Web 2.0 and E-Government at the Municipal Level

Web 2.0 refers to various networked applications utilizing technologies such as application mashups, content syndication, video casts, wikis, blogs, social networking, user tagging, social bookmarks and content and service rating. Such technologies are designed to reach or attract a greater electronic user audience, thereby increasing the efficiency of e-government applications. The potential of these technologies for e-government applications at Los Angeles County are analyzed. The government model for leveraging Internet technologies is different from that of commercial enterprises or academia. Thus immediate utilization of seemingly attractive technological opportunities must be tempered by organizational, implementation and social responsibility constraints. Application mashups are regarded as a good business opportunity for the County, and content syndication offers a convenient way for the County to share and disseminate information to the public. However, appropriate attention needs to be paid to issues such as loss of ownership control and authenticity of the final products. Wikis, blogs and social networking require more resources for implementation and present a variety of legal and control problems. The main conclusion drawn is that Web 2.0 presents an interesting opportunity for local governments such as Los Angeles County but that there should not be a headlong rush to implementation without consideration of a variety of other issues.