MLA for Ginninderra, Alistair Coe, will be a part of a panel today at an online media conference about the government’s role in using and harnessing the Internet as a resource.
The conference, hosted by Wikimedia Australia (a chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation – publisher of Wikipedia and other open source sites), will be looking at best practice for institutions such as museums and libraries.
“With the changing landscape of IT and user-designed technologies, it’s important for Governments to remain in touch with new developments,” Mr Coe said.
The panel will include politicians, representatives from cultural institutions and government departments.
“It is the responsibility of elected representatives to engage with their constituents, and online communication is becoming more common.
“By harnessing the power of the Internet, politicians and governments can create greater participation from the community, by having individuals responding to government initiatives and interacting with their elected representatives.
“There is still much room to grow with the engagement between elective representatives and the community. We need to try to attract active participation from individuals in the ACT community – using online resources is one important way that politicians can engage with the community.
“Governments will also need to play an important role in continually reviewing current legislation relating to online media, to make sure that it is up-to-date and protects users and the industry as much as possible,” said Mr Coe.
The panel will begin from 9.00am today at the Australian War Memorial.
Links:
Wikimedia: http://www.wikimedia.org.au/
Conference page: http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/GLAM
