Weekly Research and Best Practices

Research
1. The Challenge of Increasing Citizen Engagement in the Digital Age (09/10/2010) Unequal access to the Internet affects civic engagement by disenfranchising poor and less educated groups. The report highlights strategies to promote digital inclusion. http://www.twcresearchprogram.com/pdf/TWC%20Policy_Turner-Lee.pdf
2. Millions Working to Solve Local Problems (09/16/2010) – National Conference on Citizenship finds the Internet helps advance civic participation in America. The study also found that Americans with more education dominate civic engagement. http://ncoc.net/civichealth2010
News
1. Twitter based customer service (09/02/2010) – Best Buy’s @Twelpforce is a group of technology pros offering tech advice in Tweet form. Customers pose tech questions and get answers in real time. Twelpforce has close to 30,000 followers and reviews are positive. http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1995/twitter-based-customer-service-how-best-buy-gets-it-right
2. What can your organization gain from microblogging? (09/2010) – The case for enterprise microblogging is laid out visually with a stream of links to infographics, maps, charts and other visualization designs that make the process of understanding the value a little bit easier. http://visualoop.tumblr.com/post/1128979125/the-case-for-enterprise-microblogging
3. Social Technologies Can Kickstart Innovation (09/16/2010) – Forrester Research says Web 2.0 technologies foster collaboration and ignite innovation. How can you help move your agency toward a “need to share” culture? http://www.cio.com/article/615114/How_Social_Technologies_Can_Kickstart_Innovation
4. Mobile Boston (09/03/2010) – Boston recently launched a mobile version of www.cityofboston.gov to try to bridge the digital device divide. Reaches a constituency that traditionally does not come into City Hall, call the mayor’s hotline, or go online to request services. http://www.govtech.com/e-government/Boston-Launches-a-Mobile-Version-of.html