I met WIRED's Editor-in-Chief Chris Anderson at the Conference on California's Future (itself a rebranding exercise of the first order by the annual gathering previously known as the Government Technology Conference (GTC) in Sacramento).
I moderated a panel featuring he and California Secretary of State Debra Bowen following Anderson's opening keynote that he gave with an oft-repeated caveat that he may not have anything to say to a government audience.
Oh sure, there was the latent value of government's 'long tail' (his last book) or delivering services for 'free' (his next book). But he really needed only one story: A penetratingly painful tale that illustrated the public sector's half finished self service project that was once popularized as e-government before everything "e" became passe. Mr. Anderson it seems made the mistake of driving through Truckee, CA at above the posted speed with predictable results. The local police efficiently issued a speeding ticket. The difficulty came in paying for it.
The official Truckee site (www.townoftruckee.com) instructed him to call a toll free number. What followed was a reminder of why the Internet matters. There were self addressed, stamped envelopes to be mailed, a check book to be found, and a form letter that itself needed to be edited by hand. "I want to like my government," quipped Anderson, "but some of you aren't helping." During the conversation that followed, the author and editor suggested that government set aside its Web 2.0 ambitions in favor of getting the Web 1.0 basics right.
Oh sure, there was the latent value of government's 'long tail' (his last book) or delivering services for 'free' (his next book). But he really needed only one story: A penetratingly painful tale that illustrated the public sector's half finished self service project that was once popularized as e-government before everything "e" became passe. Mr. Anderson it seems made the mistake of driving through Truckee, CA at above the posted speed with predictable results. The local police efficiently issued a speeding ticket. The difficulty came in paying for it.
The official Truckee site (www.townoftruckee.com) instructed him to call a toll free number. What followed was a reminder of why the Internet matters. There were self addressed, stamped envelopes to be mailed, a check book to be found, and a form letter that itself needed to be edited by hand. "I want to like my government," quipped Anderson, "but some of you aren't helping." During the conversation that followed, the author and editor suggested that government set aside its Web 2.0 ambitions in favor of getting the Web 1.0 basics right.
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