This blog post first appeared on blogs.fco.gov.uk on 06 January 2009

I’ve spent a lot of time in the last couple of months in interviews, talking to people applying to join the Digital Diplomacy Group. Interviews can be awkward (and they are clearly an imperfect way of recruiting people) but I’ve met some really interesting and talented people, and I’m confident that the Foreign Office will really benefit once our new team members are in place. 

But the process has made me question what exactly we are looking for from web professionals in government. A couple of years ago it would have been enough for candidates to demonstrate excellent editorial skills, proficiency as a developer, or a sound understanding of user experience to get a job in a government web team. We are still looking for these skills, but now we are also looking for people who understand the motivation of individuals or groups to contribute online, form communities, and collaborate. And they have to be able to apply this knowledge to the policy process, and be able to persuade (often) reluctant policy makers and diplomats the value of making changes to the way they work. I think we’re asking for quite a lot.

The resignation over Christmas of one of the leading web professionals in UK government – citing some of the frustrations of being a web specialist working in government – has begun a debate about the pros and cons of working on digital media from within government, and the recognition in senior positions of web professionals.

I have an ongoing dicussion with my boss about the type of people we should recruit to work on digital diplomacy. I think we need to recruit specialists – people with a deep understanding of the web – who can then apply this knowledge to foreign policy issues. He is more inclined to recruit people who really understand foreign policy, who can then apply that knowledge to the web. Of course, we need people who can do both the web and foreign policy, but I don’t think there are that many people out there at the moment with experience in both.