Public institutions are threatened

I’m concerned about people’s empowerment and the possibility for us to collectively make decisions about our future.

One of the ways we currently do that is through governments and public organisations such as NGOs. I’m concerned about the fate of these public institutions because I worry that they do not provide the type of engagement citizens are seeking. Brands seem more adept at creating engagement than public organizations.

However, we are lucky to live in a country where government is showing the way in terms of social communications and engagement. Indeed, the Trudeau government’s use of social media is an avant-garde model that many other leaders and governments will use.

This type of communication is not only necessary for political leader’s success, but also for the relevance of public institutions. Without this, they will be forgotten. They will no longer be understood, even so thinly as they are understood now. They will no longer be justified.

Communications and engagement are so important that people would rather pay more for a private service that has better communication and UX (user experience) than a more affordable public service. Often, it seems like brands know this but governments don’t. Witness Uber’s recent pilot test of an urban bus service in San Francisco. It’s not because SF doesn’t already have a public transit system. But Uber’s bet is that its UX and communications are so much better that people would rather use their service for more $ than public transit for less.

This is just one example to illustrate the importance for public institutions to use accessible and powerful communication and engagement methods. Otherwise their relevance is threatened and so is our access to democracy.