Open is the way forward

Gordon Brown today announced a bold plan to seek full digital inclusion across the UK, extend access to non-personal data in a bid to embrace the future of the web and save truck-loads of cash by making government more open and effective. Obviously this is not simply because he wants his shares in Virgin Media to increase in value, nor because he is keen to try any and all ways to slash the massive national debt. It is also because it is time to re-think the way voters, service users and the providers of the service interact.

It was exciting he chose to pop to HomeMade's office to make the announcement; more exciting still he chose to utter the words "semantic web" to rocket his appreciation in the deeper geek voter-base.

The stars of IT Crowd and half of Hoxton will be changing their vote right now.

If the government can see both the political and actual value in being more open, accessible and focused on letting people engage and feedback directly (they are planning to extend and revise DirectGov into a service called My Gov) why can't NGOs see the same writing on the wall?

The PM promised to review the impact of technology on Whitehall and how increasingly Departments needed to be re-shaped to accommodate changes in the way work was being delivered. The new "shared services" models which can reduce the duplication of staffing across key functions should be of special interest to the sector.

If the government can save huge sums by better coordinating its work, back office services and public outreach - surely it is time for the NGO world to reduce the enormous waste within the sector.

Duplication of poorly differentiated appeals, duplication of service delivery partners in the developing world, missed opportunities for collaboration due to petty infighting and baseless fear of "competitors", small-minded attitudes to technology, boundless reluctance to innovate and learn. All shored up by the absence of interest in sharing openly the actual impact of appeals or sharing insight from failures.

Given the sector is supposed to be concerned about beneficiaries and effectiveness it would do well to learn from Mr Brown's team and seek to understand more about the power of digital. Martha Lane Fox will be leading a new focus within the Cabinet to achieve greater digital reach, surely this means the sector can increase the speed for channel shift, focus on more effective delivery of UK services into rural areas and potentially partner with government and private sector to be in on the changes from the outset?

With a new Institute for Web Science being created, a commitment to increase broadband access from 70% to 100% in the coming 5 years and a plan to open services and feedback across both central and local government arms, we'll see a sea-change in how the public can connect with their representatives and services.

Now is the time for forward-looking charities to follow pioneers like See the Difference, Comic Relief / Sport Relief and Kiva into a new world of open dialogue and connection between supporters and beneficiaries.

Roll on the semantic web; all hail Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Nigel Shadbolt; and good luck to Martha Lane Fox in her new challenging and expanded role.

Open your eyes to the future; it is engaging, digital, vibrant, open and far, far more cost effective than unsustainable shonky tree-killing award-seeking ineffective direct marketing.

The time for change is now!