Introduction

Digital Dialogues is an independent review of ways in which central government can use information and communication technology (ICT) to enable and enhance public engagement.

Digital Dialogues has three basic aims:

• To raise awareness of online engagement technology and techniques available to central government;
• To promote online engagement skills in central government;
• To evaluate a series of case studies in order to benchmark administrator and user demographics, attitudes and behaviours.

The initiative aims to inform government’s strategy for applying ICT across its communication, consultation and engagement processes through analysis of case studies. These case studies cover existing activity where possible, and specially commissioned exercises undertaken by government agencies, departments and ministerial offices.

In addition to improving government’s understanding of the democratic engagement potential of ICT, Digital Dialogues also contributes to ongoing public debate about the contribution of ICT in an inclusive and vibrant representative democracy.

The Hansard Society has been commissioned by the Ministry of Justice (formerly the Department for Constitutional Affairs) to deliver Digital Dialogues. The Hansard Society is an independent, non-partisan political literacy charity established in 1944 to promote effective parliamentary democracy. In 1997 it launched an eDemocracy research and development unit to explore the political and social implications of digital information and communications technology.

The Ministry of Justice has established its Democratic Engagement Branch (DEB) with a cross-government remit for promoting engagement with the public. The aim is to strengthen government’s capacity to deliver effective public engagement.

An interim report was published in December 2006 – available at www.digitaldialogues.org.uk/interim report – containing policy overviews, six case studies, and draft guidance for government officials. The findings demonstrated that online engagement had tangible communications, delivery and policy-making benefits. Data from the case studies also showed that for the majority of those citizens who participated in the case studies, this was their first formal interaction with the policy process and that they were inclined to participate in future.

This second report contains a complete overview of the initiative, and is built around 12 case studies. Section one of this report provides a brief overview of the emergence of ICT in a public engagement context. Sections two and three relate to the case studies and the draft guidance informed by the Digital Dialogues initiative. Section four unpacks the key findings from the second phase, and makes a number of recommendations to government about how to get engagement value out of ICT.

A third phase of Digital Dialogues will take place between August 2007 – August 2008.

We have tried to keep the use of technical terms to a minimum in this report. However, it has not been possible to avoid it completely. A glossary has been provided at the end of this report to help navigate some of the terms used.