Social media in government – CS Live Alex Allan Chairman, JIC William Perrin Transformational Government Links to resources can be found at http://cslive.pbwiki.com

Social media – new ways of sharing information and doing business Getting information from point A to point B to form policy or deliver a service Written information Face to face information Social media - beyond A-B - what about C and Z ?

Getting information from point A to point B to form policy or deliver a service

Written information

Face to face information

Social media - beyond A-B - what about C and Z ?

Written information - 35 years ago Note to Heath about Margaret Thatcher’s suitability as a Minister for Fair Trading. Nov 1972 Telex – No10-Chequers Thatcher Archive Classification Main body of text Addressee and routing Title

Written information - today Title Main body of text Copy list Classification - often missing Routing metadata (concealed)

35 years – any progress….? Title Classification Main body of text Copy list

Face to Face – 35 years ago Picture of Queen Paste Board Men listening to each other Notes being taken

35 years on – Face to Face Dubious PowerPoint diagram Women and men listening to presenter A little note taking Everyone sitting back

35 years – any progress…..? then – emphasis on communicating now – emphasis on listening to pictures “ ..slideware often reduces the analytical quality of presentations. In particular, the popular PowerPoint templates usually weaken verbal and spatial reasoning, and almost always corrupt statistical analysis.” Edward Tufte

Publishing 154 years ago…. Northcote-Trevelyan report – foundation of modern civil service Command Paper Crest Generally un-engaging, huge process behind the scenes

Publishing today….. Crest reassuringly prominent Still hard to get excited Command paper Report about radically new ways of publishing information………..

154 years – little progress Processes still paper driven, in lock step with Parliament, publication in big lumps at long intervals

Limitations – traditional and modern practice Compartmentalisation

Compartmentalisation

Limitations – traditional and modern practice Donald Rumsfeld Ontology The Unknown As we know, There are known knowns, There are things we know we know. We also know There are known unknowns. That is to say We know there are some things We do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, The ones we don’t know we don’t know.

Donald Rumsfeld Ontology

Limitations – traditional and modern practice Contained networks that die silently as originators move on Tangled information flows - duplication and waste Audit difficult Self fulfilling and perpetuating Practice embeds ‘knowledge is power’ Artificially increases price of information, inhibiting its use

Contained networks that die silently as originators move on

Tangled information flows - duplication and waste

Audit difficult

Self fulfilling and perpetuating

Practice embeds ‘knowledge is power’

Artificially increases price of information, inhibiting its use

Paradox – traditional and modern practice Easier to find information in American public sector on the web than in the office next door

Easier to find information in American public sector

on the web than in the office next door

Blinkers starting to come off

Rightsnet – public discussion forum

PBWiki – it’s free and simple

Basecamp – collaboration $12 a month

CabCam – video media inside Cabinet Office

UK CS in Facebook – 7,000 strong

Ministers blog publishing policy in real time….. Meeting blogged before I got back to my desk Consultation in demotic, online language 43 responses in 24 hours

Colleagues tell you where the good stuff is……. 484 people Digged this story

Whitehall - Britain’s most important knowledge factory… … .but with antiquated tools

What does this mean for civil servants? Things are about to change, radically after 30 years static Knowledge Council working on collaborative tools Knowledge will be spread all over the networks Knowledge will be persistent and searchable Less effort to find information Challenge for working practices and IT Cabinet Office guidance out shortly

Things are about to change, radically after 30 years static

Knowledge Council working on collaborative tools

Knowledge will be spread all over the networks

Knowledge will be persistent and searchable

Less effort to find information

Challenge for working practices and IT

Cabinet Office guidance out shortly

Now…… What have you done using social media you are proud of an you think we could learn from Wouldn’t it be better if……. Use PBwiki to create list of opportunities and improvements things we could do better on the web If you were god for the day/had a magic wand….. Use traditional boards to stick suggestions on Or (if no time) go to http://cslive.pbwiki.com Copyright notice – if you claim copyright for any of the images or screen grabs please contact me and I should be delighted to acknowledge or rectify. Otherwise Crown Copyright applies Some of these slides were originally used by William Perrin at a National Archivists Conference in Manchester

What have you done using social media you are proud of an you think we could learn from

Wouldn’t it be better if…….

Use PBwiki to create list of opportunities and improvements things we could do better on the web

If you were god for the day/had a magic wand…..

Use traditional boards to stick suggestions on

Or (if no time) go to http://cslive.pbwiki.com