Puffbox

MyGuide.gov.uk is a Department for Education and Skills Children, Schools and Families project to ‘provide a ‘radically simple’ way of using the Internet’:

The Internet is fast becoming a part of our every day lives, influencing how we work, learn, communicate and even shop. But there are many who still do not or cannot use it because for them the Internet is not accessible, and certainly not encouraging and engaging to use. And so they miss out on the many economic, employment and social opportunities that it brings.

Research and consultation showed that the market was not going to meet the needs of these people coherently and effectively. Therefore, the Department, working with a wide range of stakeholders, undertook to fill the gap. In doing this it hopes to support wider participation in e-learning but also wider use of online information and facilities across the public service, especially through Directgov.

It’s gradually opening up now, following a pilot last year. Predictably, it’s got that kind of ‘reassuringly large buttons’ look which people give sites like this. Unexpectedly, it’s got a downloadable web browser (based on Firefox, I think), and its own hosted email service – although just 30Mb storage space, which embarrassing these days.

But I’m afraid I didn’t get much further: the registration process wants to know all the classic ‘personal questions’ data, which is probably all that protects your bank account from outside interference. When it started asking me for my pet’s name and memorable date, I’m afraid I went elsewhere.

Who needs David Miliband? Word reaches me of a new blogging initiative coming out of Defra. There’s a new server located at blogs.defra.gov.uk: only one blog on there so far, but the use of the plural noun has been noted.

Launched last week, the Bali Diary – led by junior environment minister Phil Woolas (with others in due course?) – sets out to describe preparations for, and proceedings at the big UN climate change conference in Bali next month. With climate change so high on the public agenda, it’s an ideal topic to be covering; and the tone of the minister’s initial items is perfect blogging – very down-to-earth, passionate and not a little outspoken. Several of the early items, for example, lambast the mainstream media for missing what he sees as key developments. (In fact, he seems to be claiming personal credit for a new carbon trading system in the US Mid-West?)

The biggest catch, I suppose, is the lack of comment functionality: ‘We are not currently inviting comments on diary entries,’ they say on the About page, ‘but we may in the future.’ Why so shy? I can only assume they’re scared of hearing from hundreds of conspiracy theorists.

A quick peek at the site’s feed – only appearing in Atom format as I type this, despite what the page ‘About RSS feeds‘ – reveals it’s running on WordPress… a departure, then, from the Community Server platform used to house Miliband’s blog (and subsequently shipped over to the Foreign Office). Of course, I make no secret of my preference for WordPress (of which more, possibly, later). Plus of course, with Defra facing serious budget cuts, it does the web team no harm to be seen to use open source.

PS: I should have something more to say about Ministerial blogs later in the week… 😉

It’s not all rosy at the Foreign Office though: they’ve been rapped over the knuckles by the Information Commissioner’s Office, after being found to have breached the Data Protection Act. In May it was discovered that the personal details of visa applicants in India, Russia and Nigeria using a web-based system provided by VFS were ‘viewable by other internet users’. An independent investigation published its findings in July, blaming organisational failures rather than any individuals. The FCO has now given the ICO an undertaking (PDF) that they’ll do better. The offending site will not return. (Thanks to Out-Law for the tipoff.)

After six weeks, Sherard Cowper-Coles – our man in Afghanistan – has signed off from blogging duties on the new FCO site. A quick scan down his recent posts will reveal just how much effort he was putting in: lengthy articles, photos on Flickr, videos on YouTube. Oh yeah, and he’s the British Ambassador in an actual war zone. It’s not as if he can have had much free time on his hands.

The baton is passed to Frances Guy, our woman in Lebanon, who kicks off with some interesting reflections on Remembrance Sunday. Meanwhile, the FCO has a new guest blog, written by Claire Hughes who’s doing a voluntary internship in Costa Rica, whilst on sabbatical from Defra. Oh, and while we’re in King Charles Street… check out Mr Miliband’s latest YouTubing: roping in visiting dignitaries. Way to go, Foreign Secretary.

I’ve just come across CommentPress, a theme for WordPress. And if you ever saw any of Sam Sethi’s Smith’s Comment on This documents, it’ll be immediately familiar. Basically, the theme offers ‘comment’ functionality against each paragraph (based on <p> tags) in a blog post, so you can respond to specific points in situ. It could be prettier, but the functionality’s all there.

This is just crying out for someone to use on a White Paper or other consultation document. Installing WordPress, installing a theme, copying and pasting a few times… and you’re away. Anyone?

Britain’s greatest individual contributor to new media is quitting. I’ve just learned that Jimmy Leach, Downing Street’s head of digital communications is crossing over to the world of PR. It’s been an open secret that the ‘new regime’ wasn’t as warm towards the online thing as Team Blair had been in that final Year Of Living Dangerously, so Jimmy’s departure shouldn’t really come as a huge surprise. But the public sector will be worse off for losing him. So… anyone fancy a job at No10 then?

FYI: He’s not the only one crossing that PR/HMG line. Tom Kelly, aka the former PMOS (Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman) is the new director of corporate and public affairs for BAA. As if the whole airport expansion thing wasn’t juicy enough.

Over to the FT for the awful truth. ‘Only 71 people have responded to a cross-Whitehall online consultation on the draft legislative programme.’ ‘Many of the 41 comments on the Cabinet Office website have little, if any, relevance to the proposed bills.’ ‘The Scottish Office website (sic – hastily deleted, I note) has received a total of “three substantive comments” on the draft programme.’ Whatever we’re doing, we simply aren’t doing it right.

You know what? I’m with Guido. Gordon Brown’s message of congratulation to Channel 4’s Countdown is just remarkable. I don’t even think it needed Guido’s remix treatment.

[youtube=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mHOAtgMqr5I]

Hey, maybe I’ve just never seen the man smile before. Certainly never so (let’s be generous) enthusiastic, verging on manic. And then, just when you decide that you can’t actually believe what you’re watching… it suddenly switches into a ‘remembrance of those we have lost’. Before bouncing back to the same earlier jollity. Just extraordinary.

Hazel Blears has announced an extra £45m over the next three years ‘to support communities to confront and isolate violent extremism’, with a particular focus on web stuff. You have to ‘page down’ through the press release a couple of times before you come to the word Muslim, but there’s no serious doubt which communities she has in mind.

The funding will facilitate an expansion of Internet based projects, radio stations and web-casts which are locally run and managed to give young people spaces and forums to share their views and discuss issues such as democracy and shared values. By encouraging young people to discuss these issues openly we will seek to undermine the influence of extremists who use the web as a propaganda tool to radicalise young British Muslims.

There’s clearly a problem with unpleasant material being ‘out there’… but will this be a solution? Hmm. I’m not sure you can use the word ‘discussion’ when the eventual outcome (that we should all love each other) is predetermined. And anyway, if someone gave you £Xmillion, what would you spend it on – SEO? Google Ads? If it’s any help, Google reckons we’d get 2-3 clickthroughs per day at an estimated average CPC of £0.35 – £0.45 if we bid on ‘al qaeda’.

More public sector invasion of YouTube: this time, it’s the NHS. There’s already quite a lot of video in the new NHS Choices site, delivered via Flash from their own local site – see this example on their Asthma information pages. But it’s a very smart move to go into YouTube too… not least in keeping with the principle of going where the audience already is. Not much to see yet, but I’m not even sure it’s been formally ‘launched’.