Kiwi's get wiki with it
News flash: The consultation period on the Draft Digital Strategy 2.0 has been extended to 5.00pm Friday 23 May, 2008
The Digital Strategy wiki lets the public suggest wording for the
Digital Strategy 2.0, as part of a government refresh of the digital strategy that was first released in May 2005.
Participation online through a wiki is not new in New Zealand. The New Zealand Police launched a wiki version of the new Policing Act in September last year.
The Police Act wiki – one of the first of its kind worldwide - yielded a wide range of views from people interested in having a direct say on the shape of a new Policing Act.
“Although not quite the same as a change to the New Zealand Police Act, being the digital strategy, we thought we should try using some new channels and online tools also to widen the participation in the digital strategy refresh process”, said Brad Ward Digital Development Manager.
The Digital Strategy wiki has the entire draft that the government has released for public comment.
The wiki is open to any internet user and is monitored by Ministry of Economic Development staff. It even includes a "wiki sandbox" where people can practice their postings before they edited pages.
“Although a draft has been published, we want your ideas to complete the picture on how we can all contribute to New Zealand achieving its digital potential”, said Mr Ward.
“We encourage everyone with an interest in digital issues to actively participate in the consultation process and to help our carbon footprint, if you can do it online using the wiki or online submission form – even better!”
Suggestions and input on the wiki, including the final version and ideas from the wiki's history will be captured and summarised - along with inputs gathered through more traditional means during the submission period, 14 April to 12 May.
The final Digital Strategy 2.0 is due to be released mid year.
A "wiki" - from the Hawaiian word for "quick" - is a type of website that can be easily edited by anyone. The most well-known wiki is the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia.