Government 2.0?

Here's a thing. Tom Watson, Labour MP for West Bromwich East and first blogging Parliamentarian, has used his ministerial position at the Cabinet Office to try to bring Government departments and agencies to the internet in a meaningful and intelligent way. Add to that Downing Street's entree into the world of Twitter - which makes Gordon the first European head of state to be part of the twitterverse.

Is there something stirring in the woods, as my old Chairman would say...

Here's the latest Cabinet Office release. OK, when it talks about using 'mash up' data it sounds a bit like your grandad talking about the latest popular beat combo to enter the hit parade, but it is a step in the right direction. The key quote for me is this:

"I want to move quickly. With advice from the Task Force, we will get on with improving services for our citizens to match the pace of change.”

This is actually unambiguous ministerial speak - Tom is a man of his word, and has a genuine passion about the use of online tools.

But I do think this is also a tacit acknowledgement that HMG is out of the online game at the moment. The problem is they are playing catchup, which is a long way away from the innovation that they need to be showing. But it's all good - really good.