I don’t have to explain to anyone is this audience the monumental change we’re witnessing in society these last few years. However, I do have some doubts whether we as public servants understand fully how fundamental this change really is, how this will turn the way government works, and has worked for over a hunderd years, upside down.

During this period governments have seen a lot of change, in society as well as inside its organisations. But now is different. Please note that I have just mentioned society and government organisations as two separate entities. The internet brings about a change in this division between society and government. Why? Because it takes away the distance. Online, there is no such thing as distance.

That’s all very well, but what does it mean for government? It means for example that (for good or bad) government can be everywhere: if people are using online forums to discuss changes in their neighbourhood, civil servants can participate in these discussions, add relevant information and bring them to the next level. If public services are needed, civil servants can direct people to them.

Secondly, this absence of distance can also mean that civilians can be everywhere, for good or bad. They can be, for example, in government: why not add people, their knowledge, ideas and opinions, from outside government to your team? Or perhaps this team will be formed without any participation from government, working in a wiki to write a new act or proposal. We’re seeing the first examples in the Netherlands right now.

And finally, and perhaps this is our most fundamental change of all three, distances within government, between government bodies disappear. We have grown used to barriers, hierarchies and divisions, but when forming a team to collaborate online for a common goal, why not bring the best people together from different organisations, inside and outside of government? Distance is no longer a barrier, our culture is. But society will be less and less inclined to accept that as an answer.

But what is needed to change this culture and to change the way we work. A lot of this responsibility lies with us, with ourselves, as civil servants. When participating in an online forum, we can’t go to a communications division to write the respons for us. When working with civilians online we have to be aware of our role and position as a civil servant to bring collaboration to a successful end.

It’s a paradox of sorts: because society can participate and initiate more in governing itself, responsibilities for civil servants grow. What is our answer to this development? For us as civil servants it means two things: we have to learn and to talk. And incidentally, that’s exactly what we’re doing here!

However, I am not talking about us, in this room, as web 2.0 and government 2.0 specialists, I’m talking about all civil servants. If we want to change government, into a government 2.0, we have to start with the people making up the government organisations: the civil servants. How can we entice them to learn and talk about 2.0, to experiment with it, to share experiences?

That is why a few civil servants in the Netherlands started Civil Servant 2.0. What is Civil Servant 2.0? It is a network and online platform for civil servants (and others) to share ideas and experiences about the effect of 2.0 on their work but also to learn how to do their job more efficiently and interactively.

There’s a blog, a wiki and a networking site (all set up for free), but also a book, a four day course, biweekly meetings, a speakers’ network and spin offs that are concerned with lifehacking and Open Government.

But what’s most important, is that civil servants from all parts of government, and civilians, are coming together to discuss what the implications of web 2.0 are for government in general and for civil servants in particular. In the discussion forum they ask questions, in their blogs they relate about their experiences.

And these blogs and questions offer a way for us, and now I am talking about the government 2.0 specialists, to take our colleagues by the hand and stimulate them to continue, show them other examples, answer questions, etc. That’s how we can empower our colleagues, create new civil servants 2.0 and bring about a more participative government.