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GOWM: Bits for The Government Office for the West Midlands
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 Stuff for the Government Office

14 March 2005   

 

Big John at GOWM

Here's the dude, John Garland, in front of his cabinets. Due to the recently announced cuts in the civil service, it sounds as if there will be no IT department. It'll probably be outsourced. But don't tell any one, because it'll scare the horses.

What do you mean Steve?

Well, most of the civil servants are ex pen pushers, ink and quill pens! And not very computer literate. Having someone in the building who could come down and help has helped. Telephoning someone to try and explain the problem so they can figure out what the problem is before they can offer a solution is going to be... problematical.

john Garland

 


2086 Also posted to: Home page . At: 2:38:54 PM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: Big John at GOWM

 

10 February 2005   

 

Working in the big city

Sometimes I have to do real work. At least work away from my office. Here I'm visiting the new offices of the Government Office for the West Midlands and snap this picture out of the top window.

It's over looking the Cathedral down Colmore Row.

A short morning that seemed to drag on for hours and hours. I miss all the pretty women to be seen in cities but all the hussle and bustle and parking 'issues.' Glad I'm not a commuter that is for sure.

Colmore row map

looking over Birmingham past the Catherdral Colmore Row

Colmore Row, Birmingham City Centre
 


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06 July 2004   

 

Content manangement without a system

Good article about CMS verses people. Much of the battle of creating a good, useful, up to date site, is in the people, not the system. "I know that," as George Bush would say.

This is the same issue that comes up in knowledge management. It's just too hard or too burdensome to add knowledge to the store, so people don't.

At the Government Office where I've set up a CMS using Manila, and where they've been using it now for over 4 years, the same was initially true. It was a tedious chore to add content, no matter how easy I made it. Sure they said they could understand the end benefits, but nobody steped forward to do it. Ultimately, the only solution was to make it part of some people's job description to update their section of the intranet, with one person over seeing the show and maintaining the content for everything. This has worked successfully. The intranet has grown enormously, and is the first port of call for questions. I think it was much of Manila's ease that made it a successful intranet. Some of my skills making weird and wonderful additions. But, mainly, OK, mostly the people process.


The distributed content editors know what to add and when. It's their job to. So far I've trained 50 or so such editors. A two hour beginner course is all they need. Many only come to the training for the laugh, Manila's CMS is so easy, and they've been doing it for so long, they know it as well as me. Though they threaten intermediate courses, and some have signed up, I don't think they'd need it, learning on the job as it were, is far better. I hope one day some will migrate up to managing Manila sites with Radio and it's outliners and the wonderful tricks and fancy flourishes that could occur there... Sigh, but they don't need it.

The main content cheese, rattles cages if things aren't in the right place at the right time. He knows if he doesn't his boss will rattle his cage, roughly. I think this is the way of it in the UK civil service.

Meanwhile the IT bods, keep the thing going, and call me in now and then when a special needs doing, or something weird is happening.

Of course, I try to get everybody in the whole place set up with their own Manila blog. "Bung it in, we'll sort it some how. Let anarchy reign, freedom for thinkers," cry I. But giving freedom of thought an airing in public, even if it's behind a firewall is near impossible in such an antagonistic, hierarchical structure. I think this is how it is, in the UK civil service. Nice people, but I wouldn't want to work there.
 


1960 Also posted to: Home page , cyberSaps ,  At: 9:32:25 PM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: CMS or people

 

 

Another training day with local UK Government

Good bunch of people, all of them this time, and very interested in Manila, pity I ran out of time. Usually, I don't get a full compliment, this time I was over subscribed and sharing monitors (and manuals), with more wanting to get in after we started.

A quick two hour whizz through their intranet publishing system... Though they know it's a Manila erm... something, barely do they know the full power. Some use it daily, some not yet at all.

No wonder the time passed quickly, and I barely had time to thrill about RSS aggregation and how it's the next big thing. Though many were enamoured by my aggregator. And these guys have four, FOUR, archive years worth of all sorts of stuff. Though as they haven't been using Manila to the best effect, I'm unsure if these piles will be of much value. I think the future looks rosy with more sites being spawned, more stuff going in.

As I've discovered some people who, I feel, are genuinely interested in being more productive certainly, better informed definitely, but I wonder if they could blog?

For the first time, I didn't mention the word blog, I briefly, whizzed through knowledge management though I doubt they'd remember. But, blog—no. Content management—yes. RSS aggregation, XML, URL, reverse chronological news page. But blog? No.

They appreciated the "shortcuts feature" a spin off from the address book app I built for all staff (though some names weren't in the address book). All they have to do to add a link to someone's details, location, numbers et. al. is surround their name with quotes. To get a mugshot, add the word mugshot, to get their mailTo link, add email. Thus, "steve hooker mugshot" ;-)

Another department has asked me back. Non IT too. Bottom up infiltration of... Blogs! <manic taking over the world laugh>

 


1840 Also posted to: Home page . At: 9:14:26 PM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: Another training day with local UK Government

 

08 June 2004   

 

Let users decide what's important and what's to be done in your company

This article tells of the layers of corporate waffle and loss making work middle manages seem to generate, but the one gem is this allegory:

An architect once designed a cluster of buildings. When asked by the landscape crew where to pave the sidewalks, he told them to plant grass between all the buildings, wait a year, then, after the occupants had worn the most useful paths, the architect told the landscape crew to pave the pathways that the occupants had created.

The comments and discuss features in blogs, where readers can leave feedback help to create the right lines, the right thinking, the right story. People aggregate and work out the best paths, ideas, deeper conversations happen, people actually think harder before they write. Relationships start between people and ideas. Other blogs link into these thoughts, stories, driving more traffic, and more thought... This is group thinking at its best. AKA internal, blogging systems, just like the one I run for the Government Office for the West Midlands.


1775 Also posted to: Home page , cyberSaps ,  At: 11:11:52 AM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: Blogging Paths in the Grass   Information paths in intranet blogs  

 

09 January 2004   

 

Governments waste money

Interesting training day yesterday at the Government Offices for the West Midlands. (I was giving Manila training.)

I learned two important things:

  1. Someone's daughter wanted to be a horse at the age of three. Thus, I shouldn't worry that my 3 year old Bradley wants to be a girl because he's "not brave of having his toenails cut."
  2. On the topic of spending tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of pounds plus increased labour on web projects when Manila could do it out of the box.
    • That money needed to be spent quickly less it disappeared, if it wasn't spent it may not come back and this was "the way Government works."
    • And, people would make purchasing decisions between, very low cost and very large cost without the slightest technical knowledge nor seeking advice, because "it gets their dick hard to spend loads."
    This was regarding two projects. If this is multiplied throughout the whole of Government I fear the loss would amount to the cost of several new hospitals.


1547 Also posted to: Home page , cyberSaps ,  At: 11:07:22 AM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: Governments waste money

 

04 January 2004   

 

RSS in (US) Government

"RSS in Government News about how RSS is being used by international, federal, state, and local governments"

As usual the UK Gov't haven't a clue. Why, oh why are we so behind? Answer: most of the UK Gov't leaders are technophobes. At least in my experience. And in others too.

It's no good to say I can use email therefore I am a technophile. When it is derogatory to call some one a techie it's vital we do something to get more techies into positions of authority and power. The culture and approach to IT  in UK Government is risk adverse, and prefers to delay decisions thinking that the tortoise rather than the hare will win.

RSS is a tiny, tiny expense much like many of the IT solutions out there, yet it is the big, big plans and applications that are usually a waste of money which receive all the glory.

The e-envoy, Andrew Pindar: "Three-quarters of the population have never visited a government website at all." Because they're dull and lack personality? Where are the guides?


1538 Also posted to: Home page . At: 1:59:57 PM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: RSS in (US) Government

 

19 December 2003   

 

National strategy for technology nets £150million

"New government procurement guidelines to make government a more 'intelligent customer'"

Don't make me laugh.

"We want the UK to be a key knowledge hub in the global economy: a country with a reputation not only for outstanding scientific and technological discovery, but also for turning that knowledge into new and exciting products and services," said Science and innovation minister Lord Sainsbury, who has been leading a review of innovation policy.

Blogs connect innovative people, forces them into thinking before they write, and allows rapid peer collaboration and correction.


1510 Also posted to: Home page , cyberSaps ,  At: 10:24:56 AM  . .
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