Amongst the different public sector organisations, PCTs are very often responsible for decisions that are affect huge numbers of people and cover issues that people feel strongly passionate about. These issues and decisions are often difficult. This makes it all the more important to consult on them, but at the same time all the more daunting a prospect. We've been running online consultations since 2004, frequently around difficult or contentious issues. Particularly… read more

The internet can seem a risky place to engage with people on Policing matters but already this year we're seeing Authorities using it to great effect - joining the conversation, increasing the quality of discussion and engaging with more people. One pertinent topic right now is the budget with many opinions on how people think their Authority should spend their funds. Already this year, we've worked with 3 Police Authorities to… read more

Here at Delib, we're the kind of people that like to learn from each other and from what the other companies in our group do. We had a really interesting talk a few weeks ago on social media vs 'search engine optimisation' (SEO), from Tim in our sister viral marketing agency Rubber Republic

Moving to an online-based budget consultation is a great first step in increasing engagement - and given the potential to connect via the internet, I thought it would be a good idea to put together a document containing tips on how to boost response levels for an online budget consultation. After four years of working with Councils on budget consultation, we've seen a lot of strategies for maximising the… read more

Close to my heart this one, not just because it's to do with my home city, nor because I used to work there, but because the broader issue has been a personal bugbear of mine for ages. Namely, public sector organisations trying to use discussion forums.

Have said it before, but… read more

It's been too cold to be doing much over the festive break, so interesting stuff online has been excellent in keeping cabin fever at bay. Two articles in particular caught the eye in the last week, which seem worth sharing. First of all, as a warm up to our debate in a couple of weeks, here's an article from the Guardian claiming, somewhat boldy, that 'the 2010 election will be

I'm excited by the current interest in both making government data available, and visualising it to help people make deliberative decisions. Jennifer Bell has posted a great set of slides about open government (produced by VisibleGovernment.ca). Visualisation is pretty shiny. Try a search for Government Data Visualisation for example - you'll find plenty of food for thought. I think this is a great way to involve people… read more

One thing government has got quite good at, especially over the last 10 years or so, is collecting data. Measurements of performance, incidents, activity, behaviour, travel, it's all getting logged on a daily basis. Whilst all this data has a primary purpose for the people that collect it, there are of course other uses for it beyond this sphere. … read more

e-Participation is still a new and growing area, moving forward in various directions and various speeds in various places. The audit of local authority e-consultation we're about to publish has captured some really interested findings, and more on that soon, but as always, behind what people are doing online lie the forces that are driving them to do it. … read more

I've been researching sentiment analysis, and I think I've found pieces to suit a range of tastes and interests.

Tasters

First the notes from a 2008 talk given by Lillan Lee from Cornell University. Lee's topic is "...the flood of interest in: sentiment analysis, opinion mining, and the computational treatment of subjective language."

This is a good 'who, what, why, how', featuring:

• - background
• - useful stats
• - an exploration of the broader implications