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Uses (Guideline 24)

Web 2.0 applications are being increasingly used throughout government. Below is a table that describes the various applications and provides examples of how they are being used within public offices.
Application  Description  Examples of use within a public office
 Blogs  Also known as a ‘weblog’ or ‘web log’, a blog is a diary-like site traditionally maintained by an individual and commented on by the community. Entries within a blog are usually displayed in reverse chronological order. Blogs are often used to provide commentary or comments on a particular topic. 
  • coordinate and monitor project management initiatives
  • corporate communication
  • diary style reporting on public office activities
  • public feedback
  • coordinate feedback and discussion in a central location
Wikis A wiki is a webpage or series of webpages that allows and encourages the reader to contribute and modify the content.
  • project management
  • peer review of documentation
  • public review of documentation (e.g. New Zealand Government Web Standards website wiki [1] )
  • facilitate remote input 
Social bookmarking Refers to the ability of an internet user to store and categorise bookmarks of webpages on the internet (rather than their hard drive).
  • professional literature
  • reading lists (learning institutions)
  • online research storage
Media sharing services  Web sites that enable users to share and store images and other media. 
  • providing the public access to government material (e.g. Flickr [2] )
  • file sharing 
Social networking systems  Web based service that allows users to create their own profiles and build a community. Usually found in the online environment, social networking systems are concerned with communicating and sharing information. 
  • professional networking (e.g. LinkedIn [3] )
  • internal networking
  • virtual learning, school networking (e.g. alumni online communities)
  • use of sites such as Facebook to reach a wider audience (e.g. election campaigning)
Collaborative editing tools Web based service that allows collaborative authoring and editing of specific documents by several users from different computers. Documentation is stored online and removes the need for a hard drive. 
  • useful for people who are dispersed geographically or do not tend to use the same computer or have limited server storage and/or access.  A common example of this application is Google Docs [4] or collaborative editing tools available on the Panel Contract for the supply of Information Asset Management Systems (IAMS) software applications under the Government Selected Application Systems (GSAS) program for NSW Government, run by the Department of Commerce. 
     
Syndication and notification technologies  This technology allows users to be notified when a website is changed or updated.  
  • instant updates for users on changes e.g. of websites, timetables 
Instant messaging   ‘Real time’ communication (usually typed text) between two or more people that occurs over a network.
  • virtual meetings
  • consultation
  • remote input into business activities
     

Some web 2.0 applications may also demonstrate a combination of features. These are commonly known as ‘mash-ups’ and may be a mix of the above mentioned applications or cross the boundaries of one into another. A well known example is Twitter [5], which has aspects of blogging, instant messaging and social networking.

Footnotes

1. State Services Commission , New Zealand Government Government Web Standards New Zealand, 2008, viewed 02 February 2009 <http://webstandards.govt.nz/>

2. <http://www.Flickr.com>

3. <http://www.linked.com>

4. <http://docs.google.com>

5. <http://twitter.com/>