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Government sets up task force to improve communication through social media

01 April 2008
CAB043/08

Cabinet Office Minister Tom Watson has announced the creation of the Power of Information Task Force, which will drive forward the Government's pledge to meet rising aspirations of modern communications practice and improve engagement with citizens through social media.

The Task Force will be chaired by Richard Allan with membership drawn from leading internet practitioners, the civil service and wider public service. It will renew the focus on the Government's Power of Information agenda and commitment to improve its overall capability in use of modern social media.

A key goal is to increase innovation and improve the way the Government shares information so ordinary people can develop online services that benefit their community.

Launching the Task Force, Tom Watson said:

“There are new opportunities for Government to engage with people in the online world. Every day, hundreds and thousands of people come together online to solve problems and exchange ideas on public policy issues – whether raising kids, tackling debt or seeking health advice.

“The success of sites such as Netmums, moneysavingexpert and fixmystreet, has proved the power of information. We need to listen and learn from the experts so we can satisfy people's desire for faster, better public services. I want to move quickly. With advice from the Task Force, we will get on with improving services for our citizens to match the pace of change.”

Mr Watson said he would ask the Task Force to work closely with HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) on reaching a consensus on the issue of how much, if anything, users should be charged by the producers of the originating information to cover their costs.

Mr Watson said:

“There has been a lively debate about whether the overall benefits to the economy and society are better served by giving the data away at marginal cost. The Treasury, with the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, published an independent economic study in the Budget and announced its intention to look at these issues during this spending review cycle.”

The Government's interim progress report, published yesterday, takes stock of progress made so far and highlights the actions departments are taking to implement the review's recommendations.

This report outlines how Government is taking these recommendations forward and focuses on:

• exploring ways in which Government can use online forums to advise citizens
• the feasibility of making Government-owned data such as maps more accessible to people to ‘mash up’ with other public data to encourage citizens to engage on issues they care about,
• Social media guidance for Civil Servants (to be published in the Spring).

The Power of Information Task Force will take this work forward and will work with departments to implement the findings.

Notes to editors

1. The Power of Information Task Force builds upon the recommendations made by Tom Steinberg, Director of mySociety, and Ed Mayo, Chief Executive of the National Consumer Council, in their independent study of digital communication and public information in the UK, commissioned by the Cabinet Office.
2. The Government welcomed the findings of Steinberg and Mayo's review and responded in 2007.
3. The Interim Progress Report on implementing the Government's Response to the Power of Information Review takes stock of the Government's progress. See the interim response to access previous reports and to read the full text of Tom Watson's speech that launched the Task Force.
4. In February 2007 Cabinet Office Minister Hilary Armstrong commissioned the review to “explore new developments in the use and communication of citizen and State generated public information in the UK, and to present an analysis and recommendations to the Cabinet Office Minister as part of the Policy Review.”

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