Hired: I’m the new #Gov20 DC Correspondent for @OReillyMedia!

I’m thrilled to announce that I have a new job! Earlier today, I accepted an offer from Tim O’Reilly to be the Washington, D.C. correspondent on Government 2.0 for O’Reilly Media.

I’m hitting the ground running here in the District of Columbia, since O’Reilly’s upcoming 2010 Government 2.0 conference is only a few weeks away — and there’s plenty to do.

Over the following months, I expect to write – a lot – about how technology is being used to help citizens, cities and national governments solve big problems.

I also expect to frequently explain what “government 2.0” is, since the term is in my title! I’ve written before about the language of government 2.0, the history of disruptive innovation and the ways government adapts to technological change. That’s part of it. So is Tim O’Reilly’s concept of government 2.0 as a platform, naturally.

And so is writing about government transparency, the Open Government Directive, relaunches of .gov websites like SupremeCourt.gov or Reboot.gov, and the people behind the technologies that are driving change and innovation.

There’s no shortage of case studies to highlight, from the local town green right on up to the federal or international level. Just listen to the voices from the Gov2.0 LA unconference for a small sample of the perspectives on the issue.

O’Reilly’s goal in Washington D.C. is to “create a context in which people can think” differently about the role of technology in government, and the role of government in society. I look forward to helping to create that context.

In service of that goal, I’ll be blogging, conducting short interviews with government officials and industry participants, writing features and using the rest of the tools for digital curation I’ve been honing in the past several years.

I’m very excited to get started. I expect my new position to be challenging, engaging, rewarding, occasionally frustrating and never dull.

I also expect the process of writing about government 2.0 case studies to be a reciprocal process, as readers help me to understand more about what stories are important to them and which voices deserve to be heard.

I hope that in the days and months to come that you’ll share your perspectives, ideas and suggestions with me.

The story of government 2.0 is already being written every day by citizens, civic hackers, advocacy groups, government employees, researchers and technologists.

As a digital pilgrim, I look forward to chronicling that progress.

29 Comments

Filed under journalism, personal, technology

29 responses to “Hired: I’m the new #Gov20 DC Correspondent for @OReillyMedia!

  1. Congratulations. I think you are perfectly qualified and have the right amount of energy for this position. I look forward to your coverage, especially when I am not able to be around for some events.

  2. Ed

    Congratulations Alex! Solid position with major, relevant firm, and they caught sharp thinker/writer!

  3. I can’t think of a better person for the job. Congratulations!

  4. Such an exciting topic to be covering. I’m looking forward to following along. Congratulations.

  5. dougcornelius

    Congratulations!

    So now I can start complaining to you about how hard it is to find government information and how slow they are in publishing it.

    • digiphile

      Please do! If the complaints grow in frequency, I’ll set up a form. In the mean time, keep those critiques coming.

  6. Congrats Alex, that’s good to hear.

  7. They are so lucky to have you. Congratulations!!

  8. Chris

    Congratulations. Sounds like an interesting opportunity and a great fit with you.

  9. Glad to have you with us Alex!!!

    Scott DeLugan
    Digital Content/U.S. Reprints Coordinator
    O’Reilly Media, Inc.
    Cambridge, MA

  10. Happy to see the news. Good luck!

    – R

  11. Congratulations! Sounds like a great fit. Glad O’Reilly is continuing to focus on this space.

  12. adrielhampton

    Fantastic! Excited to see what you do with expanded focus on Gov 2.0.

  13. Congrats! In addition to the info about Gov 2.0 LA, Gov 2.0 Camp New England was in March. Here’s some video form that – http://bit.ly/gov20ne (it was hosted by Harvard).

  14. Big congratulations to you Alex – I’m really looking forward to seeing where you take this! Tim’s getting a great resource in you and I know you’ll do a fantastic job with O’Reilly. Looking forward to talking with you more often now!

  15. mstansberry

    Great news man. Congratulations.

  16. Congrats! I can’t imagine a better person for the job, or a better job for the person. Can’t wait to hear all about it and see you make the impact.

  17. Congrats on the new gig, Alex. They couldn’t have found a better guy.

  18. Congratulations, Alex. Seems like this will be right up your alley.

  19. Congratulations! Best of luck.

  20. Big congrats, Alex! I know you will do a fantastic job covering this particular beat and I look forward to following your coverage.
    Cheers,
    Patrick

  21. Sarah Cortes

    Totally behind the O’times! O’Congratulations, looking forward to a lot O’Radars

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