An Overview of a Platform Neutral Citizen Communication Strategy
humanITy Report for the DTI Digital Inclusion Strategy
Date: 01/02/2007
Article
1. Introduction
Broad Perspectives
1.1 The contrast between Government communication in 1947 and 2007 is sharp:
|
Government Communication |
1947 |
2007 |
|
(a) Power
|
The Government had the power to say what people were entitled to eat, in what quantities and over what time span |
The Government is in competition with food processors, supermarkets, fast food outlets, public relations companies, alternative medicine, fashion imagery and free economic choice in attempting to get its message across on diet
|
|
(b) Media
|
Government communicated with citizens through a cool but responsive intermediate print media and through the BBC's broadcasting monopoly |
The Government is faced with a hostile press whose 'attack journalism' is a symptom of traditionally fierce competition fuelled by circulation decline, a sceptical BBC and an increasingly de-regulated commercial television and radio sector,, a capitalist/individualist internet where information validation is weak and a population whose education levels have risen but which suffers from a high, paradoxical, degree of scepticism and credulity
|
|
(c) Society
|
Although the deference and class stratification preceding 1914 had been eroded by two world wars interspersed with a massive economic depression, society was relatively stable, coherent and respectful of authority |
Governments must earn respect in a competitive and hostile environment
|
|
(d) Government
|
Although the Second World War had vastly increased central Government control, operations were still relatively simple, discrete and targeted |
Government operations are massive, complex and inter-related |
|
e) Homogeneity
|
Population was linguistically homogeneous and educationally and culturally stratified |
There are some 300 languages in reasonably common use in the UK and the degree of linguistic achievement and comprehension is highly diverse.
|
1.2 There is a profound sense in which Government has not grasped the full implications of this revolution:
- Loss of Market Power
Politicians are still bent on using the power and prestige of Government to overcome a competitive market in information and opinions - Confusing Policy with Implementation
The greatest emphasis is still placed on transmitting messages through media intermediaries which make no distinction between the democratic rough-and-tumble of policy making and the less controversial area of policy/service implementation - Limited Communication
Government direct communication with citizens is still largely restricted to- Hard copy production (leaflets) with
- Telephone and electronic 'pull' services and through
- Potentially hostile and arbitrary media.
1.3 In looking to the next six years there are six underlying principles:
- In a highly competitive market the Government needs to compete for attention
- In a deeply hostile environment the Government needs to make a much sharper split in communications strategy between policy making and policy implementation
- In a highly fragmented environment the Government needs to improve its direct relationship with citizens, bypassing partial intermediaries
- In a converging environment the Government needs to adopt a platform neutral stance towards its communications
- In a rapidly changing environment, Government needs to use channels which are popular with citizens
- In an environment hostile to greater public expenditure, Governments should use methods which achieve high transaction completion
ASSUMPTIONS
1.4 The policy assumption in this Overview that the objective of the Digital Inclusion Strategy (DIS) is to provide a two-way communication system between the Government and the Citizen which is:
- Inclusive and comprehensive
- Non discriminatory
- An enhancement and ultimate replacement for analogue/human services
- Cost effective
- Efficient in effecting and recording transactions and transaction completion.
1.5 The demographic assumption made in this Overview (distilled from PICC [1] are as follows:
- Approximately 1/3 of the population does not have access to a home PC
- That 1/3 accounts for 80% of public transactions (benefits, health, housing, social services, criminal justice)
- Various forms of exclusion are overlapping and impact geometrically.
1.6 The technological assumption made in this Overview from PICC Chapter 3 are as follows:
- Analogue/digital television near 100% - static
- Digital television 68% - rising
- Landline telephony 93% - slightly falling
- Mobile phones 80% - rising
- Broadband 62% - rising
- Games, RSS and media players high penetration 35 years and below - rising
METHODOLOGY
1.7 This Overview is divided as follows:
- Summary of the intrinsic properties of media channels
- Media use By Citizen Market Segments
- Public Policy Issues
2. Summary of The Intrinsic Properties of Media Channels
The following is a series of bullet points on media; the full text of the analysis is available on request (PICC Deliverable 6. Sections 6.2-5 1).
2.1 Current Media
Definitions
- Print – initial content produced by the Government and published in hard copy.
- Press – information produced in the print media marketed by the Government PR departments.
- Broadcasting – radio and television
- Phone – landline telephony with voice only
- Web – information services requiring a PC/modem/wireless connection
- Mobile – primarily text messaging not voice
- RSS – (Really Simple Syndication) downloadable content from PCs to media players
- a) Print:
- Expensive per copy
- Inflexible presentation: font, size, kerning, leading, foreground/background, colour
- Expensive for short runs in various languages
- Expensive to revise/update
- Uncertain reach
- Uncertain reception/transaction completion.
- Press
- Editorial: equivocal/cynical/hostile
- Editorial: volatile
- Single language
- Editorial: beneficiaries mismatch with reported policy
- Advertising: expensive, doubtful reach
- Advertising: single language
- Sectoral print: cheap and targeted
- Broadcasting
- National equivocal/sceptical
- National: volatile/arbitrary
- National: some beneficiary/policy reporting correspondence
- Advertising: expensive, partly targeted reach
- Community channels: highly targeted.
- Telephones
- Pull: partially effective, labour intensive
- Push: highly targeted, effective, labour intensive
- Transaction completion.
- Web
- Expensive and complex infrastructure
- Transfer from analogue not purpose built
- Mismatch with target groups
- Transaction completion
- Reasonably easy but expensive to update.
- Relatively inflexible
- Privacy not guaranteed
- Potential for some automated language translation
- Potential for accessibility.
- Mobile
- Cheap and simple infrastructure
- High correspondence with target groups
- Transaction completion
- Easy and Cheap to update
- Private and flexible
- Potential for some automated language translation
- Potential for accessibility.
- RSS
- Useful if highly targeted at youth.
2.2 Proposed Media:
Definitions
- Dedicated Channels. Dedicated conventional digital television channels on a variety of multiplexes providing policy implementation details on a ‘loop’.
- Interactive Internet. Systems which allow citizen input not defined by Government output; form filling is reactive not interactive.
- Blended transactions. The combination of PC access with voice telephony in a broadband/wireless environment.
The following are some brief explanatory notes:
- As far ahead as can be forecast the PC domestic penetration rate will not exceed 7% whereas the 30% not reached are the major users of Government services
- This being so, the Government faces double costing of analogue and digital services for the majority of its customers
- More members of the population can send text messages than use a qwerty keyboard and the differential is accounted for almost entirely by people without domestic PC access
- Mobile penetration is likely to continue to rise towards 100%.
- The disaggregation of user interfaces, processors and output devices is likely to improve accessibility
- Television penetration for direct broadcasting is close to 100%; any channel would be under Parliamentary control.
- Dedicated Channels
- Highly targeted
- Semi interactive
- Relatively cheap
- Interactive Internet
- Mismatch with target groups
- Expensive and complex
- Transaction completion.
- Blended Transactions
- Combines benefit of phone and internet
- Reduces phone labour cost
- Increases transaction completion
- Combines push and pull.
2.3 Appendix 1 is a matrix with the different media, defined in paras 2.1 and 2.2 on the horizontal axis and attributes on the vertical axis defined as follows:-
Definitions
Client Reach
- Cross platform flexibility - the degree to which the same information format can be used on different platforms
- Client adaptability. he degree to which information can be re-formatted/customised for different client segments
- Client reach. The degree to which channels are delivered to and/or available to The Departments vulnerable target groups.
Cost
- Initial production - The non recurrent (capital) cost of producing the prototype or base format for duplication
- Duplication - the marginal cost of copies made from 4.
- Amendment - the cost of making adjustments/amendments to the original for re-publishing
Interaction & Transaction Completion
- Feedback - the degree to which The Department can track and score the success of a transaction from the client perspective
- Completion - the degree to which transactions are completed and The Departments objectives met.
Cost/Reach
- Cost/Reach - the relationship between the cost of communication and the numbers reached, the unit cost of delivery
- Cost/Completion - the unit cost of completed transactions.
- Shelf life - the cost/benefit of extended use.
The scores out of 10 in the Appendix are approximate and not supported by research data; a complete analysis is contained in PICC Chapter 6 Section 6.2-5.
2.4 It can be seen from Appendix 1 which looks at channels from a Government perspective without major weight being given to the needs of the citizen that the strongest channels amongst existing media are the PC and the mobile phone, with the PC having a distinct advantage. Blended transactions, however, listed in proposed media score highest of all.
Summary
Top three channels from a Government perspective
- Blended transactions
- Mobiles
- PC
3. Media Use By Citizen Market Segments
This Section uses the media list from Para 2.1 and uses a market segment list as follows:-
- Disabled – disabled people under the age of 65, as distinct from the majority of disabled people who are classified under elderly.
- Elderly – people over 65 many of whom have minor disabilities and more than 10% of whom have a major disability
- Youth – primarily males between 15 and 35 who are alienated
- Language – people whose first language is not English; this includes what are generally referred to as ‘ethnic minorities’ but is more precise.
- Low skilled – this combines low skill and unemployment with poor education
- Vulnerable – primarily women in complex domestic environments
3.1 In Appendix 2 the media channels are on the vertical axis and the citizen market segments are on the horizontal axis.
Each box of the matrix will contain summary notes of the relationship between the channel and the segment plus three figures:
- A score out of 10 for effectiveness where zero is ineffective and 10 is most effective; these figures are taken directly from the Cost/Benefit scores per channel in Appendix 1
- A score out of 10 for cost where zero is no cost and 10 is high cost; as specifically applied to the population segment; i.e. the cost of providing hard copy for blind people as opposed to providing hard copy for the general public
- The division of the first figure by the second figure to produce a cost/reach ratio.
3.2 It can be seen from Appendix 2 that the technology which scores most highly from the PC excluded citizen perspective is the mobile phone, followed by local/community broadcasting; the PC score is low.
Summary
Top channels by media segment:
- Mobile Phone
- Phone (land line)
- Community/local broadcasting
3.3 It is impossible to conduct detailed research into proposed media by market segment, largely because those listed in Para 3.1 are likely to be late adopters; they may, paradoxically, be the greatest beneficiaries because whereas those with a high level of PC skills will be able to adapt to new applications without instruction and interaction, many of the market segments in 3.1 will benefit for the blended autonomous and interactive environment.
3.4 The following is therefore a speculative score for new channels by citizen market segments, see Appendix 3:
Each box of the matrix will contain summary notes of the relationship between the channel and the segment plus three figures:
- A score out of 10 for effectiveness where zero is ineffective and 10 is most effective; these figures are taken directly from the Cost/Benefit scores per channel in Appendix 1
- A score out of 10 for cost where zero is no cost and 10 is high cost; as specifically applied to the population segment; i.e. the cost of providing hard copy for blind people as opposed to providing hard copy for the general public
- The division of the first figure by the second figure to produce a cost/reach ratio.
4. Public Policy Issues
The following is a digest of major public policy issues not dealt with so far and which are contained in the PICC Report:
4.1 Government and Citizen Priorities
In a market situation, the following are citizen priorities which are contrasted with Government values:
|
Citizen |
Government |
|
|
4.2 Incentive
As the Government is operating in a market which includes, for many alienated people, competition between low paid work and high paid drug dealing, inclusion needs to be driven by incentive not compulsion.
4.3 Characteristics of Exclusion
In analysing policy options for inclusion, the major factors are:
Factors for Inclusion
- Intensity
- Tractability
- Incentive
and, therefore
- Incentive/tractability ratios.
4.4 Policy Priorities
Government needs to focus on the most deprived because they:
- Lead the most wretched and deprived lives
- Cost most in direct payments
- Cost most in service use
- Present most intractable problems
- Disrupt other lives.
However, in communications terms they are:
- Hard to reach
- Possess poor literacy skills
- Frequently alienated.
4.5 Rationale
It is important to decide why services should be digitised; the conventional answers are:
- Cost cutting
- Better citizen experience.
There are some serious flaws in this rationale:
- Communication is bound by two rules:
- Poor communication wastes money
- Good communication increases cost through 'pull'
- Citizen transactions are a cost/shift from Government, not a cost elimination
- Cost shift requires incentive
- Failure to act produces double costing
4.6 Default Settings
There is an important default statement: because the middle class can always opt for more complexity but the unskilled cannot adjust complex systems to more simple presentations.
The default in any system must be set at its most simple, allowing incremental complexity
The major vehicle for such defaulted standards should be the Public Domain Document (PDD) [2] .
4.7 Public Domain Documents (PDD)
A public domain document 2 is one written from the citizen rather than the Government perspective which allows customisation of length and lexicography from the simplest settings.
This may cause some middle class irritation.
The temptation to design for the middle class is very great because:
- Middle class people are designers
- They respond to requests
- They produce return on digital investment.
4.8 The Broadcast-like Experience
Regardless of platform choice, users will only operate effectively if they enjoy a 'broadcast-like experience', defined in the broadband context [3] as follows:
- Enhanced data quality
- User control of channel selection
- Broadcaster responsibility for software
- Subscription services with server side maintenance.
4.9 Simplicity and Complexity
If Government is to avoid double costing of analogue/human and digital services it will need to accommodate not the majority of citizens but the majority of citizen/transactions which are concentrated largely on non PC users.
In addition to hardware/software measures, the following are crucial:
- Simplify analogue forms/documents for specific digital environments
- Locate notes and guidance at the transaction point
- Share any savings with citizens.
4.10 Client & Server Side
There will be no effective breakthrough in citizen communication to the 'bottom 1/3' of the market unless the Government takes a deliberate decision to move from a Microsoft-based client side model to a broadcast-like server side model for operating systems, applications and file creation.
Such a move would involve:
- Task completion based user requirements
- Predictability and consistency across channels
- The provision of a comprehensive service.
Comprehensive service
- Upgrading
- Updating
- Accessibility
- Virus control
- Spam filtering
Appendix 1
Illustrative Scoring of Channel Attributes
|
Attribute Groups
|
Channels |
||||||||||
|
|
a |
b |
c |
d |
e |
f |
g |
h |
j |
K
|
|
|
Client Reach |
1
|
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
7 |
10 |
3 |
5 |
7 |
8 |
|
2
|
0 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
9 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
8 |
|
|
3
|
0 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
10 |
6 |
7 |
1 |
6 |
|
|
Cost |
4
|
2 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
7 |
8 |
8 |
0 |
8 |
|
5
|
0 |
- |
6 |
- |
8 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
8 |
- |
|
|
6
|
0 |
- |
5 |
- |
8 |
8 |
10 |
- |
2 |
4 |
|
|
Interaction & Transaction Completion |
7
|
4 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
3 |
7 |
- |
1 |
5 |
10 |
|
8
|
4 |
- |
- |
8 |
9 |
8 |
- |
- |
8 |
9 |
|
|
Cost/Reach |
9
|
3 |
2 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
3 |
10 |
|
10
|
8 |
1 |
- |
8 |
6 |
9 |
- |
- |
2 |
10 |
|
|
11
|
0 |
2 |
4 |
- |
9 |
- |
1 |
5 |
2 |
9 |
|
Appendix 2
Channels and Citizen Market Segments
Current Media
|
Channels |
Citizen Market Segments |
|||||||||||||||||
|
Disabled |
Elderly |
Youth |
Language |
Low Skilled |
Vulnerable |
|||||||||||||
|
|
Multiple formats |
Multiple sizes/formats |
Ignored |
Multiple languages |
Simple text |
Frequent address change |
||||||||||||
|
3 |
9 |
0.33 |
3 |
7 |
0.42 |
3 |
8 |
0.37 |
3 |
10 |
0.30 |
3 |
6 |
0.50 |
3 |
5 |
0.60 |
|
|
Press |
Low access |
Modest uptake |
Negligible uptake |
Negligible uptake |
Negligible uptake |
Negligible uptake |
||||||||||||
|
2 |
8 |
0.25 |
2 |
6 |
0.33 |
2 |
10 |
0.20 |
2 |
10 |
0.20 |
2 |
6 |
0.33 |
2 |
10 |
0.20 |
|
|
Broadcasting |
High uptake, local radio only |
High uptake, local radio only |
Negligible uptake, music channels advertising only |
Community radio only |
Modest uptake, music channels advertising only |
Modest uptake, music channels advertising only |
||||||||||||
|
5 |
4 |
1.25 |
5 |
4 |
1.25 |
5 |
10 |
0.50 |
5 |
5 |
1.00 |
5 |
4 |
1.25 |
5 |
4 |
1.25 |
|
|
Phone |
High cost |
High cost |
No reach |
Very high cost, multi-lingual |
High reach |
High mobility |
||||||||||||
|
5 |
2 |
2.50 |
5 |
3 |
1.66 |
5 |
8 |
0.62 |
5 |
10 |
0.50 |
5 |
5 |
1.00 |
5 |
6 |
0.83 |
|
|
Web |
Average uptake, poor accessibility |
Low uptake |
Low use Government sites |
Poor multi-lingual services |
Negligible uptake |
Negligible uptake |
||||||||||||
|
3 |
6 |
0.50 |
3 |
9 |
0.33 |
3 |
9 |
0.33 |
3 |
7 |
0.42 |
3 |
9 |
0.33 |
3 |
9 |
0.33 |
|
|
Mobile |
Max penetration |
Modest penetration |
Max penetration |
Problem some languages |
Max penetration |
Max penetration |
||||||||||||
|
9 |
1 |
9.00 |
9 |
3 |
3.00 |
9 |
1 |
9.00 |
9 |
4 |
2.25 |
9 |
1 |
9.00 |
9 |
1 |
9.00 |
|
|
RSS |
Negligible uptake
|
Negligible uptake |
High uptake |
Negligible uptake |
Negligible uptake |
Negligible uptake |
||||||||||||
|
8 |
10 |
0.80 |
8 |
10 |
0.80 |
8 |
4 |
2.00 |
8 |
10 |
0.80 |
8 |
10 |
0.80 |
8 |
10 |
0.80 |
|
Appendix 3
Channels & Citizen Market Segments
Proposed Media
|
Channels |
Citizen Market Segments
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
Disabled |
Elderly |
Youth |
Language |
Low Skilled |
Vulnerable |
|||||||||||||
|
Dedicated Channels |
Higher than average access; subtitles/audio description |
Very high access |
No access |
Very high cost for low access |
Average access |
Low access |
||||||||||||
|
7 |
5 |
1.4 |
7 |
2 |
3.5 |
7 |
10 |
0.7 |
7 |
9 |
0.77 |
7 |
8 |
0.87 |
7 |
9 |
0.77
|
|
|
Interactive Internet |
Complex expensive |
Complex costly |
Potential for good design |
Potential for automation |
Complex |
Low uptake |
||||||||||||
|
3 |
9 |
0.33 |
3 |
8 |
0.37 |
3 |
5 |
0.6 |
3 |
4 |
0.75 |
3 |
8 |
0.37 |
3 |
9 |
0.33 |
|
|
Blended Transactions
|
Highly effective |
Highly effective |
Moderate uptake |
Costly but effective |
Useful |
Low uptake |
||||||||||||
|
10 |
1 |
10.00 |
10 |
2 |
5.00 |
10 |
7 |
1.42 |
10 |
5 |
2 |
10 |
4 |
2.5 |
10 |
7 |
1.42 |
|
[1] Carey, Kevin, Paper Platform Independent Citizen Communication (PICC) Written for the DCA December 2006
[2] Carey, Kevin 11.05 Paper Notes on the Creative Use of Information in the Formation of Citizenship Written for the DCA dated 12 May 2005
[3] Broadband & Disability A humanITy Paper Sponsored by BT In association with Ability Magazine and e-Access Bulletin, Sept. 06 http://www.btplc.com/Societyandenvironment/Reports/Broadbandanddisability.pdf