By Nick Heath, 15 September 2008 17:31
NEWS
Blinkered public sector thinking that blames sites such as Facebook for office time wasting is stunting the take up of web 2.0 in government, according to an association for IT professionals.
"Laggards" in local government are doggedly resisting user generated content, blogging, mash-ups and social networking on council websites, according to the Web 2.0: what it is and why it matters report by public sector IT body Socitm.
It warns CIOs, comms managers and councillors to allow the public to shape their communities through forums and to engage with community websites and blogs or risk being branded "Luddite".
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More than 80 per cent of the public sector organisations surveyed strongly disagreed that the public should be able to "customise the presentation of our website for their own use", with more than 70 per cent opposing podcasts on their site and about half against offering email or text message alerts linked to site updates.
Almost 80 per cent said concerns about time wasting was preventing greater use of social networking and wider web 2.0 adoption, with less than half letting staff use social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo and only just over half allowing employees to use business social networking site LinkedIn.
The report says: "With one or two exceptionsÂ…those who are laggards find it very difficult to shake off that mantle.
"More importantly, the defensive approach amongst teams and a culture of maintaining the status quo that seems to go with it is difficult to shift.
"The only choice is whether to be in the vanguard, pursuing an exciting path of controlled experiment and learning, or to be dragged along as a reluctant follower with a Luddite reputation in the eyes of your community."
A spokeswoman for Socitm said: "Web 2.0 is not very well developed at the moment.
"There is a school of thought among some managers that social networking is nothing to do with work, which ignores the professional benefits such as networking with colleagues or sharing information."
She pointed to the success of the London Borough of Redbridge, which hosts the mayor's blog on its website and recently consulted voters online over which services should be boosted and which should be cut.
Councils should also look at partnering with existing community sites, she said, pointing to the success of parenting support website NetMums - which had allowed a small group of mothers to reach an audience of thousands.
Comments
There are 6 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
To a certain extent they are right, there are some aspects that should be embraced, like Councillor blogs and such like.
In regards to Facebook, do me a favour, there is absolutely no need to give Council employees more excuses to waste time. Why collaborate on facebook, it's full of junk, whats wrong with using our sharepoint site, that's what the damn thing was designed for and why it was implemented. Nothing wrong with the concept of social networking but keep it in-house, at least that way we don't have to put up with all the crappy widgets/plugins that come with sites like Facebook.
Do the Socitm people actually realise how much more resources have to be dedicated to monitoring external sites like Facebook to make sure employees are not saying stupid things that will get Local Gov in trouble with bad press and such like.
2. Mark Hipwell
If you consult online via blogs, etc. then the people who do NOT constantly monitor the local council websites (what an exciting thing to do after a hard day's work!!) are being marginalised. Some areas do not have cheap and free Internet access and many people cannot afford a computer and cannot use one even if they had one. Does that mean their opinions should be ignored?
Unless you can consult everyone in the borough in a fair way then you are wasting time and public money with these mickey mouse projects. Web 2.0 has it's place but local councils and national governments are not it. Government, local or national, does not need to be hip or cool - it needs to be good!
3. Tony Stanley
Your absolutly correct – how can these people blame sites such as facebook as an excuse not to implement web 2.0 technologies. It’s very simple block access to sites such as facebook, bebo etc. And depoly a colaboration solution in-house where you do have control or who and what can be written.
4. Mark Hipwell
I see Mr Stanley is a "Colaboration Solution Architect" (who cannot spell "Collaboration"). That means that Web 2.0 is his bread and butter and the public sector will be his biggest market as the credit crunch hits.
Of course he wants Web 2.0 apps in councils. But what can they use them for? My company does Web 2.0 apps but only where appropriate. Councils are not artistic or creative powerhouses so why do they need collaboration software? Simple - they don't. Waste of time, manpower and money.
Think about your home town - ask yourself, "Fancy website with blogs, mashups et al and dustbins collected fortnightly or simple straightforward website and dustbins collected every week?"
Remember your decision in the summer when your bins stink to high heaven after just a few days. And remember your decision at Christmas when your bins are full twice over by Boxing Day and then don't get collected until mid-January and the binmen refuse to take away the excess in the bin bags and the local rats and foxes spread the contents of the bags all over your lawn to get at the leftover chicken or turkey!
5. Charles Mason
We use all forms of Web 2.0 technology here in central government including facebook, blogs, e-polls and you tube. It's in recognition of the way people especially the young communicate with each other. We want to get their their opinion and view of a variety of things. Social networking enables people to top up their energy levels after it becomes depleted as a result of work so I'm all for the use of such web sites in work. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!
6. Karen Challinor
I disagree Mr Mason
the government and politicians in general are only interested in the opinions of people who agree with them, everyone else is branded as either not having all the facts, not interpreting the facts correctly or as a troublemaker