Presentation designed to stimulate discussion and challenge and discuss the way we – and other Local Authorities – use new tools. Not an intention to criticise existing work or delivery – but we will need to have some focus on our Council as it is a gateway common to us all. The current Newcastle website – holds a range of information but is it easy to use…
An iteration of a potential new website for the Council. Your comments about it would be welcomed. Same content – easier to use and with better search capabilities.
We had a response rate of 86% to our questionnaire. Nearly 4 in 10 did not know there was a twitter service at the Council.
We do have a twitter service – are we using it efficiently and what kind of image are we presenting of ourselves?
Discovered the twitter feed when a colleague sent me this link to a naturist evening… interesting example of quality control – not necessarily because of the content – but because of the links contained within the website being incorrect.
NCC also has a facebook page… with 34 fans… there’s also a link here to our YouTube site… last updated July.
NCC also has a staff and members group – with a lot more members (last updated February 2009).
Nearly six in ten didn’t know about us having a facebook page. Are we and other Local Authorities using these tools effectively?
Kevin uses facebook to communicate with his U17 football team – it saves him money and time. The demographic uses these tools more – what can we do to better engage?
Part of the debate is about internal communications – but not all of it – could we use these tools to improve our ability to work together? This is an example of a site create to support the planning and housing strategy team – how well has it been taken up and does it work for them?
Other examples of collaborative working include services like Zoho – where many people can work on the same project from the same source at the same time. Something we can’t do currently. Many other examples of how to do this exist elsewhere – google docs is an obvious example – the new google wave is a more recent incarnation. This relates to the idea of ‘cloud computing’ – do we need to have servers – or should someone else be doing this for us… raises issues of privacy and security and we’re not here to discuss it but all part of a wider technological jump these new tools exploit and use.
How do we share information – I use del.icio.us to bookmark links of interest to me by tag-words. Easily searchable and I can see who else is saving the same things and search their bookmarks too. Should teams be using this so information is held by everyone rather than individuals?
Slideshare is another example of a means of sharing information – we’ll upload our presentation here.
Ideas and best practice are being shared from around the world. Events currently happening in India but they were in Newcastle recently – did we know? Did we go?
Use of visuals becoming more important – we have our own YouTube site – with 6 videos. Is it worth it? Should we be teaming up with others to do this? Did you know about it? Could your team use such tools to improve your services?
We have a YouTube site and other people use it too. Here’s the Leader of the Council discussing views on elected Mayors. We can’t see this at work though – how does this affect how we can do our job and how clearly we understand the direction we are taking as an organisation?
Further examples of the use of visuals to spread a message. This is an example from the sector I work in – transport – using clever and not necessarily obvious means to illustrate something different. www.dothetest.co.uk
Other companies are investing in video feeds and tv channels – technology has taken us from a few channels to millions. Should we start our own or share these with others?
Other Local Authorities are using similar technology – what can we learn from their use to improve our own?
Other tools are also being used. This mapping tool promotes the quietest areas in Bristol and allows residents to engage through it to provide better links between the authority and the Council.
Similar use of mapping tools exist more locally – this is a recent example of use by the Northumbria Police (but also nationwide) showing crime levels at a ward level. What kind of implications does the ability to map services or results offer local authorities?
This is an example of the use of new tools to market and provide services.
How do we rationalise views that we shouldn’t be able to use a number of sites or services as it may affect our work with the fact our work can benefit from the use of them. Majority of these new tools and technologies are actually user-led and created to satisfy demand. Do we need to demand use of certain sites to improve our ability to effectively offer services?
Over the same period as we were thinking about doing this presentation, research was released illustrating that in Europe we have very ‘socially savvy’ users of this new and emergent technology. The study also says is that in Europe we don’t just use tools – we demand different things from them – and these demands differ by country. I wouldn’t have known about this study but for the fact a notification about it was sent directly to my phone by such a tool and using such technology.
In any debate about the use of such tools we need to be aware of the political landscape. The BBC recently launched this site which is incredibly accessible and offers people links to political debates on local, regional, national and international level. But the BBC is at the heart of a number of attacks on this use of new media and the debate over ‘paid for’ content or free content. Will anything we do have to be mindful of this – or can local authorities actually be a bridging device for such tools on a local level? People pay Council Tax – can we cover some element of online services through it?
The study on research and the comments relating to anti-competitive behaviour were both sent directly to my phone using RSS feeds. I am aware of what I want to see and these tools can ensure I am able to. What can we do with such tools?
However we don’t always know what people want to see or hear about – but there are tools out there that can tell us, how are we using them?
What kind of implications for planning do new technologies and uses have? Would the public be interested in what we are planning or would it raise more questions than it solves?
For a recent example – would we give planning permission for SportsDirect.com @ St James’s Park?
Some further examples of what we are moving towards…
Some further examples of what we are moving towards…
Some further examples of what we are moving towards…
Results from the questionnaire preceding the presentation
Results from the questionnaire preceding the presentation
Results from the questionnaire preceding the presentation
Results from the questionnaire preceding the presentation
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