The View from the Street

For all those worried about the impact of Google Street View on privacy in the UK should try this little exercise.

1. Bring up Google Maps.
2. Zoom out so all of the UK is in view.
3. Pick up the orange ‘human’ icon and hover it near the Sceptred Isle.
4. Take in all of the country that is highlighted in blue; that’s the parts of the UK available through Street View.
5. Now do the same for the USA…

Puts things in perspective doesn’t it.

Three Things Twitter

Been so busy this week and last that I’ve not had the time to write even 140 characters. But today Twitter caught my attention in three ways…

1. The Central Office of Information or the COI as it’s know on da street (the department I work for) began using its Twitter account. It was set up by our Interactive Services division and taken on by our Corporate Communications team. You can follow at www.twitter.com/coigovuk.

2. eConsultancy has reviewed whether the UK’s top 50 digital agencies are using the micro-blogging platform, and found just a 25% adoption rate. It’s sparked a debate on whether agencies should bother or not. I am surprised at the low adoption; I would have expected more agencies to have signed up to see what was going down or at least to claim the username. Thanks to Steph for the tip.

3. www.ifyoulikeitsomuchwhydontyougolivethere.com kills me, so Twattering is right up my alley. Cutting, but probably deserved. Cheers to Nadeem for the tip.

Walking the walk

Inspired by colleagues in DIUS, BERR and POI Taskforce, I’ve been working with a small team at COI (Adam Bailin, Seb Crump and Tiffany St James) to quickly pull together some social media activity around the consultative review on the UK government’s guidance on improving its websites.

It’s the first time we’ve had a go at a corporate level, so we’re evaluating it as we go.

I pulled a short briefing together on what we are doing, where and why; I thought it would be worth sharing for anyone who is interested in the background…

Background
The Transformational Government Digital Policy Team is opening its TG116 (‘Measuring website usage’) and TG128 (‘Measuring website costs’) guidance to stakeholder review.

The exercise has been identified as an opportunity to evaluate ways in which social media can facilitate the Review.

Purpose
This will be the first time that COI has used the social media for the purposes of a consultative review.

It is projected that using social media in this way will open the Review out to a wider pool of participants, offer a more efficient means of facilitating the Review, provide the process with greater transparency and produce a stronger end-product.

The pilot will help COI capture and measure activity and results. The resulting evaluation will then be available to inform future practice (by COI and other departments).

Mid-course breather, not mid-life crisis

Tough Guy Assualt Course (Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Interesting analysis of the Obama-Biden Administration’s problems in using the web in way they had envisaged now that they are in government, that picks up on an earlier article in the Washington Post.

Familiar problems for us in the UK, I’m sure you’ll agree (not the ‘uncharted territory’ Macon Phillips laments).

The more and more of these articles I read, the more it convinces me that the UK government is as far into this as our trans-Atlantic colleagues (from some vantages we are further ahead).

Truth is, this is just the middle of the course and we have probably been taking a breather to build up the energy before tackling some of the bigger obstacles toward the finish-line.

To Macon Philips and team, I say ‘welcome, let’s confer and see if we can team up’.

Stuff what I has been reading… 02/03 – 08/03

The ‘Dunbar number’ in the age of social networking

An intriguing article that explores whether given the technical opportunity an individual’s stable social network can push beyond Robert Dunbar’s 148.

The transformative potential of the ‘Fifth Estate’

Professor Bill Dutton, Director of the Oxford Internet Institute, persuasively defines an emergent ‘Fifth Estate’ enabled by digital media and explores its transformative potential. Dutton’s article is strengthened by his linking of the transformative influence of the ‘Fifth Estate’ on politics with its effect on education, work and other areas of society.

Helpless or hapless?

This stood out for Jeff Jarvis‘ pithy summary of all the different financial ‘rescue options’ open to newspapers facing uncertain digital futures, and why he believes none of them are any use.

Define, don’t emulate… Thoughts on the UK Government’s Director of Digital Engagement post

The UK Government is about to hire a new Director of Digital Engagement. The submission deadline for applicants will pass in a few days time.

Whoever gets it will find the gig well-attended but demanding. They are going to have to play a long and blindingly brilliant set. It’s make or break. Pull it off and digital engagement goes mainstream; fluff it and it’s back to support slots on the campus circuit.

Just four years ago, when I started working with Government on digital engagement projects, you could count the people who were interested on two hands, easy. Today, digital engagement is known to every layer of government, factored into most communications and is building a head of steam in the policy-making process. True it’s still quite innovative and niche, but those in the vanguard are in demand and earn respect.

In some ways we may have come too far. At times I am sceptical of the value in an out-and-out Director of Digital Engagement. I think my preference would be for a Director of Engagement who has no bias toward on- or offline, with perhaps a Head of Digital working for them. A time-limited taskforce working with departments to stimulate practice, build core capacity and promote evaluation would also have worked well.

I’m also apprehensive about parts of the job description, particularly the target of ‘two departments whose use of digital engagement are recognised in the digital community as being world class’. Why only two? Why digital community recognition and not citizen satisfaction? And, in the absence of consensus on ‘best practice’ digital engagement in any sector, how is ‘world class’ defined?

Scepticism aside, the appointment will be an exciting moment. I count the creation of this post as one of the rays of recognition dawning across our democracy about the importance of digital media to good governance. It feels good to bask in that light. It’s an amazing job – high profile, focussed and hugely significant. I, for one, can’t wait for them to get started.

On that note, here is a suggestion to the new Director of Digital Engagement for six quick-wins:

• Don’t emulate, define… no government can claim it is ‘world class’ at digital engagement – no, not even the Obama Administration. The opportunity to lead is right there for the taking (and sharing). That’s the winning state-of-mind.
• Plug in to analogue… good engagement is balanced engagement. It may not be as high-profile, but ‘offline’ engagement is brimming with innovations; so seek out your peers from other disciplines and integrate your efforts.
• Go walk about… before going out to the market, tour around the government departments and agencies and you will be encouraged by all the great digital work that is going on already. You’ll meet people deserving of credit, people who want to help you deliver on those lofty targets.
• Codify it… develop a charter that sets out the responsibilities of citizen- and government-users of digital engagement. In particular, reassure the public about the sanctity of their data, so that they are more wiling to share the good stuff that makes for more informed and efficient policies and services.
• Prioritise delivery… the communications and policy communities are pretty well-versed on digital engagement, ‘frontline’ delivery staff not so much. Their competency is absolutely key to winning over the public.
• Take regular readings… pre, interim and post-activity evaluation is going to be all important for determining and justifying what has been achieved. But remember, give departments time to pull the figures together and not all big numbers are good numbers.

For some further reflection and good advice, have a look at http://digitalengagement.uservoice.com.

And, if any of the interview panel read this: don’t be tempted by bullying ‘wonks’. Know-it-all, pseudo-counter-culturals are ten-a-penny in this field; let’s have someone who is dynamic, objective and positive to be around.