Research and Best Preactices eNewsletter

Research
Connecting with citizens (03/14/2011) – Government executives recognize that citizens are frustrated with government’s ability to fulfill their expectations, according to a survey by the Government Business Council. Opportunities for improvement include helping citizens help themselves, designing seamless multi-channel and cross-channel citizen experiences and listening and engaging proactively. http://www.rightnow.com/blog/government/bridging-the-divide-government-efforts-to-connect-with-citizens
Mobile devices and community information (03/14/2011) – Eighty-four percent of American adults own a cellphone and two-thirds of cellphone users take advantage of mobile phone features such as texting, e-mailing, web browsing and “apps”, according to a PEW study on mobile use The study explores the role that cellphones and tablet computers play in people’s patterns of consuming and contributing to information. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Local-mobile-news/Part-1/Introduction.aspx
Open data strategies in 5 countries (03/2011) – Open data strategies in Australia, Denmark, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States were examined in the European Journal of ePractice. The research found a lack of understanding of the economic, societal and democratic effects of open data strategies, which make government agencies hesitant to open up data actively. http://www.epractice.eu/files/European%20Journal%20epractice%20Volume%2012_1.pdf

News
Managing negative comments on social networks (03/21/2011) – Social networks facilitate a two-way conversation, but what should you do if the conversation turns negative? A Biz Report article offers eight practical tips to handle negative comments, including: creating a policy that clearly outlines the ‘rules’ around commenting on your page, keeping your cool, and replying promptly, concisely and publicly. http://www.bizreport.com/2011/03/eight-ways-to-manage-negativity-on-facebook-pages.html#
Engage your audience with video (03/17/2011) – Telling a story through video may be the best way for federal agencies to reach the public. Roger Holzberg of Cancer.gov and Roy Daiany of YouTube offered suggestions for making videos that maximize audience appeal and viewing during their session on video at the Government Web and New Media Conference on March 17. http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/documents/video-youtube.pdf, http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/documents/video-storytelling.pdf
Games in government (03/22/2011) – The public sector is beginning to use games as a new way to engage citizens. An experiment by the City of San Jose, in the gamification blog, found it makes sense to use games to learn how to collaborate, participate, and govern more effectively. http://gamification.co/2011/03/22/click-to-participate-games-in-government/