Transcript Content Management & Portal Management

Christine Apikul
Module 5 Objectives
 Explore the different options for delivering e-content
 Examine e-content delivery to mobile devices
 Discuss the challenges and best practices for
managing e-participation and social networking sites
Portal Management System
National Level
 Ministry websites that offer information and services
on a particular sector or sectors (e.g. agriculture,
education, health, employment)
 e-Services (that may require the involvement of
more than one ministries at the back-end) (e.g. eregistration, e-payment, e-procurement)
e-Content Delivery - Health
 Directory of health centres, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies,
laboratories
 Collection of images and videos
 Health-awareness campaigns
 Vaccination records
 Scheduling of appointments at government clinics
 Anonymously ask medical-related questions
e-Content Delivery - Health
 Information about:
 Diseases
 First aid
 Health tips
 Drug prices
 Healthy cooking recipes
 Health tools
 body mass index and calories calculators
e-Content Delivery - Employment
 Employers can advertise job opportunities
 Jobseekers can apply for jobs online
 Jobseekers can track progress of their application
 Jobseekers can post resume
 Training schedule for offline training
 Online training courses
Portal Management System
Local Level
 Local government websites for different
governorates, and even districts or communities
(managed by the community service centres)
 e-Governance portals for the different governorates
or communities that aggregate information and
services
e-Content Delivery – Location-based
 Access to local government information and e-services
 Users can issue and track service request
 Obtain various licenses, permits and certificates
 Make payment
 Look for information related to education and health in
the locality
 See schedule of public consultations
 Multiple channels to communicate with local government
 Conduct of e-consultations
Community e-Content
 Managed by the Community Service Centres (CSCs)
 Provide information related to the CSCs (services,
training schedule, etc.)
 Provide information relevant to the community (local
weather, agriculture, health, education and cultural news)
 Proivde a platform for community to share knowledge
 Provide a platform for community to collaborate in
creating content
Reefnet - http://www.reefnet.gov.sy
 Online portal initiated by the Ministry of Communications
and Technology in the Syrian Arab Republic and UNDP
 The programme includes the establishment of rural
community access centres.
 Originally planned to have a local community website or
each established rural community access centre
 Shifted at a later stage to having local community
websites for rural villages, irrespective of whether they
have corresponding community centres or not
Reefnet - http://www.reefnet.gov.sy
 Reefnet portal is a unified gateway to around 97
dedicated websites for rural villages all over the country
 Provides a networking platform for communities in the
rural areas to learn, share information and create locally
relevant content in Arabic
 In 2010, Reefnet attracted more than 10,000 hits per day;
and users visited the portal primarily to access its various
forums, health encyclopaedia, and educational content
Going Mobile
 In Iraq, 75% population subscribed to mobile phone
 Opportunity to reach out to remote and marginalized
communities
 GPS can be used to track mobile owners’ location
and provide personalized information and services
Why do you want a mobile app?
 Is it to make sure your organization “has an app?”
 Again, what is needed, first and foremost, is an
understanding of what it is you or your organization
want to build and why it is (or is not) important to
your target audience. What that requires is
understanding the users’ needs and defining the
user experience before developing the technology.
Mobile Users
 "I'm Microtasking"
In this mindset, users are using their phone in a context where they
have a few brief moments to spare. They could be in line waiting.
Their time is short. They want to get in, do what they want and leave
 "I'm Local"
Sometimes, mobile users want to do something specific to their
location, be it specific as defined by GPS or in a more abstract way,
such as at their job site
 "I'm Bored" or "I'm Curious“
Unlike the first mindset, these people have time to spare. They are
browsing for interesting content and are typically not concerned with
speed and efficiency. Ease of use is still essential
Questions
 Do you think these mobile mindsets are accurate in
the Iraqi context.
 What other mobile mindsets can you think of?
Evaluating Mobile Concepts
1. Feasibility: The degree to which it is possible to
develop the app or app component
 Acquiring the Necessary Data
 Does the data exist and is it available?
 Are there security, technical, or legal barriers to acquiring
the data or using it as intended?
 Is the data current? How frequently is the data updated?
Will outdated data cause users to misinterpret the
data/content?
Evaluating Mobile Concepts
 Maintaining Conceptual Integrity on Mobile Platforms
 Can the app run quickly enough on a mobile platform to
maintain its conceptual integrity?
 Will the app have to be significantly modified on the mobile
platform due to technical constraints such as bandwidth or
functional limitations?
 Maintaining Impartiality
 For public facing apps, can the technology be adapted to
multiple mobile devices?
 Consider that the government must maintain impartiality
and not endorse any product, service, company, non-profit
or other enterprise.
Evaluating Mobile Concepts
2. Effectiveness: The degree to which the mobile app serves
the target audience
 Evaluation Methods
 What elements determine the effectiveness of a mobile app?
 What methods are available to evaluate effectiveness?
 Isolating the Target Audience
 What audience is the mobile app intended to serve?
 How many members of this audience have access to the
necessary technology?
Evaluating Mobile Concepts
Mobile-User-Scenarios
Most successful mobile apps offer users one or both of the
following:
 Dynamic content in concise and accessible formats
 Tools that are useful in mobile environments
 Does the mobile app provide the user with dynamic content that is
regularly updated?
 How frequent are the updates?
 Are the content and tools useful in mobile environments
Evaluating Mobile Concepts
Risk of Private Competition: The degree to which
the government would have to compete for market
share with private sector developers
 Is there a risk of private sector competition?
 What is the level of that risk?
 Can the mobile application concept be enhanced or
modified to minimize the risk of private competition?
Evaluating Mobile Concepts
 Government Justification for developing the mobile application
 Is the mobile app concept within the purview of this governmental
organization?
 Would development of the mobile application further the mission or
goals of the organization or the administration?
 Examples of government justification include:
 Increasing the effectiveness of organizational programmes or
projects
 Where private duplication exists: To leverage the authority of the
organization’s logos or seals to disperse critical content to mobile
audiences
 Where private duplication exists: To provide critical content to mobile
audiences free of charge where private sector versions are sold for
profit
Evaluating Mobile Concepts
Cost-Effectiveness: The relative cost to develop the
mobile app
 What is the total development cost to the organization?
 What methods are available to estimate cost-
effectiveness?
 Are the mobile app platforms intended for development
the most cost-effective options for providing the target
audience with the desired content and/or functionality?
e-Participation
Government
Side
willingness
to ask &
ability to
respond
eParticipation
Citizen Side
willingness
to
participate
& ability to
contribute
Social Networking
 The use of websites and communications and
collaboration technology to help people find, form
and maintain social relationships
 Examples: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube,
Flickr, Wikipedia, blogsites, online forums, webchats
 Common features: profile page, friend networks,
multimedia sharing, status updates commenting
Social Networking in Iraq
 Facebook penetration rate – 2.2 %
 Twitter penetration rate – 0.1 %
 Expect exponential growth and rapid uptake
Source: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, Regional
Profile of the Information Society in Western Asia 2011, Beirut, 2012.
Opportunities
 Better understand citizens and identify trends
(through conversations, surveys, polls)
 Promote their services (personalizing message and
targeting audiences)
 Improve access to and quality of services (citizens
reporting and tracking)
 Improve transparency and trust (through citizens’
access to and use of open data)
Opportunities
 Improve decision-making (through discussions and
feedback)
 Share knowledge among peers across government
organizations
 Collaborate in improving services, e.g. through the use of
open government data to create mashups
 Change behaviours and establish new social norms
through continuous dialogue, e.g. changing the pattern of
energy consumption to combat climate change
Challenges
 Loss of control over content that could lead to public
disorder and chaos
 Misinterpretation of content
 Long-term commitment of resources
 Managing change in bureaucratic system
Key Considerations
Understanding the audience
 What does your audience want to talk about and
willing to engage in conversations about?
 Where does your audience want to have these
conversations?
 What value can you add to the conversations?
Key Considerations
Internal policies and procedures
 Is the social media initiative aligned with your
organization’s goals and strategies?
 What are the rules of engagement for employees?
 What will be the workflow for developing, reviewing
and approving content for social media sites?
Key Considerations
Internal policies and procedures
 What will you share? Are you going to post only
major news? Are you going to ask questions? Are
you going to provide tips?
 How will you monitor and archive the shared content
and its comments?
 How will you measure the impact of your social
media initiative?
Key Considerations
External policies and procedures
 How will you engage with members of the public?
 How will you incorporate and distill feedback?
 How will you respond in a timely manner and ensure action if
required?
 How will you handle mishaps?
 Who should be informed of mishaps?
 Who are authorized to respond to mishaps?
Best Practices
 Set clear, achievable and measurable objectives at
the beginning
 Be transparent about intent and deliver on promises
 Use the right channels
 Put guidelines for use into place
Best Practices
 Employ an integrated campaign that harnesses the full
potential of numerous synergized platforms
 Create engaging content using interactive channels
 All for several trustworthy people to respond to user
generated content
 Inform people whenever content is posted
 Continually monitor activity
Moderation Policies
 Set ground rules for public participation in online
engagement initiatives
 Rules for pre-moderated content
 Rules for post-moderated content
 Getting the balance right between promoting e-
participation and preventing inappropriate content
 Assess objectives of organization/initiative, target
audience and platform to be used for e-participation
Exercise
 Explore and analyse selected government social media sites using the following list
 Purpose of site (is the purpose of this site clear)
 Target audience (is the target audience clear)
 Usability (is it easy to use)
 Language style used (is the style simple, easy to understand, friendly or too technical
and official)
 Types of conversations held (what worked and what did not)
 What are some of the good practices for responding to negative comments
 Does the site require registration? – If so, in order to perform which functions?
 Read the “About Us” section
 Review statistics if available
 Review terms of use and privacy policies
 Review the user group list
 How does this site link with other initiatives from the same government?
 Highlight three key findings from your analysis that can help you and others develop a
social media strategy for your organization. Present your findings in a plenary for
discussion
Social Media Sites
 Bahrain – http://www.facebook.com/egovbahrain,
http://www.youtube.com/egovbahrain, http://www.twitter.com/egovbahrain
 Qatar – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hukoomi-Qatar-Government-
Portal/186872247998431, http://twitter.com/#!/HukoomiQatar,
http://www.youtube.com/user/HukoomiQatar
 Queensland, Australia – http://www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au/,
http://twitter.com/consultqld, https://www.facebook.com/ConsultQueensland
 REACH Singapore – https://www.facebook.com/REACHSingapore,
http://twitter.com/REACH_Singapore, http://www.youtube.com/reachsingapore
 UAE - https://www.facebook.com/Emirates.eGov, http://twitter.com/emiratesegov,
http://www.youtube.com/emiratesegovernment,
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Emirates-eGovernment3894269?mostPopular=&gid=3894269,
http://www.government.ae/web/guest/blogs,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/egovuae
 USA.gov – https://www.facebook.com/USAgov, http://blog.USA.gov,
http://twitter.com/USAgov, http://youtube.com/USAgov
Open Data Sites
 Australia – http://data.gov.au
 Bahrain – http://data.gov.bh
 Singapore – http://data.gov.sg
 UK – http://data.gov.uk
 USA – http://data.gov
Summary
 In addition to national e-governance portal, there are
also portals/websites that are:
 Sector-based
 Locality-based
 Deliver e-content to mobile devices
 Use social media networks for e-governance
Summary – Mobile Devices
Three mobile mindsets:
 "I'm Microtasking“
 "I'm Local“
 "I'm Bored" or "I'm Curious"
Summary – Mobile Devices
Mobile application concepts should be evaluated against
these criteria:
 Feasibility
 Effectiveness
 Private competition
 Government justification
 Cost-effectiveness
Summary – Social Media
Critical success factors
 Careful planning on content and delivery channels
based on users’ analysis
 Development of workflow and a governance
structure
 Regular and open communication internally within
organizations and externally with stakeholders and
users
Summary – Social Media
Critical success factors
 Securing adequate resources in the long-term—both
human and financial—for not only the e-participation
process, but also the capacity to respond to and act
on citizens’ requests and comments
 Developing and agreeing on a moderation policy that
will give an agency the justification it needs to
remove or prevent inappropriate content from being
published online, while also being simple enough
that it does not inhibit participation in its initiative