2nd October 2014 London, UK
Last week, the FCO held its first ever Digital Week: a concentrated effort to show our staff how digital tools and technologies can transform our policy-making, service delivery and communications. We organised a busy programme of talks, masterclasses, digital clinics and competitions, delivered both in our London HQ and around our global network. So what […]
26th September 2014 London, UK
It’s not always easy to promote human rights in China. But people do care. In particular, our statements supporting LGBT rights always achieve a great deal of attention, most of which is very positive. This is despite China refusing to legally recognise same-sex couples and homosexuals face widespread stigma. On 6 September, Brian Davidson, our […]
2nd September 2014 London, UK
Dr Richard Smith reveals an exciting new Twitter project by the FCO Historians In 1914 Sir Francis Bertie held the plum posting in the British Diplomatic Service—the ambassadorship to Paris. Not only did it carry a yearly salary of £11,500 (the Foreign Secretary was paid just £5,000) but the Ambassador also got to live at […]
29th August 2014 London, UK
Maps of the online landscape can provide fascinating insights into how they are connected and how they interact. In my last blog I looked at a few of our Ambassadors’ accounts and found some of the communities that existed amongst their followers. This blog looks at the way maps of the online conversation can help […]
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15th August 2014 London, UK
On the first floor of the Foreign Office main building, civil servants used to pull down maps from a burr walnut cabinet to pore over them and discuss the latest news from our embassies. Whilst the original maps have long ago been shipped off to The National Archives, the Foreign Office’s love of a good […]
7th August 2014 London, UK
Diplomacy, and the Foreign Office, played a key role as events unfolded in the run-up to the First World War. For this reason FCO Historians wanted to mark the event but in an innovative way, and joined up with the Digital Team to use Twitter to take a fresh approach to telling a familiar story. […]
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6th August 2014 London, UK
A key part of the FCO’s digital strategy is to build digital skills and knowledge across our network – over 13,000 people in nearly 270 offices around the world. In the Digital Transformation Unit we knew that we wouldn’t achieve this just with classroom training courses or lectures delivered in London, so we’ve taken an […]
18th July 2014 London, UK
This is the last in a series of 3 blog posts about the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. See blog 1 and blog 2. “Hi, Marjourie how are you?” “Hi, I’m fine, thank you Toby” “How are things in Goma (East DRC) today?” “Fine…not good actually…we had a busy night. Four more […]
14th July 2014 London, UK
This is the second in a series of 3 blog posts about the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. See blog 1 and blog 3. Having done the groundwork (see blog posting) the FCO’s digital team role during the Summit was twofold: To take the summit and fringe to those outside. To bring […]
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14th July 2014 London, UK
This is the first in a series of 3 blog posts about the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. See blog 2 and blog 3. In June the former Foreign Secretary and Angelina Jolie, Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, co-chaired a 4 day Global Summit to End Sexual Violence […]
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