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From e-Government to e-Governance – Using new technologies to strengthen relationships with citizens

Accenture, has just published a report, From e-Government to e-Governance, recommending ways in which Goverment might enahnce its services to the public.

A key recommendation in the report is for public sector organisations not to build everything from scratch themselves, but to capitalise on the popularity of outside websites, including ones set up for social networking and communities.

According to the report “These sites present public managers with a range of opportunities for soliciting real-time citizen feedback, engaging constituents and improving accessibility to government information,”

Using external websites is a cost effective and very quick way to interact with the public, however the report does concede that there are some signifigant risks,such as the danger that public sector organisations will not be able to control the content.

However it is a shame that public sector organisations are reluctant to see negative comments and content posted on websites; the report focuses on the need for public sector organisations to encourage opinions: “Front-office employees should value customer feedback and view it as an essential means of gaining insights that will help them improve the customer experience and overall service delivery.”

Download the report (2.5 mb .pdf)

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Gordon Brown (talking at TED)  on global society, and how technology enables a global community to fundamentally change the world..he discusses how in future foreign policy should not be dictated by political elites, but instead should be run through listening to the public opinions of people who are blogging and using other online technologies to communicate across the world..he discusses combining the power of a global ethic  with the power of our ability to communicate and organise globally, with the challenges we now face, most of which are global in their nature, Brown gives the example of  climate change which  can not be solved in one country, nor can the financial crisis or terrorism…

The great project of our generation according to Brown , is to build for the first time out of a global ethic and out of our global ability to communicate and organise together, a truly global society, built on that ethic, but with institutions which can serve that global society and thus  make for a different future.

Of the remaining 59% of IT professionals who profess to know what cloud computing is, 17% of these understand cloud computing to be internet-based computing while 11% believe it is a combination of internet-based computing, software as a service (SAAS), software on demand, an outsourced or managed service and a hosted software service. The remaining respondents understand cloud computing to be a mixture of the above.

Despite cloud computing being in the media spotlight, only a minority of respondents (5%) say that they use it “a lot” and less than a quarter of those surveyed (19%) reveal that they only use cloud computing sparingly. Almost half of respondents (47%) admit that their company doesn’t use cloud computing with the remaining 29% conceding that they “don’t know” whether their organisation uses it or not.

Julian Buck, General Manager of Version One, says, “Although this is only a small survey of IT professionals, the results are nonetheless very alarming, especially as IT professionals are the very people that need to understand cloud computing so that they can explain its benefits to management.”

Buck continues, “It is clear from the survey results that there are a number of contrasting views as to what cloud computing really is, which is hardly surprising in light of the many different cloud computing definitions in the public arena. For instance, Wikipedia defines it as ‘Internet-based computing’ while Gartner refers to it ‘as a service’ using Internet technologies. IT expert, John Willis, writing in his cloud blog says that ‘virtualisation is the secret sauce of a cloud’ and provides different levels of cloud computing. With so many definitions circulating, clarity is urgently needed.”

Only 2% of respondents say that their company is “definitely” going to invest in cloud computing within the next twelve months whilst 30% state that their organisations “may” invest in this technology. 45% admit that they “don’t know” whether their organisations will be investing in it or not with the remaining 23% stating that they currently have no investment plans. For those who definitely or maybe have plans to invest in cloud computing, some of the key business drivers cited include reduction in overheads and paper, ease of use, cost savings and the ability to provide collaborative tools for teaching and learning.

Buck adds, “If organisations are going to embrace cloud computing in the future it’s essential that a single, simplified explanation is adopted by everyone. Failure to cut through the confusion could result in organisations rejecting this technology and missing out on the benefits it provides.”

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Just half of the UK population has used the internet in the last year to access information about government or local council services or completed a government form or process online, according to Ofcom research.

Forty-two per cent of people interviewed said that they had looked for information online about a government or local council service, or used services such as paying their road tax or registering for Child Tax Credits online. Among people who have the internet at home, this rises to 55 per cent who have used these services online.

However, only 15 per cent of people from areas of multiple deprivation have used similar information or services online. Areas of multiple deprivation are defined by a range of factors including economic, social and housing issues.

The research comes as more and more services, such as central and local government services, are available online.

EASIER TO ENGAGE
The majority of people (70 per cent of the online sample, 60 per cent of the general population) say that the internet has made it easier to engage in citizen participation activities, such as contacting an MP or signing a petition. But in areas of multiple deprivation less than half of people interviewed agreed (42 per cent) and 20 per cent disagreed.

LACK OF AWARENESS
However, respondents were not always aware of what can be done online (for example, contacting your MP, getting in touch with the local council or joining a campaign). Among the online sample interviewed, 31 per cent were unaware of online citizen participation opportunities and lack of awareness increases to 72 per cent amongst those in areas of multiple deprivation.

A recurring theme throughout the research was a desire to keep traditional methods of contact. Thirty three per cent of the online user sample would rather deal with someone face to face, for example, when contacting their MP. Sixty three per cent of people living in areas of multiple deprivation expressed the same view.

TRUST AND CONFIDENCE ISSUES
Trust and confidence were also issues. Almost half (46 per cent) of those from areas of multiple deprivation said that they did not sufficiently trust the internet for civic activities and 40 per cent said that they lack confidence to participate in citizen activities online. Among the online users, one in ten (9 per cent) said that they lack confidence to participate in citizen activities online and the same proportion (9 per cent) agreed that they don’t sufficiently trust the internet for citizen activities.

MOTIVATORS FOR CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
Feeling strongly about an issue or cause is the most important reason for people to take part in citizen activities (whether on or offline) among both online users and multiple deprivation area populations (42 of online user sample and 43 per cent of people living in areas of multiple deprivation). Being invited to take part also plays a role with just under a third of people asked.

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Web 2.0 and Human Resource Management: ‘Groundswell’ or hype?, which aims to inform on the latest thinking as well as outline good practice strategy development for the so-called V(irtual) Generation, suggests that the potential benefits of this technology are being overlooked because of fears about employee misbehaviour and a reluctance to lose control over its use. By failing to take advantage, however, it warns that HR will lose out on the possibility of playing an important role in guiding Web 2.0’s adoption to improve business performance.

More details on how Web 2.0 can help drive organisational performance will be discussed in an interactive session at the CIPD’s annual HRD conference on Wednesday 22nd of  April at ExCel, London

www.cipd.co.uk

The position advertised offers the prospect of earning between £81,600 and £160,000 per year and reports directly to the minister for digital engagement, Tom Watson, and the permanent secretary for government communications, Matt Tee.

The right candidate would have the responsibility to “develop a strategy and implementation plan for extending digital engagement across Government” within six months of joining.

The job ad reads: “In recognition of the huge increase in the use of the internet, digital communities and social media, the Cabinet Office seeks to appoint a highly credible digital communicator to be Director of Digital Engagement across Government.

The post would work across Government departments to encourage the adoption of social networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter and “challenge them in moving from communicating to citizens on the web to conversing and collaborating with them through digital technology”.

Fixmystreet already enables anyone with a browser to report potholes, fly-tipping and other nuisances without needing to know which public authority is responsible for them. All you have to do is click on a map and enter the nature of the nuisance, along with a photograph if you like.

Although Fixmystreet was originally funded by the government, it is very much not a government web project. It is one foray in a guerrilla campaign of helpful but often disconcerting websites to emerge from the charity MySociety, which celebrated its fifth birthday last week. And there is a promise of more to come – so long as it finds a way out of what its director, Tom Steinberg, calls “deep financial insecurity”.

If you’ve been on the web to probe democracy or public administration, you’ve probably been to a MySociety site. The charity’s best known product is probably TheyWorkForYou, which lays bare elected representatives’ personal productivity (to the alarm of some). MySociety also built Downing Street’s e-petitions site, which boasts 8.9m electronic signatures – though little noticeable impact on government policy – as well as the PledgeBank good causes site and Whatdotheyknow, a web clearing house for Freedom Of Information requests.

The common theme is cheap and cheerful open web technology tipping the relationship between people and government, in favour of the people. Steinberg last week called on ministers to spend more of the £13bn annual IT budget on more projects such as these, and less on giant databases. The future, he said, must lie with “technologies that empower and uplift, not depersonalise and degrade” – an implicit challenge to schemes such as the national ID register.

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See also:

 A previous Rialtas post on MySociety

Here is an excerpt from the foreword by Robert Ainger, Corporate Director, Orange Business

One of the key findings within this research is the tension that distinctions between purely personal and professional life are becoming increasingly blurred and that this is particularly the case with younger employees. The report identifies the rise of the ‘network citizen’ who relies more on their network for career opportunities than on their employers. This new dimension adds an extra level of complexity for businesses trying to recruit and
retain the best employees while also managing their reputation and intellectual capital.In fact, this report identifies both the ups and the downs of
networking. It challenges the concept that networking will only engender creativity, innovation and freedom while reducing costs by highlighting a potential ‘dark-side’. Networks blur the boundaries between formal hierarchies and informal structures in a company, and between our personal and professional lives.
Networks can create a tension between employees and employers where traditional ideas of loyalty or ownership of ideas and contacts become difficult. Networking can be exclusive and the rise in online networking may exacerbate it. ‘It’s not what you know but who you know’ may be an age-old adage: should business success today be based on contacts made through networking or purely on merit? In the current economic climate, it might be easy to ignore networking as something to concentrate on when there’s more time for lighter, less business-critical activities. The report points out that the value of networking within an economic downturn is perhaps more important than ever and I believe it could, in fact, mean the difference between a business collapsing or capitalising on the tricky conditions.

http://www.demos.co.uk/publications/networkcitizens

Speakers will be Dr Laura Miller (Senior Researcher, eDemocracy Programme, Hansard Society), Navraj Singh Ghaleigh (Lecturer in Public Law, University of Edinburgh), Aileen Campbell MSP (Scottish National Party MSP for South of Scotland), Fergus Cochrane (Clerk to the Public Petitions Committee, Scottish Parliament).

“There is an increasing desire amongst governments to engage with citizens and many are pointing to the internet as a tool for managing this engagement. The Hansard Society has undertaken extensive research to identify what forms of online engagement are effective and when. In this event an invited panel will explore the different characteristics of online engagement, focusing not simply on the technology but also discussing the impact of organizational culture and the broader context of citizen disenfranchisement.”

Wednesday 29 October, 6-8pm, Scottish Parliament.

Register here..