Whitehall Webby – digital media in government

Ever since I started confiding in friends last year that I was considering leaving the civil service, one of the questions I have been asked is “What will happen to Whitehall Webby?”.

I confess I thought a fair bit about this. It was pointed out to me that I would no longer be in Whitehall after all, and as I have always found the blog tough to keep up to date with it did seem like it might be a good time to call it quits.

Then I hit an enforced layoff as I was put under pressure at work to not blog. I knew by then I was leaving (but they didn’t) so I thought the best course of action was to lie low until I departed. I also made it clear at the time I left that I intend to take a few months off before I decide what to do next.

But, despite all that, two things remain clear to me.

1. After many years playing around working in this web world, I still love the possibilities and opportunities it presents. Pretty much every day brings something exciting.
2. I really care about how the interweb can make government better. The last two or three years have been a real ball and some of the stuff that has begun to happen over the last twelve months or so has been awesome. But its just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more to follow, I’m sure of it.

So, despite the fact that I’m not on the inside anymore on a day by day basis, government online is still the thing I feel most passionate about, professionally speaking.

Therefore I’ll continue to use this soapbox to throw out ideas, observe and comment on developments, and add my tuppence to the state of the industry. As well as all that I hope to continue to support, encourage and work amongst those doing a fantastic job pushing the online agenda forward in government.

But not just yet. Let me enjoy the holiday for a little while longer.

I am truly humbled by all the good wishes sent to me here and elsewhere over the last few days.

It means a lot to me.

I’m going to miss working on the inside, its a great place to be with many great colleagues around.

It just didn’t work out for me in the way I had hoped, that doesn’t mean though that I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone seeking great challenges – I would. Working in a bureaucracy brings challenges sure but I have enjoyed operating around those constraints and trying to make things happen. I don’t buy the whole ‘government is a terrible dysfunctional place’ line, I loved it.

But in the last few years I have often found myself comparing working in Whitehall to national service, so I guess I have completed my tour.

I’m a glass half full kind of person, I’m not leaving in a fug of negativity. Rather I hope this helps me to be more useful. I’m not disappearing, just changing the uniform. Or as Monty Python might say, not dead just sleeping (for a while anyway).

Thanks again.

I’ve always liked that phrase. Brings to mind all those lovely post-scandal impromptu doorstep press conferences with Tory ministers in the early 90’s. Anyway, I digress….

I’m sure this won’t be a huge surprise to many but my time as a civil servant will shortly come to an end. I’ve been working in Whitehall for coming on seven years and feel that it is time for a change. I’m sad to be leaving but at the same time I’m glad to be going.

Sad because I really enjoy doing what I do and trying to help push forward the government online agenda. I think there is still masses to do and I like being part of that. Sad also because I have felt for a while that web stuff is still not being taken seriously enough. I’ve been scouting around for a new challenge in Whitehall for a long time now but the truth is that beyond building and managing corporate websites, those roles don’t exist. There’s been a lot of talk over the last four years of how more senior strategic web roles are inevitable, but in that time its been just talk. So there was no next move for me.

But glad because I’ve been apart from my family for a while (we’re moving to Ireland and they went over a while back for the start of the school year) and am looking forward to being with them again. But also glad because being independent will allow me to focus my energies on projects that I’m interested in, and bypass the daily grind of bureaucracy that tends to get in the way of the cool stuff.

Over the last year or so that has become more and more of a barrier to doing what I enjoy the most. The changing role of my employer inevitably brought higher pressures and expectations (and rightly so given its increased responsibilities) but with little additional resource to do it. I’ve also found my extra-curricular activities being scrutinised and discouraged in a way I hadn’t expected after it being benignly ignored for the first year or so (tip for any civil servant bloggers: you may get permission or have a tacit understanding from your manager that its okay to blog, but if the management structure above you changes, you probably ought to start all over again. Previous agreements don’t seem to carry much weight). Hence the even lighter that normal posting here over the last few months.

So, what next?

First I’m going to take a good chunk of time off to get to know the area we will be living in better, and to of course spend some quality time with my family. I could do with a break and frankly I don’t think its a bad thing that I get away from the scene of my crimes for a while.

Then I will be open to offers. I’m interested in

• helping organisations to define their digital strategies and implementation options
• using social media tools to observe, interact and initiate and make better policy / services
• getting the best out of the web to assist government media communications (I’ll be writing more about this shortly)
• identifying the value of integrating new cutting edge web2.0 tools in the workplace

I would describe myself as a digital pragmatist: good at defining online strategy but with a mind on what is practical and realistic (particularly in the current climate). I’m looking forward to putting my skills and perspectives into good use – possibly in the way that Nick Booth has recently described.

If you are interested in talking to me about opportunities, my contact details are on my LinkedIn profile. Not quite sure when exactly I’ll be off, but hoping that it won’t be beyond this.

Here’s to a happy 2009.