How many councillors in the South West of England use Twitter?
A few weeks ago we published our research on councillors holding Twitter accounts in the West Midlands region. It seemed to be well received so we repeated the job for the South West of England – with...
View ArticleWhat will council-meeting law changes mean for transparency?
Yesterday Eric Pickles announced that members of the public who want to report on council meetings will be offered the same privileges enjoyed by accredited press. The Secretary of State for...
View ArticleMaking the most of Local Democracy Week
After all the excitement of the Olympics and Paralympics the idea of celebrating local democracy might seem a bit, well… ‘after the lord mayor’s show’. But for hundreds of councils Local Democracy...
View ArticleOpen Space South West in six quite long points
So I was lucky enough to be one of the people to attend the world’s first ‘someconference‘ at Devon County Council on Friday last week, Open Space South West. Here are some pics. It was the brainchild...
View ArticleWhat is a networked councillor? We’re going to find out…
We’re involved in an exciting project that is looking at how new technology can change the relationship local councillors have with the public. We know that the advent of social media in particular has...
View ArticleNetworked Councillor event: Cambridge 26th October
Update: this event, which was planned for the 26th of October has now been postponed. More details soon… Improvement East and Public-i will be holding a workshop event soon as part of the Networked...
View ArticleWhat is genuine engagement in a networked world?
Public-i is collaborating with our friends at the Democratic Society and OCSI to bring local government an open and networked approach to engagement. By getting together we’re combining our unique sets...
View ArticleSolace Summit: Open Network and the value of the social web in solving problems
Next week sees the annual gathering of local authority chief executives at the Solace Summit, held this year in Coventry. As ever, a number of Public-iers will be there. While I’ll be lending a hand...
View ArticleBrighton and Hove’s Open Door webcasts: how they work and why they’re great
On Monday last week Brighton and Hove City Council invited me in to watch the Open Door live webcast, in which council leader Jason Kitcat answered residents’ questions put to him on Twitter. This was...
View ArticleHigh viewing figures and planning – a case study from Bristol
Back in January a Bristol City Council webcast received more than 3,500 live views– when the redevelopment of Bristol Rovers’ Memorial stadium was considered by the authority’s development control...
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Pickles promises law to give public the right to film council meetings
Last month we heard that the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has promised to give bloggers, journalists and the public the right to film and report on council meetings in law –...
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The next usergroup: 6/12/13
I’m a bit late on this, but it’s really time that we talked about the next user group – on the 6th of December. As is now customary it will be held at the Hallam Conference Centre on 6th December 2013...
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UKGovCamp 2014
UKGovCamp 2014 Pinterest Saturday’s UKGovCamp was, if the hugely impressive online conversation was anything to go by, a massive success. It’s a success that thanks to our late entry as a sponsor we...
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How Birmingham City Council used interactive webcasting to transform...
A screenshot of the Budget Consultation, showing the Coveritlive blog that ran throughout the meeting. Geoff Coleman, Birmingham City Council communications officer, explains how his authority has used...
View ArticleCatherine's slides from LGComms – beyond communications: engagement through...
I just thought it would be really helpful if anyone who hadn’t had the chance to see Catherine’s slides from her LGComms presentation. When I can I’ll also add a Storify of Catherine, but that might...
View ArticleIf you're going to #localgovcamp then you should know about #networkedcllr
This weekend many of our friends will be going to Local Gov Camp, the brilliant unconference for local government folk and beyond. It’s going to be fun – and there will be some really interesting...
View ArticleWhat does the new 'right to report' law mean to you?
You may well already be aware that last Wednesday, 6th August 2014, saw a new law passed which gives the public the right to film and digitally report from all public meetings of public bodies. We’ve...
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The Right to Report, Webcasting and Devolution
On 6th August Eric Pickles signed a Parliamentary order allowing press and public to film and digitally report from all public meetings of local government bodies. It is an update on Margaret...
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Eight things we learned from the 'social media' election
The General Election was – most people agree – a bit of a surprise. First off, the Conservative party defied the polls to win a slim majority in the Commons. Second, a fair few analysts who had talked...
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Being digital and informing the electorate
Democracy and Bregret Following the EU Referendum, the question we must be asking ourselves is how do we ensure there is enough factual information for our electorate? 30 million people voted and...
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