Council’s digital team shortlisted for innovative national award
Shropshire Council’s digital services team has been nominated for a prestigious national award.
Lorna Perry, the council’s digital services and innovations manager, has been shortlisted as a finalist in the 2014 Digital Leaders 100 poll. The awards, in association with Digital by Default News, recognise the top 100 individuals, organisations, and products making a real difference in the world of citizen-facing eservices.
Lorna has been nominated in the Local Government Official category for her work with social media, which has helped take digital communications to another level in Shropshire. During the recent problems caused by flooding and adverse weather conditions, Lorna and her team helped harness the power of social media to use it as a real time community communications tool, across the county and beyond, turning digital comms into a leading avenue for live communications on all things public sector within the county.
Lorna said:
“I am delighted to have been shortlisted as a finalist for this fantastic accolade. We are always looking at new ways of communicating with the public, and social media is proving a fantastic tool to help people get access to the information they need in a more convenient and modern way. I am really pleased with the scale of digital communications we’ve been able to achieve, and these tools have proved especially useful for our winter alerts when people need access to information in real time, often when they’re on the move.”
The council has used social networking sites like Facebook and twitter to help communicate everything from road closures and school closures, to extreme weather conditions and exciting local events.
Currently, Shropshire Council has more than 10,000 followers and friends on sites including twitter and Facebook.
Keith Barrow, Leader of Shropshire Council, said:
“We know that the way people are sharing information and making decisions is changing. Social media is now a part of many people’s lives and is an increasingly important tool to engage with our community. I am delighted that we have been recognised for our innovative and responsive work in communicating in live time with our residents.
“The integrated use of a website, social media such as Facebook and twitter, complemented with our more traditional PR and communications, is first rate. I wish Lorna and her team the very best.”
Over 575 nominations for the Digital Leaders 100 poll were received and a shortlist of 100 finalists has now been created. Voting is open until 2 June 2014 here: http://www.digitalbydefaultnews.co.uk/digital-leaders-100/vote/ and winners will be announced on 18 June 2014 at the National Digital Conference 2014.
