Jointly organized by the American Society for Public Administration (of which I’m a member) and the European Group of Public Administration (of which I’m not), the fifth annual TransAtlantic Dialogue commences in June at George Mason University.
This provides worthy fodder for what I’m about to argue: namely, that the European Union is beating the United States in its own game of Government 2.0 practices (considering the U.S. built the damned internet)–and it both amazes and pains me to watch.
I’ll set the battleground with two screen shots:
In honor of tomorrow’s celebration of Earth Day, the first is courtesy of the U.S. General Services Administration’s USA.gov listing of environment and natural resources; and the second is the European Union’s Europa directory of environment activities.
You may click either image for a zoomed-in look:
Surely I don’t need to explain why Europa kicks the USA’s butt, do I?
If I must, you can see information in multiple columns–and the data makes sense. It’s logically organized, providing intuitive links for wherever you might need to go for further environmental information in any of the EU member nations. Whereas the US list is, well, a list. How boring!
Considering the GSA recently instituted a list (another list, but a useful one) of government blogs, video collections, and other Government 2.0 content, I have faith the group can change the site layout to make it more in line with what my transatlantic colleagues use. The question is when; for until then, my score is Europe: 2 vs USA 1.
Related posts:
- Delivering the Loop of Government
- How a Mayor Resists the Core of Government 2.0
- Thinking About Government Communications
Comments:
Ari Herzog is an online media strategist and Newburyport City Councilor-Elect.
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{ 3 comments }
Hey Ari,
I think your point is valid…but you don’t make it highlighting the two screen shots above. To me, it’s the difference between one column or two. Neither are very exciting.
You could use some of the stats from our ALI presentation that drive home the difference in ranking based on objective measurement criteria. I probably missed your post where you showed that distinction. If so, I think you should re-post it here. If not, then I am looking forward to that future post!
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Ari –
I appreciate your point, but I also must confess that I don’t mind the list so much. It is easy to read through and find what I want on the site. Isn’t that the point?
In all the Gov 2.0 discussion, which I appreciate and get excited about, we have to remember that there are an awful lot of people still trying to function with basic tech and browsers like IE6, as you said in one of your tweets today. The main point of the government’s site should be what most people would call “user friendliness.” Much as innovation and creativity are great, I hope that designers always make sure to keep their audience in mind, and don’t just design for design’s sake.
The screen shots don’t tell the whole story, I feel. Part of enhancing your online engagement is letting the offline world know what’s available. The EU, for most European outside of Belgium, even outside of Brussels, is still a rather vague concept, the source of the currency and some funding for governments in need, but still growing as an idea of European government. The USA Government 2.0 has a great spokeperson (the President) to get US citizens engaged, and the USA also has a more obvious (obviously) offline presence.
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