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Web 2.0 at EPA

Brand NiemannSenior Enterprise Architect

U.S. EPAEPA Web Work Group Conference, February 12-14, 2008, and

Collaborative Technology Community of Practice Inaugural Meeting,National Academy of Public Administration, February 19, 2008

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Overview

• 1. EPA Web 2.0 Whitepaper

• 2. epa.wik.is

• 3. Semanticommunity.net

• 4. Best Practice Lessons Learned

• 5. Q & A

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1. EPA Web 2.0 Whitepaper

• Executive Summary:– Web 2.0 technologies and ideas are dramatically

affecting the way the world communicates and conducts business. In this paper, we define Web 2.0 as Web-based, interactive tools and media, oriented primarily to create a rich and engaging user experience. In Web 2.0, users are an integral part of the value that is added to the content and data online, and their interactions with the information (both collectively and individually) can significantly alter the experience of subsequent users.

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1. EPA Web 2.0 Whitepaper

• Executive Summary (continued):– On the whole, the US federal government has been

slow take advantage of Web 2.0 approaches and tools. The US EPA has experimented with a limited set of these tools, and leaders within the agency have started to recognize the potential that these approaches may have in our workplace and in fulfilling EPA’s mission. In many cases, the obstacles that have prevented the use of these tools include policy and technical barriers, or lack of Web 2.0 literacy.

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1. EPA Web 2.0 Whitepaper

• Conclusions:– Web 2.0 offers EPA many effective ways to

communicate internally and externally. While we have taken steps towards building a collaborative, multi-media, user-oriented web presence, we have a long way to go. The strategies and technologies covered in this paper are a snapshot of some of the innovative Web communication techniques we may wish to leverage. However, there are policy issues that must be addressed, workforce changes that must happen, and technical advances that we need to achieve, before many of these approaches can be utilized.

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1. EPA Web 2.0 Whitepaper

• Conclusions (continued):– The Web 2.0 Workgroup challenges the Web

Council and agency leadership to address the broad issues described in a timely fashion so that EPA is equipped to deal with a rapidly evolving World Wide Web. Proactively tacking these issues will allow EPA to spend its limited communication and outreach resources more effectively.

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1. EPA Web 2.0 Whitepaper

• Table of Contents:– 1 Acknowledgements – 2 Executive Summary – 3 Introduction – 4 Purpose and Goals – 5 Technologies (see next slides for details)– 6 Policy Issues and Web 2.0 Initiatives at the EPA – 7 Workforce– 8 Information Architecture/Content Management System– 9 Ensuring Web Infrastructure Supports Web 2.0– 10 Other Issues Related to Web 2.0 – 11 Summary of Recommendations– 12 Conclusion – 13 Appendices

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1. EPA Web 2.0 Whitepaper

Technology Simple Definition

Best Practice Example

1. Blogs Journal or Diary Flow of the River

2. Wikis Collaborative authoring & editing

Wikipedia

3. Video Sharing and Multimedia

Videos, images, & audio libraries

EPA YouTube Channel

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1. EPA Web 2.0 WhitepaperTechnology Simple

DefinitionBest Practice Example

4. Photo-Sharing

Photo libraries Flickr

5. Audio and Podcasting

Multimedia content for use on iPod & MP3 players

NASA Podcasts

6. Virtual Worlds

Simulations of environments & people

NASA, NOAA, CDC in Second Life

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1. EPA Web 2.0 WhitepaperTechnology Simple Definition Best Practice

Example

7. Social Networking Sites

Connecting people globally

EPA Facebook Group

8. Syndicated Web Feeds

Automated notifications (think RSS)

EPA Newsroom RSS Feeds

9. Mashups Combine content from multiple sources for an integrated experience

Virtual Earth, Google Earth, Google Maps

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1. EPA Web 2.0 WhitepaperTechnology Simple

DefinitionBest Practice Example

10. Widgets Small applications & code in Web pages

FBI Widgets

11. Social News Sites

Ways of sharing content with others

Digg, Delicious, Technorati

12. Webinar / Webcasts

Virtual meetings & presentations

Go to Webinar

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2. epa.wik.is

http://epa.wik.is/

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2. epa.wik.is

• Name: epa.wik.is• Purpose: To show how easy and versatile Web

2.0 technologies can be to address business needs.

• Web 2.0: See our EPA Web 2.0 Whitepaper (February 6, 2008). See file attachments below. This wiki supports blog (Word-like authoring) and most of the other 12 technologies of interest to EPA (recall matrix in section 1).

• Business Needs: See our EPA CIO's recent Interview in Government Computer News and some pilots to address those business needs.

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2. epa.wik.is• Security and Privacy: See how we restrict access to this

Wiki and have MindTouch provide security for their hosting service (e.g. Public: everybody can view and edit; Semi-Public: everybody can view, but only selected users can edit; and Private: only selected users can view and edit this page).

• Information Architecture: See how we classify information with taxonomies (ontologies), support data management, and improve dissemination using this Wiki. Classification is the first step in building a Wikipedia-type application. We are integrating the information architecture (facets and subfacets) with the data architecture (data tables and data elements) following the best practice example of the Census Bureau's Annual Statistical Abstract: National Data Book.

• Tutorials: See the excellent tutorials that are provided with the Wiki.

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2. epa.wik.is

• Extensibility: Integration with Yahoo!, Windows Live, Google, Flickr, WidgetBox, YouTube , and much more. Create and share application and/or content mashups. See A Welcome to the Deki Wiki and Video on data reuse in mashups that will revolutionize EPA data architecture, data management, and data reuse applications!

• Others: To be added as needed.• Contact: Brand Niemann (US EPA),

niemann.brand@epa.gov for a demonstration.• Here are some tips on getting started with this

wiki (scroll down the page):

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2. epa.wik.is

• Sitemap:– Home Page– A Welcome to the Deki Wiki– Blog– Business Needs– Information Classifications– Web 2.0 Whitepaper

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3. Semanticommunity.net

http://semanticommunity.net/

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3. Semanticommunity.net

• Table of Contents:– Preface – Why?: Support Upcoming Events – Who?: SICoP, SOA CoP, and Others – What?: Reusable Services – How?: Tutorial* and Key Steps – Contact Information

* http://semanticommunity.net/2008-01-07/Semanticommunity01072008.ppt

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3. Semanticommunity.net• Welcome to Our Space - Connecting Web 2.0, Enterprise Mashups, SOA, &

the Semantic Web for Government 2.0 (Making It Easier to Do!).• A Government Computer News (January 7, 2008) Blog refers to us as

"Speaking the same language".• Please follow these four steps:

– Log-on – Click on People (left panel) and Click on New page (toolbar above) to create a

Your Name page (see my example) (Add your name to the People page and link your name to Your Name page)

– Click on Deki Wiki (left panel) and Click on New page (toolbar above) to create a Your Topic page (see my example) (Create a simple table of contents on Your Topic page and Click on New page (toolbar above) to create Subtopic pages for Your Topic page, etc.)

– Email mail me with questions and requests for help at niemann.brand@epa.gov • That is the way we have designed the use of this Wiki - enter your

name and bio information and then create a new topic and then we do the rest to classify (move) them to the right location where we can find them!

• Thanks, Brand Niemann, Co-chair Federal SOA CoP and Federal SICoP

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3. Semanticommunity.net

• Following the new paradigms of “Everything is Miscellaneous” and "reduce, reuse, and recycle“:– For example, it is said 'that Wikis are a victim of their

own success and their contents become difficult to navigate and find', so this is an opportunity to refine existing Wiki content and build new Wiki content that is more effectively organized instead of just copying existing Wiki content to this new space.

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4. Best Practice Lessons Learned

• Some lessons learned so far from the Deki Wiki:– 1. It supports the way people work and requires much less

training because it is like word processing in Word instead of learning and using a proprietary markup language in a foreign environment.

– 2. The pages are easier to read and navigate because they are shorter and linked as a hierarchy. See January 22nd versus January 29th.

– 3. The entire Wiki is easier to use and navigate because of hierarchical structure (e.g. Site Map) rather than just a list of pages with no apparent relationships (e.g. Page Index)

– 4. The file attachments to a page are visible at the bottom of the page versus not apparent. Again see the examples for item 2.

– 5. The content is exportable in standard XML format that supports interoperability rather than proprietary Wiki format that creates interoperability problems.

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4. Best Practice Lessons Learned

• Some lessons learned so far from the Deki Wiki (continued):– 6. The linking to other Wiki pages, Web pages, file attachments,

and multi-media formats is done with a point and click interface rather than with complicated cut-and-paste. The same is true for uploading attachments.

– 7. There are many extensibility features that support mashups, web services, and SOA that are not supported in most Wikis.

– 8. My biggest concern is in the Records Management context and is that Wiki's that use so-called "purple numbers" are not only confusing to users, but make the strong records management support features of Wikis for versioning, problematic to records managers. Members of the EPA Web Work Group like John Shirley and prominent Wiki Advocates like Chris Rasmussen (Intellipedia) were among the first to express these concerns.

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4. Best Practice Lessons Learned

http://semanticommunity.wik.is/Best_Practices

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5. Q & A

• Please try our new Community Infrastructure Sandbox for 2008 Wiki at:– http://semanticommunity.wik.is/

• See Data Mashup Video!

• Also see my Wiki page at:– http://semanticommunity.wik.is/People/

Brand_Niemann

• Thank you!