There are a lot of knowledge sharing sites & networks used by local government people. It would be great if there was a single place that all local government staff could go to, to find and share information, but that horse may have already bolted. That doesn't mean that the existing knowledge sharing sites & networks can't work together to make the end users life a bit easier, in fact they are doing themselves and the local government community as disservice if they don't. Publishing information under a creative commons licensing and making data available as RSS feeds is a good start, and proving links to the other sites & networks is important too.
Below is a list of a few of the sites and networks in the space now, please free to add to the list and the descriptions.
Asset Mates
Asset Mates is an IPWEA hosted Asset Management forum.
Site Members: Unknown
Australian Local Government IT (Yahoo Groups)
Australian Local Government IT is a private email group for the exchange of questions, ideas and experiences between IT professionals in local government. The group has been operating since January 2004.
To join this group, you must supply a valid local government email address.
Site Members: 339
Google+
Google+ is Google's new social networking service. It is currently in invitation only beta, but it has a number of features that make it a very good potential local government knowledge sharing option.
Site Members: Unknown
Gov2.0 Australia (Google Groups)
Gov2.0 Australia is an open forum for discussing all matters relating to open government.
Site Members: 270
Innovation and Knowledge Exchange Network
The Innovation and Knowledge Exchange Network (IKEN) is a website managed on behalf of the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG) by the University of Canberra.
It is an interactive online space that provides a range of tools, resources and support for information exchange, collaboration, mutual learning and shared insights. There are many opportunities for engagement through forums, discussion groups, case studies, multi-media, opinion pieces and regular blogs with opportunity for comment, ideas and feedback from stakeholders.
There is a good mix of local government & educational professionals using the site so this might be a good place to discuss training and educational related topics.
Site Members: 183
LGWebNetwork
The LGWebNetwork was a network is for Local Government people involved in working on the web. It was supported by the Local Government and Shires Associations of NSW (LGSA) and Local-e a department of the LGSA. The website closed down after the departure of key staff.
Site Members: 0
There are almost certainly thousands of local government people using LinkedIn, and quite a few local government related groups.
Site Members: Unknown
Local Government & Municipal Knowledge Base
The Local Government & Municipal Knowledge Base is a Wikipedia-like encyclopedia of Local Government related knowledge. It has been up-and-running since October 2008 and contains over 3000 pages of information.
All of the information on the site is published under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Licence, which means it can be freely re-used and adapted.
Site Members: 448
Local Government Human Resources (Yahoo Groups)
Local Government Human Resources is a Yahoo Groups based forum for Australian Local Government Human Resources practitioners focusing on all types of HR issues in Local Government.
Membership is only open to those who are directly employed by Local Government in a human resources related role. A ".gov.au" email address is a prerequisite for joining.
Site Members: Unknown
Local Government Records Management (Yahoo Groups)
Local Government Records Management is a Yahoo Groups based forum for the Discussion of Local Government Records Management issues & practices.
Site Members: 191
Ozloop
Ozloop is a Ning based social network for Australian Public Servants. It is probably a good place to discuss issues that apply across multiple levels of government.
Site Members: 346
Twitter is a popular micro blogging service.
Site Members: Unknown