Welcome to the legacy website for my doctoral program at the University of Victoria. My current site and all content from this site has moved to https://jlphd.wordpress.com.
If you are a phd student, I hope some of the content here (like the ethics application, for example) is helpful to you. My dissertation was focussed on the effect of Gov2.0 technologies on the inside-of-government policy formulation process. My graduate work was supported by the UVic Mitacs Research Cluster “Web2.0 + Web3.0 Approaches to the Information / Decision Interface in Public Policy” under the direction of Dr. Rod Dobell. I have a longstanding interest in the knowledge / decision interface in public policy, with a specific focus on human-system / ecosystem sustainability and mechanisms for citizen engagement, with about twenty years experience as a researcher, consultant and civil servant. In a closely-linked work life, as the founder and principal of Whitehall Policy Inc., I lead our approach to enhancing government policy analysis, external stakeholder engagement and policy analysis processes using Web2.0 and data analytics. More academic background detail can be found on my CV, and my professional resume is best viewed through LinkedIn.
Coming Up (Spring /Summer 2013)
- I am scheduled to present at the dg.o 2013 (Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research) in Quebec City in June.
- I have another book chapter due before the end of July and am currently writing a paper on MOOCs and what they can teach us about online civic deliberation.
- I have accepted a very exciting post-doc offer to start in August 2013. Full details will be posted once it’s 100% confirmed.
Past Events
- Through my firm eBriefings.ca, I recently completed work on the NEPTUNE Canada-led Digital Fishers project on what I call science-oriented crowdsourcing, a Web2.0 variant of traditional citizen science.
- I was part of the organizing committee for a symposium and publication project reflecting on the career of my long-time supervisor and mentor Dr. Rod Dobell. At that symposium, I presented a draft paper on the future of policy analysis in light of anticipated advances in computer technology along three lines: massive data, open data and artificial intelligence.
- I was honoured to have my paper on open government data receive the 2011 Ostry Prize from the University of Toronto.
- I was involved in a successful entry in the BC government’s Apps For Climate Action contest. A blog post on that project can be found here. This is an iOS app and related curriculum materials to support middle-school teachers and students in exploring the link between personal choices and climate change.
- 3rd GLOBEC Open Science Meeting, Victoria BC, June 22-26 2009 (presenting with Rod Dobell on “Place-based oceans governance in a Web2.0 World”).
- UVic School of Public Admin Director’s Dialogues – Two-Part Series:
- Climate Science and Public Policy (Part 1): New Challenges in a Web 2.0 World (Rod Dobell and Justin Longo). Wednesday, February 18, 2009, 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. Tom Shoyama Boardroom, 3rd Floor, Room A373, Human and Social Development Building University of Victoria. Still working on the audio / slide-deck.
- Climate Science and Public Policy (Part 2): Implications for Governance and the Public Service (Rod Dobell and Justin Longo). Friday, February 20, 2009, 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. Tom Shoyama Boardroom.
- I contributed to a presentation by Rod Dobell at the symposium “BC’s Climate Change Agenda: Changing Cultures, Sustaining Momentum.” The presentation can be found here.
- INFONEX Conference on “Public Sector Internal Communications“, December 2008 OTTAWA. The paper I presented is available.
Justin Longo, phd 
Hi Justin,
I got a few questions into your survey bnefore my government computer choked on it and spit it out and hitting reply to your survey invitation was undeliverable by the government server. Maybe the technology needs a bit more work before we enter the brave new world of Gov2.0.
lol – thanks for trying John. I appreciate the effort and perseverance. Yes, I agree that getting Gov 1.0 (or even Gov 101) right before leaping into Gov 2.0 would be nice. Cheers.
Just finished your government survey. Best wishes with your work and becoming an “almost a not real doctor”.
Thanks Jeanne – I really appreciate the help.
Hi Justin. The survey wasn’t onerous as you intimate, and did give me pause a few times with the layers of ethics and moral suasion in some of your questions. I’d be curious how you’re proposing to tease out the nuance in a “that depends” choice one might make in their actions taken wrt your scenarios. Interesting survey – good luck!
Hi Glenn – Good question. I was persuaded to add the “it depends” text box to the scenarios just before i deployed it, but I thought it would just serve as a salve to respondents who didn’t appreciate being forced into a “yes” or “no”. But I think you’re right that the “yes, and no, but …” comments will turn out to be very interesting qualitative data in their own right. Hopefully the volume of comments received there allows for qualitative data analysis similar to the type I’ll be doing for the semi-structured interview component of the research.
Thanks for looking at the survey – glad it didn’t take too long (the software is telling me it’s taking an average of 43 minutes – but that must include people who have it left open in a browser tab for many hours on end). Cheers!