Stephen Hale

What does government 2.0 mean to you?

I was really interested to read John Duncan's contribution to the Reuters Great Debate: What Does Government 2.0 Mean To You?

John is a something of a pioneer in the Foreign Office, using the tools of digital engagement to help him do his job, so he speaks from personal experience about technology and diplomacy. And having "worked on mainframes in the 1970s" and having "once jammed an IBM mainframe in a perpetual loop" he's we'll placed to comment on changing technology, as well as its impact on government communication.

If net-based communication is changing the way we all access information and opinion, the impact on diplomacy and government affairs may well be equally profound.

And on why the social web creates particular opportunities for diplomats and public diplomacy:

The internet allows the creation of a new world-wide “us” of shared interests and values. Social media networks and the blogosphere provide new tools to speak directly to [a] wider community of actors [...] going beyond the confines of traditional state-to-state interface, to test and be challenged on our ideas in a dialogue and sometimes in a partnership with civil society.

He has an interesting take on the value of diplomats engaging with online communities to market ideas:

Opinion formers act as the multipliers. Having a well argued case is seldom enough by itself [...] Diplomats need the opinion formers as the people who give the “third-party endorsement” that reinforces our message; a classic marketing technique to respond to a trust deficit.

 And on the niche communities of interest that make up his target audience:

They comprise a wide range of people from think tanks to journalists, students, to members of the public who care about the issues and are often willing to become involved with other decision makers. They offer direct access to the community that may provide third-party endorsement and at its best the creation of a constituency for change.

John is still a relatively rare example of a government official who actively participates in the social web in an official capacity. He is conscious of the perceived (and real) risks of public participation but is a powerful advocate for the opportunities:  

For government officials, engagement with this new virtual community is a challenge. It is unfamiliar and fraught with the risk of making mistakes. But there are also opportunities to multiply the effect of what we are already trying to do [...] Officials and governments should, and many are, seizing the opportunity.

Read the full article on the Reuters Great Debate: What Does Government 2.0 Mean To You?

You can also read Johns' blog and follow him on Twitter.

Posted at 09:04 03 September 2009 by Stephen Hale  |  Comments[0]