Citizen Engagement

NCDD/DDC White House Open Government Response

The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD) and the Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC) have put out a joint response to the recent White House call for input. It’s very solid, so please make sure to read it in full: Strengthening the Public Participation Elements of the Open Government Plan (PDF). Especially noteworthy is aRead… Read more »

Is Government Enabling Online Addiction?

If not, they should be! Almost everyday I see a different GovLoop member stressing the importance of online engagement in government as a tool for better customer service. As governments seek to serve citizens with more information online, are they contributing to our information overdose…or providing a quick hit that helps us more immediately? TakeRead… Read more »

GovLaunch: White House Announces “We the People”

The White House has announced a new way for citizens to petition the federal government to take action, through the “We the People” initiative. This is a really cool citizen engagement initiative coming out of the White House. Individuals will be able to either create or sign a petition and if they can get 5,00Read… Read more »

People Power: Harnessing Citizen Energy Via Social Media

Last week, I had the opportunity to present for the Maryland Association of Counties (MACO) summer meeting along with Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz. Earlier this year, he announced that Baltimore County would be launching 23 technology initiatives and he shared a bit about their social media efforts to communicate more effectively with citizens onRead… Read more »

It’s All About Knowledge!

What is knowledge? “Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something, that can include descriptions, facts, information and/or skills acquired through experience or education”, according to Wikipedia. Ben Franklin revealed, “an investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” What does knowledge have to do with customer service? Consider this, have you ever been toRead… Read more »

Recap Vancouver: Police, Citizens, Social Media, Privacy, and Safety

This post was co-written by GovLoop’s own Joseph Porcelli and Lauri Stevens. You’ve likely seen the pictures and videos from Vancouver: the looting, the beatings, the couple kissing. And how can we forget the videos of the few courageous citizens who, in the midst of the violence and chaos, stood up for their community? AfterRead… Read more »

GovBytes: Spending Money To Train Citizens How To Use Your Site

Could this be the future? Brian Heaton of Government Technology wrote Wednesday that at least one local government will soon be offering online training to educate citizens on how to use their new and improved website. The Community Digital Forum, to be held Wednesday, June 29, will feature hands-on instruction on how to navigate theRead… Read more »

When the Tin Standard is Enough: Social Media Engagement vs. Broadcast

As I’ve said before, there are very few absolutes when it comes to social media. Trust me, I’m well aware that the first word in “social media” is “social.” And there’s no question that the gold standard is to fully engage in any platform like Twitter, and that means retweeting, following others, etc. In Facebook,Read… Read more »

On track to nowhere

There has been a lot of work in recent years on ways of improving the process of public consultation. It’s not something about which I have any great expertise or direct involvement, but I am conscious of great efforts to produce consultation material in forms which are not just useful and accessible themselves, but whichRead… Read more »

Creating and Measuring Citizen Trust

I’m at 2011 Gov’t Customer Satisfaction Forum presented by Federal Consulting Group. There’s some great presentations so I’m taking notes. Dr. Forrest Morgeson, Research Scientist, American Customer Satisfaction Index How much citizens trust government-Measure by agency-Measure by generalized trust -People trust more specific agencies than overall trust in gov’t. 68% agency trust vs 41% overallRead… Read more »