Remember? Way back in January the internet editors and webmasters in the European Commission wrote an open letter to their new bosses.
Now w’ve got an answer!
Enjoy reading the reply by Commissioner Reding.
I’ll come back with comments in the next days.
In the meantime read also:
Better websites or social media: a false dilemma?
21/05/2010 om 13:01 |
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Dick Nieuwenhuis, Caroline De Cock. Caroline De Cock said: RT @dicknieuwenhuis: Yes, w’ve got an answer! http://tinyurl.com/335wmqd Reply to open letter by web people in the Commission to new bosses [...]
22/05/2010 om 10:07 |
First reaction: I really love Commissioners Reding’s letter template. It just looks so anti-digital-agenda
But I will now read the content…
22/05/2010 om 10:18 |
(I mixed up things in previous reposnse: I thought this is the digital agenda Commissioner replying, but then that would be Kroes – so why did Barroso ask Reding to reply and not Commission Sefcovic (or Kroes) directly? )
Overal the answer is a bit disappointing: while it accepts that these things are important the key answer is two-fold: a) only selected, trained people should engage in online conversation with citizens b) unfortunately there will not be more resources.
I don’t know the details: am I correct that probably the number of Commission’s “staff ambassdors” is below 500? So this would mean that less than 5% of the Commission staff would be eligible to interact online. In my view that is a lost opportunity. But I also believe that reality will drive the rules and that the administration at least now has a certain attention to this topic, which is good.
22/05/2010 om 10:32 |
Why is Reding replying? Because Communication (previously Walström) is in her portfolio. I’ve seen it before with some MEPs and it surprises me that people think EU’s communication (European Commission’s communication) is part of the Digital Agenda portfolio of Kroes. Can someone explain that reasoning to me?
As far as the answer is concerned, we are not unhappy (we could have written most of it ourselves!). The fact that we got an answer is a good thing in itself, if you know how big bureaucracies work and what the top really considers a priority.
Potentially all Commission staff are ambassadors, each in their own way. For some this may be limited to explaining o their family and friends what they do.
For others it means engaging in social media. We all agree you need to know what you do, otherwise you can do more damage to yourself and the organisation. And that’s not what we want. So training is an issue. Lots of colleagues are interested (as they are privately already on Twitter and Facebook) and they ask for guidelines. The latter is not unusual in bureaucratic organisations but why not?
The lack of ressources is a problem. But don’t blame our bosses, it’s the Member States politicans that keep us short. Ask them!
22/05/2010 om 10:49
I think the reason why MEPs and myself are confused about the responsibility for Communication is … the Europa website
Looking at this page (and even when diving deeper) it is not clear who could be responsible: http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/index_en.htm
Sefcovic (administration) and Kroes (digital agenda) are the closest bet. In a national context, nobody would probably assume that the “justice” minister would be responsible for communication of the government.
22/05/2010 om 11:35
You’re right if you look at it from that point of view. In the previous Commission it was clear. One could also advocate for the President himself to do it.
By the way, Sefcovic is internal administration and Kroes is about the ICT in Europe. But I have to admit that to understand that you already need to be an insider!
22/05/2010 om 11:00 |
My impression is that Reding’s reply was long on the feel good factor, but short on concrete will to do much.
22/05/2010 om 11:29 |
Based on that long feel good factor we will absolutely make the best of it. Count on us!
23/05/2010 om 13:04 |
[...] EU is starting to wake up to the existence of this digital army of bloggers. At least they’re writing us letters now (though it seems the Commission still doesn’t know how to use e-mail if they’re [...]
24/05/2010 om 10:53 |
A lire aussi:
Réponse de Viviane Reding à la lettre ouverte des communicants web de la Commission européenne
Par Michael Malherbe, lundi 24 mai 2010 à 08:00
http://www.lacomeuropeenne.com/index.php?2010/05/24/582-reponse-de-viviane-reding-a-la-lettre-ouverte-des-communicants-web-de-la-commission-europeenne
25/05/2010 om 23:47 |
Pure “langue de bois”, isn’t it?
I couldn’t go further than the first paragraphs.
Looking forward to your comments!
I’ll relate them for sure.
29/05/2010 om 00:32 |
Priorities for the EC could be from my point of view (moi j’essuie les verres au fond d’une cafet de la Commission) ethic, loyalty, communication both internally and externally and to motivate all its staff as ambassador. Not only those who are sent as “ambassador” but all its staff. We all are ambassadors in our everydaylife.
29/05/2010 om 11:12 |
Anne,
indeed! We are ALL ambassadors and the important ones are not necessarily the top brass.
Please come and join the group in the Commission that talks about using social media. We have an internal Twitter as well (Yammer). Send me an internal email and you’l get more info (benedictus nieuwenhuis @ relex).
02/01/2011 om 23:47 |
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