Media Aces - UK

I was recently invited to attend an event run by Channel 4’s 4ip fund. Entitled Recasting the Net, it was about how the Internet can drive, shape and influence democracy and the democratic process within the UK’s electoral system and public services.

Many truly excellent projects were demonstrated and discussed, and it’s great to see that not only is the UK starting to make considerable headway in using digital and social media to "open up" the democratic process, but that many of these projects are supported by 4ip, a fund whose aim - "Rethinking public service media" is a noble one, particularly as its parent organisation is in itself, a public corporation owned by the UK Government.

This event touched on many points and issues regarding how public service digital media is created, delivered, shared, and offered - and how transparent this process is. One particular point that interested me was around co-creation - and how those in the public sector, and those providing skills, services and strategy to the public sector - could get together, for mutual benefit - and, ultimately, the benefit of a wider group of citizens. The Internet creates a fantastic bond between people interested in greater public accountability, and public organisations (willingly or otherwise) seeking greater engagement.

I later reflected on how applicable this would be across other sectors. Companies across all sectors churn out masses of data - and content - each day. Much of it is clearly commercially confidential, but some of it isn’t. So, what’s preventing the private sector from opening up, and working in a co-creation context with people willing to take their "stuff" and add further, greater meaning to it? Think of what you could do with some of the data coming out of our public networks (substations, telco etc). Wouldn’t you like an Iphone app that told you when your power was to be cut off, so you could make alternative arrangements for your freezer? That sort of quick, easy, development for shared benefit would come out of co-creation.

One of Google’s more well-known facts is that it lets its developers spend 20 per cent of their time on projects which they feel passionate about. That time helped to deliver Google Adsense. Is there room for companies to carve out employee time to work with a community of developers on projects with a shared, mutually-beneficial aim?

Paul Squires
Founder, Media Aces UK