I had the privilege of attending the Gov 2.0 Summit in Washington DC a few weeks ago, and the following is what I shared at the WebSG meetup last night in an attempt to summarise the ideas that are relevant to our local climate.

It was a difficult presentation to put together because it combines such a broad range of areas, from technology, culture and mindsets, and all the way to political ideology. This is accentuated by the fact I straddle both the role of citizen and civil servant. It is my hope, however that this duality help us understand both perspectives.

For the purposes of this presentation, there is a need to define the word “citizen”, a term which will come up often in any discussion of government and even more so in government 2.0. For the purpose of this presentation I’m going to define citizen as “anyone who has thrown their lot in with us”. I think it is as absurd, in this day and age of globalisation that we should continue to define people by where they were born, as it is to judge a person by the colour of their skin. Instead, citizens should be seen as the people who have decided to share a collective fate and a common destiny. People who look at Singapore simply as a stepping stone or springboard need not apply.

In order to understand what Gov 2.0 is, we must first define what Gov 1.0 was, in order to effectively move away from the old model.

Continue reading "Summary of Gov 2.0 Presentation" »

Lucian|Friday, October 2, 2009 |1 Comment |Digg This

Latest Update: We’re holed up at room 4.3 instead. It’s just the next one.

Hey folks, it’s been a while, but we’re meeting up next week:

Date: Wednesday, 30th September 2009
Time: 7:30pm (we’ve booked the room from 7pm)
Place: Seminar Room 4.2 @ School of Economics & Social Sciences, SMU (it’s the building nearer the National Museum)

Speakers and Topics

Introduction to HTML5

There’s a lot that’s been said about HTML5, yet oddly enough everyone’s been so busy not many folks have actually kept up with what this new iteration of HTML means to those of us who are developers, or the potential it opens up to owners and managers of websites.

Singapore’s own user-interface wunderkind Sunny Wong (@draco) is one of the few blokes I know who’s actually used HTML5, and will be giving us the 101 on the topic.

Gleanings from the Gov2.0 Summit

Having just returned from Tim O’Reilly’s Gov2.0 Summit in Washington D.C., I’m hoping to give a summary of the event - learning points, case studies and possible applications for us here in Singapore.

Registration

We’ll need to know how many are coming so we can get a bigger room if necessary. Drop a comment if you’re coming!

Lucian|Wednesday, September 23, 2009 |45 Comments |Digg This

Hey folks,

Our next meetup:

Date: Wednesday, 1st July 2009
Time: 7:30pm (can come earlier to chit-chat, we’ve booked the room from 7pm)
Place: Seminar Room 4.2 @ School of Economics & Social Sciences, SMU (it’s the building nearer the National Museum)

Speakers and Topics

This meetup we’ll delve into processes: how we make things work.

Website Design and Development Processes

Singapore web standards pioneer Nick Pan (@nickpan) will be kicking off the session with a presentation on common methodologies used to bring concept through development and unto the launch of a website. Nick bring with him a huge amount of experience, and has traversed the journey to and from code monkey, entrepreneur and project manager.

This presentation will be an open one, so feel free to conjure up your own deck of slides and take the stage if you think your approach to web development is something you’d like to share with the rest of us.

Deconstructing MOE.gov.sg

Thanks to a request over Twitter, yours truly will try to give an insight on the learning experience of revamping the Ministry of Education’s website. It’ll be a glimpse of working within large organisations, and hopefully you’ll walk away with a few tips on how to deal with Galactica-sized setups.

See you guys there?

We’ll need to know how many are coming so we can get a bigger room if necessary. So drop a comment if you’ll come yah?

Lucian|Tuesday, June 2, 2009 |38 Comments |Digg This

We took some time at the WebSG meetup to discuss possible avenues for improving the government’s online efforts. While Singapore has won accolades for its drive for eGovernment, participants at the meetup highlighted a few steps the Singapore government could do to improve her services. I will be passing these suggestions on to the relevant folks in the government.

Continue reading "What the Singapore Government Can Do Better Online" »

Lucian|Thursday, May 7, 2009 |10 Comments |Digg This

We are having our next meetup!

Date: 29th April 2009
Time: 8pm (can come earlier to chit-chat, we’ve booked the room from 7pm)
Place: Seminar Room 4.2 @ School of Economics & Social Sciences, SMU

Speakers and Topics

Where Websites Go Wrong

Andy Croll (@andycroll) will be speaking on “Where Websites Go Wrong”, covering commonplace mistakes made by websites. Andy blogs at Deepcalm and has done spectacular work on Singaporean websites such as Epicurious and Bezurk (now known as Wego).

Developing for the Mobile Platform

Jon Peterson (@singeo) will be covering the in and outs of developing applications for the mobile platform. Jon has wowed many of us with his mad topographical skills on his blog Singeo, moved his mapping mojo to mobiles with iSingeo and most recently whetted our insatiable need for good food with the iPhone application buUuk.

What the Singapore Gahmen Could Do Better Online

We will also be having an open discussion on “What the Singapore Government could do better online”. While we encourage a spirited debate, there is a need to keep from becoming a slamming session (unless by slamming, you mean kickass, and by kickass, you mean awesome). So political tirades aside, let’s get cracking on how Singapore could move forward on making things happen.

Epic Fail

We’ve heard of your single claim to fame. Now regale us with tales of the many failures, missed opportunities and faceplants. We want to hear every sordid detail of how you took the wrong turn and ended up sitting next to the rest of us at the meetup instead of wining and dining with Silicon Valley’s finest. If you have such a story, bring it. Open mic, five minutes a piece, slides optional.

Because we’re sick of listening to the lucky few. This is the time for failure to shine.

Are you coming?

Due to the limited number of seats, I’d ask that you leave a comment below if you are coming. We’ll move to a larger room if necessary and available.

See you guys there.

Lucian|Monday, April 20, 2009 |39 Comments |Digg This