A very high level of demand for places at Socitm Insight’s September 10 event on Web 2.0, which will launch its new report on the same topic, demonstrates a very high level of interest by local authorities and other public sector organisations.
The event, subtitled All you ever wanted to know about Web 2.0, but were afraid to ask has filled the space originally booked for it at the Natural History Museum and arrangements have been made to accommodate additional delegates.
The event is a curtain-raiser for Socitm Insight’s forthcoming report Web 2.0: what it is and why it matters — a briefing for public sector managers. The report will fuel the growing interest among local authorities about how they can work successfully with web 2.0 phenomena like online communities, mash-ups, rich content, tag clouds, re-use of public information and user-generated content
Central government engagement with the topic has been signalled by the establishment of the Power of Information Taskforce and the Show us a Better Way competition, launched in July, inviting anyone to come up with ideas for re-using public sector data in new ways. A previous Socitm event on Web 2.0 held in June was a sell-out.
Speakers at the event include:
Tom Steinberg founder of mySociety, the organisation behind sites like WriteToThem.com, TheyWorkForYou.com, the No10 petitions website and WhatDoTheyKnow.com that supports Freedom of Information requests. Tom is also one of the authors of the Power of Information report and a member of the Power of Information Taskforce.
Ewan McIntosh the National Adviser in Scotland on Learning and Technology Futures and a member of the Channel 4 New Media Education. He is an international authority on social media and the potential of Web 2.0.
Alan Weinberg is leader of Redbridge Council - the first local authority to have a website that fully embraces Web 2.0, a development for which he has provided enthusiastic leadership.
Steve Johnson is Director of Customer Services and Performance at Redbridge and as such has pioneered implementation of web 2.0 features on a local authority website.
Chris Head is author of the forthcoming Socitm Insight report Web 2.0: what it is and why it matters — a briefing for public sector managers.
The event will be chaired by Socitm’s blogging President Richard Steel (read his blog on the Socitm website), who has stirred up some controversy among web managers by his suggestions that the web and ICT have become indistinguishable.
The event will appeal to any public sector manager who has a keen interest in innovation and a desire to understand the potential of the next wave of web technology in transforming services and enabling engagement with communities of all kinds, including managers in customer services, web development, transformation, communications, e-democracy and ICT.
Every delegate will be given free access to a copy of the report, which is going to be published in e-form only.
The charge for the event is £195 + VAT for delegates from Socitm Insight subscriber organisations, £295 + VAT for Socitm members and £345 + VAT for all other delegates.
Further information on the event and online bookings are available at http://www.socitm.gov.uk/socitm/Events/Web+2+seminar+10+September+2008.htm
Further information
Martin Greenwood, Programme Manager, Socitm Insight
Tel: 01926 498703 or 07967 383755 e-mail: martin.greenwood@socitm.gov.uk
Vicky Sargent or Rob Adams, Socitm Press Office
Tel: 0845 094 5641 email: vicky.sargent@socitm.gov.uk or rob.adams@socitm.gov.uk