The Australian government has begun facilitating an open conversation between citizens and policy-makers in the world of web 2.0. Senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications, and the Digital Economy, has established a blog on the department's official website which will run for the next two weeks. As Conroy works to outline a roadmap for the future of the digital economy, he is turning to the public for guidance, comments, and opinions. Within the first 48 hours, the blog received over 500 comments.
A recent post about open access to Public Sector Information (PSI) invites readers to discuss the value of such information and how it could be used. They cite a point of view similar to our mission -- that access to public data has tremendous social benefits and economic value. In addition, the Australian Bureau of Statistics is currently preparing to release a majority of their stats under a Creative Commons license.
Although we may not agree with everything Conroy has put on the table, such as his plans to filter Internet content, we do think how he is shaping the practice of policy-making is pretty savvy.
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