The biggest issue with Government 2.0 is the digital divide: that some citizens do not have access to these technologies. Mashable points out what some cities are doing to close the digital divide.

And the fact that Amazon is such a trusted name helped too. When county officials and IT folks discussed the deal with a few Lawson reps, Ellsworth says the risk of using Amazon as a provider came up “and was dismissed very quickly, simply because of the name and that’s their business — and their business lives and dies by their own internal security.”

Should a disaster happen, the county would now recover its data and applications from the Amazon cloud. The cloud updates itself every hour, so minimal information should be lost if something unfortunate happens.

Is your organization utilizing the cloud in any way?

These results should not imply that Americans are not involved in online discussions around government issues or policies—these conversations are simply taking place within the broader online environment rather than on “official” government blogs or fan pages. In the twelve months preceding this survey, one in ten internet users (11%) posted comments, queries or other information related to government poli- cies online, while 7% of internet users uploaded videos or photos online related to a government policy or issue. An additional 12% of internet users joined a group online that tries to influence government policies, and 3% participated in an online town hall meeting. Taking all of these activities together, nearly one quarter of internet users (23%) have posted comments or interacted with others online around government policies or public issues.

Another area I thought interesting was the discussion of minority usage of online government interactions:

The report also finds that 31% of online adults have used social tools such as blogs, social networking sites, and online video as well as email and text alerts to keep informed about government activities. Moreover, these new tools show particular appeal to groups that have historically lagged in their use of other online government offerings—in particular, minority Americans. Latinos and African Americans are just as likely as whites to use these tools to keep up with government, and are much more likely to agree that government outreach using these channels makes government more accessible and helps people be more informed about what government agencies are doing.

This is a rather long report, but I recommend you read it (here’s the pdf), but in case you don’t, I will likely post more information as I digest it all.  And, the O’Reilly Radar has a good overview also.

Social media has some of the same vulnerabilities, sure, but there are tools to mitigate risk just like with e-mail, computer use or the chance that a spouse will give away information on the phone. Short of locking up all employees in the basement, there will always be security risks. Social media does have its own set of vulnerabilities, but to write it off as a lost cause because of the risk is overreacting, in my opinion.

A very interesting perspective on social media in the military.  He responds to many of the criticisms of social media, a must read.

Do you have any thoughts on the digital divide?  Are you avoiding government 2.0 because of citizens without computer access?

Open government is a social movement was repeated many times throughout the conference and I have to agree that open government isn’t a cookie-cutter policy in each city, department, or municipality, rather it is a manner of conducting government and public engagement that will take time and require trust and reliability to sustain.

The real solution to the social networking security problem is to embrace sites instead of blocking them. Rather than being overly restrictive, companies would do better to make social networking policies a part of their corporate policy and procedure manuals, spelling out what is and is not acceptable within their organization. Left up to users, it’s clear that for some, it’s anything goes…and that’s a danger most companies cannot afford.

Mashable has an article on why must end use of Internet Explorer 6, a common vector for attacks.

Do you think it is time to stop using Internet Explorer in government?

• appropriate implementation, authorization and acceptable use of social media

• Security measures to protect individuals, sensitive information and state systems

• Proper records management and preservation

Many people use open records compliance issues as a reason not to utilize social networks and social media.  If you make the Facebook page for your city and your Twitter account public, where is the issue?  A citizen can see everything that has occurred.  It is, by definition, open.  I think this is a moot issue.

Nobody has control over what their Facebook friends do — that’s the fun and the flaw of Web 2.0 for governments. Then again, when citizens go to the microphone at a council meeting, nobody has control over them, either.