Foreign Office crowdsources ideas for digital strategy

The Foreign Office is inviting the public to suggest ideas for its digital strategy, which will inform how it can better serve British citizens around the world online.

William Hague
The Foreign Secretary William Hague

The Government ministry has asked British citizens from across the globe to add their suggestions on its blog and says it will comment on the ideas that it feels most inspired by.

Every UK Government department will publish their digital strategies in December this year, which will sit alongside an overarching “UK Government Digital Strategy”.

The Foreign Office’s strategy will focus around three strands: “service delivery”, “digital diplomacy” and “making the change” (see box below).

The ministry has already embedded digital in much of its work, with the Foreign Secretary and other ministers regularly using Facebook and Twitter to build awareness of policy issues and answer questions from the public.

Last year the Foreign Office launched partnerships with brands including the AA and The Independent to provide travel information online in more areas than just its departmental website.

The three key areas of the Foreign Office’s digital strategy

  • Service delivery – how digital can further improve the services the Foreign Office delivers to British citizens around the world. What services – and what elements of services – it can provide digitally, both to improve services and so it can focus on those most in need of individual help – for example British nationals in trouble.
  • Digital diplomacy – how the department can use digital even more to enhance other core areas of its diplomatic work, including monitoring international developments, increasing its influence, more openly formulating policy, and better communicating that policy.
  • Making the change – what skills, technology and other changes the Foreign Office will need to enable this more digital way of working.

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