Digital Engagement gets a director

May 13, 2009 in Government, Social Media

So the choice of Director of Digital Engagement was announced today. And the job goes to … Andrew Stott, who has been serving as Deputy Chief Information Officer at the Cabinet Office until now.

I don’t know him personally, but several of my colleagues have worked closely with him on projects and he’s come along to our team meeting to give a talk about the progress of the service transformation strategy that he’s been heading up at e-Government Unit.

Most of the projects that I know he’s been working on have been related to getting blogs, wikis and microblogging (Twitter) working for and across government, so he’s certainly very familiar with the government scene in the online engagement areas and will be hitting the ground running.

I think many – including myself, if I’m honest – expected a new face from the private sector to make a bold splash and shake everything up. Which, to be honest, wasn’t a very appealing prospect to those of us who have been plugging away at this for a while now and thinking that we were finally getting some real progress on many fronts. To suddenly change direction and start all over again would have been both irritating and time-consuming, just when there is no time to waste. This appointment means we should be able to get on with things, but with a high profile person at the head of things to drive it forward still faster.

According to reports, he’ll be based in the Government Communication department of the Cabinet Office, overseen by permanent secretary for Government communications Matt Tee, which should also mean he’ll be working closely with the new COI Chief Executive Mark Lund when he starts work next month.

It’s nice to finally know who will be filling the role; the next key step is learning what Andrew Stott’s plans are and how he will take the role forward. It should be very interesting to watch it all take shape.

One nice touch: the appointment was “a Twitter exclusive“. If Twitter was good enough for Barack Obama to use to announce his choice of running mate, then it’s certainly the right place to announce who will be leading the government’s efforts on digital engagement!

UPDATE: Interesting blog posts on this around the place:

6 Comments

  1. Mulqueeny

    May 13, 2009 at 9:55 pm

    Hi Andrew (Lewin :)) I am amazed. But it feels right, and I concur that this is a move that suits those of us who have been slugging away. I suppose it will frustrate those who want to have a breath of fresh air swept through this in government – but tbh I honestly do not believe that would have worked.

    Um… I was super busy today and am catching up with posts tonight, but I cannot be the only person *for*

  2. andrewlewin

    May 13, 2009 at 10:32 pm

    Yes, I’m cheered that we’re not in a “throw the baby out with the bathwater” situation. Where it goes … we can but wait and see.

    Happy to add any more ‘for’s that you can find! Just added Harry, actually, and Neil’s ‘optimistic’ which is positive.

    And of course these one- or two-word descriptions are horribly oversimplifying some long, well-written, intelligent and complex blog posts. I’m going to really catch it for some of these cut-downs, I realise!

  3. philipchallis

    February 24, 2010 at 3:37 pm

    To put someone in a post like this they have to be up to speed with social media and interested in modern communications. Your information that Andrew Stott is that man comes as promising news. However if I was Andrew, regardless of what I may think I know, I would consult with the Private sector who already have considerable experience.
    It is better to learn from other peoples mistakes than to go down the same path yourself.

    Samsung PS50B650

  1. 1 It’s Andrew Stott! | DavePress Pingback on May 13th, 2009 at 8:29 pm

    […] Andrew Lewin is rather pleased: I think many – including myself, if I’m honest – expected a new face from the private sector to make a bold splash and shake everything up. Which, to be honest, wasn’t a very appealing prospect to those of us who have been plugging away at this for a while now and thinking that we were finally getting some real progress on many fronts. To suddenly change direction and start all over again would have been both irritating and time-consuming, just when there is no time to waste. This appointment means we should be able to get on with things, but with a high profile person at the head of things to drive it forward still faster. […]

  2. 2 Andrew Stott — the new Director of Digital Engagement - Archive - The Dextrous Web Pingback on May 13th, 2009 at 10:15 pm

    […] Andrew is a good choice. Not who I’d have expected, but good nonetheless. As numerous people have said, he is very qualified, does have a brain the size of a planet, and has lots of experience […]

  3. 3 Director of Digital Engagement appointed - eDemocracy Pingback on May 14th, 2009 at 11:10 am

    […] his appointment with great interest.What do others think? Andrew Lewin has a really good summary on his blog, linking to a diverse range of opinions on the […]


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