Clearly, public and Government services online are different to commercial or independent websites. However, the Government can learn much from the private, third sector and civil society in terms of not only website architecture but also the way people use websites. Directgov’s users are familiar with using the web to book a flight or hotel, bank, buy books and shop. They are willing to complain, feedback and respond (see eBay, Amazon and Tripadvisor⁴³ websites) and contribute ideas. Asking consumers to comment and rate website pages on Directgov could add great insight into how information could be better structured. The developments outlined above do more than just engage consumers: they create value and are essential for driving progress. Comparing the dynamic and creative nature of the websites highlighted here to Directgov’s offering illuminates just how flat and staid Directgov is. Moreover, the more consumers experience and participate in web 2.0 sites, the more irrelevant Directgov will feel to them.

Consumer Focus recommends Directgov work with and learn from the tide of new practices on the web in an appropriate way to accelerate, support and enable innovation.

43. Tripadvisor. Available at: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ [Accessed 9 September 2009].

• ‘Can I recycle it?’ inputting a postcode reveals what a council recycles
• ‘UK cycling’ a one-stop site for planning a cycling route for different skill levels
• ‘Catchment areas’ showing the boundaries of school catchment areas, including where there is potential uncertainty

In 2009, the Ministry of Justice launched the Public Experience website⁴¹ which aims to use public insight and experiences for improving public services. Examples of ideas submitted include buying pro-rata season tickets on public transport for people who are regular but not daily commuters; and removing the need to register lots of personal data before receiving basic information from NHS24 in Scotland. These examples show how users’ perspectives on public service can result in innovative ideas. This might be a good starting point for exploring changes to Directgov.

These developments suggest that an appetite for innovation is emerging in Government and among citizens. They also suggest that Government is positioning itself as a medium for empowering others to innovate and co-produce services by opening up its data for a wider use⁴². This allows for much more good practice to surface than would happen if Government was solely responsible for innovative public services.

39. Directgov Innovate. Available at: http://innovate.direct.gov.uk/ [Accessed 9 September 2009].
40. Link no longer available
41. Public Experience. Available at: http://publicexperience.com [Accessed 9 September 2009]
42. A message central to the Power of Information: an independent review for the Cabinet Office by Ed Mayo and Tom Steinberg, 2007

There are many examples of web 2.0 being used to influence policy decisions. For example, in the months before President Obama took office in the United States, he launched an online citizen’s briefing book which allowed people to submit policy ideas, comment and vote on submissions. Cologne in Germany has used web 2.0 technologies to lead participatory budgeting initiatives where citizens vote on local spending priorities. Using consumer knowledge and innovation has led to ‘data mash-ups’ that combine one or more different sources of data to create even more useful information and applications. In the United States these data mash-ups are being used to design crime maps which show levels and types of crime on neighbourhood maps.

Central to using web 2.0 in this way is enabling mass public participation and innovation to flourish. There is a huge potential to drive down development costs by empowering lots of people to vet, refine and test lots of ideas at the same time before committing resources to the development of ideas most likely to be successful.

The previous chapters touched on the new ways in which people are searching for, using, re-using and responding to information online. There are a growing number of people confident in contributing to user-generated websites which provide mutual support based on personal needs and recommendations from trusted sources (sometimes referred to as co-production). Large groups of people are also playing an integral role in the success of services based on creating
trusting relationships online (see box 3). This is a radical shift from the way people used to use the web which was markedly less social, and had things like static personal home pages, one way communication such as emails, posting of information etc.

These are just two examples of a new way of using and responding to the web, often called web 2.0. This refers to the web as a collection of facilities creating a network of people rather than a network of information. Local and central Government have utilised web 2.0 technology to support community building, online collaboration and information sharing³⁸. Public services can mobilise the general public’s expertise through this social use of the web to develop better public products and services.

38. Department of Communities and Local Government, 2008. Technology futures. London: Department of Communities and Local Government