• Online Social Networks - Research Report - Communities and neighbourhoods - Communities and Local Government
  How to kill the fun of web 2 in one easy step. Employ a bunch of academics to over intellectualise it and publish a dull paper that doesn't even state the obvious… But then again its good to see government recognising its existence! (via Steph Gray)
  (tags: social networking clg government policy)
• Essential Wheelchair Accessory for Manual Wheelchair Users | NuDrive
  "NuDrive is the innovative new propulsion accessory for manual wheelchairs, providing more independence and improving physical well-being. Transform your wheels today at a price you can afford!" (via Mark Charmer)
  (tags: wheelchairs enabledbydesign mobility products)
• Open Source Living
  "Open Source Living is a dynamic archive of Open Source software (OSS) spanning all major platforms, inclusive of small to large scale projects. It aims to introduce and inform new users about viable OSS alternatives to corporate, closed source software." (via Laura Whitehead)
  (tags: opensource freeware enterprise2.0 social media)
• Innovation Catalyst | The Young Foundation
  Yet another abuse of the word 'innovation' I feel. "The Innovation Catalyst is a new partnership designed to help do just this by generating, incubating and spreading innovation in local government in order to help councils meet tomorrow’s challenges of better outcomes, smarter services, and greater efficiency." Call me cynical, but this all looks rather dull, exclusive and all together uninnovative. I fear the repercussions of this failing…
  (tags: innovation localauthority)
• Synapse | The communications network for London Specialty Schools
  "Welcome to Synapse, a rich collection of online facilities connecting all those involved in postgraduate medical training in London. Here you can share news and information, seek advice, view documents and policies and stimulate professional discussion."
  (tags: nhs social networks education community london training)
• Online community consultation: Government 2.0 Success Stories from the Front Lines
  Blog from Bang the Table eulagising the benefits of online consultation.
  (tags: consultation engagement internet community)
• YouTube - Generation WE : The Movement Begins…
  A genuinely inspirational and optimisitc manifesto for change from 'generation we' and specific lobby for a multi-billion dollar investment in a post-fossil fuel future (via Derek Baird)
  (tags: video geny activism youtube us politics change youth)

• Simonsays: Dear Lord Carter, please read this blog post - Why The Government's Digital Britain Report Worries Me
  This fills my heart with glee. Relieved to see there's a secret underground movement all pushing in the same direction on this stuff.
  (tags: digital digitaldivide uk government policy)
• YouTube - videoyourvote's Channel
  Shoot a video of your voting experience before or on Election Day, document the energy and excitement as well as any problems you might see". Representative democracy meets participative. Stunning (via Derek Baird)
  (tags: youtube voting video democracy us elections citizenjournalism)
• Together for London | Home
  We've all got ideas of how to make London a better place - like ours for more considerate travel. Here is the place to get talking - we don't even mind some friendly disagreement. You can turn your idea into a campaign, and even create a Little Londoner to feature in it." TfL foray into the world of online communities and social marketing.
  (tags: socialmarketing london ideas networks transport)
• Evening Leader: News, Sport, Jobs, Property, Cars, Entertainments & More
  Nice example of pulling communities into government engagement through going out and interacting via other sites (the local paper in this case).
  (tags: yoosk newspaper wales fco government)
• digg labs
  "The labs provide a broader (and deeper) view of Digg. A lot of stuff gets submitted to Digg every day, so good things can sometimes fly right past you. Labs projects look beneath the surface of the Digg community's activities."
  (tags: digg search tools technology statistics software visualization)
• AskSARA - Help and advice for older and disabled people
  "The Disabled Living Foundation (DLF)'s free online self assessment tool. By answering AskSARA's questions about yourself and your environment, you will get advice about ways to make your life easier, details of products that might help you and details of where you can obtain them."
  (tags: enabledbydesign disability equipment accessibility)
• digital<?>query
  "digital<?>query provides social media, web2.0, enterprise2.0 and intranet consulting and implementation services to organisations of all shapes and sizes."
  (tags: consultancy intranet social media enterprise2.0)
• Foreign and Commonwealth Office Global Conversations powered by Yoosk!
  First high profile Yoosk! project that looks smart and is slickly executed. More good stuff to come after this impressive start no doubt.
  (tags: yoosk fco government video)
• The UKGovWeb Twitterverse | DavePress
  Rather handy list from Dave
  (tags: twitter government localauthority community)

• Niche online social networks FTW! :: Blog :: Headshift
  Interesting on two levels. The concepts and then of course the mention of Enabled by Design
  (tags: software social nonprofit headshift internet network socialenterprise)
• Web 2.0 Expo Europe | SlideShare Blog
  Wow loving this - all the slides from the Berlin Web 2.0 expo in one place (via Stephen Dale)
  (tags: berlin slideshare presentation internet social media)

• Did you Know? video
  Stunningly good short video on the web, new media and the impact of technology on social change (business, careers etc) (via Oli Barrett)
  (tags: video technology statistics education careers geny global multimedia future presentation)
• Councils' carbon footprints revealed
  "New research has revealed detailed breakdowns of local authorities’ carbon footprints for the first time."
  (tags: carbonfootprint localauthority green)
• Recommendation on e-democracy by an international organisation to states | ict4democracy
  "The idea here is to provide comments on specific parts of the text of the Council of Europe (CoE) recommendation on eDemocracy so that we can further enhance it before it is finalised. This document will be then officially communicated as a recommendation to all 47 Members States of the CoE"
  (tags: democracy internet eu policy)
• The Chain Reaction Network - Home (CrowdVine)
  "Chain Reaction is a unique and challenging project based on a very simple idea - that none of us on our own can change the world, not governments, not businesses, not charities. We succeed when we work together"

  Chain Reaction is a place to put your ideas into action, form new networks and new ways of working

  Use this network to start new discussions and collaborations, share your ideas and meet new people.

  (tags: community network chainreaction events socialenterprise business thirdsector)

It’s been a big week in the world of digital government, what with the first Minister for Communications Stephen Carter announcing that he is in the process of drafting a ‘Digital Britain’ action plan as well as the launch of the Digital Inclusion action plan (I’ll be returning to these in a post shortly). So it seemed rather timely to find myself having a coffee and a chat with the Internet tsar Derek Wyatt MP last Thursday.

• Foresight North
  "Foresight North undertakes key projects that have strategic economic benefit to local, regional and national economies of both the United Kingdom and European Union. Through these projects, we influence policy makers, who invest into innovation, enterprise and wealth creation."
  (tags: research organisations manchester business strategy government innovation eu)
• shop4support
  shop4support is for disabled people, older people and anyone who needs support to live their life.
  (tags: disability olderpeople independence life enabledbydesign)
• YouTube Enables Deep Linking Within Videos
  "It’s not a big new feature but it’s certainly one that will come in handy: YouTube will now allow you to send users to a specific point in a video by appending a short tag to the end of a video’s URL."

  Extremely handy. Good work Google.

  (tags: video youtube google howto hacks)
• From Innosight, an Innovator's Survival Guide - Scott Anthony
  Advice for innovators in tricky economic times (via Derek Baird)
  (tags: innovation organisations work business)
• More thoughts on daydreaming — Chocolate and Vodka
  Amazing what can come of a throw away tweet
  (tags: twitter life work)

• New third sector skills body
  "The Government today announced plans to create a new Third Sector skills body which will identify and address skills gaps and shortages for charities, voluntary groups, social enterprises and other third sector organisations. It will pull together the work of the sector skills councils to open up learning opportunities for third sector paid and voluntary staff." Potential to go very right or very very wrong. Fingers crossed its the former.
  (tags: thirdsector charity volunteering cabinetoffice policy government)
• Leverage existing social networks or find an influencer to do it for you « Shannon Paul’s Very Official Blog
  Really interesting conceptual representation of the networked world we exist in. All sounds very familiar and spot on (via Derek Baird)
  (tags: social networks research)
• User groups in and around Manchester - MDDA
  The thriving Manchester meet up scene (via Derek Holding)
  (tags: manchester meetups digital)
• World Without Oil
  "A massively collaborative imagining of the first 32 weeks of a global oil crisis" (via Nate Ritter)
  (tags: oil world sustainability social simulation learning interactive collaboration)
• RedesignMe
  Collectively improving product design
  (tags: enabledbydesign innovation products development design holland ideas research)
• Demos | Co-Design: barriers and enablers | Blog | Getting to know you
  As it says on the tin.
  (tags: demos research internet community international)
• Bristol Wireless
  Awesome. "Bristol Wireless is a social enterprise committed to social improvement through the building of a wireless computer network. We promote freely distributable and alterable software by providing training, support and advocacy. By providing community networks that are free to use, we can grant access to the internet and provide an outlet for locally-focused and created multimedia content. Environmental sustainability is key to our philosophy; wherever appropriate, we use reused or recycled equipment." (via Ed Mitchell)
  (tags: wifi technology uk bristol internet opensource)
• Digital Inclusion - Communities and neighbourhoods - Communities and Local Government
  Yet to be convinced from initial skim read. Seem determined to take the long slow road on this one…
  (tags: digital digitaldivide government policy clg)

• MJ Future Chief Executives article | edocr
  Report on round table discussion organised by The MJ and the IDeA that I took part in at this year’s SOLACE conference in Belfast on the future of local government and the immediate challenges it faces.
  (tags: MJ localauthority future)
• owngig.com
  "Register at the site, tell us about the acts you want to see, where you want to see them and how much you would be willing to pay. Owngig.com then regularly tracks such requests and identifies trends across all users. This then enables us to negotiate on your behalf with artist management companies and their agents to commission exclusive shows wherever and whenever demand dictates. This might be as simple as adding tour dates to an artist's existing schedule who would otherwise not have visited your region, or even creating a 'one-off' private gig at a local intimate venue." (via Carrie Bishop)
  (tags: music concerts events)

• World Leaders …bunch of twats
  Hilarious take on our beloved world leaders. A modern day spitting image.
  (tags: worldleaders viral video politics leaders fun animation)
• The First Post: News, current affairs, sport, entertainment, life and the arts
  "The First Post is a free and independent daily online news magazine – a place to find out what the news means, a place to read about the issues of the day in short, sharp, informative articles."
  (tags: newspaper politics uk world news media magazine)
• Loic Le Meur Blog: The BBC uses Seesmic to talk about the Credit Crunch
  Not convinced. Not convinced at all. Why are the BBC so willing to drive traffic to someone else's site when they are the destination of choice, what makes them think enough of their viewers want to create and view interactive news to make this investment worthwhile, why is a public broadcast organisation choosing to help grow the profits of a private organisation while gaining seemingly so little in return. Seesmic must have thought all their Christmases had come at once with this one, whereas is the return on investment (reptuational or otherwise) sufficient for the BBC to justify it given how niche Seesmic is? Not convinced.
  (tags: bbc seesmic video journalism ugc)
• Biggest Mistakes Made by Social Media Gurus - Mashable
  "Think you know what you’re doing every time you engage in social media? Neither do I, and neither do the social media gurus I spoke to about their biggest social networking blunders. In an effort to learn from others’ mistakes, here’s a list of some all star errors in judgment from some social media all stars. I’ll lead off the order by admitting an error of my own." from David Spark (via Derek Baird)
  (tags: social media strategy community communication howto)
• Designing healthcare environments
  "These days designers don't just do dresses, they can also sketch out new environments that can improve the lives of patients and public service staff, says Deborah Szebeko". One from the ThinkPublic crew.
  (tags: thinkpublic design healthcare publicservices)
• Selling Sustainability report - Research reports - Social Innovation - Policy & Research Unit - NESTA
  "Climate change is by definition a global problem, but one that requires each nation, each individual to take their share of responsibility – and more importantly, to take action. How we bridge this gap between recognising our responsibility and taking action – is the subject of this report."
  (tags: nesta sustainability green uk research marketing advertising environment innovation)

• Web 3.0: Notes from the future | Collaboration 2.0 | ZDNet.com
  "The value of the semantic web to enterprise collaboration cannot be overstated – this is key to connecting silos and tagging information so it can be successfully retrieved in context, and information relationships and associations defined." Great stuff, sounds exciting. Just one question though. Has anyone actually worked out what it means in plain English yet?
  (tags: semanticweb events us marketing advertising yahoo)
• Digital Britain - The future of communications | eGov monitor
  "The extensive research already carried out by Government and industry regulator Ofcom will underpin this work. The Digital Britain report will draw on all the available evidence to develop a comprehensive action plan. It is clear that for many people convergence is already a reality and content is increasingly being accessed through different technologies. The Digital Britain report will consider what future legislative and non-legislative measures are required to support the development of these critical sectors and will be published in spring 2009."
  (tags: government internet media)
• Technology, Politics and Democracy - O'Reilly Radar
  "Recently I spoke with Jascha Franklin-Hodge, CTO and co-founder of Blue State Digital about how technology is affecting politics and democracy in the U.S." (via Thomas Bjelkeman)
  (tags: technology politics government democracy openrights openstandards)
• Stephen Carter to prepare UK digital action plan | Media | guardian.co.uk
  "Former Ofcom chief executive and ex-Downing Street strategy director Carter will prepare a report, called Digital Britain, which will look at "a range of issues affecting internet users, such as user security and safety and a workable approach to promoting content standards" including government plans "to crack down on the internet to "even up" the regulatory imbalance with television." Ominous.
  (tags: media internet uk policy government digital broadband)