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Digital diplomacy briefing
So, we have a new government, a new Foreign Secretary and Foreign Office ministers, and new foreign policy priorities.
The Foreign Secretary has talked about an "ingenious and more energetic" approach to 21st century foreign policy. He may not have been thinking about digital diplomacy when he said that, but ingenious digital engagement should continue to play an important role in diplomacy.
I've used this blog before to explain what we mean by "digital diplomacy". I've even had a go at distilling what I do to a single sentence. But I'm always conscious that digital diplomacy is still a new concept, and we need to continue to explain what we mean by it, and describe what we do.
When asked (and often without being asked) this is what I say we do in the FCO Digital Diplomacy Group:
In digital diplomacy group we use the web to help solve foreign policy problems.That means running our official Foreign Office websites and digital channels - we run 250 sites in 45 languages, providing our news and travel advice in close-to-real time, to international audiences.
And running digital diplomacy campaigns, making use of global internet culture to help deliver our policy objectives.
Our web presence and our digital campaigns give us huge potential reach and influence around the world. We aren't limited by geographical boundaries or even language barriers. We can reach audiences who want or need our content, irrespective of the news cycle or the editorial decisions of broadcasters or editors.
We use our digital channels to communicate directly with public audiences, as well as other governments and influential individuals. And importantly, the web allows us to engage in conversations with our audiences, not just deliver information.
We often find that there is a natural fit between what our diplomats are trying to achieve offline, and what is possible online.
Our new ministers are already using the tools of digital engagement, from the Flickr galleries showing the first few days in the office, the Foreign Secretary's tweets, the Minister for Europe's blog and Alistair Burt's YouTube video on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. I'll continue to use this blog to highlight our efforts to help solve foreign policy problems through digital engagement.
Stephen Hale
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>> Out of interest, do you guys have any thought on what the impact is going to be on international relations of the opening up of UK Government data? Presumably other countries governments and citizens are going to be poring over the COINS data just as we are, and presumably before long there will be whole lot of national comparisons being made. Of course until other countries open their data up in the same way, it will be individual governments who will be able to do the comparisons, but nonetheless there are likely to be questions asked and adjustments made. Is there anything you are looking out for? Are there any expectations of what the impact is likely to be in different countries? <<
>> I believe the idea of the Digital Diplomacy Group is for the better. It is already being used around the world for social and leisure, so why not put these resources to use for our own government bodies. It allows the government to reach a wide range of audiences and potentially those who do not currently take an interest in foreign policy problems. <<
