In order to excel at their job, they need to be able to draw on the knowledge and experience of their networks.

i say amen to that. the networks established by social media have propelled my public service career along very nicely indeed.

i have to keep reminding people that *any* activity they perform in a official capacity is subject to the official information act. including conversation where i remind them that everything is OIA-able.

the trick is to request staff to treat a wiki as they would email. don’t write down anything you wouldn’t actually say to your line manager.

further, a wiki can and will end up containing “unfinished” policy or thinking. but this is no different to anything stored in your filing systems, and should be treated with exactly the same deference as email, files, hand-written notes, voice-mail…

I think the risks around OIA requests need to be understood, but should not be overstated. Wikis present no more of a risk profile than any other knowledge management tools inside the firewall. It is true that a wiki will allow you to capture all of the thinking that precedes the ‘final’ product, but – unless there are good reasons under the Act for witholding that information, say commercial in confidence – I see no problem with that transparency.

Ultimately, I see these tools as encouraging behaviours that promote the values of the State Services; social media and the legislative framework that we have enhance open government. I’m all for that.