Richard Boly, Director, Office of eDiplomacy, U.S. Department of State

Category

  • Future of Work

The Project 

The Office of eDiplomacy of the Bureau of Information Resources Management (IRM) of the State Department was established in 2003 to overcome critical knowledge barriers and improve State’s ability to communicate and share knowledge.  The eDiplomacy team is at the forefront of innovation in the use of social media and online platforms to change the way employees communicate with each other, share information and reach outside their own boundaries, connecting with diverse groups around the world to advance our nation’s foreign policy objectives and empower them to achieve social change.  eDiplomacy is a leader in innovating knowledge management and collaboration technologies to serve national foreign affairs goals as part of Secretary Clinton’s 21st Century Statecraft initiative.  

The Technology

MediaWiki for the Diplopedia, WordPress and Moveable Type for Communities@State, and BuddyPress for Corridor

Metrics Matter

eDiplomacy has built a full suite of knowledge management tools for State's global intranet of over 60,000 users.  Metric on use of these tools are difficult to collect given the global nature of the network, but the few available show that these tools that have become an integral part of State’s IT network. The internal wiki, the Diplopedia, has grown to about 16,700 articles, with over 5,400 registered editors, Communities@State hosts almost 70 blogs used for sharing region or function-specific news and information, and  Corridor, the internal professional networking platform, has attracted more than 10,000 users in a little more than a year. 

Disruptive Factor 

eDiplomacy’s many tools and programs, including an enterprise wiki, and networking and blogging platforms, differ markedly from those used elsewhere in the US Government - most of the solutions have been developed by in-house staff working with users, and the tools already had user buy-in before they went into testing.  Cost of the typical enterprise solutions and the desire to tap into the potential of social media led the office to use open source software, customized for the users, yet similar enough in operation to well-used social meda that users are able to use them without substantial training.  

Shining Moment

State's economic leadership used eDiplomacy’s platforms to launch Global Economic Statecraft Day (GESD) on June 14, 2012, and to manage information and collaboration for the Economic Statecraft initiative announced by President Obama and Secretary Clinton.  On that day Sec. Clinton also singled out a concurrent eDiplomacy-supported “TechCamps” event, which she noted is State's effort to build the digital literacy of Civil Society so it can be more "creative, innovative and effective." 

 

ABOUT The Office of eDiplomacy of the U.S. Department of State

The Office of eDiplomacy of the U.S. Department of State is part of the Bureau of Information Resource Management. Founded in 2003, eDiplomacy combines the expertise and experience of Foreign and Civil Service Officers and contract professionals under three branches, the Diplomatic Innovation Division, the Knowledge Leadership Division and the Customer Liaison Division.

Formed in response to recommendations from the Overseas Presence Advisory Panel that the State Department improve its ability to communicate and share knowledge, eDiplomacy hosts a variety of platforms that equip State Department employees with innovative tools for collaboration, an initiative that closely aligns with Secretary Clinton’s call for 21st Century Statecraft. Through the support and advocacy of new technology like blogs, wikis, professional networking and virtual student interns, eDiplomacy promotes an organizational culture for innovation that allows State diplomats to lead the foreign policy process at home and abroad. IRM’s Customer Liaison Division desk officers facilitate and enhance communications between IRM and its users and strive to ensure the highest level of customer satisfaction with IRM products and services. In addition, they collaborate with other U.S. Government agencies and foreign/multinational entities to provide information services that advance our national security, emergency preparedness, and communications objectives.