Social Networking tools have proliferated in the recent past, and many individuals are now utilizing such tools as a core part of their day-to-day lives. If these tools can be harnessed as a means of interaction by the public sector, constituency involvement will rise, while costs can be minimized.
August 2007 QUOCIRCA INSIGHT REPORT Social Networking and Opportunities in the Public Sector Contacts: Driving Constituency Involvement and Satisfaction Clive Longbottom Social Networking tools have proliferated in the recent past, and many individuals Quocirca Ltd Tel +44 118 948 3360 are now utilising such tools as a core part of their day-to-day lives. If these tools clive.longbottom@quocirca.com can be harnessed as a means of interaction by the public sector, constituency involvement will rise, while costs can be minimised. Rob Bamforth Quocirca Ltd Social Networking can be utilised to approach the public Tel +44 1962 849746 From a position as a pure consumer-led phenomenon, we can now look to social rob.bamforth@quocirca.com networking tools as being capable of playing a part within a controlled, public sector/citizen communication and collaboration environment Nick Davis Social Networking is not new IBM After being talked about for years, usability, standardisation and availability have all Tel +44 1256 344689 improved. Proprietary interfaces are breaking down, and back end standards are nick_davis@uk.ibm.com enabling consumer tools to interoperate with more commercial systems Existing collaborative tools have a place to play alongside social networking Email, instant messaging, and texting are all regarded as mainstream tools, with different socio-demographic groups making greater use of some tools than others. There is a strong need to make public sector social networking approaches inclusive of both existing and emerging communication and collaboration tools Many Social Networking tools are difficult to control "Immersive" sites, mass publication sites and many other social networking concepts are not suited to being controlled as easily as a directly hosted public sector department?s existing web site. Processes and controls need to be in place for content issued via such sites Consumer-focused tools have limitations Consumer tools do not have the enterprise capabilities required for full usage within the public sector. However, capabilities such as recording, filtering and audit capabilities can be gained through the use of enterprise back ends that can accept consumer clients at the front end. Also, such back end solutions can provide scalability, integration REPORT NOTE: capabilities, security and flexibility that would be missing from a pure-play consumer This report has been written tooling approach independently by Quocirca Many tools may have short lifetimes, and successful technologies will have to Ltd to provide an overview of survive through multiple versions the issues facing the public sector in engaging with their Social Networking is a highly dynamic environment and as such, many tools may not constituents. The report survive in the medium to long term. For example, blogs in a pure sense are not a suitable draws on Quocirca's mainstream tool for public sector usage due to their lack of content control, but may have extensive knowledge of the to be regarded in a "hybrid" fashion of a mediated and reviewed outbound information technology, business and feed until different solutions come through. Successful tools will have to co-exist with public sector arenas, and previous versions - choice of a fully supported system will be key provides advice on the Emerging tools are far more functional approach that organisations Tooling aimed at larger organisations tends to have the capabilities that the public sector in the public sector should take to create a more effective is looking for. Increasingly such tools also provide a highly integrated approach to social and efficient environment for networking, with policies as to which tool should be used when being a strong point. supporting their multiple Here, the use of social networking solutions becomes part of the overall process, rather constituencies. than something that is regarded as being an exception to it, and as such can be easily audited and reported as necessary. Conclusions Social networking can help public sector bodies interact to a far greater extent with citizens as well as with internal and external resources. Full policies are required to be put in place to mediate social networking, and back-end te... [download for more]
