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.

While it may be that the Geeks shall inherit the Earth, you will have to forgive me for thinking that government would never be conquered. Arcane IT systems, technophobes as far as the eye can see and one data breach after another, it appeared that there was little hope the government geek looking to rewire the red tape and truly transform government through tech.

But no! The once small and closed community of government techies appears to be growing and opening up with geeks popping up in high places, Invasion of the Body Snatchers style. Driven in no small part by the appointment of “IT enthusiast and blogging pioneer among MPs” Tom Watson to the role of Cabinet Office Minster for Transformational Government in January 2008, the profile and priority of all thing geeky has rocketed in what has been a pretty tech unsavvy government thus far.

Dozing off yet? If not, you deserve a pat on the back for managing to stay with it past the phrase ‘civil service principles for participation online’ (sorry, now I really have sent you to sleep!).

So why am I trying to sedate you? Well the Friday before last I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend a session hosted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Cabinet Office billed as “the Power of Information Taskforce Seminar for Civil Service Bloggers”.