But leading on that side is very new to us, and – as I mentioned above – we still need to do some thinking on the consequences of now being responsible for the policy side. I’ll certainly take the suggestions back. What will the COI management board and corporate comms say? Guess we’ll only find out if we try asking.

And I’d never have thought a consultation paper on browser testing would have been headline news … until last Tuesday. You never do know!

I also think that ‘public-facing’ is a tricky concept here. I’m envisaging a technical blog along the lines of those in the web design community (Eric Meyer, Jason Santa Maria, Jon Hicks etc etc) where a fairly small group of people – hundreds, at the most – with an interest and ideas come together to discuss new approaches. Some of those people will be within government, but lots won’t be. Launching a blog like this would make most people’s eyes glaze over, but those who care would get involved I think. So we’re not talking about COI becoming headline news here; something more akin to a BarCamp-scale discussion but online.

What would the COI management board say to the team setting up something pilot, pre-moderated, and pre-approved by corporate comms?

But I’m not sure how ready COI is for that. You could say I’m an (unofficial) testing ground for the time being, although there are moves to set up a pilot civil service blogging scheme that some COI folk will be contributing to (waving at Nick.) Unfortunately it’s just for government users for the time being, but maybe the first step to something more public.

The thing is, COI isn’t meant to be public-facing; we’re there to facilitate campaigns and make our clients look good, but never to be the story. That’s why we do very little COI marketing of any kind. Until recently we also didn’t do any policy work, either, but the transfer of the digital policy team from the Cabinet Office in April has changed that. It’s all a bit new to us, I guess, and we’re still working through the consequences. Comments and suggestions like yours are useful and helpful, though, and I’ll relay them back as and when I can.

(Somewhat on point, there’s an interesting post about “are you an Apple or a Google when it comes to blogs and openness” on some of these points.)

Oh, and as for DirectGov – probably just worth mentioning that their stay with COI was sadly brief and they are now part of the Department of Work and Pensions. Partly that’s because, as noted above, COI are not public facing while DirectGov most definitely is, and that is why DWP – one of the most public facing government departments – was seen as a better match for their work. Hence I have absolutely no idea about what their plans for social media, blogging, etc. may be.

A year ago, Jayne Nickalls (apparently?) said there would be a Directgov blog of some sort. My own suggestion was that it should be ‘a) a straightforward What’s New channel; b) involving people in its development; c) encouraging discussion of what it should or shouldn’t be doing.’

http://puffbox.com/2008/02/07/wheres-our-directgov-blog/

It made sense for Directgov, as a programme aimed at providing better service to the citizen; and for the same reasons, it makes equally good sense for COI to do likewise. Not purely as a defensive tool; but more to get the ‘good news’ out, and to host a dialogue around it. And besides, it’s a little odd for HMG’s communications specialists not to be dipping toes in the water of what is unquestionably ‘the new black’ in communications.

PS: Yes, sometimes the only sensible thing is to say nothing. I’ve felt that myself, having done work for No10 over recent months. I’m not sure I can say anything critical about (party) politics just now, lest the Mail decide to quote me as a ‘Downing Street insider’. (Ha, I wish.)

Clearly, the blogosphere wants to help government get these issues right. Equally clearly, COI is the home of some of the most expert thinkers on these issues in government. And as the delivery arm of the Transformational Government team, it is under the TG and Power of Information spotlight as a model for the rest of us.

So with the permission we’ve all been granted by the Principles for Participation Online, and the great culture that I know exists at COI, this feels like a good time to make the leap and start debating these issues in a corporate online space. A blog on the public internet written by the standards and guidelines team would make pretty interesting reading for the cadre of e-comms people across the public sector. It would be a way to take early soundings, rebut quickly the kind of misinterpretations that took hold last week, and demonstrate openness to ideas from agencies, freelancers, government colleagues and anyone else. It would also showcase the intelligent debate and discussion which I’m pretty sure was had within COI about the guidelines before publication.

We’re not talking about CivilSerf here; yes, there’s a danger of petrol-on-flames scenarios, but in reality a corporate blog is much more likely to remove the fuel in the first place, by providing a space for people to engage with otherwise faceless bureaucracy.

Be bold.

(p.s. So why don’t I blog in a corporate space? It’s a fair point: we’re working on it)

Great post, your job is safe!