Web Governance

I gave a talk for STC France this morning in Paris. It was early but folks turned out and there was coffee and croissant and some good discussion. I was talking about The Digital Deca. The Digital Deca are ten management truths that I am putting forward for consideration—ten things that organizations need to be aware of in order to remain viable in a web-enabled world.

To tweet or not to tweet? That seems to be the question in a lot of organizations today. It's certainly top-of-mind for web, communications and IT managers, and increasingly we're hearing from privacy, ethics, HR and legal counsel as well. Everyone wants to know how to govern social media in the enterprise.

Our view on social media (as well as any web-related policy) is to take a holistic approach. Social media can have a broad impact on an organization, and as managers you have to look at the potential risk from every angle.

To anyone who thought government is too big, too set in its ways to truly embrace Web 2.0, I say, "phooey."

On July 26, just in time for it's 75th anniversary, the Office of the Federal Register rolled out Federal Register 2.0. Perhaps the "2.0" name isn't all that innovative, but the site itself is a fantastic example of what happens when agencies collaborate, citizens are engaged and Web standards are enforced.

Without a doubt, there's a lot to be gained when government leverages Web 2.0 tools to provide better communications and service. But for every success story there seems to be an equal number of roadblocks preventing public servants from venturing into Gov 2.0.