Recovery.gov | SharePoint, Blogging, and Photo Uploads!
August 4th, 2009
This will never happen with recovery.gov but it’s in the second contract modification document from Smartronix.
Synteractive is a strategy and business solutions consulting firm specializing in
leveraging the power of information to radically improve the efficiency and effectiveness
of complex organizations. Synteractive has a proven record of using Microsoft Office
SharePoint Server (MOSS) technology to aid in business transformation efforts of both
federal government agencies and private companies. They will leverage their unrivaled
expertise in Web 2.0 technology implementation to transform Recovery.gov from a mere
information dissemination website into an interactive platform where Americans can
swap stories about stimulus projects in their areas, upload pictures illustrating the
effects of the projects, blog about their experiences, and ultimately engaged as a
meaningful member of the Recovery community.
First off, why build a transparent application in Sharepoint! Secondly, have you seen any government sites that allow users to blog and upload pictures? Can’t wait to see this in action!
Oh yeah, hopefully Smartronix isn’t letting Syneractive design the website, it looks really bad!
Contract Documents for Recovery.gov can be found at http://www.recovery.gov/?q=node/765 <– where are the pretty urls?
PDF that shows above quote Page 5 Section 2.2 on this document http://www.recovery.gov/sites/default/files/508%20Second%20Modification%20Managment%20Proposal.pdf
Andrew Turner said:
Actually – the White House Change site allows users to submit stories – http://whitehouse.gov/change
farrelley said:
I would classify those as comments plotted on a map. Though, your right. They do allow user submissions. However, these are only submissions that show what people are doing to serve or volunteer. Looks like they are put up by the White House so they can pick and choose what ones get on the site. I would say that a high percentage of the posts on recovery.gov will not be in favour of the spending. Will the White House approve these to be displayed on the site?
Andrew Wirtanen said:
So, the Open Government Initiative doesn’t count?
http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/
In fact, the Obama administration have made it clear that they want to hear all perspectives.
SharePoint is a horrible choice for a social platform. It can look ok with some clever skinning, but that will not solve some critical usability issues (not to mention, it doesn’t play well with anything but IE).
What were McCain’s plan for social media and government transparency? It’s only been 6 months and I think the Obama administration have come a long way.
farrelley said:
@Wirtanen – McCain’s Transparency – http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/05/15/mccain-promises-transparency-accountability/
I’m not sure that Social Media is the way to go for everything. Though it reaches a lot of people it doesn’t reach everyone. I’m not sure Gov’t is using social media in a way that benefits they are just using it because it’s the new shiny object. Obama just got in on it when it was surging forward.
Yes, No?
Andrew Wirtanen said:
Well, it looks like McCain’s talking points on transparency were nearly identical to Obama’s. Given that Obama embraced social media/the Internet during his campaign and McCain did not, it seems appropriate to conclude that a McCain administration would not use the Internet like the Obama administration has.
BarackObama.com was a huge success and I think Serve.gov is also a great way to use social media. An interactive Recovery.gov would probably only have a positive impact if the discussions and stories were positive and were motivational (positive accounts would also improve the President’s ratings). Of course, chances are there will be some discouraging reports as well. The proposed website could be a disaster. We’ll see. But, so far I think the government has been using social media appropriately.