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I read a very interesting article in Microscope recently entitled, ‘Online contact less popular than traditional communication methods’.

The article suggests, ‘Despite the millions ploughed into developing online government services, it seems people still want to use traditional forms of communication.’

Firstly, it should be made very clear that local authority and central government online communication channels are not available to citizens at the exclusion of other traditional channels. There is no plan to drive a “seesaw effect� with interaction through one communication channel increasing at the expense of another.

Second, with that in mind, it is wrong to suggest that investments in online government services are in someway wasteful because citizens still want to use traditional forms of communication.

Central government and local authorities are striving for communication channel balance – they are simply broadening the channels of communication available to citizens to ensure citizens can interact when they want and, how they want.

I wish the article had given more magnitude to the comments of Jeremy Oates, managing director of Accenture’s UK government practice, who says whilst private sector companies are more inclined to reduce investment in traditional channels once they had established electronic channels, the government has been better at balancing the switch to the web.

The full Microscope article can be read here: http://www.microscope.co.uk/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=139855&liArticleTypeID=8&liCategoryID=2&liChannelID=23&liFlavourID=2&sSearch=&nPage=1