Launch of the Digital Discipline Operating Model
By Ed Bearryman, Head of Discipline, Digital.
I am very proud to be launching the Digital Discipline Operating Model today – our first standalone guidance as a (relatively!) newly created profession. My hope is that it helps to build digital capability across all teams, grades and digital specialisms, providing a framework for digital teams to structure and develop within. We want to build the foundational digital skills of all government communicators, as well as facilitating the development of specialist digital expertise amongst the digital community. This guide contains a number of best practice sections which will help you plan, implement and measure brilliant digital communications that make a difference.
Our ambition is for a world-leading digital and content capability that can support meaningful two-way communication with the public. As the media landscape continues to fragment, digital communications give us new opportunities to implement increasingly rapid cycles of listening, measuring, evaluating, and quickly adapting to what works best. Digital communications offer us the ability to connect directly and speak with the public on the issues and areas of interest they care most deeply about. Owned digital channels offer a unique opportunity to curate a programme of content, with real-time data to measure responses, and to build audiences around the pillars we want HMG and our departments to be known for.
The rapidly changing digital landscape creates exciting opportunities whilst demanding that we develop and keep our skills up to date. It is a really exciting time to be working in government digital communications. A large number of people across government have contributed their best practice, best thinking and best approaches to this guidance and we hope you find it helpful to learn from them.
The guide will be followed up later in the year with further thinking around digital evaluation tools and techniques, and more detailed, channel specific guidance. We are very keen to know what you think, how you will use it and what may be missing. Please feedback your ideas to me (gcs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk) or the Head of Digital for your organisation. The Heads of Digital Network provides support to those working within the GCS Digital discipline, and aims to share best practice, build capability and increase collaboration, so please do get in touch if you are a Head of Digital and would like to join.
I hope you find this new guidance useful and please do get in touch with any questions or ideas. Thank you!