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My previous entry was on Web 2.0 in government.  I want to add some fresh links and expand the conversation to cloud computing which some people, in an effort to give the entire world a headache, refer to as "Web 3.0".

Before we talk about Web 2.0+, let me share this glossary of Web 2.0 terms.  I used to go mad trying to understand all of the Web 2.0 / Web 3.0 terms.  Blogs, Wikis, Folksonomies, Mashups, Tags, Tag Clouds, Widgets, Cloud Computing, SaaS, etc.  Like Web 2.0 itself, there is no one in charge of Web 2.0 and the terminology has taken on a life of its own.

While I initially thought Web 2.0 was just for kids (hence all of the annoying terms), I'm a convert now.  Facebook really makes my life better both personally and professionally.  Mashups allow our company to deliver more value than ever to the government, and SaaS companies serve our most critical CRM and Web conferencing needs.

Most importantly, I'm convinced that cloud computing is going to make technology more powerful and cost-effective for government in so many ways that we will look back on 2008 10 years from now and see it as the infancy of e-government.

To that end, I want to add another important link which is this story on cloud computing.

We have over 250 government agencies using our Software as a Service platform here at GovDelivery.  I don't consider use of our hosted, SaaS, platform by itself as cloud computing, but now that the service is becoming more open and allowing other applications to tap into it for limited functions, it really is "service in the cloud."  For us, this means allowing agencies to connect to our "On-Demand Mailer" whenever an agency needs additional mail sending scale for certain applications or needs to send a message to a stakeholder with assured delivery to the inbox, tracking, reporting, etc.

The article referenced above lists these benefits of cloud computing:

• Reduced Cost
• Increased Storage
• Highly Automated
• Flexibility
• Allows IT to Shift Focus  "No longer having to worry about constant server updates and other computing issues"

This list of benefits is literally the Holy Grail of government IT!

The article concludes with the typical security concerns that are always raised when government talks about doing something new.  Here is the good news, it's not all or nothing. 

For example, the On-Demand Mailer service we offer is currently built to handle emails you are already sending out over the public Internet. 

We are not offering the service to the CIA for sending highly-classified emails... that is not something that belongs in the Cloud. 

Still, there are many services that fit well into the Cloud now.  Web 2.0 and cloud computing raise all kinds of security concerns.  Luckily, from the looks of all the blogs, Wikis, mashups, etc. that we see on government sites despite the security concerns raised about Web 2.0 in government, government Web and e-government managers will find the appropriate areas where they can leverage cloud computing without taking unnecessary security risks.

I heard the news Tuesday morning about California's 5.4 magnitude earthquake and instantly saw coverage on multiple communications channels - web, television, wireless, email, etc.  In today's world, information is instantaneous.  As I continued to read through other news of the day, there was a topic that wasn't a one-time event but a recurring one that we're all too familiar with - the budget crisis many states are currently facing.  In working with many government agencies, I've seen first hand how innovative leaders address the need for improved communication and services, while dealing with budget constraints.  They've done this by investing in solutions that are integrated with or complementary to existing solutions.

A good example of such an agency is the City of Riverside, CA.  The City uses an email alert system to notify its citizens of more than city information and services - it also sends out emergency notifications to the public and to its emergency operations CERT team members. In the case of Tuesday's earthquake, the city used it email alert system to immediately communicate with its 251 CERT members with the most up-to-date earthquake information.  Information included time of earthquake, location, CERT activation status and reminders to stay off cell phones and land lines.

Riverside utilizes its email alert service to update citizens on general topics and services, in addition to emergency related notifications.  Using existing resources like website content, they are able to provide more information and better service to citizens.  You can see the service in action by visiting their website at www.riversideca.gov.

I met with Darren Ash, the CIO of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, today as well as Jeffrey Main who is driving much of the effort to improve the NRC's website over the coming months and years. 

We were talking about all of the great things made possible by Web 2.0: Information sharing, collaboration, improved integration of systems, etc., but CIO Ash made the point that whatever NRC puts in place needs to anticipate "whatever comes next." 

In one of the best displays I've seen of a CIO vision aligning with his team, Jeffrey chimed in and said that their plan is to modularize the key services they offer.  They want best-in-class content management, Web metrics, customer surveys, and-- if we have made the case effectively for GovDelivery-- Email & Digital Subscription Management.  Jeffrey was very clear that modularization for them means two things:

1) NRC wants systems to talk with each other particularly on the reporting front so they can track results easily across their entire suite of Web tools / systems
2) NRC will use different systems (including hosted, Software as a Service platforms) provided they are best-in-class and work nicely together.  If a particular module underperforms or is no longer necessary in the future, they will swap it out for something new because they own the data and content and can move to a new platform at anytime.

I find this approach very compelling for the following reasons:
-Encourages NRC to think about scalable strategies for ensuring systems work together
-Leaves the door open for using more modern, innovative, and cost-effective SaaS solutions that government sometimes avoids to its detriment
-Keeps the service providers honest and focused on continuous improvement and results
-Avoids NRC getting too embedded with a single service provider

I believe we will be hearing more about this type of approach and that modularization will become the goal of many Web teams.