This year I have mostly been celebrating the close of last year- however, I thought it would be fair that I share a few things that I’m watching. Firstly, the open data movement.  While this is not a new agenda there are some rather exciting things planned for  a control shift in the way that [...]

I had the great pleasure of visiting Stockholm last week to join the good people at the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions. They have already embraced local ePetitions and I feel that they are at a turning point in terms of the take-up for collaberation and engagement tools (despite the tiny population sizes).  [...]

If you need an example of one of the most compelling digital engagement methods then look no further than the Mercedes Benz Escape The Map competition.  Try it now! Not only are the graphics fantastic but the way they use the challenge to get your personal information is groundbreaking.  You need to get to the [...]

So, the year is nearly out.  I’ve had a really productive twelve months but fear that it could be a bumpy ride ahead.  On one hand there are some really exciting developments, such as the formation of GDS.  I have to admit that there is finally the right mindset among influential people to make digital [...]

There’s no excuse any more. Open source software is just as good – if not better than closed source at a fraction of the price. The most pressing need if for us to get rid of Microsoft Operating systems. Not only is Linux very good but there are alternatives that even support Windows hardware drivers. [...]

Over the last couple of days I have been participating in debate around customer insight, customer relationship management (CRM) and customer engagement management (CEM). For those of you that missed it, LGA have spent around £7m on a little over 60 local authority projects in order to drive efficiency through customer insight. Basically this boils [...]

Not quite what you think, perhaps! I wanted to share with you the final evaluation document from a short customer insight project by NHS North Lincolnshire. The idea was twofold: Use a mixture of crowd-sourcing and Bluetooth proximity marketing to try and reduce risky behaviours (On the themes of sexual health and alcohol in particular) [...]

The right to petition the US government is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Throughout our history, Americans have used petitions to organize around issues they care about from ending slavery, to guaranteeing women’s right to vote, to the civil rights movement. “We the People” on WhiteHouse.gov is a new  tool which [...]

In the not so distant past I had the pleasure of attending the fourth international online deliberation event at Leeds University.  At the time it was clear that there was a useful track of research around argument visualisation. It’s great news, then, that the Centre for Digital Citizenship has managed to secure some FP& monies [...]

A lot of LA’s have been preparing for radical changes to their adult social care provision.  The government has a one-stop vision which revolves around an e-marketplace.  Some software vendors have been quick to jump on the bandwagon with bespoke products and services (see here, here and here). As yet there has been no roundup [...]