With the pace of change ever faster there has never been a greater imperative to learn. Resaercher and blogger Liz Azyan has spent more than five years at first hand mapping those changes. She talks here about her second white paper on the subject. This time for Govdelivery and LGEO Research.
by Liz Azyan
A few years ago I wrote a white paper on digital communications in government. I received useful feedback and also insight into the world of governments everywhere on how they were embracing change that was happening in the digital landscape.
However, the landscape of government communications is still changing, especially within the digital space. And its not just the landscape, it US - as people, as individuals, have changed.
We’re more open with our communications and interaction with the online world. We put up more information than we have ever done before. We choose to personalise our experiences and information consumption in order to get better services in exchange. And as we learn to consume services that is mirroring our wants and needs, we have become accustomed to certain expectations.
This puts pressure on governments to communicate more effectively online. Government organizations face many challenges when it comes to communicating with citizens. In order to take advantage of the potential benefits of digital communications and channel shift, governments need proactive and integrated public communication strategies, including:
Allowing citizens to customize their information so it is easier to consume and manage.
Delivering information in a timely manner to encourage trust and confidence in government.
Giving citizens the opportunity to share, discuss and collaborate where possible.
In this white paper, I talk about how government can not only save money but also cultivate better relationships with citizens. This comes after many years being involved and working with and alongside government. But these are of course only my thoughts and I am always open for discussion that might arise from this white paper.
I would love to know your thoughts and find out how you are dealing with channel shift within your agency. What are the challenges? What is the best way to do channel shift? Are there other solutions that we’re not thinking of? How does the future of digital communications look like for government?
I hope you will find it useful, or the very least make you wonder about possibilities that lay in front of us.
Download this white paper here.
Hope it’s useful.
Liz Azyan is head of communications at Mydex CIC and founded LGEO Research.
