'Gov 2.0' to delete e-gov in 2008

New research has indicated that tech-savvy government departments will begin to adopt Web 2.0 applications this year.

"Gov 2.0 will replace e-gov as governments seek to gain additional value from citizen interaction and business transactions," Teresa Bozzelli, COO and managing director of Government Insights, which produced the report, said in a statement.

Governments are expected to increasingly use social networking and other Web 2.0 innovations as a means of fostering greater participation and dialogue with their citizens, as well as encouraging more effective intra-government communication.

Research vice president at analyst firm Gartner, Richard Harris, told ZDNet Australia: "A lot of Web 2.0 applications will allow government to change the nature of what they can do in terms of interaction, but apart from the technical side of things there will be a greater focus on improving the business of government."

"I do think Web 2.0 technologies are likely to have a big impact this year and beyond in the decisions about applications for governments," he said.

Harris's statements come after Gartner issued a report late last year on the future for government CIOs under the banner "CIO 2.0", in which he concluded that CIOs themselves would move away from being technocrats as ICT becomes more closely integrated with other operations in government departments.

Harris added that e-gov had failed to deliver on expectations, and the development of "Gov 2.0" will be prompted as much by governments needing to replace legacy applications as any attempt at nurturing greater interaction with their citizens.

Harris remains sceptical about how quickly a "Gov 2.0" model will be adopted in Australia, however, saying that he does not expect to see any substantial developments in 2008.

"It's mainly because of the risk aversion mentality in the public sector," he said, "they won't start taking chances with unproven technologies just yet, though it is likely that some of the more innovative agencies will be experimenting with them this year".