Citizens and businesses have many different ways of contacting municipalities for services, and many municipalities allow customers to use email as a contact channel. However many municipalities often find that they have difficulties in managing the email channel, with customers contacting a range of official and unofficial email addresses, and have difficulties in measuring how successful/efficient/appropriate email is for service delivery and as a point of customer contact.
This report illustrates how the municipality of Groningen has transformed its email handling methods and processes in the context of a wider multi-channel strategy to deliver better and more effective services to its citizens.
This report provides an overview of best practices in the use and handling of email by municipalities, shares lessons from Groningen’s experience in transforming email handling through a case study, and gives an insight into the complexities and uses of the email channel. A glossary and links to further reading and resources are also included.
Smart Cities - Smart(er) cities with geolocative technologiesSmart Cities Project
This guide is for managers at Local Authorities and city management, seeking new ways to deliver local services, and/or to give citizens a greater opportunity to interact with services, from reporting problems to finding the most appropriate information.
Smart Cities- Impact of web accessibility on e-service designSmart Cities Project
This report gives some background information about web accessibility
– an approach to designing web sites, e-applications and services so
that they work well for people with disabilities. It covers information about what accessibility means, what regulations there are in the different North Sea Region countries; suggests how to set up an accessibility project and provides guidelines and links to other resources.
Why Broadband Matters: A Look at its Impact and Application for CitiesEd Dodds
By Julia Pulidindi May 2013 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20004-1763 | 202-626-3000 | Fax: 202-626-3043 | www.nlc.org National League of Cities
Disability and Smart Cities:
On Communication Policy, Technology, and Justice in Future Societies
by Gerard Goggin (University of Sydney)
paper presented at Communication Policy and Technology section of 'Memory, Commemoration and Communication: Looking Back, Looking Forward', International Association of Media Communication Research (IAMCR) conference
27-31 July, 2016, University of Leicester
What Do Consumers Want from Public Wi-Fi? Gain Insights from Cisco's Mobile C...Cisco Service Provider
It seems that the iconic “Wi-Fi Here” badge is turning up everywhere these days. Once found on coffee shop windows to indicate that patrons could connect their mobile devices to the Internet, the symbol can now be seen in countless public venues. Wi-Fi can now be found everywhere from retail stores and hotels to airports, doctor’s offices, and even airplanes. Recent Cisco research found that consumers now own an average of three mobile devices each, almost all of which are Wi-Fi capable. ABI Research estimated that there were 4.9 million public hotspots in 2012, which they expect to grow by 30 percent in 2013 to 6.3 million1. It’s no wonder that we are seeing a huge increase in public Wi-Fi hotspots as mobile users look for places to connect their multiple devices when they are away from home or the office.
For many businesses and public locations, providing Wi-Fi to customers has almost become like electricity or water, a cost of doing business. Many service providers are now constructing extensive networks of public Wi-Fi hotspots for use by their mobile or home broadband customers. The intention is to enhance and differentiate their offering, with the goal of retaining their customers’ business. However, very little knowledge is currently available about how consumers are actually using public Wi-Fi and how they view the overall experience. To derive business value from the deployment of Wi-Fi hotspots, businesses and service providers need to better understand how consumers are using public hotspots and what can be done to improve the experience.
To learn more, Cisco conducted a survey of 620 U.S. mobile users to understand their needs and behaviors, current and future use of public hotspots, and unmet demands. The research findings are important, because they can help businesses and service providers understand the size of the opportunity, develop winning strategies, and optimize their Wi-Fi offerings and network deployments to derive greater business value. This document is part of a series presenting 2013 Cisco mobile consumer research findings. Additional white papers cover changing mobile usage and consumer behavior, as well as opportunities in new localized mobile services.
Smart Cities - Smart(er) cities with geolocative technologiesSmart Cities Project
This guide is for managers at Local Authorities and city management, seeking new ways to deliver local services, and/or to give citizens a greater opportunity to interact with services, from reporting problems to finding the most appropriate information.
Smart Cities- Impact of web accessibility on e-service designSmart Cities Project
This report gives some background information about web accessibility
– an approach to designing web sites, e-applications and services so
that they work well for people with disabilities. It covers information about what accessibility means, what regulations there are in the different North Sea Region countries; suggests how to set up an accessibility project and provides guidelines and links to other resources.
Why Broadband Matters: A Look at its Impact and Application for CitiesEd Dodds
By Julia Pulidindi May 2013 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20004-1763 | 202-626-3000 | Fax: 202-626-3043 | www.nlc.org National League of Cities
Disability and Smart Cities:
On Communication Policy, Technology, and Justice in Future Societies
by Gerard Goggin (University of Sydney)
paper presented at Communication Policy and Technology section of 'Memory, Commemoration and Communication: Looking Back, Looking Forward', International Association of Media Communication Research (IAMCR) conference
27-31 July, 2016, University of Leicester
What Do Consumers Want from Public Wi-Fi? Gain Insights from Cisco's Mobile C...Cisco Service Provider
It seems that the iconic “Wi-Fi Here” badge is turning up everywhere these days. Once found on coffee shop windows to indicate that patrons could connect their mobile devices to the Internet, the symbol can now be seen in countless public venues. Wi-Fi can now be found everywhere from retail stores and hotels to airports, doctor’s offices, and even airplanes. Recent Cisco research found that consumers now own an average of three mobile devices each, almost all of which are Wi-Fi capable. ABI Research estimated that there were 4.9 million public hotspots in 2012, which they expect to grow by 30 percent in 2013 to 6.3 million1. It’s no wonder that we are seeing a huge increase in public Wi-Fi hotspots as mobile users look for places to connect their multiple devices when they are away from home or the office.
For many businesses and public locations, providing Wi-Fi to customers has almost become like electricity or water, a cost of doing business. Many service providers are now constructing extensive networks of public Wi-Fi hotspots for use by their mobile or home broadband customers. The intention is to enhance and differentiate their offering, with the goal of retaining their customers’ business. However, very little knowledge is currently available about how consumers are actually using public Wi-Fi and how they view the overall experience. To derive business value from the deployment of Wi-Fi hotspots, businesses and service providers need to better understand how consumers are using public hotspots and what can be done to improve the experience.
To learn more, Cisco conducted a survey of 620 U.S. mobile users to understand their needs and behaviors, current and future use of public hotspots, and unmet demands. The research findings are important, because they can help businesses and service providers understand the size of the opportunity, develop winning strategies, and optimize their Wi-Fi offerings and network deployments to derive greater business value. This document is part of a series presenting 2013 Cisco mobile consumer research findings. Additional white papers cover changing mobile usage and consumer behavior, as well as opportunities in new localized mobile services.
A Training Session at the Innovations in Libraries Series of the Nigerian Library Association, Delta State Chapter, held at the Petroleum Training Institute, Warri, Delta State, on September 11, 2018
IWMW 2000: Town and Gown Finding Common Ground on the WebIWMW
Slides for the plenary talk on "Town and Gown Finding Common Ground on the Web" presented at the IWMW 2000 event held at the University of Bath on 6-8 September 2000.
See http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2000/sessions .html#rowlatt
This presentation is from the mobile use research presentations / publications shared by Jan Chipchase of Nokia on his website.
Reference-
http://www.janchipchase.com/publications
Social media is changing the
conversation. Twitter, Facebook,
LinkedIn, foursquare – we no longer
just communicate; we interact. In
the process, how can the wealth
of information being generated
by social media help us better
understand how our cities function
and create smarter cities in the process?
Mobile Phone Practices & The Design of Mobile Money Services for Emerging Mar...Jan Chipchase
This paper applies the lessons learned from of a number of qualitative research studies into communication practices, mobile phone use to the design of mobile money services.
More on Nokia Money can be found here:
http://www.nokia.com/about-nokia/new-business/finance/nokia-money
For more information see: http://www.janchipchase.com/designing-services-for-financial-inclusion
One of the most prominent mobile payment technologies of interaction paradigms is Near Field
Communication (NFC), which provides simple and secure two-way communication between electronic devices.
However, NFC-based services have not increased as expected. In this paper, the NFC payment ecosystems are
introduced and reasons to why their use has not rapidly become more prevalent are discussed. The presented
research results are summarised from business case studies that were carried out in various Finnish companies
during the period 2012-2015. The results showed that the sustainable and feasible solutions are based on
recognised standards and open ecosystems; national, proprietary or otherwise restricted solutions do not work.
Accordingly, it was recommended to start with Value Added Service (VAS) systems as these involved fewer
security requirements. Finally, the analyses pointed out that tokenisation offers light security version for most of
services in the business and it was experienced a remarkable way for promoting the mobile payment services.
Where's the Broadband? Inter-County Coordinating Committee, 4.21.14WI Broadband
Where's the Broadband?
Presentation by the Broadband & E-Commerce Education Center to the Inter-county Coordinating Committee, April 21,2014 Green Lake, WI
Green Lake Training Center
Xi'an Complaint Letter Mayor Dong Jun | July 2015 Ed Morrison
This letter draws the Xi'an Mayor's attention to the developments at our water factory after the visit of Ambassador Baucus to Xi'an in July 2015. Mayor Dong has lost control of Lantian County, where our factory is located.
De steden Kortrijk, Brugge, Gent en Mechelen namen het voortouw om een beeldbank te maken.120 besturen schreven in op het initiatief. De beeldbank zal foto en bewegend beeld ontsluiten voor technische diensten, culturele diensten, archieven...
A Training Session at the Innovations in Libraries Series of the Nigerian Library Association, Delta State Chapter, held at the Petroleum Training Institute, Warri, Delta State, on September 11, 2018
IWMW 2000: Town and Gown Finding Common Ground on the WebIWMW
Slides for the plenary talk on "Town and Gown Finding Common Ground on the Web" presented at the IWMW 2000 event held at the University of Bath on 6-8 September 2000.
See http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2000/sessions .html#rowlatt
This presentation is from the mobile use research presentations / publications shared by Jan Chipchase of Nokia on his website.
Reference-
http://www.janchipchase.com/publications
Social media is changing the
conversation. Twitter, Facebook,
LinkedIn, foursquare – we no longer
just communicate; we interact. In
the process, how can the wealth
of information being generated
by social media help us better
understand how our cities function
and create smarter cities in the process?
Mobile Phone Practices & The Design of Mobile Money Services for Emerging Mar...Jan Chipchase
This paper applies the lessons learned from of a number of qualitative research studies into communication practices, mobile phone use to the design of mobile money services.
More on Nokia Money can be found here:
http://www.nokia.com/about-nokia/new-business/finance/nokia-money
For more information see: http://www.janchipchase.com/designing-services-for-financial-inclusion
One of the most prominent mobile payment technologies of interaction paradigms is Near Field
Communication (NFC), which provides simple and secure two-way communication between electronic devices.
However, NFC-based services have not increased as expected. In this paper, the NFC payment ecosystems are
introduced and reasons to why their use has not rapidly become more prevalent are discussed. The presented
research results are summarised from business case studies that were carried out in various Finnish companies
during the period 2012-2015. The results showed that the sustainable and feasible solutions are based on
recognised standards and open ecosystems; national, proprietary or otherwise restricted solutions do not work.
Accordingly, it was recommended to start with Value Added Service (VAS) systems as these involved fewer
security requirements. Finally, the analyses pointed out that tokenisation offers light security version for most of
services in the business and it was experienced a remarkable way for promoting the mobile payment services.
Where's the Broadband? Inter-County Coordinating Committee, 4.21.14WI Broadband
Where's the Broadband?
Presentation by the Broadband & E-Commerce Education Center to the Inter-county Coordinating Committee, April 21,2014 Green Lake, WI
Green Lake Training Center
Xi'an Complaint Letter Mayor Dong Jun | July 2015 Ed Morrison
This letter draws the Xi'an Mayor's attention to the developments at our water factory after the visit of Ambassador Baucus to Xi'an in July 2015. Mayor Dong has lost control of Lantian County, where our factory is located.
De steden Kortrijk, Brugge, Gent en Mechelen namen het voortouw om een beeldbank te maken.120 besturen schreven in op het initiatief. De beeldbank zal foto en bewegend beeld ontsluiten voor technische diensten, culturele diensten, archieven...
Back to Basics for Communications Service ProvidersCognizant
Our latest primary research reveals how CPSs can distill meaning from consumers' digital trails to better understand which product and service innovations will resonate and drive growth.
Nearly half of all consumers now open email on a mobile device, accordingto Experian. Mirrored by how fast website traffic from smartphone users(9.69%) has increased, many ecommerce businesses are scrambling
Transforming Customer Engagements In A Digital World:
An executive briefing on the shifting communications paradigm and the benefits of a comprehensive customer communications management strategy
How do we communicate with consumers in a constantly changing digital world?
Consumers are more connected today than ever before—and they expect the companies they do business with to keep up.
First-Class mail volume in the U.S. has dropped 25% since its peak in 2006, according to USPS reporting in 2012. One of the drivers for this decline is a shift to digital communications by consumers. As consumers change the way they communicate socially, they will expect companies they do business with to enable these communications channels as well. The challenge for businesses is that there is a complexity to digital channels that does not exist with traditional printed and mailed communications. If not properly addressed, businesses could suffer from inefficiencies that lead to low customer
satisfaction; however, when properly addressed, digital channels can significantly enhance customer relationships.
This paper provides objective insight that encourages businesses to rethink their communications strategy with regard to optimizing customer engagement in a digital world.
Transforming Customer Engagements in a Digital WorldBroadridge
Financial services companies must adapt to new communications channels as customers are more connected than ever and expect companies they do business with to cater to their preferences. Businesses must move beyond focusing on marketing channels as silos and now consider how channels and devices need to connect across the full customer experience.
Why companies should care about e-care, Digital customer service is now a strategic imperative, but its adoption is hampered by weaknesses in delivery strategies and incomplete measurement of its effectiveness
Insights to Deliver a Connected Digital Customer ExperienceCognizant
By using a two-layered framework, customer service organizations can begin to use Code Halos to intuit customer needs and desires. It also helps provide a more meaningful and engaging customer experience across channels.
Barnet customer segments are a micro-level solution that group individual households into 17 different segments.
Each segment exhibits distinctive demographic, socio-economic and behavioural characteristics.
The segments allow our resources to be targeted so that they reach the right people, in the right way, and in a manner that effectively anticipates and addresses their needs
How Email is Revolutionising Performance Marketing - Mark Ash, TeradataPerformanceIN
Email has long been accepted as one of the most powerful and cost effective digital channels available. However, the emergence of disruptive technologies and programmatic buying as well as the increased drive towards an omni-channel marketing strategy has massively enhanced the role that email plays in the marketing ecosystem.
Mark Ash discusses why email is the key to a data-driven marketing strategy that is revolutionising performance marketing.
How Mar-Tech can help achieve brands with client engagement and retention with automated processes. This helps to reduce the cost on the user acquisition and in farming the users for larger ticket and cart size.
Quality of Experience in a Digital World: A CSP Action Plan for Millennials a...Cognizant
Customers of communications service providers want easier to use digital channels, proactive and personalized offerings, and the ability to bring connected technologies to life, our latest research reveals.
An Introduction to Government Use of SMSJoannaTMcLeod
An Introduction to Government Use of SMS is a collection of case studies and some lessons learnt. It is meant to be a starting place for agencies considering SMS. It is not a definitive guide to everything you need to know, nor is it law.
As the notion of Web-enabled self-service matures, organizations must be sensitive to customer expectations for relevant information and problem resolution across channels in order to optimize costs and deliver a consistent user experience.
The Edinburgh and its surrounding area are well served by an efficient bus network. The City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) have worked with
the locally owned bus company (Lothian Buses) and a system supplier (INEO Systrans) to deliver real-time information to meet passengers’ needs, initially through bus-stop displays and then a website. This case study described how it was later extended to smartphone users through a cooperative and flexible approach with two individuals who had developed Apps for iPhone and Android phones.
This service is currently being upgraded in the light of experience over the first three years’ operation to include a better user interface, with more consideration for accessibility issues, better capacity and a more efficient and controlled route for accessing the data through smar tphones.
This is one of two case studies showing the different approaches taken by the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) in developing content and services aimed at users of smartphones and other mobile devices. The second case study describes the approach taken by the Library and Information Services department of the City of Edinburgh Council to work with commercial App developers to reach the users of mobile devices as part of a wide-ranging social media and digital communication strategy.
Smart Cities Brief No.19
Smart Cities - Your library - supporting mobile users in edinburghSmart Cities Project
The Library and Information Services department of the City of Edinburgh Council has been extending its service provision for citizens and engaging with the wider community. This case study shows how
it has made innovative use of services and applications (Apps) for mobile devices. It makes it clear that support for mobile devices is
best seen in the context of a wide-ranging social media and digital communication strategy. This case study covers the relationship with the digital communications service providers and the suppliers of the library management suite. It also considers other content and services available to mobile devices including as eBooks and audio content.
This is one of two case studies showing the different approaches taken by the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) in developing content and services aimed at users of smartphones and other mobile devices. A complementary case study describes the approach taken by Edinburgh’s Transport department which started by working with the locally owned bus company and a system supplier to deliver information to meet passengers’ needs, initially through bus stop displays and then through a website. This was extended to smartphone users through a cooperative and flexible approach to working with two individuals who had chosen to develop Apps for iPhone and Android phones.
This report discusses methods and approaches municipalities and governments can use for evaluating e-services, both prior to their design and implementation and to assess their success following deployment. It presents a new evaluation model for e-services that is developed from models currently used in government and the research community.
GIS systems enable the electronic management of spatial data and facilitate its visualisation; they are specialised forms of information systems that are conceived solely for use with spatial data. Their purpose is the collection, modelling, storage, manipulation, analysis, retrieval and presentation of geodata. During the Smart Cities Project we examined the geobased services that were being used by the project’s six municipal partners. This guide provides a detailed review of the systems that are being used by two of these partners – the City of Edinburgh Council in Scotland, and Kristiansand Kommune in Norway – who had the most advanced geobased infrastructures in the Smart Cities partnership.
ICTarchitecture - supporting service delivery in Smart CitiesSmart Cities Project
Smart Cities has produced two publications about I-architecture and its role in the development and support of e-services. This publication is written for municipal business managers, and managers and employees of ICT departments in local government. It complements the second, more technical
and theoretical architecture publication which discusses various ICT architecture concepts and the
value that an ICT architecture brings to an organisation.
Creating Smarter Cities - Lessons from the Smart Cites ProjectSmart Cities Project
Cities must be dedicated to meeting their demands and needs, and continuously improving the services they deliver. The smartest cities and towns in Europe are discovering how to use technology and redesign internal operational procedures to deliver more efficient and effective services to their customers.
Some municipalities may have to reengineer their business processes, some may choose to centralise their customer service activities. Sometimes they may have to think more strategically about the channels they use for customer interactions. Perhaps the city needs a strict structure, or architecture, for its information and communication systems.
Perhaps they may decide to collect, combine and analyse data about their customers to
reveal new insights into their needs and behaviours.
Whatever changes a municipality must make, customer-centricity – the true essence of
‘smart’ – comes down to people. Technology is a means to an end, but a clever new e-service
will all but fail if people don’t like it or won’t use it.
In this booklet we give you our whistle-stop tour of our main findings and conclusions. You
may already be an expert with many ideas and experience in this field. Or you may find our
ideas new, exciting and thought provoking. Wherever your municipality finds itself on the path
to customer-centricity we hope that this publication will inspire you on your journey and point
you to places – people and publications – where you can find out more.
Kortrijk beschikt met E-decision over een performant systeem voor beleidsvoorbereiding en notulering. De stad Kortrijk wenst de software verder te laten groeien en zoekt hiervoor samenwerking met andere steden en gemeenten.
Doorgedreven samenwerking in IT-aankopen leidt tot kostenbesparing en efficiëntie. Een 25-tal besturen sloten aan bij de raamcontracten van Kortrijk en Brugge. Tijd voor een terugblik en kijkje in de toekomst.
Kortrijk biedt lokale informatie aan via interactieve schermen of via I-points. Het I-points project brengt informatie op een intelligente en innovatieve manier via het aggregeren van informatie uit diverse bronnen. De software kan ook bruikbaar gemaakt worden op de websites van de streek.
Via MijnGemeente en de contactendatabank werken de gemeenten in de regio Kortrijk aan een glazen dossier voor elke burger. Gelokaliseerde dienstverlening en op maat aanbieden van diensten en informatie op basis van het profiel van de burger is slechts mogelijk door een goed draaiende contactendatabank en midware.
How Smart are you? A self assessment framework for Digital Cities.Smart Cities Project
In the smart Cities project, Memori wrote a framework paper describing the 'Smart Digital City' in 10 characteristics. Based on this framework paper a self assesmment tool was developed, allowing the Smart cities project partners to evaluate their developments in the digitization of their services. in this presentation Eric Goubin will introduce the framework for smart digital cities, and Elke Van Soom will present the self assessment tool and its first results.
Europe wants to go local. We’re waiting for them in the Citadel. Smart Cities Project
The Flemish Government and a host of European local government partner organisations worked together by identifying the top things that national and EU decision makers can do to better support local eGovernment. The ‘Malmo Vision’ was still hardly translated down to the on-the-ground, local level. The Citadel Statement addressed this short-coming by better understanding why local communities are finding it challenging to implement eGovernment in an innovative, cost-effective and efficient manner. In the short period the Statement got a strong support from the main organizations of municipalities. A number of concrete projects were launched in the spirit of the Statement. And we can also notice a stronger commitment from the EU itself to support Local Egovernment. But there’s still a lot to do.
a Scottish perspective on the challenges faced by the public sector and reform proposed to meet these challenges. In particular the presentation will assess if collaboration, shared services, new ways of working and technology can support better outcomes for customers and citizens.
The systematic improvement of public services of national, regional and local governments is now 10 to 15 years underway. Alex Lambregts participated in this process for 8 years and would like to share some personal reflections with the audience regarding the do's and the don’ts. He hopes this will encourage the attendees to comment and to share their reflections on the development of public services in their own countries; not to criticize but to learn and inspire.
Trends in e-government reflect trends in society but also help shape public services and governance. What really is happening now and how will this continue up to 2020? Why we should be both excited yet cautious.
Creating Customer Contact Centres - A guide for municipalities from Smart CitiesSmart Cities Project
Across Europe municipalities are facing a wide range of challenges as businesses and citizens demand better, more efficient and more flexible services. Municipalities are working hard to become more customer-driven, and to change how they deliver services to respond better to their customers’ demands.
This guide has been produced the Smart Cities project to show what municipalities need to do to establish a customer contact centre. It includes many practical examples and case studies highlighting the experiences of staff in seven municipalities from across the North Sea region. The guide was written by people who are currently working to improve customer services in their municipalities, and it is written for the growing number of people who want to do the same.
Creating Municipal ICT Architectures - A reference guide from Smart CitiesSmart Cities Project
E-government operations require citizens and external organisations to receive appropriate e-services, delivered by an organisation’s automated business processes and supported by information and communication technologies (ICT). This area of service management can be reinforced and strengthened, however, by using architectures: business architectures, information systems architectures, technology architectures and the processes used to produce them.
Architecture frameworks often are difficult concepts to understand. This publication is a collection of ideas about enterprise architecture which will contribute to people’s understanding of this subject. This publication answers some basic questions: What is an ICT architecture? What is the value of ICT architectures and how are they produced? Why should we bother with them? Using the enterprise architecture approach we show how architectures and the processes followed to produce them can help the development and improvement of e-government.
The Art of the Pitch: WordPress Relationships and SalesLaura Byrne
Clients don’t know what they don’t know. What web solutions are right for them? How does WordPress come into the picture? How do you make sure you understand scope and timeline? What do you do if sometime changes?
All these questions and more will be explored as we talk about matching clients’ needs with what your agency offers without pulling teeth or pulling your hair out. Practical tips, and strategies for successful relationship building that leads to closing the deal.
State of ICS and IoT Cyber Threat Landscape Report 2024 previewPrayukth K V
The IoT and OT threat landscape report has been prepared by the Threat Research Team at Sectrio using data from Sectrio, cyber threat intelligence farming facilities spread across over 85 cities around the world. In addition, Sectrio also runs AI-based advanced threat and payload engagement facilities that serve as sinks to attract and engage sophisticated threat actors, and newer malware including new variants and latent threats that are at an earlier stage of development.
The latest edition of the OT/ICS and IoT security Threat Landscape Report 2024 also covers:
State of global ICS asset and network exposure
Sectoral targets and attacks as well as the cost of ransom
Global APT activity, AI usage, actor and tactic profiles, and implications
Rise in volumes of AI-powered cyberattacks
Major cyber events in 2024
Malware and malicious payload trends
Cyberattack types and targets
Vulnerability exploit attempts on CVEs
Attacks on counties – USA
Expansion of bot farms – how, where, and why
In-depth analysis of the cyber threat landscape across North America, South America, Europe, APAC, and the Middle East
Why are attacks on smart factories rising?
Cyber risk predictions
Axis of attacks – Europe
Systemic attacks in the Middle East
Download the full report from here:
https://sectrio.com/resources/ot-threat-landscape-reports/sectrio-releases-ot-ics-and-iot-security-threat-landscape-report-2024/
GDG Cloud Southlake #33: Boule & Rebala: Effective AppSec in SDLC using Deplo...James Anderson
Effective Application Security in Software Delivery lifecycle using Deployment Firewall and DBOM
The modern software delivery process (or the CI/CD process) includes many tools, distributed teams, open-source code, and cloud platforms. Constant focus on speed to release software to market, along with the traditional slow and manual security checks has caused gaps in continuous security as an important piece in the software supply chain. Today organizations feel more susceptible to external and internal cyber threats due to the vast attack surface in their applications supply chain and the lack of end-to-end governance and risk management.
The software team must secure its software delivery process to avoid vulnerability and security breaches. This needs to be achieved with existing tool chains and without extensive rework of the delivery processes. This talk will present strategies and techniques for providing visibility into the true risk of the existing vulnerabilities, preventing the introduction of security issues in the software, resolving vulnerabilities in production environments quickly, and capturing the deployment bill of materials (DBOM).
Speakers:
Bob Boule
Robert Boule is a technology enthusiast with PASSION for technology and making things work along with a knack for helping others understand how things work. He comes with around 20 years of solution engineering experience in application security, software continuous delivery, and SaaS platforms. He is known for his dynamic presentations in CI/CD and application security integrated in software delivery lifecycle.
Gopinath Rebala
Gopinath Rebala is the CTO of OpsMx, where he has overall responsibility for the machine learning and data processing architectures for Secure Software Delivery. Gopi also has a strong connection with our customers, leading design and architecture for strategic implementations. Gopi is a frequent speaker and well-known leader in continuous delivery and integrating security into software delivery.
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
PHP Frameworks: I want to break free (IPC Berlin 2024)Ralf Eggert
In this presentation, we examine the challenges and limitations of relying too heavily on PHP frameworks in web development. We discuss the history of PHP and its frameworks to understand how this dependence has evolved. The focus will be on providing concrete tips and strategies to reduce reliance on these frameworks, based on real-world examples and practical considerations. The goal is to equip developers with the skills and knowledge to create more flexible and future-proof web applications. We'll explore the importance of maintaining autonomy in a rapidly changing tech landscape and how to make informed decisions in PHP development.
This talk is aimed at encouraging a more independent approach to using PHP frameworks, moving towards a more flexible and future-proof approach to PHP development.
GraphRAG is All You need? LLM & Knowledge GraphGuy Korland
Guy Korland, CEO and Co-founder of FalkorDB, will review two articles on the integration of language models with knowledge graphs.
1. Unifying Large Language Models and Knowledge Graphs: A Roadmap.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.08302
2. Microsoft Research's GraphRAG paper and a review paper on various uses of knowledge graphs:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/graphrag-unlocking-llm-discovery-on-narrative-private-data/
Connector Corner: Automate dynamic content and events by pushing a buttonDianaGray10
Here is something new! In our next Connector Corner webinar, we will demonstrate how you can use a single workflow to:
Create a campaign using Mailchimp with merge tags/fields
Send an interactive Slack channel message (using buttons)
Have the message received by managers and peers along with a test email for review
But there’s more:
In a second workflow supporting the same use case, you’ll see:
Your campaign sent to target colleagues for approval
If the “Approve” button is clicked, a Jira/Zendesk ticket is created for the marketing design team
But—if the “Reject” button is pushed, colleagues will be alerted via Slack message
Join us to learn more about this new, human-in-the-loop capability, brought to you by Integration Service connectors.
And...
Speakers:
Akshay Agnihotri, Product Manager
Charlie Greenberg, Host
Kubernetes & AI - Beauty and the Beast !?! @KCD Istanbul 2024Tobias Schneck
As AI technology is pushing into IT I was wondering myself, as an “infrastructure container kubernetes guy”, how get this fancy AI technology get managed from an infrastructure operational view? Is it possible to apply our lovely cloud native principals as well? What benefit’s both technologies could bring to each other?
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From Daily Decisions to Bottom Line: Connecting Product Work to Revenue by VP...
Smart cities - Using email in municipal service delivery
1. Using email in
municipal service
delivery
- lessons for cities Smart Cities Brief
No.17
1. Introduction
Citizens and businesses have many different ways of contacting
municipalities for services, and many municipalities allow customers to
use email as a contact channel. However many municipalities often find
that they have difficulties in managing the email channel, with customers
contacting a range of official and unofficial email addresses, and have
difficulties in measuring how successful/efficient/appropriate email is for
service delivery and as a point of customer contact.
This report illustrates how the municipality of Groningen has
transformed its email handling methods and processes in the context
of a wider multi-channel strategy to deliver better and more effective
services to its citizens.
This report provides an overview of best practices in the use and
handling of email by municipalities, shares lessons from Groningen’s
experience in transforming email handling through a case study, and
gives an insight into the complexities and uses of the email channel. A
glossary and links to further reading and resources are also included.
www.smartcities.info
www.smartcities.info
2. 2 When is email the appropriate channel?
Email has become ubiquitous amongst municipalities as a channel for both
internal and external communication. It has evolved through popular use into
a channel that some customers also expect to use in their communications
with municipalities, alongside using municipal websites. Email is quick and
convenient to send, and as a result some customers are choosing this channel
as a way of engaging with their local municipality.
It is important to note that not all customers choose to use email all of the time
for a number of reasons, including:
• inability to access email (which can be technology or skill-related),
• concerns over safety of email as a communication channel,
• a lack of confidence in the municipality’s ability to respond to emails,
• preferring to talk to someone,
• more formal methods of communication may be appropriate. e.g. physical letter,
• the complexity of an issue/multiple different issues,
• disability or impairment meaning that email is not a suitable channel,
• requirement for customer’s signature as part of process/interaction, and
• the need to provide original physical documentation/supporting evidence.
It is vital that the use of the email channel is considered in the context
of a multi-channel customer access strategy, which reflects the target
audience’s access to technology, the type and complexity of the contact with the
municipality, their personal preferences, and the social/technological skill sets
that affect their channel choices.
In 2010 the UK Cabinet Office’s Local Government Contact Council produced a
Channel Strategy Template to support municipalities in this task. The template
provides a clear, structured framework for a municipal channel strategy, and
included suggested content and standard text (that can be edited to suit the
local context). It covers the basic principles and scope of the strategy, with key
considerations and suggested governance arrangements, as well as specific
strategies for the various channels (including email).
What do customers expect from email?
Customers’ expectations are often based on their experiences of email and
online contact with other organisations/businesses, as well as any previous
experience of engaging with municipalities. These experiences can colour
their expectations in a positive or negative way. Different customers may have
differing expectations, and may even prefer to use another method of contact.
www.smartcities.info
3. Customers sending an email to a municipality expect a timely response; one
which is polite and acknowledges the query/issue raised; which requests
clarification or additional information (if necessary); which provides an answer
or redirects the customer accordingly to someone who can provide an answer;
and acknowledges if there is a delay that the full response will follow in a
reasonable timescale.
If email responses do not meet this basic service level, customers may be
inclined to escalate the issue; to change channels to get a better/different/
quicker response; or may even complain about the level of service received.
Such reactions could be described as ‘failure demand’ and create more work for
the municipality, so it is worth investing in the customer engagement process to
ensure you get it right first time.
Service delivery standards
There is a perception by some customers that municipalities are ‘open all hours’
via email and their websites. Whatever service delivery standards are agreed,
municipalities should be transparent and publicise them clearly to help manage
customer expectations. Staff should also be informed of these standards and
arrangements made to manage departmental email addresses.
In a customer consultation exercise undertaken in 2010 by St Albans City &
District Council (as a pilot for a customer service toolkit ‘Getting it right and
righting the wrongs’), customers from their Community Panel suggested
appropriate response times for emails which varied considerably – from 24
hours to one week. When asked “do you understand our service standards?”
49% of customers responded “No”. Customers had differing perceptions of
what was an acceptable response time, and were unaware of the municipality’s
actual service standards.
The municipality of Groningen has a target response time of 24 hours for
email enquiries, which includes sending an interim response if the procedure is
likely to take longer for a complete answer. Groningen has also developed Ten
Golden Tips for writing and responding to emails has and ensured that all staff
are trained to use them.
A ‘mystery shopping exercise’ of how well municipalities in the UK respond to
customer emails is done as part of the annual socitm Better Connected survey
of municipality websites in the UK. Every UK municipal website is checked in
order to complete an online contact form or to find an e-mail address to send a
request for help/information about a particular topic.
The sample e-mail test is always based on a different question to the previous
year’s survey. For the 2011 survey the email test requested help applying for
a blue badge (a disabled car parking exemption badge). Not all municipalities
in England are responsible for directly providing this service, although it was
expected that this request would still be handled by every municipality.
www.smartcities.info
4. The acceptable standard (for the survey) was a reply that was rated at least
‘satisfactory’ and which was received within two working days. In total, 56% of
all UK municipalities achieved the standard, although 77% provided a reply in
two working days (clearly some replies were received in time but did not provide
satisfactory answers).
socitm has made a number of recommendations to municipalities to help them
improve their email handling, including:
• setup a system to check that e-mail correspondence is handled properly and
monitor the quality and speed of responses,
• carry out mystery shopping exercises to highlight strengths and weaknesses
of your e-mail handling (some municipalities arrange this on a reciprocal basis
with each other and include other channels, such as telephone enquiries),
• ensure that staff responsible for responding to emails have access to the
right information to provide a quality reply,
• check that website links included within an e-mail response actually work, and
• emails may be more informal than a printed letter but should include a
minimum amount of standard information:
- the name and title of the person responding, and
- the organisation’s name, a telephone number and the website address.
When is email appropriate?
To some extent, customers themselves dictate the use of email by choosing
it as a method of contact. Customer enquiries that require a standard answer
should be dealt with via email. These frequently asked questions and answers,
along with relevant application forms, should also be published on the
municipality’s website to encourage self-service.
Invariably municipalities initially respond to customers using the same channel
the customer used. Depending on the nature and complexity of the enquiry,
municipalities may then need to decide if it is appropriate to conclude the matter
via email. This is another reason why choosing the appropriate use of email
should be considered as part of a multi-channel strategy.
St Albans City & District Council’s Community Panel consultation included
questions from the municipality about customer attitudes towards channel
shift. Customers were asked if they would be comfortable if the municipality
responded to customer letters or emails via telephone (where they were more
complex and/or related to a complaint). The overwhelming response was
positive, provided a letter was sent to confirm the outcome of the conversation.
Customers could see the benefit in direct engagement, followed by the
reassurance of a follow-up formal letter.
www.smartcities.info
5. Using email to engage with customers was also part of the strategy adopted
by St Albans City & District Council in surveying their Community Panel. 51%
of their panel members provided valid contact email addresses, which were
used to invite panel members to take an online survey. 65% of the panel who
were emailed the link to the survey completed it online, compared to a 39%
response rate from the panel members who received a paper copy of the same
survey (which was posted to the 49% of panel members who did not provide an
email address, along with a stamped return envelope). These customers were
comfortable with email contact from their municipality and indeed, greater levels
of participation was achieved from those who were contacted via this channel.
The model in Figure 1 (from the Local Government Contact Council’s Channel
Strategy Template), shows the customer contact channels that require a greater
level of human contact and which provide more reassurance to customers.
Conversely, delivery typically becomes cheaper for the organisation as a
customer chooses different channels of engagement where less human contact
is needed (shifting channel up the triangle).
CHANNEL EFFECTIVENESS
MORE REASSURANCE
No Contact
LESS COST
Web Self Service
Automated Phone
Phone
E-mail/Letter
Face to Face
Figure 1 - The cost and effectiveness of different customer contact channels
It may not be appropriate to encourage complex customer enquiries to be
handled by email, or in situations where it is necessary to provide original
physical documentation or other forms of supporting evidence. The municipality
of Groningen has actively discouraged customers from using emails for
services – they have developed service-specific online web forms which capture
citizen enquiries in a structured way, and which means the municipality receives
better quality information from citizens.
www.smartcities.info
6. In the socitm 2011 email mystery shopping exercise, 21% of municipalities had
functioning online forms that were completed, while 79% of UK municipalities
published generic email addresses that were contacted instead. In this exercise,
socitm found that the use of the online form did not guarantee a response, or
guarantee a response within the two-day timeframe. It is unclear if customers
are more or less confident about using online forms as a channel to engage
with their municipality: from the model in Figure 1, it is assumed that customers
have less reassurance/confidence about such interactions.
Emerging technologies/channels
Some customers are adopting the emerging social media technologies, such
as Facebook and Twitter and consequently, municipalities are also establishing
a presence on these sites as an engagement tool. In January 2010, the severe
weather in the UK disrupted critical local services and encouraged many
municipalities to use these new forms of social media to communicate service
messages and updates to customers. Since then, more municipalities have
embraced social media as an effective customer engagement tool for both
in-bound and out-bound contacts, as well as redirecting customers to their
websites for more information.
Municipal websites are also inviting customers to register to receive regular
news bulletins or notifications of changes in services via email. Online
consultation exercises are another way of engaging with customers, with the
option of customers receiving an alert when new consultations begin.
Text messaging is another channel that municipalities are using to engage with
customers for both in-bound and out-bound contacts. Some municipal library
services provide customers with the option of registering to receive an email or
text message to remind them to return their books before the due date. Others
are encouraging customers to send them text messages to inform them of a
whole host of issues/problems, such as vandalism, abandoned vehicles, fly-
tipping, graffiti and stray dogs. Some issues are particularly time-sensitive, so
inviting customers to text the municipality directly could avoid issues escalating.
www.smartcities.info
7. 3 The email workflow
Handling emails can be assisted or hampered by how you allocate, manage and
monitor email addresses and traffic.
Email addresses
In England, municipalities operate in a mixed environment, with the majority of
areas operating a two-tier structure of local government of County and Shire
District Councils. Few municipalities distinguish this in their email addresses,
such as:
• Dorset County Council @dorsetcc.gov.uk.
• Wyre Borough Council @wyrebc.gov.uk.
• Ashfield District Council @ashfield-dc.gov.uk.
Across the UK, even fewer use abbreviations of their names, which is perhaps it
is understandable given the length of their official names and the propensity of
misspelling, for example:
• Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council @tmbc.gov.uk.
• The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea @rbkc.gov.uk.
• Perth & Kinross Council @pkc.gov.uk.
Most municipalities regardless of type use their main official name as their email
address, for instance:
• Watford Borough Council @watford.gov.uk.
• Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council @stockport.gov.uk.
• Darlington Borough Council @darlington.gov.uk.
Likewise, most conform to the standard format of firstname.lastname@
council.gov.uk for staff email addresses and department@council.gov.uk for
departmental/generic email addresses. Standardising in this way enables
customers and other organisations to predict unknown email addresses for new
contacts.
The Groningen case study highlights how it overcame the problem of email
address formats.
www.smartcities.info
8. Personal versus Departmental addresses
Personal email addresses tend to be used by municipalities for internal staff
email addresses. Departmental addresses are often used on websites and
publicity material (leaflets, posters etc.).
In the socitm mystery shopping exercise, 100% of email addresses advertised
on each municipality’s website that were contacted for help (where online forms
were not available) were generic or departmental addresses. These ranged
from the generic info@, customerservices@, and enquiries@ through to the
more specific parking@, parkingservices@ and transportation@.
Using generic or departmental email addresses online and/or on printed
material has its advantages: multiple users can view and respond to incoming
emails; it is less-likely that out-of-office rule replies will be necessary (as shared
management enables cover); changes to addresses are infrequent, lowering
maintenance/republishing costs; emails can be logged and monitored; emails
can be integrated into back-office systems.
There are potential disadvantages to generic or departmental email addresses:
shared ownership/responsibility by staff could result in delayed responses as
everyone assumes someone else is dealing with the email; different staff have
differing levels of knowledge, so the responses may vary; and the continuity of
responses may be affected if customers engage in an email dialogue over a
period of time when different staff may be handling emails.
www.smartcities.info
9. 4 The email model
As indicated in the channel effectiveness model earlier, email is not necessarily
the most cost-effective channel of customer engagement for municipalities. In
Groningen, the effect of ‘loose’ emails within the municipality has made it difficult
to monitor the quality and speed of responses to customers’ emails. Consequently
Groningen does not know all of their current costs for email handling.
From the customer’s perspective, emails are free to send (saving on postage
stamps, paper and envelopes), and are quick and convenient, so they are often
a popular channel. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that customer emails
can disappear into a ‘black hole’ within municipalities, resulting in customers
changing channel and pursuing more costly modes of contact such as the
telephone or face-to-face.
Establishing a municipality’s costs for handling the email channel has proved
difficult. This could be due to the variable nature of customer emails, and a lack
of management/monitoring arrangements of emails within municipalities.
Socitim published ‘cost to serve’ data for the three main service channels in
August 2010:
• Face-to-face £7.40
• Telephone £2.90
• Web £0.32
Given the unstructured nature of emails and the variability of the complexity
of customer contacts via this channel, the cost to serve of emails should be
somewhere between the costs of telephone transactions and face-to-face
transactions. Reducing the number of customer emails by providing self-serve
information on the municipality’s website, by reducing the number of published
email addresses, or by developing online web forms to capture customer
enquiries might therefore be desirable. The transfer of emails into other
channels would potentially result in a more cost-efficient process.
An annual survey of 253 UK municipalities by NDL into integration and CRM
reported that in 2010, 89% of the municipalities surveyed used a CRM to
manage customer contacts. However, 17% were still re-keying all data that was
being collected into the CRM, with 38% re-keying more than 60% of data. It
could be argued that in attempting to build a customer contact picture, this is
adding costs to the process of handling customer enquiries from all channels
without adding value to the customer. Online web forms also were not integrated
into CRM systems, with 35% of municipalities surveyed re-keying all data and
77% re-keying more than 51% of data from web forms. This lack of integration
requires additional resources and the reprocessing of data that municipalities
can ill-afford.
www.smartcities.info
10. 5 Legal issues
Municipalities should establish a clear email policy as a guide to staff on
usage, to help prevent time wasting, to protect the security of your data and
system, and to minimise the risk of legal issues. All staff should be made aware
of the email policy and it is recommended that staff be required to sign an
acknowledgement of understanding and an agreement to abide by the policy. It
is also recommended that the municipality’s employment terms and conditions
make reference to staff adherence to the email policy.
An email policy should include guidelines and rules around:
• permitted use – internal and external, business and personal, confidential
and contractual,
• prohibited use and monitoring arrangements,
• content – style, tone, standard header/footer content, disclaimer,
• handling – response times, use of ‘out of office’ rules, read-receipts, access
to email accounts, and
• Ttchnical - speed of transmission, storage, file size of attachments, security
(including encryption of emails if provided), spam and viruses.
Spam emails are a problem for municipalities, both for staff who receive them
and when municipal emails are identified as spam, resulting in emails from the
municipality being blocked/filtered by the recipient. There is also a potential for
viruses to be transmitted via email, and spam emails should be dealt with via the
municipality’s ICT Security Policy, as well as being highlighted in the email policy.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) personal information online
code of practice recommends that it is bad practice to collect personal details
like names and email addresses just to let someone look at your website.
Likewise the code notes that it is bad practice to make people contact you by
letter or telephone if you provide services to them online. This guidance should
be borne in mind by municipalities when developing their channel strategy.
There is further guidance from the ICO in the email marketing data protection
good practice note, which explains the regulations that apply to direct
marketing via electronic mail, which activities they cover, and includes some
good practice recommendations. This could also affect how municipalities
gather and distribute information to customers via email.
Read-receipts do not appear to be commonly used by municipalities for
outbound customer emails. Guidance on the use of such receipts should be
covered in the email policy.
www.smartcities.info
11. Disclaimers are commonly appended to the end of outgoing municipality
emails by mail servers. There appears to be no clear guidance in the UK on the
use or inclusion of email disclaimers. They provide a sense of security and/or
offer damage limitation - as most, if not all, municipalities use them they have
become standard by default.
Customers perceive an email from a municipality as being ‘official’
correspondence/response and so rely on the contents. It is suggested that
contractual business is not conducted via email, and municipalities should use
the traditional letter instead.
The National Ombudsman of the Netherlands recommends that the use of
disclaimers in emails is not a legal obligation, because the content of the emails
from municipalities should contain trustworthy information. As a result, the
municipality of Groningen will be reviewing its use of disclaimers in emails.
The European Union Data Retention Directive (2006/24/EC) covers
telecommunications data retention (which includes emails). According to the
directive, member states will have to store citizens’ telecommunications data
for six to 24 months stipulating a maximum time period. However, the UK is
among those countries that have not adopted the retention directive, relying on
the Data Protection Act 1998 to ensure it is compliant with EU requirements. EU
municipalities should check if this directive is adopted and enforced in their country.
www.smartcities.info
12. 6 Case Study: Optimising the email channel in the City of
Groningen, Netherlands
Overview
The Municipal Ombudsman of Groningen stated in the 2010 Annual Report
that citizens did not get proper answers when they contact the municipality
of Groningen by email. This confirmed what had already been recognised
by the Customer Services Programme that was already underway in the
municipality of Groningen. Management information was lacking: emails were
not registered, the content and quality of the responses was not monitored, the
speed of responses was unknown, and the information/responses provided by
different service channels was inconsistent.
Groningen tackled these issues by reducing the number of published email
addresses on its website and on promotional material; by introducing service-
specific online electronic forms in order to capture citizen enquiries in a
structured way; by drastically reducing the number of public email addresses
following an audit; by standardising their email address format (including
internal addresses); and training all staff on the Ten Golden Tips for writing and
responding to citizens’ emails.
Groningen has achieved improved results in mystery shopping exercises to
test their effectiveness at handling emails, and staff are more professional and
courteous in responding to emails after appropriate training.
Background
Groningen is a municipality and the capital city of the province of Groningen
in the Netherlands. With a population of around 190,000, it is by far the largest
city in the north of the Netherlands, covering an area of almost 84 km2, with
a population density of 2,324/km2. Groningen is a university city, inhabited on
average by about 50,000 students and has the youngest average population in
the Netherlands, with the majority of the population under 35 years old.
The municipality of Groningen recognised that their citizens will choose their
own preferred channel/method of contact, and engaging with the municipality
via email and the Internet are popular. While Groningen has over 3000
employees, it had at least 5000 internal email addresses, and more than 70
different mail-addresses were published on its website. It was clear that there
was a problem in managing and maintaining citizen contacts via email and the
website, and that these inconsistencies needed to be addressed.
Groningen aimed to handle citizen emails in the same way as any other form
of contact and to provide the same, consistent response independent of the
channel that was used. They recognised that service standards would vary
depending on channel but the essential response/answer should be consistent.
www.smartcities.info
13. What did they do?
The municipality of Groningen established a project as part of the Smart Cities
initiative. A Project Initiation Document (PID) was completed and a Project
Leader appointed and an outline project plan agreed. The email handling
project was managed by an existing Stad & Stadhuis Steering Committee (Stad
& Stadhuis is the programme to improve customer services in Groningen).
An inventory of existing problems relating to email handling and addresses
formed the baseline for the project, which started in March 2008 and is due to be
completed by December 2011. However, work will continue as part of the Customer
Services Programme to standardise citizen contacts across all channels.
A communication plan was produced which was key to ensure that all
stakeholders were aware of the project and its objectives.
An email protocol was developed, which included determining which central
email addresses were required within the Groningen municipality, as well as the
policy for issuing new email addresses and how such addresses are formatted.
There were originally almost 80 public email addresses and this number is to be
reduced by 90% to eight departmental email addresses, with the ultimate aim
of having only one public email address. This will reduce the number of emails
publicised on the website and on promotional material. It is acknowledged that
this means that citizens will still be able to email these departmental email
addresses and that these ‘loose’ emails will need managing. The email protocol
is now included in the Staff Introduction Process.
In addition, these eight departmental email addresses will each have an auto-
reply, so that when citizens email them they get an immediate response
acknowledging receipt.
Unnecessary email addresses were removed from the website and replaced by
web forms. By introducing service-specific online electronic forms to capture
citizen enquiries in a structured way, better quality information was received.
Most web form content is usually sent to the relevant departmental email
address for a response (although web forms can be setup to send the content
to an individual within the municipality). In some instances, the web forms pre-
populate the back-office application system (saving re-keying and reducing
errors). Groningen is still developing and fine-tuning the process behind web
forms and admits that they are not perfect yet! The aim is to receive less
unstructured emails, and to encourage more contact through the website forms.
Groningen has over 3000 employees, yet it had at least 5000 internal email
addresses. An audit and rationalisation of the redundant email addresses
resulted in removing 40%, leaving around 3000 email addresses (i.e. one
per employee). On-going housekeeping continues to ensure that this level is
maintained. Employees are also required to enable an ‘out-of-office’ reply to
all external emails when they are unavailable for any extended period (due to
holiday or illness etc.).
www.smartcities.info
14. As well as reducing the number, the format of the email address was reviewed
in order to standardise the suffix of addresses. Previously, departments added
a suffix to all their email addresses such as parkeren@roez.groningen.nl. The
standard format agreed generated much discussion and is now in use: name.
surname@groningen.nl for a person and a clear name for departmental email
addresses (such as parkeren@groningen.nl). The standard was implemented
department by department and whilst it was purely an administrative task, this
aspect of the project was time-consuming and resource-intensive.
This attention to emails served to raise awareness amongst staff about email
handling issues and led to a review of the content and quality of emails.
In order to measure the quality of email responses, a mystery-shopping
exercise was setup with an external third party. 120 emails were sent to the
eight departmental email addresses. The results of this confirmed that 58%
of citizens’ received a response to their email within 24 hours, the emails had
a positive tone and were readable. On the negative side, auto-replies were
not consistently setup, emails were not addressed personally, they included
mistakes and spelling errors, included unnecessary web links, and showed little
understanding of the citizen’s circumstances.
As a result, Groningen developed Ten Golden Tips for writing and responding
to citizen emails and all staff were trained to further improve their emails. A
simple but effective set of presentation slides were used to get the message
across to staff in a friendly way, and included a summary of the mystery
shopping exercise. This training and dissemination for all staff was done over a
three-month period using a cascade approach: a central meeting was held with
each department and then nominated officers used the presentation slides to
further disseminate the message within each department. The Ten Golden Tips
were also publicised on the staff intranet.
Ten Golden Tips for email use
1. Set up an automatic reply.
2. Make the opening personal (refer to the citizen by their name).
3. Correct the subject line (if necessary).
4. Use a proper structure/format, for example: heading-answer-ending.
5. Show empathy.
6. Show that you understand the question (and refer to it).
7. Copy and paste information into the reply (use web links as little as possible).
8. End the reply personally, conforming to the e-mail protocol/style guide (use
an electronic signature).
9. Be accurate and check your spelling (use the spell-check feature).
10.Answer e-mails from the general public mail address.
www.smartcities.info
15. A second mystery-shopping exercise has been undertaken and the results
are being analysed - initial findings show a marked improvement in email
responses following the staff training.
Who was involved?
The key personnel involved in the project included the existing Stad & Stadhuis
Programme (which is the programme to improve customer services in
Groningen), the Project Leader (who worked on the email project part-time)
and members of the municipality’s General Management Team. IT staff were
involved in removing the old email addresses and reformatting the existing
ones. The Service Desk (help desk) was responsible for applying the new
email protocol rules and getting the databases in order. All staff were trained
in the Ten Golden Rules of email handling by an enthusiastic member of staff,
followed by a cascade approach to the training within each department.
Outcomes and impact
The municipality of Groningen set the following objectives for the project which
they achieved:
• Enhanced customer satisfaction – evidenced by the second mystery
shopping exercise with work continually on-going to improve satisfaction levels.
• Better e-mail handling within the organisation – enabled by the
rationalisation of redundant internal email addresses by 40% and the
standardisation of email addresses.
• Better quality answers for citizens – supported by the Ten Golden Tips training.
• More structured e-mail entrances and communication policy on (the
use of) e-mail – will be enabled by the reduction by 90% of departmental
email addresses.
• Use of web forms on the website channel only (no ‘loose’ web-addresses any
more) – the use of web forms is underway with further forms in development.
• Establish an e-mail protocol – delivered and included in the Staff
Introduction Process.
www.smartcities.info
16. Key lessons for others
The municipality of Groningen identified the following key lessons for
municipalities doing similar projects:
• Email process – is difficult to monitor with too many ‘loose’ email addresses
in terms of quality and speed of response (too many people involved).
Place emphasis on customer contact and look at the use of email from the
customers’ perspective.
• Communications – create very easy rules, such as promoting the Ten
Golden Tips to staff to gain buy-in and understanding.
• Technical issues – these were experienced by some staff that were
unaware of how to use email – help them by providing training in the use of
email functionality.
• Web forms – look at the volume of specific citizen requests before developing
an online web form to ensure the effort is worth it (use the 80-20 rule).
What could have gone better?
Having realised the benefits and success of the Ten Golden Tips, rolling these
out sooner might have had an even greater impact.
Next steps
The municipality of Groningen aims to keep the quality of email responses
high and also to continue removing old internal email addresses as a routine
housekeeping exercise. Further web forms will be developed on a case-by-case
basis. Work continues to integrate the eight departmental website emails and
to install an auto-reply on these remaining public email addresses, with the
ultimate aim of having only one public email address.
Groningen is still analysing the results of the second mystery shopping exercise
on email responses to fully understand the outcomes. The Customer Services
Programme will continue, focusing on optimising citizen contact across all
channels using a central knowledge base. Further work will include the status
tracking of emails using workflows, so that citizens can be informed of the
status of their email at any given time.
The recent “Digital traffic between government and citizens” (August 2011)
report by the Dutch National Ombudsman recognised the improvements
Groningen had made in handling emails. This report also recommends that
there is no legal obligation to use disclaimers in emails in the Netherlands,
because the content of the emails from municipalities should contain
trustworthy information. As a result, the municipality of Groningen will be
reviewing its use of disclaimers in emails.
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17. 7 Summary
Email is ubiquitous, and has both advantages and disadvantages for both
customers and municipalities.
Having/using email could be seen as an advantage from the customer’s
perspective as it is quick and convenient to send, albeit customer emails can
disappear into a ‘black hole’ within municipalities. Consequently, new social
media channels could replace some customer interactions with municipalities.
In-bound customer emails could be seen as a problem for municipalities: the
unstructured nature of emails and the variability of the complexity of customer
contacts combines to make handling emails a challenge. Out-bound municipality
emails that are sent to customers could help to improve the take-up and
awareness of services. Efforts to encourage channel shift should be considered
in the context of a multi-channel customer access strategy.
Email needs managing and monitoring, along with customers’ expectations, to
foster a harmonious ongoing relationship between citizens and municipalities..
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18. 8 Glossary
Channel – A means of communication/interaction to access or deliver a
service. Examples of direct channels provided by municipalities include face-to-
face, letter (post), email, telephone, mobile telephone, website, digital television
and kiosks.
Channel strategy – A municipality’s plan to manage the channels it will
use to deliver services to its customers. A channel strategy explains how an
organisation will meet the demands of its customers using the resources it has
available.
Community Panel – Community or Citizen Panels are routinely used by
municipalities in the UK to consult with customers about new initiatives/
potential changes to services etc. Panel make-up is usually representative of
the population served by the municipality, ensuring a mix of ages, genders,
ethnicities etc.
CRM – Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system/software is used to
manage, monitor and record an organisation’s interactions and communications
with its customers. It is used in both the private and public sector, as well as by
many municipalities.
Encryption
Encryption of emails is done in order to protect the content from being
read by unintended recipients, by converting it from readable plaintext into
scrambled ciphertext.
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – The Information Commissioner’s
Office is the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights in
the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for
individuals. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
Mystery shopping – Mystery shopping is a tool used externally or internally by
organisations to measure the quality of service they provide, or their compliance
with regulations, or to gather specific information about products and services.
The mystery shopper’s identity is generally not known by the organisation that is
being evaluated. Mystery shoppers perform specific tasks such as purchasing a
product, asking questions or registering a complaint, and then provide detailed
reports or feedback about their experiences.
Socitm – The Society of IT Managers (socitm) is the association for ICT
and related professionals in the public and third sectors in the UK. Socitm
offers networking and peer support, professional development, and access to
research and consultancy on a wide range of policy and technology issues.
Spam – Spam emails are emails that are sent to you without your consent. The
ICO provides guidance on how to avoid receiving spam. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
for_the_public/topic_specific_guides/spam_emails.aspx
Virus – A virus is an unwanted computer program that can copy itself
(reproduce) and infect a computer, causing damage and disruption. Anti-virus
software is used to combat virus infections.
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19. 9 Resources and further reading
The UK Cabinet Office’s Local Government Contact Council produced a
Channel Strategy Template for municipalities in 2010, which includes an
example completed strategy from Surrey County Council.
http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/London%20
CouncilsCHANNELSTRATEGY2010completetemplatefinal.doc
socitm’s Better Connected 2011 Annual Report identifies good practice in the
development of municipality websites in the UK based on extensive evidence-based
research. It is free for socitm Insight subscribers, and available for sale to others.
http://www.socitm.net/betterconnected
Getting it Right and Righting the Wrongs is a Practitioners’ Toolkit
was produced by the UK Department for Communities & Local Government
(CLG), following an independent review and report in June 2009. It challenges
municipalities through self-assessment questions: are you getting your customer
service right, and are you righting the wrongs? It is aimed at improving customer
service across all channels and includes sections on service and remedy
pledges, the importance of the frontline, and customer-focused partnerships.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/1258307.pdf
Nationale Ombudsman 2011 Digitaal verkeer tussen overheid en burger (Dutch
National Ombudsman – Digital communication between government and citizens)
http://www.nationaleombudsman.nl/sites/default/files/rapport_2011-204_
digitaal_verkeer_tussen_burger_en_overheid.pdf
NDL Integration and CRM report 2011 highlights the lack of integration of
CRM systems within UK municipalities.
http://www.pscsf.org.uk/2011/03/driving-out-hidden-waste-and-inefficiencies-
local-authorities-look-to-integration-2/
UK ICO Personal information online - code of practice (July 2010) includes
guidance and best practice on the use of personal data.
http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/guidance_index/~/media/documents/
library/Data_Protection/Detailed_specialist_guides/personal_information_online_
cop.ashx
UK ICO Data Protection Good Practice Note - Electronic mail marketing (Dec
2006). This guidance explains how the Privacy and Electronic Communications
(EC Directive) Regulations 2003 apply to direct marketing via electronic mail,
which activities they cover and include some good practice recommendations.
http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/guidance_index/~/media/documents/
library/Data_Protection/Practical_application/ELECTRONIC_MAIL_
MARKETING_12_06.ashx
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20. is4profit is an independent, internet-based business offering information
and business advice for UK SME/small businesses and provides free
online guidance on establishing and implementing an email Policy for
employees.
http://www.is4profit.com/business-advice/employment/an-email-policy-for-
your-employees.html
JISC Legal is funded and is hosted by the University of Strathclyde and offers
legal guidance for ICT use in education, research and external engagement.
JISC has published a commentary on the use of email disclaimers.
http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/ManageContent/ManageContent/tabid/243/
ID/1649/What-is-the-current-legal-position-concerning-email-disclaimers-
and-how-are-they-used.aspx
European Union Data Retention Directive (2006/24/EC) sets out the
criteria for telecommunications data retention. According to the directive,
member states will have to store citizens’ telecommunications data for six
to 24 months stipulating a maximum time period.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:105:005
4:0063:EN:PDF
This report was prepared for Smart Cities by Deanna Sorrell from
27consulting.co.uk.
www.smartcities.info
www.epractice.eu/community/smartcities
The Smart Cities project is creating an innovation network between cities and academic
partners to develop and deliver better e-services to citizens and businesses in the North
Sea Region. Smart Cities is funded by the Interreg IVB North Sea Region Programme of the
European Union.
Smart Cities is PARTLY funded by the Interreg IVB North Sea Region Programme of the
European Union. The North Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 works with regional
development projects around the North Sea. Promoting transnational cooperation, the
Programme aims to make the region a better place to live, work and invest in.
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