Social Technologies Data Flow - Video

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The production and viewing of video content has increased in volume and complexity across the Department over the last 3 years. Offline and online HD video is captured through a range of devices including mobile devices and web cams. This creates large (100's GB) files that need to be moved, stored, shared and processed.

External contractors produce some video which is usually shared during production using Dropbox and Vimeo. Finished products are generally uploaded (MP4) to Vimeo or YouTube.

In-house production of short clips for social media channels is increasingly done on mobile devices using a range of video apps such as iMovie. Longer videos are edited using Camtasia Studio on desktops. Geographically dispersed production teams share video files (MP4) via Dropbox and Vimeo.

Vimeo is used to provide a library of Department stock video for use in future productions.

Creative Commons background music and sound effects are generally used and the final video is generally uploaded as Creative Commons BY 4.0 specifying any exceptions such as logos or partner content.

The Amara captioning service linked to Vimeo is often used to produce SRT files that are uploaded to Vimeo or YouTube after editing. Sometimes captions are burnt into the video using Camtasia Studio.

Some videos are uploaded to Facebook rather than share a link from YouTube.

Panopto is used to produce screen casts. Screencasts are also produced using the Camtasia Studio PowerPoint add-in which then allows advanced features to be added. Video can also be exported from Panopto to Camtasia Studio for advanced editing.

uQR.me is used to generate and manage dynamic QR codes to link to videos from printed resources or from labels on objects in learning environments.

2017 challenges

• Live video casting from Facebook, Twitter and other services is increasing. We will need to consider best practice information management procedures.
• Longer videos require greater processing power. SSD technology is being considered for 2017.
• Terabytes of video archives are currently stored in external hard drives across the organisation. These need to be better managed.

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This post is part 4 of a series illustrating Data Flow for some Department social technologies:

1. Social Technologies Data Flow - Facebook
2. Social Technologies Data Flow - Instagram and Twitter
3. Social Technologies Data Flow - Google+
4. Social Technologies Data Flow - Video
5. Social Technologies Data Flow - Mobile Apps
6. Social Technologies Data Flow - Photos/Graphics

Social Technologies Data Flow - Google +

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The Google search engine prioritises Google+ content if it exists. The Department has created Google+ pages for all schools so that key information such as contact, phone, hours, web sites and branded photos appear in search results. As you can see from the 2016 data below there was significant engagement with the Google+ content appearing in Google search results.

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Google My Business is used to manage our 220 Google+ pages and GPS locations were uploaded via a CSV file. In 2017 we plan to add some 360 photos via the Google Street View mobile app to assist users to find school offices and other key facilities.

Google Maps and Google My Maps are used to add map layers and additional content which are saved in Google Drive - as well as providing direction to events and planning itineraries.

2017 challenges:

A few schools customise their Google+ page and this is expected to increase during 2017. For this reason we are now planning to supplement Google+ Insights with analytics from DashThis. We will also begin to archive Google+ pages during 2017 using Digi.me.

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This post is part 3 of a series illustrating Data Flow for some Department social technologies:

1. Social Technologies Data Flow - Facebook
2. Social Technologies Data Flow - Instagram and Twitter
3. Social Technologies Data Flow - Google+
4. Social Technologies Data Flow - Video
5. Social Technologies Data Flow - Mobile Apps
6. Social Technologies Data Flow - Photos/Graphics

Next Gen Government - Day 2 Takeaways

A small edit to the Waterforms International Water Vortex while waiting for departure at Canberra Airport. Somehow it feels appropriate for this post... See quote at the end.

These are some random thoughts I'm taking away from the second day of sessions at #NexGenGov in Canberra. These mostly relate to our current Department issues/projects rather than a comprehensive report on what was said - or who said it.

Innovate on service delivery not technology. 

Focus on customer events, circumstances, their journey...

Identify services with the highest impact. 

For many external clients (and even staff) your website 'landing page' is the Google search results page. 

The Department has Google+ pages for all schools and this has been very effective.

How might we influence/customise Google search results for the Department's main public online web and other online spaces? How could we use Google Ads and APIs?

Does current navigation make sense to the user when they drop deep within our website/CMS from an external search engine?

Need for a rethink...

The 'Internet of Your Things' offer opportunities to rethink aspects of service delivery.

Microsoft view.

Young people (including young adults) do not generally go to a government website for help.

How do we reach out to this group? Go to the platforms and places used by your intended audience.

Social media? Which platforms are being used by your intended audience? What value can you bring?

Gamification? Mobile Apps?  See Party for Your Rights.

The notion of a 'one stop shop' may become the 'one stop pop-up shop'.

Proactive Organisation - provides a product or service when it is needed rather then after it has been requested... 

Innovation SPRINT - 10 days - Discover, Define, Develop Ideas, Deliver Alpha.

Trans-departmental teams, design thinking, blue-sky thinking by 'digital natives'.

Leave space in thinking, processes and solutions/products for innovation.

Drive rapid iteration.

Overcome the fear of failure - "fail fast, fail cheaply".

3 steps to making 'good mistakes'

1. making mistakes after due care and attention

2. acknowledging mistakes

3. not repeating mistakes

Common current drivers are fear and hope - fear of disruption/disconnection/disengagement - hope for transformation.

Launch Alpha to selected audiences - even public- and then move to 'perpetual beta' or launch Beta and then move to ongoing interative development.

Gartner predicts 75% of digital organisations will 'build' not 'buy' by 2020.

See the US Digital Services Playbook - "Today, too many of our digital services projects do not work well, are delivered late, or are over budget. To increase the success rate of these projects, the U.S. Government needs a new approach. We created a playbook of 13 key “plays”...  "

Social Media

Think about archiving social media - have information management policy/procedures for social media. Think about minimum meta tags for social media.

See Tasmanian Government Information Strategy Unit and  guidelines.

See national Digital Continuity 2020 Policy and actions/dates.

Open Source, Open Data, Open Culture, Open Government

Open source is about much more than software. 

Tasmania has a new Open Data Policy. 

In what ways are we benefitting from and contributing to the staten national and globalopen agenda?

During 2016 the Department will be seeping its adoption of Creative Commons Licensing. How might this facilitate a more open culture and enable changes in service delivery?

AI, natural language and the user interface

How far away is a Siri/Cortana user interface for organisations?

"What can I help you with?"

Digital Identity and Authentication

Biometrics is delivering higher confidence authentication

eg RealMe photo/video, Australian Tax Office voice

One identity and login for multiple government services...

Watch MyGov, MyTax, My Health Record over the next few months and years...

Google ID, Apple ID, Facebook Connect... are already international IDs and logins.

Blocks to innovation and faster development.

A focus on fully tested perfect solutions delivered years into the future.

A focus on how to monetise assets rather than what we can do that's best for citizens/clients.

Being risk averse about privacy and security issues rather than using 'Privacy by Design' principles, getting it right, and then moving on. 

"Silicon Valley is a state of mind not a place."

“If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.” ― Jack Welch

Risk and Opportunity in Cloud Services

Finding an optimal balance between the risks and opportunities of cloud services and storage can be challenging. Risk associated with information security, privacy and sovereignty must be considered as well as the opportunities for access to engaged learning, cost savings and agile development.

The Tasmanian Information Security Policy Manual outlines a framework based on a risk management approach that requires government agencies to implement policies and procedures that are proportionate to the level of risk.

A Guide to Implementing Cloud Services: Better Practice Guide shows how appropriate risk mitigation strategies can protect data according to its level of security classification.

Advice such as Cloud Computing Myths address some misconceptions which can lead to a loss of opportunity if information management is unnecessarily restrictive.

The challenge then, is to use cloud services that are optimal for the security classification of the data in question while maximising the opportunities afforded by cloud services.

 

Locking all education data into computing services and storage that are best suited to 'x-in-confidence' information is expensive, restrictive and reduces the possibilities for innovation in the provision of IT services for learning.

 

On the other hand storing 'x-in-confidence' data in social media services can be high risk.

 

The following mapping is a little simplistic but it shows how there could be room to choose 'best practice' third party cloud storage as well as social and mobile media where the terms of service are sufficient to meet needs.

 

 

By selecting the appropriate storage for each level of information security required we can make the most of the opportunities that cloud computing services bring while carefully managing the risks.

 

This risk management also includes best practice password management.

 





The Freedom of Lockdown

Lastpass promises to be "the last password you need to remember".

I joined a few years ago but it was only a few weeks ago that I started to use it seriously.
And it's only since then that I've reaped the rewards...

• yes - far fewer passwords to remember....  and also
• improved passwords - all now random (and different for every account)
• faster logins - saving me a great deal of time logging in
• increased security with two-factor authentication
• simplicity with multiple identities for my different roles
• easy access across multiple mobile devices

While this may sound like an advert for Lastpass it really just advertises my naivety in having so many 'clever' passwords that I couldn't really manage. I got a 'Very Poor' security rating across some important services and gateways.

As our organisation moves to make informed use of a wide range of externally provided online services it's important to remember basic security principles to protect identity and information.