[SFD-announce] Taking SFD to the government - WAS: We have over 250 SFD teams!

[Pia Waugh]

Hi all,

<quote who="Robert Schumann">

> We've passed the 250 registered teams mark, and we're rapidly closing in on
> our shipping deadlines to get supplies to teams. I hope your preparations
> for SFD are going well!

That is awesome news! Looks like it will be another fantastic year!
 
I just wanted to throw in a few thoughts. We have a lot of amazing stuff
happening around the world at the moment, particularly in relation to a push
and in many cases a top-level willingness for more openness and transparency
in government. We are seeing many countries starting to use social
networking for online engagement with citizens and in many cases struggling
to figure out the best ways forward.

I put to you all that the FOSS community has many important lessons we can
take to the government and general community. Lessons of online
collaboration, creating constructive communities, open and transparent
decision making, the importance of individual empowerment to just get things
done and of course the many opportunities that FOSS can directly bring.

Remember, politicians and public servants are people too. If you engage in a
positive, constructive and informative way, you can seed an interest which
may bear the fruit of action, but only if continually nourished and not
trampled on. All advocates walk a fine line, and it is even more important
when dealing with the government to be diplomatic in your advocacy.

I am now living in Australia's capital city and will be chatting to my
local FOSS user groups about how we can take Software Freedom Day even
bigger and better this year, engaging with politicians and government
agencies. If any of you are seeing similar interest in "open government" or
"government 2.0" in your countries, I'd suggest the time is right to take
Software Freedom to the government :)

Cheers,
Pia