1. Collaboration grows up: People will realise how important informal knowledge is when the people that leave take the conceptual “hard drive” with them and more importantly the relationships they may have made across services with other individuals. Which saved them so much time when they went for a coffee and found out there were working on similar projects and ought to be collaborating. Or when they learnt from a colleague in another organisation who’d applied for a successful bid what tips they could learn to write their own bid. Many people take that collaboration for granted, until the person leaves and suddenly their remaining colleagues don’t know how to cover the job.

You still need those human relationships, but social media means it’s not just a 1:1 sharing of knowledge, it’s not even a “menage a trois”, it’s everyone that follows you who’s part of the conversation.

2. Online communities are taken seriously

Question I would ask is, will online communities take engagement by public servants ? People behind online communities want transparency and honesty about what you can and can’t do. They know you can’t represent the whole organisation and most are fine with that. Ultimately they want you to treat them like human beings and you want you to act like one yourself, not act like a bot.

3. Technology and innovation works its way up the food chain

Yes, perhaps by disruption or reaction more than design?

4. A much needed focus on public sector employees

Couldn’t agree more, although I am biased

5. A revolution in local democracy

This goes beyond local government, until we sort out power inequalities in society, we won’t get a formalised revolution in local democracy. But I think there will be more bottom up democracy & it will be in real time – and more likely than ever be on issues local government has no power over. Councils will therefore need to listen even more than before to feel the community pulse.

In communities where there is stronger social capital, people will start demanding or creating their own sources of production and power. Councils will need to think much harder about helping communities leverage alternative investment and mentor others to develop those sources together. Where there is weaker social capital, they will need to become stronger advocates to central government and economic actors to bring that investment in.

I spend half my time feeling sorry for councillors for what they have to put up with, and half frustrated that they are unable (or unwilling) to effect the change that could really shake things up for the better. As you say, turkeys and christmas.

Your point 5 is where it all needs to be at, IMO. Many elected Members only exist and have their being at formal meetings. Not saying that anything they do at meetings is necessarily wrong, but when you see how many meetings, how large the agendas, and how notional the intellectual engagement that goes on in the name of “debate” etc, I am firmly convinced that the revolution needs to happen eventually. Trouble is, we know that turkeys will never vote for Christmas. And certainly not as soon as 2011.

Interesting however, that those who once feared (first) opening meetings to the public, and (more recently) webcasting, thought we would see a breed of politicians who would use meetings as a public soapbox for self promotion. Well, if the webcast I saw a couple of weeks ago, showing elected representatives dozing off, while some others wrote Christmas cards, is any guide, those fears were never realised. Time to up the ante? My favourite would be to get politicians out of the service scrutiny role and to put them on the other side of the table, answering accountably to scruting from the public and service users.