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The Sunshine State offers warm climate, beautiful natural resources and a diversified culture. Florida has large urban areas, a number of smaller industrial cities, many small towns and a wide variety of attractions. The United States Census Bureau estimated that the state population was over 18 million in 2008, ranking Florida as the fourth most populous state in the U.S. FL2i is a statewide effort to develop a vibrant online community whose common interest is Florida. We welcome Floridians as well as people around the globe who are attracted by Florida to visit our site and join our online communities.
This project started as a response to IT Florida's initiatives to promote new technologies that produce innovation with a positive impact to the State of Florida. The original idea of creating the first web 2.0 site at a state level was presented to the IT Florida board during the Orlando Technology Award Gala that took place at Disney in Orlando in October of 2007. A group of IT Florida board members and multiple regional technology groups from different parts of the state decided to support this initiative, creating an Executive Committee to plan and supervise the efforts. The Florida 2.0 Initiative (FL2i) was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 2008. FL2i started by writing a white paper about how web 2.0 and social networks can apply to a statewide initiative based on the economic environment, culture and state priorities. The first most relevant communities were identified by the Executive Committee who invited thought leaders of those communities from different parts of Florida to define what purposes should be supported by the Fl2i social network.
The first advisory groups formed were Environment, Higher Education, Health Care and Digital Divide as a strategy to guarantee that the social network was truly representative of sate priorities, inviting thought leaders in Florida to define those priorities. Other areas that FL2i has discussed through constant contact with specialists in Flrorida are Government, Technology, Sports & Entertainment, Trade & Tourism and Economic Development. Thought leaders who participate in the FL2i advisory groups are volunteers who work for public and private organizations in Florida and who understand the vision of social networking as a tool to bring benefits to communities of practice that use social media to achieve specific purposes. The Digital Divide advisory group has contributed valuable ideas on digital literacy and is working on strategies to help reduce the gap for digital inclusion which can extend access to the social network to underserved and underdeveloped communities in Florida. Other relevant ideas have been contributed by the Higher Education group as part of a strategy to include broadband expansion and digital literacy in our support role. Ongoing contributions made by the Energy & Environment advisory group regarding business-friendly clean environment initiatives and the Health Care advisory group, addressing relevant health issues in Florida -- one of the strongest Health Care systems in the U.S. -- will be crucial to prove the FL2i potential to produce positive impacts through the use of the Social Web.
FL2i Governance The Governance Advisory Group creates and supervises the FL2i social network Code of Ethics and it also oversees the transparency of the nonprofit internal procedures before and after they are voted by the FL2i Board.
Communicate: FL2i will enable open interaction for compatible peers who can easily find each other through virtual spaces of common interest around Florida's industries and attractions. Many professionals and various kinds of organizations will find in Web 2.0 a powerful tool that can expand their network of contacts and resources to support their activities. And they can also find virtual spaces for sports and entertainment. Advanced web technology will allow people to participate both in professional and entertainment communities where they can find peers or friends, find social events of interest, discuss creative ideas and collaborate online at work, comfortably at home or on the road using mobile access.
Educate: The main purpose of FL2i is to create a web 2.0 culture in Florida. FL2i is commmited to evangelize on the use and impacts of social networking throughout the State. This objective is crucial for the success of the social networking movement in Florida since a large population in the State has never been exposed to social networks in the past and still doesn’t realize its potential value. Opinion leaders and members of the community can share their knowledge via blogs, documents, videos, podcasts, wikis and discussion groups. Topics of common interest will foster a focused environment that can make learning from others an easy and fun interactive process. For example, people can learn what to do in order to live in a cleaner environment; doctors and patients can learn about standards and regulations for keeping electronic health records; Florida universities can share specialized knowledge which is not always published or easy to find on their own web sites; and members can provide advice on how to expedite a specific process in a government agency.
Aggregate: Integrate one Florida virtual place that people recognize as a unique one-stop-shop resource. Third-party content can be mashed up so that FL2i members find relevant information and collaborate with other social network members in topics related to Florida -- all in one place, without the need to jump from web site to web site. There is an open trend in web 2.0 pointing at legally sharing content that can be reused by other web sites as long as the source is recognized and, sometimes, specific terms are fulfilled, or specific APIs are used to connect with the web site source. FL2i realizes that its focus is not to compete against popular social networks or content aggregators and it has listened from its advisory group members about the need for aggregating dispersed content which is relevant to their online activities.
Promote: Spread the word of the value of social networking and launch targeted campaigns to attract membership, divulge Florida’s top ideas, priorities and innovation. Social networks can be a key resource to promote the best Florida has to offer in terms of entrepreneurship, art, and its extensive natural resources. Promotion will target the local community as well as visitors and national or international businesses linked to Florida. The FL2i social network can aggregate and promote personal skills and opportunities for local jobs; campaigns to maintain a cleaner environment; local talented musicians and their performance activities; local entrepreneurial efforts exposing them to the venture capital community; and touristic attractions, restaurants, cultural events, exhibitions and anything of relevance that happens in Florida. Controlled messages and unobtrusive banners will be targeted to members by profile, topics of common interest and peer-to-peer relationships across communities. The FL2i promotion objective can contribute to the growth or prosperity of individuals, nonprofits and businesses in Florida that have something of value to communicate or offer on the social network.
Advocate: Connect community thought leaders and members in a virtual environment to identify social needs, voice ideas, and propose initiatives that can lead to more informed decisions made by policy makers. Due to its 501(c)(3) status, FL2i will not assume a lobbying role in any way, but it will offer the tools for advocates to communicate online and pursue their goals with the voice of the Florida social network behind them.
Digital Inclusion: Endorse digital literacy and provide a forum for people who believe that the Internet is a human right, extending this scope to the use of social networks by social communities around Florida. Social networking, as a new value-add layer that sits on top of Internet access and computer infrastructure, acts as a powerful tool to:
Economic Development: Offer an online environment where economic development opportunities can be created by means of community interaction through trusted relationships as a tool that can add value to the public and private initiatives of the State. The clue for social networks to contribute to innovation and economic development is to focus on a well established region with a strong cultural identity where trust relationships can be built. Diversified culture and population density in Florida offers a unique creative environment as part of a localized social ecosystem with strong regional cultural links and global connections. A State 2.0 initiative acts as a powerful tool to:
The social network is being deployed in phases, starting with basic social networking functionality and adding incremental functionality and innovative applications aimed at the above-mentioned objectives. The FL2i beta program was launched at the end of 2008. Updates on the status of the beta test are published on this blog.
As part of its innovation goal, the FL2i technology platform is based on social software tools (web 2.0) and knowledge modeling tools (web 3.0) that will enable better navigation schemes, easier ways to find peers and content, higher level of interaction across the FL2i communities as well as with other social networks, and "smarter applications". The first knowledge model is the social graph that includes members, profiles and associations with other members and communities.The first smart applications are being created around the FL2i social graph.
Web 2.0Here are some third-party definitions of Web 2.0: “Web 2.0 is a revolutionary view of the Internet and the social and business uses of advanced technologies rather than the technical aspects of those technologies.” “A social phenomenon embracing an approach to generating and distributing Web content itself, characterized by open communication, decentralization of authority, freedom to share and re-use, and "the market as a conversation” Some key aspects of web 2.0 are:
Here are a few videos form various sources to illustrate the emerging acceptance and potential uses of social media:
State 2.0State 2.0 applies to a wide scope of people, interests, arts, professional activities, government initiatives, and anything else that forms part of the diversified cultural and economic environment of a State. Based on the web 2.0 vision, State 2.0 enables better ways to collaborate under the context of a State identity and its priorities. Social networking may affect consumer, government and corporate interactions with no boundaries other than those accepted by the local community itself under the State Government regulation, developing trusted relationships and operating under a Code of Ethics that responds to the well being of the community. A State 2.0 initiative offers a valuable proactive resource for the cultural and economic development of the state by promoting a diversified online community that focuses on regional sources, resources and initiatives, and by encouraging its members to exchange ideas, voice their opinions on community matters, recommend solutions to social problems, exchange information in potential areas of opportunity, promote local industries, participate online in local sports and entertainment, and even do creative business online. ______________________________________________________________________________________________
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