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energetica.com.au


We are a purpose driven business that works with not-for-profits and community sector organisations to help make a better world.	We build on-line tools to help you harness the full power of your community and bring your message to the world.	We take your ideas, add our passion and community expertise, mix with innovative technology and create tools for change.

Government 2.0 Taskforce Draft Report Released and Open for Public Comment

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We are very excited to share that the draft report from the Government 2.0 Taskforce has now been released. It has been five months of incredibly hard work, and the Taskforce need to be congratulated for their efforts in developing a report that sets the foundations for change in Government.

The draft report has been released to provide people with opportunity to provide comments and input for consideration in the final report, comments need to be provided by 5pm Wednesday 16th December 2009. The ability for people to comment aligns with the collaborative spirit of web 2.0 and is in keeping with the participatory engagement process that the Taskforce have operated under.

Through their recommendations the Taskforce have set the challenge to Government to deliver changes that affect how Government facilitate public engagement, participation, collaboration and debate; how data and public sector information should be treated; how copyright should evolve; and how privacy and confidentiality should be addressed in an online world to protect citizens rights in balance with reducing restrictions on access to public information.

Obama Turns to Community for Health Care Ad

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The Organizing for America (OFA) campaign supporting the Obama election and subsequent administration has been exciting and inspirational to watch. On one hand it is about the technology itself and the applications and functionality provided (like the MyBO site), but the really exciting element has been how people have been trusted, encouraged and supported to use the technology.

I have had dealings with Government departments where they won't give their own staff access to basic technology functionality. Yet the OFA campaign has empowered the community to participate and produce content; the effect is resonating through Government business and policy, and for the benefit of Australian's there are strong signs there is a scramble from a number of fronts to catch up.

I am on the OFA mailing list, and they get so many things right. A great example fell into my inbox today, I received their email about the winning video for their America Health Reform Video Challenge. The Challenge had nearly 1,000 submissions, 20 finalists, and more than 3 million views.

AWARe - The Australian Web Access Review - MAA Project

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Website accessibility is an important issue for Energetica, it is the nature of not-for-profit organisations to strive for social inclusion, and the same is true for digital inclusion. Many of our customers are at the forefront of driving online accessibility change.

Fortunately, site accessibility is increasingly becoming a mainstream concern and we are noticing a dramatic increase in the number of organisations considering site accessibility as a key site outcome when developing or modifying their site.

Recently a fantastic project, the AWARe project has been created by Media Access Australia (MAA). The project provides an easy way for people to give their input about the accessibility of prominent websites.

Institute for Cultural Diversity Website Launched

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It has been such a pleasure for the Energetica team to be working on the Institute for Cultural Diversity website - this is a site and a customer that combines the elements we love and are passionate about - a fantastic concept, a commitment to develop an online community and opportunities for participation, collaboration and shared knowledge, and a commitment to accessibility and equality.

Of course getting all of these elements working in harmony is always a challenge - but a challenge we love to take on!

Google Translate - Multilingual Tool for Websites

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Website accessibility is a passion of Energetica's and we are continually striving for best practice in this area. Accessibility can be complicated, but Energetica have developed a range of approaches into our standard practice to ensure our non-profit customers can deliver high level accessibility practices for an affordable rate.

Accessibility is a broad and complex area, it encompasses disability, but also language barriers. The Institute for Cultural Diversity website has been a great opportunity for us to incorporate Google Translate into our websites.