How can the government of Québec make the most of the Web 2.0 – social networking, wikis, mashups, blogs – in order to improve the quality of the services to its citizens and its internal efficiency?

Welcome to our interactive community!

You are invited to share your thoughts on the use of the Web 2.0 by the government of Québec. You will find the opportunity to express your opinion by commenting on the various topics that are discussed and by voting for the ideas that are suggested.

The success of this site is up to you! Participating means contributing to the progress of our work: the use of the Web 2.0 by the government of Québec. From this collaborative effort will emerge recommendations which will be handed to the prime minister of Québec in December 2011.

New digital technologies have revolutionised the ways citizens get informed, buy, learn, work, benefit from services and entertain themselves. This evolution has the consequence to raise people’s expectations with regard to their government. A reflection is thus necessary for the government of Québec in order to better address the needs of the Québec population, in the interests of transparency, collaboration and participation.

Our mandate

Member of Parliament and Deputy House Leader Mr. Henri-François Gautrin has been mandated by the prime minister of Québec to analyse the impact on the Québec society, in particular on its government, of the increasingly widespread use of Web 2.0 tools and social networks. A task force was established with the aim of submitting recommendations in a report to the Prime Minister at the end of 2011.

This multidisciplinary workgroup will be gathering the best ongoing projects which capitalize on the Web 2.0, the most promising practices (current and future) for Québec and, above all, the desired avenues for the democratization and transparency of governmental information.

Our approach

A fundamental principle of the Web 2.0 is that the initiative comes from its users. It is therefore important for the Québec population to be actively associated to this reflection and to participate in the framing of our recommendations. For this purpose, we wished to proceed in two steps:

A consultation with deputy ministers and heads of departments and public agencies

In January 2011, a questionnaire about the implementation and use of social media was sent to ministers and chiefs of staff, deputy ministers, associate and assistant deputy ministers, heads of public agencies, members of Parliament and journalists.

It comprised six main categories:

  • The current practices at the government
  • The practices that could be established at the government
  • Potentially successful projects
  • Practices regarding security
  • The use of the Web 2.0 by public sector employees
  • The means for reducing the digital divide

This was the first major census about the use of the Web 2.0 for the government of Québec to ever be conducted.

An interactive discussion on the Internet with the Québec population

The task force now invites the online community for ideas and comments.

  • A consultation with users and experts will first nourish our reflection and the structure of the report.
  • Early hypotheses of recommendations will then be presented online to the population in order to gather input and seek additional ideas.
  • Discussions and debates will be held online.

    • Even if the overwhelming majority of comments and ideas are written in French, you can contribute to the discussions in English.