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Work Together is a development of the IDeA's Partnership and Places Library - an online repository of good practice stories about different organisations working successfully in partnership in local areas. The new site takes the great content from the library and adds a wealth of social networking style features to it, enabling for a greater sharing of experience and knowledge.

Anyone will be able to access the content on the site and also leave comments and be involved in discussions - all without needing to register or sign in.

Registration does have many benefits though. Signed up to Work Together and try out the following:

* Create a profile, listing your knowledge and experience - and the ability to find and connect with others who have similar interests
* Join and create subject and location specific groups to share stories and information with others

Write your own blog, or collaborate with others on project blogs about partnership working initiatives in your area.

The site is a prototype and is in constant development as the design and functionality is improved to meet the needs of users. A development group has been established on the site to receive feedback and inform users about new developments. We would welcome your feedback on this site via the group.

Work Together is a prototype site for the Knowledge Hub, an ambitious project to create a culture of collaboration and knowledge sharing throughout the whole of local government. Findings from the Work Together project will inform processes and technological considerations for the Knowledge Hub.

The prototype phase will last until the end of March so we would encourage you to explore the site and give us your comments as soon as possible so that we can develop the site to meet your needs and ensure we have as much valued feedback as possible to help in the development of the Knowledge Hub.

If you have any problems with accessing the site or have any technical questions please contact Dave Briggs at dave@learningpool.com.

- A special thank you to Romilly Rogers from IDeA for the blog post.

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Have you started using WorkTogether yet?

I was told by the Chief Executive of Patient Opinion at #mps09 (the conference myPublicServices – blog post can be found here) that this book would change my world, and in a way I guess it did.

Having only recently joined the Technology, Research and Transformation Team, I thought I didn’t know too much about technology, however this book completely changed my opinion. Technology doesn’t have to be all ‘high tech’ and ‘new fangled’ to change the way people live their everyday lives at home, on holiday, at work, etc,.The important point is how this technology is used. Shirky gives the example of the founding of VOTF (Voice of Faith) a small group of 30 members who wanted to act upon a scandal and after two months the group had over 25,000 members. The group merely used ‘the internet model’ to spread their message and as Shirky states ‘what technology did do was alter the spread, force and especially duration of the reaction’.

As we saw in late 2009, the same occurred when Daily Mail writer Jan Moir wrote an article about the late Stephen Gately from Boyzone. Readers were outraged by her claims that his death was linked to his sexuality. Celebrity twitterers Derren Brown and Stephen Fry urged their followers to complain and Jan Moir became a ‘trendy topic’ indicating the frequency with which it was mentioned on Twitter. Other members of Twitter sent messages to the BT, O2 and Marks and Spencer Twitter pages asking if the companies intended to remove their advertising from the webpage showcasing Moir's offending article. The Twitter uproar appeared on Friday afternoon to have been successful, with all adverts removed from the article after half past three.
Being a fellow Social Scientist, the chapter that really caught my interest was ‘solving social dilemmas’ which is as follows:

Two suspects are arrested by the police. The police have insufficient evidence for a conviction, and, having separated both prisoners, visit each of them to offer the same deal. If one testifies (defects from the other) for the prosecution against the other and the other remains silent (cooperates with the other), the betrayer goes free and the silent accomplice receives the full 10-year sentence. If both remain silent, both prisoners are sentenced to only six months in jail for a minor charge. If each betrays the other, each receives a five-year sentence. Each prisoner must choose to betray the other or to remain silent. Each one is assured that the other would not know about the betrayal before the end of the investigation. How should the prisoners act?

Skirky argues that we face many of these situations in life. Dilemmas where there will be risks, where we have to trust other people who we may not even know, which may not ever be completely solved. Despite these worries, human beings are social creatures. Social psychological studies have shown time and time again that we NEED social interaction. Even the famous Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs does not forget social interaction. Shirky argues that this makes social situations like the prison dilemma unavoidable but social tools can be used to aid this interaction. "The internet augments real-world social life rather than providing an alternative to it. Instead of becoming a separate cyberspace, our electronic networking are becoming deeply embedded in real life." I think this story I read today on a fellow Twitterer’s blog highlights Shirky’s point:


What I really like about this book is the way Shirky starts with a case study and works his point around it. Too many authors feel that the best way to put their opinions across is just to say it, but having an example to build on not only captures the reader’s attention, but it makes the point more realistic. However, I did feel that this wasn’t a book that you could dip in and out of as you pleased. Shirky has a tendency to skip from one idea to another when talking about a topic of interest so to stay fully aware of the journey he intended to take you on, you do have to read the whole chapter fully. No good for anyone who has a busy schedule and just wishes to read bits and pieces on a train journey!

Overall, I believe that anyone could read this, whether you are a technophobe or have your blackberry glued to your hand. Technology really has and continues to affect everybody, whether we choose to accept it or not, or even notice it for that matter. So, if you have the time, go and have a read about flashmobs, the Mermaid Parade and how the internet has transformed the world to name just a few. It really opened my eyes and I’m sure it will do the same for you.

'Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organising without Organisations' by Clark Shirky.
Publisher: Penguin Press
ISBN-10: 1594201536
ISBN-13: 978-1594201530

- Kirsty Russell


Picture: Clay Shirky talking at a conference with the cover of the book 'Here Comes Everybody' projected onto a screen behind him, with thanks to wayneKLin for publishing on Flickr under a Creative Commons license some rights reserved.

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Here Comes Everybody - Book Review

What and When?

An event hosted by Stratford on District Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council on 12th March 2010 at the Heritage Motor Centre, Banbury Road, Gaydon, Warwick, CV35 0BJ from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm.

Why?

Both Stratford and Solihull were awarded Beacon status for their work in respect of digital inclusion. However the work we are doing with our partners plays an essential part in the transformation of our Council services. We are using this event to share this work and demonstrate some of the key projects in respect of transforming service delivery and increasing digital inclusion around the needs of our customers.

Our partners which include the NHS, NHS Direct (West Midlands) Coventry and Wolverhampton Universities, Warwickshire Police, Volunteer Action, BT, the West Midlands Ambulance Trust, members of our LSP and Councils from across the West Midlands region, as well as key private sector suppliers will be present to demonstrate the work we are doing to improve the quality of life for our residents and workers and improve the experiences for visitors.

You will also have an opportunity to see the work we are doing with our communities in respect of increasing local participation and to provide our residents and communities with the tools and capabilities to solve their own problems.

The marketplace will have the following themes:-

·Promoting and enabling independent living

·Increasing public participation in the way services are delivered and developed

·Increasing opportunities for learning and increasing knowledge

·Strengthening the Local Economy and encouraging investment

There will be over 70 market stalls showcasing our work with officers on hand to provide advice and guidance to local authorities on our approaches, successes and lessons learned.

You will be able to meet with strategic leads from our councils and partners, elected members as well as the opportunity to discuss projects with development and delivery officers ranging from Total Place, front line service delivery improvements, community projects, deprivation mapping, self-managed community learning programmes, the Warwickshire Direct Partnership which uses a single CRM across all Councils in Warwickshire, through to our regional plans for providing a single regional solution in respect of the increase of migrant and transient workers and our joint work with universities in respect of e-tourism


We will showcase the work we are doing on increasing back office efficiencies and automation to reduce duplication. You will have the opportunity to see demonstrations on how we have automated certain key administrative systems (mileage, subsistence, annual leave, sickness) which have reduced administrative burdens significantly through to the plans we have for developing a single 'tell us once' system across all service areas, interactive on-line public participation meetings and the work that we have done using Lean Systems Thinking in areas such as Planning, Revenues and Benefits, Customer Services and life events.

The following link provides a snapshot of an earlier marketplace event held in 2008. Whilst this event was much smaller, the following provides a flavour of what you can expect:- http://blip.tv/file/1625240/

Highlighting Issues

The event will be covered by the Municipal Journal and Birmingham Post as we want to use the event to highlight the growing issues for rural areas in respect of skills gaps, poor connectivity and lack of knowledge about services against our plans to improve quality of life through our partnership plans and activities. Through this event we aim to :-

·Raise the profile of digital inclusion as a relevant topic to local authorities and their partners

·Position digital inclusion as relevant to CAA and the performance management framework

·Engage senior level representatives from local authorities, their partners and sector organisations to highlight the growing issues for rural areas in accessing services and increasing skills and job opportunities

·Highlight the importance of robust connectivity to rural economies and their development and prosperity.


Picture: A busy marketplace fruit stall surrounded by customers with thanks to alessandro_pinna for publishing on Flickr under a Creative Commons license some rights reserved.

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The Digital Marketplace

This will be an all-day event (9am - 5pm) on the 4th March 2010 in partnership with IDeA. Venue: Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG.

LocalGovCamp will keep it *very* local so as to not get confused with UKGC10.

Themes will be relevant to anyone working with local government in the social media/digital engagement space. We are aiming to create spaces for discussion and engagement, the sharing of experiences and creation of new ideas. Conversations are encouraged. We will have lots of parallel sessions and break-out spaces. In the tradition of localgovcamps, you set the agenda in the beginning of the morning and afternoon sessions.

Apart from local authorities, MPs, councillors, ICT and social media specialists, we are inviting arts centres and other local heroes to work with us on involving their existing communities in learning how to engage online.

So even if you’re not able to make it for the whole day, come for however long you can!

You can register for your ticket on the Eventbrite page.


'Over 25 authorities are booked onto the LocalGovamp in March and I'm really looking forward to meeting with colleagues from around the country, many of whom I follow on Twitter or have emailed but never met. Social media and its implications for public sector work is a fast moving, ever changing area. It's really hard to keep up with all developments so these events are a great way to share stories and experiences. I hope to learn a lot from the others there and contribute what I can!' - Hollie Snelson, Internal Communication Manager for KCC.

- A special thank you to Anke Holst, whose blog can be found here: http://theanke.wordpress.com/

Picture: The LocalGovCamp logo: orange background with 'An unconference for local government' written underneath.

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LocalGovCamp is ON!

It seems like such a simple idea – people are talking to each other online and they are even talking to each other about civic issues – surely we can use the social web to increase levels of democratic participation?

Anyone who is interested in using the social web to effect levels of citizen engagement is following this train of thought – and there are already many really interesting trials and pilots in place. Online is not the only potential solution to the problem of how to engage people in the democratic process but many factors make it a good place to start. However so many projects start to drift towards the 'just another website' zone rather than really looking at how to really use social media to make a difference to democracy.

Why? Because the shiny technology distracts everyone from the fact that this is all about people. The good news of course is so is democracy.

Social media makes it far more possible to interact in a meaningful way with large groups of people than traditional contact routes. This means we have the chance to involve more people, first to listen, then to discuss and then finally in the decision making process but there are a lot of ideas and structures that need to be put in place to make this possible.

Firstly we need to embrace the idea that this really is social – you can't expect the public to have relationship with 'the council' – they need to interact with actual people and this involves finding ways to equip officers and members to take part in these conversations. This is not going to be easy – there are practical problems to be addressed around how to draw boundaries around personal, political and operational issues.

There is also the question of identity – identity is malleable online with many people choosing to use a screen name. At the heart of it, democracy is about standing up and being counted – and this accountability needs to be accommodated in the online world as well.

But perhaps the biggest hurdle is how we can influence social conversations towards democratic actions. The social web is inherently self-managed and organic – people talk about the things they are interested in and it is very difficult to predict what will catch their attention (have a read of the comments on this news item on the tragic destruction of an office chair if you don't believe me – http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/1151898.chair_destroyed/). But they also use blogs, Facebook and twitter to talk about local issues and civic ideas (there are some excellent examples here: http://networkedneighbourhoods.com/).

One route to influencing people is to do is overtly as part of the conversation - but whatever the content there is a real danger that by getting involved and not hitting the right tone that you can shut down the conversation or move it somewhere else. This is less likely the stronger your social capital is in a space but there is still a fine balance between enabling people to connect to democratic process and making them feel as if you are trying to influence their decision when they get there.

Another way to approach this is to build online spaces which encourage democratic behaviour. “The nudge” has been explored in a recent book by Cass Sustein and Richard Thayler (http://www.nudges.org/) and it talks about the architecture of choice. It provides real world examples of what they call 'choice architecture' which is a way of “”nudging us in beneficial directions without restricting freedom of choice”. These ideas are being looked at seriously by people and the book is worth a read.

But is it enough to nudge people to participate or do we have to face the idea that we are actually changing the relationship between citizen and government? Does using social media to influence behaviour actually influence all of the stakeholder behaviour and bring about a more co-produced decision making process? Read the book, but choice architecture needs to be used cautiously so that it is not just another attempt to control the process.

Co-production describes a state where decision making is truly shared. NESTA / NEF have recently published a discussion paper which talks through many of the issues of co-production which is describes as “a new way of thinking about public services has the potential to deliver a major shift in the way we provide health, education, policing and other services, in ways that make them much more effective, more efficient, and so more sustainable. (http://www.nesta.org.uk/areas_of_work/public_services_lab/assets/features/the_challenge_of_co-production).

So the question is it possible to build online spaces which can be architected in order to bring about a new relationship between citizens and government where decision making is shared? What would these spaces look like?

- A special thank you to Catherine Howe, Operations Director for Public-i Group. http://www.public-i.info/

Picture: The front cover of the book 'Nudge' by Thaler and Suatein. The cover is white with a large grey elephant nudging a smaller elephant, with thanks to .nele for publishing on Flickr under a Creative Commons license some rights reserved.

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The Social Civic Nudge

For a while now, we at the Young Foundation have been interested in how councils can use hyper-local media to strengthen dialogue and collaboration at the local level. We have a bit of experience in the hyper-local & Web 2.0 field, having been involved with fixmystreet, Social Innovation Camp, a now defunct neighbourhood’s wiki and the excellent, newly launched, Maslaha.

This summer we were given money from DCLG’s Empowerment Fund to see how local authorities could practically use hyper-local media. A few months ago we sent out a proposal councils across England - asking for them to partner with us on a new project called Local 2.0. Quite surprisingly, nearly 40 councils sent submissions to us (we even had an enquiry from a local authority in Australia; they weren’t willing to pay travel expenses…). We ended up choosing three councils to work with: Kirklees, Kensington and Chelsea, and Kings Lynn and West Norfolk.

They are all different both in characteristics and what they want from Local 2.0. Kirklees are keen to develop shared spaces where online services, public sector information and community content are combined around hyper‐local needs and interests. Kensington and Chelsea want to develop local networks that can help residents connect and collaborate, and in Kings Lynn we will be seeing how hyper-local media can compliment the work of their neighbourhood management service.

We’re still at the beginning of the project and there will undoubtedly be lots of lessons which will be useful to others out there and I am sure we will learn lots from other work being done others. Our main method of communication will be through our blog, so please look in for regular updates.

- A special thank you to Mandeep Hothi, Associate in the Local Innovation Team at the Young Foundation for this guest post.

Picture: 'Local 2.0' written inside a street sign placed on a brick wall.

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Local 2.0 - Councils getting hyperlocal

In July 2007, the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, announced “we will support the development of an annual global forum on social leadership which will meet each year to inspire debate, forge links between activists and stimulate the pursuit of social change”.

East London community organisation Community Links established this forum – now known as Chain Reaction. At the core of Chain Reaction is a simple idea: that we all have the power of our own actions, but that none of us on our own can create social change, not governments, not local authorities, not business, not communities. However, together we have the power to change the world – literally creating a chain reaction.

Chain Reaction was founded on the belief that social leadership exists everywhere, is explicitly cross sector, is enthusiastically collaborative, and is driven by a set of shared values. Chain Reaction is a process and an ongoing network of individuals and organisations, but its impact is most evident when brought to life at events. The first Chain Reaction brought together over 1,000 people from 17 countries for a two day event in November 2008 where people were enabled to “connect, collaborate and commit to action for social change”. Crucially the event had a focus on young people; over a quarter of people attending were under 21, representing emerging social leaders.

An innovative and interactive programme includes inspirational keynote speakers, high level debates, practitioner conversations and practical workshops. Alongside the programmed sessions participants were encouraged and supported to self-organise meetings in the open space. Participants were offered a process that supported them to connect to the people they wanted to meet, collaborate to develop their ideas and commit to taking action together.

At the second Chain Reaction event on 12th November 2009 the same mix of government ministers, social activists, and businesses will reconvene, this time in the UK’s financial centre – Canary Wharf – to explore how the changed circumstances of recession offer opportunities to build stronger communities alongside stronger economies. Chain Reaction 2009 will focus on several key themes:

• New ideas for financing social change
• New ideas for delivering public services
• New ideas for engaging communities
• New ideas for organising ourselves.
  

The use of online communications is an important element of Chain Reaction. Our Ning Network enables people attending to connect before the event and set up meetings in the open space, and continue discussions after the event. Twitter is used to keep people in touch with activities and generate discussions with tweets relayed on big screens inside the venue as well as online. Last year the innovative Videoboo system allowed participants at the event to post video comments directly to the Chain Reaction YouTube Channel. A group of young people made a short film during the event reporting on Chain Reaction which was edited to be shown at the end of the day, which can be found here. We are repeating this again in 2009 with the support of the Big V bus.

In 2008 we reacted to a crisis. Now is our chance to move on, making new ideas for social change a reality. These ideas must involve government, local authorities, business, charity and ordinary people, working together collaboratively for a better future.





- Guest Post by Richard McKeever, linksUK Communications Manager. For information please visit www.chain-reaction.org.

Picture:
(Top) The Chain Reaction Logo
(Bottom 1) Participants is a self-organised meeting in the open space at Chain Reaction 2008.
(Bottom 2) The entrance hall of Chain Reaction 2008 showing numerous tables, a giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling and at the front, a stage with a screen showered in a light purple light, with thanks to chainreaction2008 on Flickr for giving us permission to access and use their images.

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Event: Chain Reaction 2009

The web has changed the way world is run. Here at Patient Opinion we couldn’t help but ask the question “why have Public Services been left behind?” We decided a national get-together for people who are trying to get the Public Sector up to speed was needed. The progress in some areas has been fantastic- why cant this good work expand into all corners of the public domain?

So (albeit a little nervously) we took the plunge and booked the Abbey Centre in London to hold our first national conference to get these people together. It turned out that our fears were unfounded- and today, under 2 weeks after myPublicServices on eventBrite was launched, we sold out- with some amazing people. From national newspapers, politicians, NHS managers and independent sights that just want to improve their local communities- the breadth is extraordinary and we couldn’t be more excited. It was the perfect example of the power of the web to allow groups of people to come together at a low cost.

But it’s not just the list of attendees that we are overwhelmed by- the support for the event has been extraordinary. We decided to make it free, but a gift economy – where those attending have to bring something to give, like some time, knowledge, a talk or some cake (we’re serious) and to our surprise everyone is pitching in with offers of everything from chocolate brownies (yes please) to expert consultancy on financing social enterprises. Extraordinary, and inspiring.

So now we’re sifting through the offers and thinking about how to shape everything in a way that will work on the day. And, given that the whole point of the conference is that things don’t always have to be top-down, we aim to let the attendees decide what they want to do- exciting, if slightly nerve-wracking!

Do keep up with our blog to see how it all unfolds! http://mypublicservices.wordpress.com/. If you have any questions or queries, please do not hestitate to e-mail Lauren Ivory here.

- A special thanks to Patient Opinion, and especially Lauren Ivory, for the blog post. The team are really looking forward to the event!

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myPublicServices

PublicExperience is a great way to put your own experiences of public services and suggestions for how to improve them in front of the UK Innovators Council. We are independent of government, but all the experiences we receive are sent to our partners in the Cabinet Office.

The Council has promised to pick up and run with the best ideas and implement changes based on your feedback. We ask a simple, open question: Wouldn't it be better if...?

You don't need to know who to talk to - just what you want to say about anything that relates to public services. It's easy and free to use – just go to PublicExperience and describe your experience of public services in the big box on the front page.

Emily Randall, Public Experience

If you want to find out more about what we're thinking about and looking at around how we can capture and work with people's ideas, see here. Contact us if you have an idea.

Thanks to PublicExperience for the photo of a panda explaining to a gorilla and a tiger how to share their experiences of public services.
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