerie
Frissen. My apologies to anyone I have forgotten to mention.

Appendices | 211

Colophon
Published
Programma Ambtenaar 2.0
http://programma.ambtenaar20.nl
Design
HelenVerbeekGrascheProducties
Font: Trebuchet
Text and photography
Davied van Berlo
Translation
Wordsworth Translations
Barnett Vertalingen
May 2011
1st edition

Davied van Berlo
In this book Dutch civil servant Davied van Berlo explains the signicance of
web 2.0 for government in terms of its internal organisation, its relationship
with the public, and the working methods of the civil servant. The second
part, Civil Servant 2.0 beta, provides a practical interpretation of the
concepts expressed in the rst part, and contains action points and ideas
for government organisations to develop their own strategies for government
2.0.
Over 25,000 copies of these two books have been distributed to civil servants
in the Netherlands and Belgium. They have now been translated and
combined in one volume that offers an overarching vision of the future role of
government 2.0 and the civil servant, and which contains a large number of
useful examples and handy tips. Van Berlo offers inspirational new ideas and
practical pointers for interpreting these ideas.
The Dutch Civil Servant 2.0 network currently has about 7000 members. It is a
platform for forward-thinking civil servants who wish to innovate government.
The Civil Servant 2.0 books have been an excellent resource for getting Dutch
civil servants started. With this translation these experiences can be shared
with civil servants worldwide.
Davied van Berlo is a civil servant and founder of the Civil Servant 2.0
network.
www.ambtenaar20.nl | netwerk.ambtenaar20.nl | boek.ambtenaar20.nl
Davied van Berlo
Civil Servant 2.0
New ideas and practical tips for working in government 2.0
Civil Servant 2.0 beta
Action steps towards government 2.0
Ambtenaar 2.0 | Ambtenaar 2.0 beta
www.ambtenaar20.nl