New Zealand police has created a new wiki to get insights from the public for a new Policing Act which will be presented to the country’s parliament.  The wiki is available for anyone to edit and is part of an ongoing public review of proposed changes to the act.  Hamish McCardle, the superintendent in charge, describes the goal, “launching a wiki version of a statute is a novel move, but one we hope will yeild a range of views from people interested in having a direct say on the shape of a new Policing Act.”

Another wiki, run by the State Services Commission, has been in operation since the beginning of 2007.  The ParticipatioNZ wiki, as it is known, has been accesses by thousands of people with hundreds of changes and additions made to the pages. Although the effectiveness of these tools for policymaking is yet uncertain, experiments such as those in New Zealand should go a long way in teaching governments how to become more open and collaborative.