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Andrew Beeken presented a very useful session at UKGovCamp11 this year discussing how we can produce corporate videos on the cheap. A lot of good tips were shared and thoughts were exchanged during Andrew’s session as well as the Q&A. If you are interested in producing a cost effective video using very cheap or free tools for your local council, be sure to watch the whole session as Andrew takes you through his experience producing cheap but good quality videos for Lincoln City Council.

UKGovCamp11: Video production on the cheap for local government (Andrew Beeken) from Liz Azyan on Vimeo.

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People often talk about getting on the property ladder for first time buyers and this would possibly be the talking point for many graduates who have manage to secure their first job and now considering their first real estate purchase. But nowadays, graduates are faced with a different conundrum. They are faced with the challenge of getting ON the job ladder.

The job ladder

Now you might be wondering, why do I say job ladder and not a career ladder? Well take this snipet I found on Yahoo! Answers

This basically draws a picture how frustrating the job market can be in the UK and graduates are lucky to even get a job than have a job that matches their degree. So therefore, what we are talking about here is the job ladder and not a career ladder.

To highlight this matter even further, last year the government had to deliver a crash course for unemployed graduates on how to get a job as the situation worsens.  This story was covered by the BBC on their website.

Crash course on how to get a job

Unemployed Britons

It’s a known fact nowadays that its getting more an more difficult to secure a job and there are rare to come by and with the government cuts, it will make matters even worst for local governments as this might lead to more people in unemployment, on benefits and create less economic prosperity in their local area.

Its not only graduates that are not getting jobs, there are voices echoing those who are skilled but also fall into the unemployed bracket as they are being made redundant.  Polls on specialised recruitment sites are also expressing some anxiety and uncertainty of the future

.

https://www.ex-mil.co.uk/

How does unemployment effect local governments?

There are major negative effects for local governments if unemployment rises in their area. Unemployment is a very devastating thing to go through and this may lead to the following to occur: -

Economic effects

1. Increased expenditure as increased rate of social welfare, because more people are unemployed.
2. Decreased income as less PAYE (Pay As You Earn) because less people are employed.
3. Decreased income as less goods and services produced because of increased unemployment and people would have less money to spend because of being unemployed so less goods and services bought so lesser demand.
4. If people are unemployed, production of goods and provision of services falls off, and simultaneously, the people who are unemployed lack the ability to purchase goods and services.
5. Investors will also be reluctant to invest any money in the production of goods or the provision of services because when production and consumption are down, there is no opportunity to get a return on the investment.

Social effects

1. Crime rate rise as people are unable to meet their financial needs through work.
2. Lead to a person to go to illegal activities such as drugs.  It can have detrimental effects for not only the individual but for their local community as a whole.
3. An increase in the poverty population as unemployment leads to no source of income and without money for basic needs.
4. Divorce rates often rise because people cannot solve their financial problems.
5. The rate of homelessness rises, as do the rates for mental and physical illness.
6. Homes will be repossessed or abandoned, and neighbourhoods deteriorate as a result.

As a result, the ability of local government to provide will also be seriously compromised. When there is high unemployment, people pay less in income taxes and also pay less in sales taxes because they purchase fewer goods and services. This leads to less in the way of public services, which includes everything from police and fire protection to the staffing for local councils swimming pools and rubbish pickup.

A fast-forward scenario

John Smith loses his job, cuts back his spending in every area, including wants (eating out, movies, trips to the amusement park) and even needs (shoes for his kids, or even meat for meals at home).  If John is one of several thousand who were laid off in a community, and they’re all cutting back spending in the same way he is, soon the local grocery stores, restaurants, cinemas, department stores, etc will begin to register fewer profits.  A trend like that, allowed to continue, might lead to layoffs in the stores, restaurants, cinemas, etc, and the cycle will begin anew.  For an economy, local or national, to thrive, people must be spending money, and for people to spend money, they need to be employed.

Effect of unemployment on the employed

Unemployment causes a greater reliance on government assistance.  This increases economic stress on social programs as well as on taxpayers.  Taxpayers will feel they are paying for other peoples needs instead of their own. This will lead to taxpayers feeling that their government has treated them unfairly. This may be down to the quality of quantity of services they received being below the adequate level of need.

How unemployment has turned to Web 2.0

Many recruiters nowadays have turned to web 2.0 to help them find suitable candidates for a job. Recruiters and job seekers both are setting up LinkedIn Groups, Twitter, YouTube, Podcast and Internet radio, Facebook pages, iPhone apps and blogs to either attract job seeker or even job seeking itself. Recruiters are even now developing social media strategies to build their business. This is a indicator of how times are changing and traditional methods are no longer practical or attractive to people either seeking or offering employment. You can download a copy of “Social media for Recruitment – A practical guide on using social media to build your business”. If you are interested in looking at it from a HR/employers point of view and want to be more active in social media to find suitable candidates for your company, you can view the “Web 2.0 and HR: A discussion paper” below.

The Jobcentre Plus

The Jobcentre Plus website is the UK’s most visited recruitment website with over a million visitors each week. This means that Jobcentre Plus content is a valuable resource for both job seekers and employers. Local council websites are under more and more stress to cut costs where possible. Therefore a Jobcentre Plus widget for customized job search for your local area and a redundancy information widget can help local council websites with valuable content and give citizens the information that they need in this hard time.  This type of partnership with councils are to be encouraged and embraced if we are to take up the Big Society challenge.

Partnerships are most basic example of the Big Society

According to 2010 Conservative’s manifesto, the Big Society is about transferring power from central to local government.  Therefore in small way, by sharing information, widgets, apps and assets, we are driving Big Society in the right direction.

Local Directgov developed this widget with Innovate at http://innovate-apps.direct.gov.uk and strategy for you to use the widget effectively as well as encourage other users to embed your customized widget on their blog or website.

Local Directgov will also be sharing some usability tips for local council wiki on their CoP, so be sure to sign up as a member to gain the full benefit of how-to videos, sharing assets and knowledge.

The truth is, we should start sharing and USING what all our partners have to offer. Difficult times calls for a time of unity and doing with less. But it doesn’t mean that we are in any means short of innovation or resources. What we lack is the ability to ‘work together’, awareness and humbleness…

Hope this was useful!

Liz Azyan

http://www.facebook.com/LGEOResearch

http://www.twitter.com/Liz_Azyan

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This document provides extensive social media guidance. It contains information for Army leaders, guidance for Army Families, operations security tips, branding information, checklists, regulations and frequently asked questions. The 2011 Social Media Handbook is your one-stop-shop for Army social media information. To download, click here.

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For the past year, I have been rather quiet due to the many thoughts that have entered my mind regarding the future of local government public services online. Mostly those thoughts encompasses on the people on local government who inspiringly want to improve digital services and the lack of means to do so. So its like going to the playground only to find out its shut or the rides are broken. You can imagine how frustrating this could be… To say I’m in doubt is an understatement.. With spending cuts hitting local council services the most, it is unsure of what is beyond 2010 looks like for council services.

However, since Martha Lane Fox’s Report “Directgov 2010 and Beyond: Revolution not Evolution” was published on 23rd of November of last year, there has been many voices concerned in local government that there was no single mention of what should be done to improve digital services from a local aspect. As Dane Wright from Brent Council pointed out on the Local Directgov’s Communities of Practice not too long ago…

In fact the word “local” doesn’t appear at all in the whole document.  Quite possibly this wasnt in MLF’s brief but what are we in local government meant to make of her report?

I think Dane makes a good point. What are we in local government suppose to make of this report? We in local government know that most digital services used by citizens come from our local authority digital transactions. And at the best of times, those digital transactions do not marry up with Directgov online services.

The question here is, why don’t they? Is there a distinct difference in central and local government digital services delivery? Or are central services not reaching our local authorities websites? Are they not compatible?

Since only Directgov is mentioned in the report, how do we in local government action upon this report?

Still puzzled?

If you are still feeling a bit puzzled and have not yet read Martha Lane Fox’s report, you can see how it came about at http://directgovreview.readandcomment.com/. Martha Lane Fox’s advisory group  included brains from the BBC, Google, M&S, YouGov, academia and venture capital. You can read and download the report at this link http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/directgov-2010-and-beyond-revolution-not-evolution

The response to MLF’s report has been wide but still not quite ‘local’. Here is the feedback seen around the web as of now (Thank you to Neil Williams for collating most of them)

• Cabinet Office press release, MLF review and Maude response (PDF)
• Guardian, Telegraph, BBC coverage
• Blogger reaction from Steph Gray, Simon Dickson, Neil Williams, Michele Ide-Smith, Matt Jukes, Public Strategist, Andrew Lewin, Tom Watson, Wayne Smallman, Mick Phythian, Stephen Hale and Alan Mather
• A must-read comment from Tom Loosemore on Steph’s blog (contains some clarification about that all important word ‘commissioning’)

Michele Ide-Smith’s blog post makes a very good point from a local government point of view…

Overall I think the report is very positive, clear and to the point. I have limited knowledge of how central Government web delivery is governed and managed. But reading other posts (mentioned above) throws some light on the political implications of this review. But we will need to watch and wait to see what happens next.

In sharp contrast, local government are being asked to deliver or commission services with an increasingly local focus. The forthcoming Localism Bill will throw more light on what Localism means for Councils next week. But at this stage it is not clear what impact Government’s Localism agenda will have on the user experience of digital, local, public services. Is it likely LocalDirectGov will have a more significant role in improving the user experience of local services?

Well Michele, you might be right on this one, as Local Directgov recently has been asking for feedback on the report upon Martha Lane Fox’s request on Local Directgov’s Communities of Practice Forum Board. (Isn’t it great to be right Michele?)

What do we do now?

Get on to Local Directgov’s Forum Board and give feedback on Martha Lane Fox’s report. Don’t forget to also catch her most recent interview at the Guardian “Martha Lane Fox: how councils can bring about a digital future for all“. In this piece Martha Lane Fox goes into great detail on how local authorities can encourage their citizens to get online and why internet access for all could be the way to beat the cuts. There was two main points made in this article that I thought was worth sharing…

Guardian: There seems to be a will in local government to change their digital behaviour and make themselves more inclusive. Can you give them some ways to start?

Martha Lane Fox: Looking at your own backyard, look at how you represent yourself online. Is your website easy to use, accessible, does it provide the best services to your constituents? Do you need all the websites that you have, are they the best practice on the web?

We now live in a world where technology doesn’t have be invested in to the same extent. Rather than assuming it’s a costly IT project, ask yourself is there a cheap way? Could we start a Facebook group, ask for help on Twitter? Then go out and test those ideas until you find what works.

Guardian: What’s the one thing councils should be doing to make themselves part of the Race Online 2012?

Martha Lane Fox: We’re really delighted to have council partners, and are following their lead. I’m not the expert in local government so I don’t want to be prescriptive but we do need councils to sign up to the website so we can plug them together with other partners. But the most important point is to make sure they really are embedding digital thinking in all of their strategies and thinking about what support they need to give to people offline. Finally, think about digital champions, appoint someone to lead this and filter it down through the organisation.

Why Local Directgov?

Martha Lane Fox and her team recently conducted a review of the  Directgov website.  Now she wants to know what help she could give to Local Authorities to develop customer focussed, efficient and transactional websites. So, what are you waiting for? Please help  start the debate here by giving your views which Local Directgov can pass on to her team.

If you haven’t signed up to Local Directgov’s CoP, you may do so here now.

UKGovCamp11

Are you going to UKGovCamp11 this Saturday? If you are, I hope to see you there and rumours are the Local Directgov team will be there too, so be sure to catch them there and tell them what you think about the report. Look out for Sheenagh Reynolds and Louise Russell. Until then, take care and see you soon.. I hope!

Hope this was useful!

Liz xxx

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I recently was contacted by Matthew Crozier, Director of Bang The Table Ltd, a specialist provider of online stakeholder engagement services in Australia. They work at the intersection of the latest web technologies and best practice stakeholder engagement to deliver interactive communications solutions that can be hosted on BangTheTable’s website or branded with its client’s identity. Their HQ is in Australia and have done several project government online engagement projects there with a long list of clients as well. They are currently looking for a partner in the UK, so if you are interested, please get in touch with Matt (@MattCrozier), say Liz Azyan sent you! ;o)

Just in case you’re wondering, I haven’t been paid a single penny to mention all of this. I am just a fan of their blog and read it regularly. Matt has kindly allowed me to reuse their content for LGEOResearch, which is something I could not resist. And as you know, good content is like gold in online currency. I’m always looking of new ways to liven up this blog and I thought sharing hand picked content by bloggers I admire and trust is a great way to start. So please enjoy this second edition of LGEO Research’s EpicStar SuperPost (Guest Post) by BangTheTable.

This post was written by Tamara Shardlow from BangTheTable.

View original post here.

There is much more to a successful online consultation than having a pretty website. Yes, a site needs to look smart and deliver the goods design-wise, but with the main objective being to rally community participation, it’s crucial that you deliver a site based on sound methodology and highly engaging content.

Of course, there is no single element of a site that will galvanise community opinion.  It is fair to say however, that sites that have a built-in, bona-fide “care factor” carry a far higher success rate than those that don’t.

It’s common sense really, and it goes to the heart of any human relationship.  Simply put, if you demonstrate respect for your community by putting some thought, effort and creativity into your site, they will thank you; not through words but through the action of getting more people engaged in the conversation.

Before we start, it’s worth considering the various objectives of a successful online community or stakeholder engagement site:

• The end objective is in the main, to listen to the genuine opinion of a broad community base. To achieve this, there are a number of objectives that slot into each area:
• The tone of a site should be one that is refreshing, friendly, professional and enthusiastic. This will set the best environment to creating the kind of relationship that will engender community participation.
• The content of the site should provide text and visual aids that clarifies the issues and motivates participation.  This may require some outside-of-the-box thinking and thoughtful consideration.
• The structure of the site should position key information at top and keep the page content short, sharp and to the point. Keep in mind that people will be opening the site on computers, each displaying various amounts of “screen area”.
• The design of the site should be professional and easy to navigate.  Ensure that uniformity of font type and size are key considerations.

1. Visceral, concrete discussion topics

The best sites connect with their target communities by using concrete, emotionally engaging issues that people can get their teeth into and their heads around.

A draft management plan in its raw form is not likely to stir community emotion, not even in the most engaged citizen.  To cater to the community’s interest, reach into the plan’s specifics.  Tease them out, reshape them and season them so that they can be easily digested by a broad audience.

This first analysis of your project will help you to develop the structure, tone and content of your site.

1. Are you consulting on an issue that is both emotional and tangible? If not, can the content of the consultation be reframed to be both emotional and tangible?
2. If your consultation concerns an issue that is less than concrete – for example a Vision Statement –have you adjusted your expectations regarding the level of community interest and site activity?
3. Have you managed to translate dry content into interesting, relevant content?

2. Good bone structure

The screen area that your site visitor first opens lands on is prime digital real estate.

A user will in fact, focus 80% to 90% of their attention on the information that is displayed when they first arrive – too much scrolling and the visitor loses focus.

1. Have you drafted a plan for the kinds of content you would like to load onto the site?
2. Have you prioritised the content?  Are your most important items at the top of the screen?
3. Have you considered screen area on other computers?  Open the site on a laptop. Where does the content sit?

3.    Pithy copy – Call your community to action

Introducing your site to visitors is like greeting people at the door of an event.  People will want to be greeted warmly, be told what they can expect inside and understand what opportunities they will have when they enter.

Set yourself a limit of 200 words to achieve a crisp, articulate introduction that’s free from techno babble and government jargon.  And while professionalism is important to maintain, don’t be afraid to express interest and zeal.  The best way to generate enthusiasm is, of course, to be enthusiastic yourself.  This will also go a long way to help alleviate a site visitor from feeling uneasy or intimidated.

Along similar lines, good design considers the needs of the user.  You do have some control over this, especially in terms of how you set and use your text.

Text that is laid out using a consistent font type and size makes a site not only visually more appealing, but easier to take in and navigate around.

Resist the temptation to highlight random words using italics, bold, underline, colour, large fonts in strange and mysterious ways.  It is unprofessional, distracting and a poor substitute for clean, crisp layout and vibrant copy.

1. Is your title a clear “call to action”?
2. Does your copy outline why the consultation input is important to your organisation?
3. Does your copy state why the consultation matters to the reader?

4.   Surveys & Polls – Gather swift opinion

Using a pointed and precise survey within your online engagement site can harvest community opinion swiftly.  The most effective are used as thoughtful communication exercises that canvass questions that will also be of interest to the community. People are more likely to answer your questions if they can see a direct personal benefit; they want to provide their opinion rather than a long list of personal information.

Consider that at least 30% of your questions should pose issues or subjects that will feed back some kind of benefit to the community.

1. Is your survey short? A one question poll is best; any more than eight questions and you will have lost your audience
2. Will the questions you’ve posed feed into the broader engagement process?
3. Have you asked questions that consider community needs rather than your needs?

5.    Video – Deliver an icebreaker

Adding a locally made video to your site can act as an “icebreaker”, opening a window onto the issue at hand and giving the community an opportunity to eyeball your organisation.

A video adds movement and visual dimension and delivers accessibility to those who won’t read the documents.

You don’t need to be the next Tarrantino or Hitchcock for it to be engaging.  In fact, people tend to like video that has a “built in the back shed” feel to it, and has been created using amateur or even mobile phone based equipment.

But give it a twist.  Take the mayor for a coffee and ask him or her questions at the local cafe.  Interview a few locals in the street and tape their responses.  Again, it doesn’t need to be “high art”, but making it less formal and even a little fun can do wonders for audience uptake.

Click here for examples of how video has been used as a community engagement resource.

You can also use the site to invite video submissions from your community.  This can be especially useful in terms of place making exercises.  Why not stir the pot of community imagination and offer a prize to the video that best encapsulates the message?  A local art identity could judge the entries.

Click here for ten top tips on how to create a great video by our resident videographer, Rob Brock.

1. Have you created a video that is less than 3 minutes in length?  With such a tight time frame you will both stay on track and on target.
2. Have you posted a posting a transcript of the video in the library on the site to comply with best practice accessibility?
3. Have you made a simple, cheap and effective video using a PowerPoint presentation?  Just load up the content and create a voice over using the programs software.

5.  Photographs create a powerful visual pull

A well chosen photo can dramatically alter how a visitor will relate to your site.

70 – 80% of humans are primarily visually disposed.  This means that supplementing your introductory text with a well chosen photo or illustration that visually tells the story will speak to a large percentage of your community.

1. Are your photographs directly relevant to the project?
2. Have you considered how your photographic images related to organisational branding?
3. Have you considered the sizing of your photographs?  Are they pushing other content off the screen?

6.  Documents provide rich, satisfying content

A well stocked library is like a well stocked pantry; rich in all kinds of content that pleases the information requirements for all kinds of visitors.  With this analogy in mind, who’s coming to dinner?

Each of the stakeholder groups that you’ve mapped out in your planning process will invariably hold different interests.  This space is where you can serve information that will satisfy and provide them with what they need to make the best decision that they can.

Large reports can also be chunked into specifics that make it easier for your community to navigate through.  For some this may be demographically based, for others it may be segmented geographically, for others it may be issues or amenities oriented.

Equally, if you have a lengthy management plan or something similar, why not give it some community heft by translating into an uncomplicated PowerPoint presentation replete with interesting pictures and straightforward explanations.

Your community will appreciate your effort (even if they don’t say so).

1. Have you broken larger documents down into bite sized chunks?
2. Have you loaded your site with as much information as you can get your hands on?
3. Have you linked any documents that are referred to elsewhere in the site for ease of use?

7.  Key dates step out the consultation process

Displaying the opening and closing of your online consultation, plus the offline events, gives people a timeframe to work within and a context for how their online input will feed into the overall community engagement strategy.

1. Have you advertised the opening and closing of your consultation?
2. Have you advertised the dates of your other offline engagement events?
3. Have you considered adding in project milestone dates?

8.  Visual aids double your relationship building efforts

A richly supplied video and picture library encourages visitor participation by delivering the “physicality” of the site, aspects that include gestures, eye contact and “voice”.  In simple terms, it makes your ideas and thoughts “visible”.

A visual aid library can help stimulate discussion by enlivening the tone.  Clear pictures multiply your audience’s level of understanding and can reinforce your objectives, clarify points and create excitement.

Studies by educational researchers suggest that approximately 83% of human learning occurs visually, and the remaining 17% through the other senses – 11% through hearing, 3.5% through smell, 1% through taste, and 1.5% through touch.

Researchers tell us that we remember 10 percent of what we read, 20 percent of what we hear, and 50 percent of what we both see and hear.

Poorly selected or inadequately executed visual aids will distract from your key messages.

1. Have you restrained yourself from loading visual aids that don’t inform the process further?
2. Have you loaded photos and videos that are locally made and help to inform the project – graphs to support numerical information, maps, and design alternatives?
3. Have you thought outside of the box and loaded up cartoons, animations or otherwise to help stimulate discussion?

9.  FAQS map out the process

In our experience, the FAQs are one of the least viewed areas on a site.  People want to develop their opinions using their own research.  We do know that most people will download documents and watch the site videos long before they read your tailored project FAQs.

With this in mind, consider using the FAQ function as an opportunity to guide people through the use of the site.   Questions you might answer might be:

1. Will we find out the results of the engagement and if so, when?
2. Who is in charge of moderation and what are the rules?
3. How do I keep my identity private?

10. Discussion questions invite your community to join in

This is when your consultation opens out to the community domain.

The online visitors have been warmly welcomed to the online space, they have been handed a map to guide them through (the introduction and FAQs), browsed the content to help develop their opinions (document library), been visually engaged and stimulated (video and photos), and know when the final opportunity to have their say will be and where (Key Dates).

If the site has done its job, visitors will feel primed to answer the questions that you’ve posed.

Now is not the time to damage that relationship by asking your community to comment on the generalities of a plan that is hundreds of pages in length.  Your visitors will leave in droves, feeling bemused and unsatisfied.  So instead, ask questions that are interesting to them and make sense to you.

Deciding what these questions are may require a two stepped process (at least).  First, by boiling a large document down to its bares bones to identify the key areas of community interest and secondly by prising the interest areas open to see how they relate to people on a day to day basis.  Your job is to identify the impacts of your proposals on your stakeholders, not to bury the impacts in a voluminous and turgid tome. This process will leave you with the key ingredients that can then make up a series of relevant questions.

Using this process, write out as many questions as you possibly can think of, then prioritise and create a shortlist of between three and six.

1. Have you identified the key areas of interest of your community?
2. Have you repurposed the questions so that they are directly relevant to your community’s interests?
3. Will their input be valuable to your final or living document?

View original post here.

Hope this was useful!

Liz xxx

Other posts

• Now with pictures & other Twitterati lists!: @Liz_Azyan’s Twitterati Dedication List – People you should follow on Twitter
• List and status of UK Local Council Twitters
• List of UK Local Councils on YouTube as of 22nd July 2009
• Updated list of UK Local Councils Twitter Accounts – 22nd July 2009
• Government-to-Citizen Communications: Utilising multiple digital channels effectively

Since the launch is near, we are showing customers how the new website will look like and creating videos to show them how to use the new features of the website. Like the ones you find below.

There will be a lot of improvements to how the website will work from a design and usability point of view. You will be able to find what you are looking for much quicker and identify transactions more easily.

The goals of the new website include:

• Increased adoption of digital channels
• Increased use of online services
• Reduced information duplication
• Improved workflow

The website will increase citizen satisfaction by delivering the following: -

• Enhanced engagement
• Increased confidence and trust
• Improved responsiveness
• Enhanced experience

Here is a snapshot of the homepage of the new website.

*These images are thumbnails, please click to view larger image.

Exciting new features include the following: -

An action navigation bar that will provide easy access to services across the website.

‘Mega’ menus that will allow quick navigation on all pages of the new website, offering easy access to popular pages, and transactions

Compare this with old navigation of categories: -

A new action panel that will be available on all lower pages for easy access to transactions such as Pay, Apply, Report, Book, Locate and Request. You can see an example of the sequence of action when you use this action panel below.

A new A to Z will be available on the homepage as well as all other pages for easy navigation.

This is how the current A-Z appears on the website

A new and more visible search bar will encourage users to search for information

This is how the search is currently displayed on the website.

The new footer will also help users navigate the new website better.

This is the current footer on the current website

The website will also display Camden council’s social media links.

A more detailed description of all these features will be following soon.

Want to to find out more about the development of the new website? Browse Camden Website Redesign Project Blog.

Hope this was useful!

Liz xxx

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Liz effectively articulates how local government can use integrated, multi-channel communications to increase access to information and services, improve opportunities for engagement, and offer members of the community a choice in how they get their information.

Stephen Cross from Hillingdon Council

If you wish to follow more of Liz’s tips and research in the future, join Liz’s LGEO Research page on Facebook.

Update (6/6): This paper has now been promoted on Scribd to the ‘Rising List’ with a count of 547 reads so far and increasing. Thanks for your support on this research!

Background of this White Paper

After years of research, I’ve often been asked of my opinion of what I feel can increase citizen engagement online. And through all the insightful conversations I’ve had with several of LGEO Research readers, it often nagged me that I never really could see a solution that was simple enough for local councils to adopt that will translate with citizens. It was also important that any solution that was going to work, should encourage internal processes within government to improve as well. So my vision was definitely a tall order!

Amongst all the wizzy stuff emailed my way, a lot of solutions seemed very sophisticated and very impressive but seemed difficult to measure or understand how it works. Simplicity and measurable results should be  on top of the list when choosing a solution for citizen engagement online and I feel I have found one possible solution that might suit local councils. But for every solution, there must be reasons motivating its adoption.

So this paper explores the reasons behind those motivations. It will draw a picture of the true state of governance and communications, that we live in today. I do hope that you will find useful and inspiring. There are also videos links attached to this White Paper that will explain the content in more detail. Audios of the White Paper are also available below for accessibility.

I look forward to hearing your feedback.

Government-To-Citizen Communications – Using Multiple Digital Channels Effectively

Audios of paragraphs on this White Paper for better accessibility

1. Government Communications Today
Government Communicate Today

2. How is government currently engaging with citizens online?
White Paper – 2 How is government currently engaging with citizens online?

3. What are the challenges government faces when communicating with the public?
White Paper – 3 What are the challenges government faces when communicating with the public?

4. The reasons why public communications must be improved
White Paper – 4 The reasons why public communications must be improved

5. Benefits for governments and citizens
White Paper – 5 Benefits for governments and citizens

6. Finding a simple, low cost solution
White Paper – 6 Finding a simple, low cost solution

7. Integrating social media and email into governments web communications strategy
White Paper – 7 Integrating social media and email into governments web communications strategy

8. Examples of social media as a web communication tool
White Paper – 8 Examples of social media as a web communication tool

9. Example of email as an effective web communication tool
White Paper – 9 Example of email as an effective web communication tool

10. An integrated platform for reaching the public more effectively
White Paper – 10 An integrated platform for reaching the public more effectively

11. Examples of how it should work
White Paper – 11 Example of how it should work

12. Examples of effective communications via email with measurable cost savings and avoidable contact results
White Paper – 12 Examples of effective communications via email with measurable cost savings and avoidable contact results

13. Benefits measured within 9 – 12 months
White Paper – 13 Benefits measured within 9 – 12 months

14. Communicating with citizens during emergencies
White Paper – 14 Communicating with citizens during emergencies

15. Conclusion
White Paper – 15 Conclusion

Thank you for all the tweets and wonderful support!

Also thank you to all my friends in government who have supported me all this time. Your support is what has given me this wonderful opportunity to deliver this White Paper to you today. It truly wasn’t possible without you!

Hope this was useful!

Liz

Possibly Related Posts

• Details of my next speaking event: Social Media – Tools for innovation and efficiency
• My presentation in Birmingham 22/9/10. Slides and recorded live web cast available.
• Open Cover Letter: I’m back on the market. Give me a challenge and the opportunity to make a real difference
• Social media: The misunderstood teenager?
• ScotWeb2

Ever since we launched our web development blog, there has been an increased interest in local government web development blogs.  Looking at some of the response below (tweets about Camden’s web development blog and some of our blog posts) that we’ve had over the past few weeks, I believe the number of local government web development blogs will increase and more lessons can be learnt within our growing community.

Popular blog post

Our recent blog post about the citizens ‘wish list’ got syndicated onto the Governing People (a popular community for advocates of smarter government that is read and subscribed by many government staff and interested parties from around the world) and was retweeted 30 times and read 1821 times, making it the most read and most commented blog post of the month on Governing People.

See other comments or retweets.

I also cross posted this blog post on my website at LGEOResearch.com and also found a high number of retweets and views. This proved that there is still little knowledge of what citizens really want from local government websites and how its largely fascinating for most of us to find out what citizens really think of government websites.

There was even an invite to post the blog post as a featured article on GovLoop‘s website (a government  community of 30,000 government innovators across the world).

Background of Camden’s Website Redesign Project

For those who are new to this blog/website, we are the webteam at Camden Council (UK) and this website is about our website redesign project. To find out the background of this project, I’ve interviewed the Head of Information Systems here at London Borough of Camden to give you an overview of the project and where we are at the moment in terms of the local government website evolution.

Background to Camden’s Website Redesign Project from Liz Azyan on Vimeo.

What does this mean for local government website innovators?

In line with what Alasdair mentioned in the video above, the need for web development blogs are part of the way people are using and consuming the web. I predict that we will see an increase in web development blogs as we saw the growth of local government using other social media outlets like Twitter, Facebook and etc last year.  I remember displaying my research data on local councils using social media last year which spurred on more useful and timely lists such as this one by Brent Council. Having started the list on a whim for my PhD research, it created a buzz in the government twitter and blogosphere, which later on brings us here.

From little steps in social media (using Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube), we are moving forward and becoming more serious in taking positive steps towards better service delivery and engagement with citizens online. By blogging about Camden’s website redesign project, we will hopefully increase transparency and be able to share the lessons we learnt and engage with other government counterparts as well as citizens.

List of other web development blogs from local governments in the UK

Here are some web development blog of local governments in the UK that was kindly pointed out to me by@pluto9 from Brent Council, who runs the eGovernment Register. I’ve picked out my favourite blog posts from these blogs to highlight how useful sharing this information can be for local government website innovators and citizens alike.

1. Aberdeenshire Council

Blog post chosen: User-testing – The results

Even though this particular blog post chosen is a bit old (published in October 2008), I feel the information shared is still relevant to us today. It talks about how they used the thinkaloud protocol in their user testing of their new library website.

Thee thinkaloud protocol asked users to speak through what they were clicking on, and why.

Specifics that they wanted to look at on the new design were

• First Impressions
• New Site vs. Old
• Navigation
• On page links
• External and Related Links Box
• Colours
• Page width
• A-Z on every page

2. Bracknell Forest Council

Blog post chosen: Find local health services

This blog post talks about Bracknell Forest Council being one of the first local authorities in the country to use data syndicated by the NHS.

3. Brent Council

Blog post chosen – 2 blog posts were chosen

• Brent going green project – This blog posts highlight how Brent Council is using the BRAIN community website, a Facebook site, Twitter feed and YouTube videos to run the campaign.  The project, which is funded by the IDeA, aims to help Brent residents reduce their energy consumption and explore the ways in which online social media can increase awareness of climate change issues.
• NHS Choices Data –  This blog post, similarly to Bracknell Forest blog post, talks about use of NHS Choices Data and how Brent is using it on the Brent Council website. Very interesting usage of maps, gadgets, widgets and property pages.

4. Eden District Council

Blog post chosen: Inaccessibility of videos – is YouTube failing the public sector?

This blog post highlights a very important issue in regards to accessibility of local council websites, especially when implementing social media applications. Eden District Council talks about how their embedded YouTube videos was almost certainly going to cause major access barriers for at least one group of people.

5. Lincolnshire County Council

Blog post chosen: Schools to access vital information thanks to George!

This blog post talks about how schools around the county will soon be able to access an array of information thanks to the implementation of George into schools.  George – the County Council’s intranet system – is a vital communication tool which allows important information to be accessed quickly and easily by staff throughout the organisation.

6. St. Helens Council

Blog post chosen: Council website redesign – Consultation now on!

This is an interesting blog post by St. Helens Council inviting users to participate in their consultation for the council’s website redesign. Have a look at what people said on about their test website in the comments and what they have asked people to look at.

7. Warwickshire County Council

Blog post chosen: There are so many interesting blog post on this website. I recommend you read them all but maybe these ones will be of most interest.

1. Data Visualisation
2. Making Visionary Strategy a Practical Reality: The Open Data project
3. Warwickshire Already Using the Cloud
4. Open Data: Building the tools to help you Hack Warwickshire.
5. How the Warwickshire iPhone App will lead to open data

8. City of Lincoln Council

Blog post chosen: Bin Calendar Search, version 3

This blog post talks about how the web development team at Lincoln worked on their bin calendar search following some feedback on the service.

9. Stratford-on-Avon Council Labs

Stratford-on-Avon Council has taken a slightly more innovative approach to their web development site. They’ve created a lab called SDC Labs that has been created to help share current and future website developments with the public.  Once developments have been approved, completed and implemented they will become graduates of labs.

Tips on setting up a local government web development blog/site

1. Decide who your audience is and what type of website do you want it to be. I found that some councils took the approach of news type blog posts, informing citizens on development of the site. Some councils like Camden, took the route of sharing strategies and research data that we’ve collated over the duration of our website redesign project. And then there are innovative sites like Stratford-on-Avon Council Labs who experiment and create tools.

2. Share your experiences – I find that the only way to truly tap into the benefits of local government web development blogs/sites is to actually share your experience. There are so many problems and issues with local government websites that we need to deal with and the burden can be reduced by sharing with others and learning from them too.

3.  Find out what else is out there – Yes, its great to talk about your own development but sometimes it helps to keep a fresh mind by finding out what others are up to and acknowledging to those parties that you are listening. Write about how you’ve learnt from other councils and congratulate them on their efforts. Encouragement from our growing community can boost our motivation to increase the effectiveness and efficiencies of our own council websites.

Hope this was useful!

Possibly Related Posts

• Local government website redesign project phases and business requirements for Camden Council UK
• Tom Steinberg talks about how MySociety.org has created Transparency in Government