Local government 2.0?

Here is an excerpt from an interesting article from citiwire.net. Food for thought for the democracy and civic engagement action team:

Could the idea of an electronic commons, a new civic switchboard, materially improve city governments across the U.S.? Could it also draw younger idealists into government as the baby boom professionals start to retire in droves?

That’s the hope. And there’s an even wider possibility. Governments everywhere are facing local versions of the toughest challenges of the times — energy, global warming, immigration and others. Narrowly conceived solutions born inside government hierarchies won’t do. So how about engaging citizens as co-producers of answers and ideas in the virtual world’s public square? Could we advance government itself from 1.0 to 2.0? Why not?


http://citiwire.net/post/34/