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"Dr. Mark Drapeau is an Associate Research Fellow directing the Social Software for Security (S3) project at the Center for Technology and National Security Policy of the National Defense University in Washington, DC. \nI recently asked Mashable readers to help me rename \"Government 2.0,\" and to make things more interesting, I personally put up some prizes. Many people voiced their opinions in the comments or got in touch with me in other ways, like through Twitter.\nThis is not merely a renaming effort, this is more of a rebranding effort. Why might Government 2.0 need to be rebranded? The main reason, particularly with the election of Barack Obama, is that gradually the public will have a wider appreciation for, and adopt greater use of, social technologies. Inasmuch as that pertains to government and the public sector, it would be useful to have a simple brand that encompasses the ideal of making government work better through use of social technologies.\nHere are some of the submissions:\n- Just Government- Real Democracy- Social Government- Next Government- ChangeGov- Quantum Government- Pluribus Government- Democratus- User-Generated Government- NeoGov- 2.0penGov- The Connected Republic- Participatory Democracy- Open Government- Uncle S@M- Zion- WeThePeeps- LuvGuv- Government Vista- iGov- ClearGov\nWhat's your favorite and why?\nHonorable Mentions\nHonorable mentions first to some funny ones. Michael Russell suggested \u201CUncle S@m\u201D (geeky cool), an anonymous commenter suggested \u201CZion\u201D (the rise of the people against the machines, dig it), and Julie Baker suggested WeThePeeps and LuvGov (great potential blog names!). \n\n\n\n\nFinally, thanks to Jeff for the elegant cynicism of \u201CGovernment Vista\u201D \u2013 it rings true while also being very amusing. But the most creative certainly has to be the acronym DR. TATTOO: Democracy Redefined. Transparency And Technology Trumping Orwellian Objectives. Wow. Thanks, Carey Bandler! You get the honorable mention award for \u201Cmost creative\u201D \u2013 a $15 certificate to Amazon!\nThe Winning Ideas\nSo what did I think were the two best crowdsourced Government 2.0 rebranding ideas? \nWeGovDavid Stephenson suggested WeGov, which I like. Not sure if that\u2019s entirely original, but I\u2019m not a nitpicker (it\u2019s not in the spirit of the original article!). I like it for three reasons. One, it\u2019s very simple and elegant. Two, it incorporates \u201Cwe\u201D and therein the notion that everyone has a role in the government. And three, it is a play on the older but still relevant and familiar \u201CeGov\u201D and so it could be seen as a successor. So, David, hope you are ready for all the CIA mugs, pens, and notepads you can handle.\niGovA very strong second place is iGov. I love this. Or should I say, iLove this? Mac products have gone from niche sales to a true cultural phenomenon, and this iGov captures the essence of that. It also incorporates \u201CI\u201D as in, \u201CI have a role to play in government.\u201D This is not as good as \u201Cwe\u201D and the sense of community that it brings, but it\u2019s still good. And as with WeGov, this is very simple and elegant. Lionel Butler, Lindy, and Neil Bonner played a part in iGov, so they\u2019re all getting National War College or similar coffee mugs. \nClearGovI also like \u201CClear Government,\u201D or ClearGov, a lot. It conjures up the notion of being transparent without actually stating it outright, and also is brief and to the point. Also, one could imagine numerous advertising schemes associated with the word \u201Cclear\u201D ranging from smoke-and-mirrors to clouds-on-a-rainy-day. But this one gets no prizes, as my interns submitted it themselves.  Their award is extra work. \nA Useful Crowdstorming Exercise\nAt the end of the day, people will still use terms like Web 2.0 and Government 2.0, and I think that\u2019s fine. But to bring the message out to a larger audience, some rebranding is necessary. I think this was a useful crowdstorming exercise in that respect, and created a very useful dialogue. As Chris Heuer pointed out, rebranding can help to transform \u201Cgovernment for the people\u201D to something more transparent and participatory, \u201Cgovernment with the people.\u201D I think that is very profound.\nDr. Mark Drapeau is an Associate Research Fellow directing the Social Software for Security project at the Center for Technology and National Security Policy of the National Defense University in Washington, DC.  These views are his own and not the official policy or position of any part of the U.S. Government. \nImage courtesy of iStockphoto, diademimages, Hamster3d"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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