Gov 2.0 Explained + Army FASCLASS Federal Resume

If you think of Gov 2.0 in terms of user-generated content - in which information-onus is placed on the customer - it's easy to figure out how it works.

The best example to use is the standard American passport application:

• Go to the U.S. State Department Passport Application web site.
• Fill out the online form.
• File the form online.
• Pay for the service from your bank account.

The reason this makes sense is because:

• You know your personal information better than anyone else.
• You have a vested interested in the accuracy of the information on your passport.
• You have the supporting documentation in your possession (birth certificate, and so forth).
• You are the most likely person to pay for the government service (ha, get it).

The way a government, state, or county employee encourages customers to receive services in this manner (as described above) is usually with a web site and some form of online application that must be filled out correctly by the customer - user-generated content, aye - in order for the service to be provided:

• It's not the government worker’s responsibility to fill out the form for the customer.
• The purpose for having accurate information on a passport is to preclude being detained at a border crossing.
• The government employee can’t afford to pay the fee for every passport request that crosses their desk.

That's Gov 2.0 in its purest form.

One Army Civilian Employee web site offers a sophisticated Gov 2.0 twist.

One of the best examples of Gov 2.0 in action online is the U.S. Army’s FASCLASS Position Description web site (you may have to download Mozilla Firefox browser to get to the FASCLASS web site - Internet Explorer and Google Chrome often will not let you see the site).

In short, the FASCLASS web site is a database with Army civilian employee position descriptions written by personnel specialists, with input from employees performing actual duties. For example, if you type in the word "logistics" in the "Position Title" box at the FASCLASS site - 40 gazillion "Logistics Management Specialist" real-world position descriptions pop up (OK, not 40 gazillion, but there are hundreds).

An interesting way to acquire user-generated content, aye? With the information in turn provided to the public for free. (Here's the full Hub on using FASCLASS and personal accomplishments to write a federal resume, if you stumbled across this Hub by accident.)

The taxman cometh (sort of).

So. Who does your taxes?

If you fill out your own income tax forms with the assistance of TurboTax.com software - you are involved with yet another interesting take on the U.S. government’s version of Gov 2.0. In that, the democratic form of government provided by the United States of America allows a capitalistic middleman (TurboTax) to ask customers to fill out their own forms - similar to the passport situation noted above – with the middleman showing quite a bit of profit for providing the service.

U.S. Postal Service.

This one is easy to describe:

• You, the customer, orders online or physically picks up their own shipping materials - ranging from boxes, to tape, to labels.
• You place the To and From addresses on the labels - because you have this information readily available or know it off the top of your head.
• You take the stuff to your local Post Office, paying for the service as they mail it for you.

Ain't the combination of capitalism and Gov 2.0 great?