Research and Best Practices eNewsletter

Research

Using Wikis in Government (05/23/2011) – A new IBM guide provides practical tips to help federal managers decide if a Wiki makes sense for their organization and how to best use this tool to improve collaboration. http://www.businessofgovernment.org/report/using-wikis-government-guide-public-managers

Effective network builders (Spring 2011) –The Knight Foundation and Monitor Institute examined 70 networks and identified five patterns for good network building: listening to and consulting the crowds, designing for serendipity, connecting people with different perspectives and bridging differences, helping people directly help each other and giving enough direction for individuals to take effective and coordinated action. https://knight.box.net/shared/ng70lqn9hb

Internet matters (05/2011) – Results from the latest study by McKinsey Quarterly found the Internet contributed an average 3.4 percent to the GDP, of 13 countries surveyed, which would be more than the agriculture or energy industries. http://www.eg8forum.com/fr/documents/actualites/McKinsey_and_Company-internet_matters.pdf

Best Practices

Mobile computing in Arkansas (05/23/2011) – Mobile users in Arkansas can now text the state government — and get a reply. The new version of Arkansas.gov includes two features state officials say are the first for government: Text4help, which lets people ask questions about government services, and a geolocation widget for finding e-government services. http://gcn.com/articles/2011/05/23/arkansas-website-mobile-apps.aspx

Are you clueless about social media? (05/2011) – Social media has arrived, but many still aren’t sure what to do with it. The Harvard Business Review reveals the best users understand that social media is a two-way conversation and need to meet their customers where they already are in social media – on multi-media sharing sites, discussion forums and blogs. http://hbr.org/web/slideshows/social-media-what-most-companies-dont-know/1-slide

Social media job recruiting (05/23/2011) – Want to get a jump on the competition? Use social media. Recruiters are reaching more candidates than ever online. If you are not using social mediato find job applicants, you may be missing some of the top candidates. http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Social_Media_Job_Recruiting_Takes_Off_Washington_DC-122440504.html

Twitter Q&A (05/20/2011) – The Mayor of London held his first interactive Q&A session on Twitter, May 19. Despite having the @MayorOfLondon account for over two years, it’s largely been used as a means to broadcastPR statements and photos. However, he is working to change that and use Twitter as a two-way medium. http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/05/19/exclusive-londons-mayor-holds-first-ever-twitter-qa-session/