“Government is the ultimate institution retaining the traditional top-down structure, technologically backward, with big decisions almost always made with incomplete information on what works and what doesn’t work. Here’s hoping that Web 2.0 can make government more effective by tapping information among officials and citizens, perhaps even finding a new consensus on where the wisdom of government begins and ends.”

- L. Gordon Crovitz, The Wall Street Journal

Ah, such idealism. Remember the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, in which an idealistic senator, played by James Stewart, attempts to cut through the vested interests of a corrupt system to get funding for his boy’s camp? As he and many other idealists found over the years, cleaning out landed interests, lobbyists and special interest groups is no easy task. Trying to change the direction of government and its huge bureaucracy is about as simple as turning an oceanliner around — while battling sharks circling in the water.

WSJ’s Crovitz is pondering whether Web 2.0 could be the force that connects government closer to the people. He cites Don Tapscott’s latest work in the Web 2.0 space, which shows a lot of government interest in Web 2.0 applications.

And yes, Don does call this new wave “Government 2.0.” Don has written leading-edge books on the promise of technology and Web 2.0 (his latest being Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything).

Don is reportedly now working with the US Office of Management and Budget to employ Web-based collaboration to “reinvent government.” Project Government 2.0 posits that “If governments are to ensure their relevance and authority, they must move quickly to meet rising expectations for openness, accountability, effectiveness and efficiency in the public sector.”

Crovitz cites examples of emerging Government 2.0 initiatives, which don’t necessarily bring government closer to the people, but do appear to be mechanisms for improving information sharing across agencies:

• “‘Intellipedia’ lets 37,000 officials at the CIA, FBI, NSA and other U.S. intelligence agencies share information and even rate one another for accuracy in password-protected wikis, some ‘top secret.’”
• “‘Diplopedia’ lets State Department staff share information.” The State Department also has a virtual embassy in Second Life.

The government is famous for its inability to manage information.  If agencies and departments are able to break down some of the walls and silos and better share and process knowledge, there’s a great lesson there for organizations of all sizes and persuasions.

Ensuring more accountability from our government is now being aided by a range of technology-enhanced communities of interest. Just as an example, the prolific blogging community inside and outside the Beltway (and I’m not just talking about Wonkette) is helping to keep many causes and issues in the public spotlight. Many issues would have faded into obscurity in years gone by.