Digital Diplomacy

Digital training at the FCO has reached toddler-hood. Claire Collins blogged in November about its one year birthday and now, just like a toddler, it’s good at attracting attention and charming all who meet it! FCO staff who’ve taken up the Digital Transformation Unit (DTU) global training offer have been overwhelmingly positive about the quality […]

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s consular service supports British people around the world when they are most in need of our help. Consulates, embassies and high commissions publish their contact email addresses in the contact section of their pages. I hear that sharp intake of breath. How generous of them when most others hide behind […]

Six years ago to the day, I signed into Twitter for the first time. At the time I was studying for exams and though I had a budding interest in the United Nations (UN), the concept of diplomacy was frankly pretty alien. Little did I know, about a half decade later, I would sit at […]

Use of video is increasing across the network of British Embassies and High Commissions around the world – and with good reason. Video can be an effective way of communicating difficult, technical messages. It is more engaging than just publishing a text update. It gives you the chance to use more than 140 characters in […]

What’s so great about GREAT? The GREAT campaign was launched in 2012 to make the most of the global interest in the UK as a result of the London Olympic Games.  It was designed to showcase the very best of what Britain has to offer, welcoming the world to visit us, study with us, and […]

We’ve been working with the Government Digital Service (GDS) on a project to develop a “Country Register” which will be a dataset of UK approved geographical names for countries and territories. This work is the first stage of a project to create a range of Registers which will be a key part of the UK’s […]

Earlier this year we heard Stephen Linzell talk about how we are using a digital analysis tool to manage the FCO’s online presence, evaluate our campaigns and respond to crises. He spoke about how we were beginning to use Ripjar, one of a suite of tools we have, to help us do this. We hope […]

Digital and diplomacy: it hasn’t always been easy to put the two together. Over time our use of digital has matured, become more sophisticated and, we hope, more effective. Seeing the online activity from around the network, one thing has stood out above all else – the ability to engage, and, through that, the opportunity […]