It's a small investment, maybe $2 million or $3 million to help provide oversight of $80 billion," he said. "I'd expect in the mid-term that some of those oversight responsibilities will go away and a lack of accountability at the program level may ensue.

So, you've heard that the US government is likely to be shutting down its flagship Gov 2.0 initiatives, like data.gov?

On Twitter, Australian federal government insider Mia Garlick pondered if this news means that Gov 2.0 is just another passing fad.

Personally, I think this has more to do with the reality of politics, the GFC aftershock and short-sighted public administration practices that have roots in 20th century management thinking. But unless the Internet itself goes dark, Gov 2.0 is here to stay. Even here in Australian, I'm seeing many signs of it becoming part of business as usual. And there is a whole social innovation sector outside government that is only just finding its own momentum.

BTW For more on this, see Alex Howard's post on GovFresh (hat tip to Dominic Campbell).