They built the site using BuddyPress (unsurprisingly) but don’t look to be doing too well with security as they’ve disabled signups! The idea behind a GovCamp is to get together and think about how to do Government better in your location (well I presume that’s the point).  There’s even a ten point plan to running your event which is quite amusing in itself. It was written by Dave Press of Learning Pool – the public sector eLearning exchange. DavePress is a blog about the impact that social technology has on organisations, with a particular slant on the public sector.

- 1 in 4 adults of working age are either unemployed or economically inactive.

- Each year we spend £185 billion on welfare expenditure including pensions and tax credits.

- 670,000 households get more than £15,000 a year in state benefits.

- 50,000 households get more than £26,000 in benefits, £1,000 more than the average salary.

- 1 in 7 working age households are dependent on benefits for more than half their income

- more than half of all lone parents depend on the State for at least half their income

Source: The Times, Friday May 28th, 2010

http://www.cogapp.com/news/cogapp-visualises-election-data-sunday-times

http://mashable.com/2009/11/13/wordpress-community-plugins/

The view from Cissbury Ring

There’s alot more to Worthing than bowling and beaches! The South Downs runs from Winchester in the West to Eastbourne in the East and Worthing is just about in the middle. That means that in a few minutes you can be out on the famous South Downs Way and just north of Worthing is a place called Cissbury Ring.

Cissbury Ring is one of the greatest of Britain’s prehistoric hillforts and has magnificent views from Beachy Head to the Isle of Wight. It makes for a great run or you can park near Cissbury Ring and make it up in under 15 minutes. If you’re looking for a bit of peace and quiet it’s also a great place to go and think.

This Iron Age hill-fort was built in 300BC as a symbol of power and a refuge in times of threat. Originally, the bank would have had a deep ditch in front and a timber fence on top, creating a formidable stronghold.

Cissbury Ring is one of a series of hill-forts and with its ditch and ramparts is the second largest in England, the largest being Maiden Castle in Dorset. Overlooking 78 miles of coastline, this is an ideal site for defence. Archaeologists have found beach pebbles here, presumably hoarded as Iron Age sling shots. The hill was also an Armada beacon site. The breach in the rampart was made during World War II to make way for a 100lb gun, which fired at ships at sea. An anti-aircraft gun was sited in the hollow beside the breach.

Archaeological evidence shows that this strategic site was also important for flint production. Some of the strange hollows are the remains of Stone Age flint mines, dating back 5-6,000 years. Over 270 pits have been found. The flint was used to make tools, and there is evidence that it was exported as far away as the eastern Mediterranean. The shafts were over 23 metres deep, with many galleries radiating from the base.

You can read more about Cissbury Ring on www.findon.info and about the South Downs at www.southdownsonline.org. You can see more photos and add your own on panoramio.com. Cissbury Ring is owned by the National Trust.

The healthiest thing in the world is a commercial business with a massive social heart. Having something you believe in and stand for and say we’re going to give 5 per cent of our revenue to this pot, to spread great stuff.

Business works really simply, you get a bunch of people sitting round a table every quarter to discuss the next year.

Government is not the boss. Companies are not the boss, they all just follow the pound or the dollar. People are the boss. But people don’t ever think they’re powerful. What happened with School Dinners is parents got really p***** off for three weeks. And we went from ‘couldn’t get a meeting’ to ‘here’s £280 million’ three weeks after broadcast.

He started to believe he could have achieved more with the same money than government.