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Listen

Alan Flett and Alice Grant
Simulacra
ISBN 0 7559 2728 1 (Web only publication)
This document is also available in pdf format (668k)

CONTENTS

1 Acknowledgements

2 Summary
2.1 Context
2.2 Aims / objectives
2.3 Methods of research
2.4 Findings
2.5 Conclusions
2.5.1 A Common information environment
2.5.2Providing information to support smaller organisations
2.5.3 Digital media services skills gap
2.5.4Seamless services
2.5.5 The need for a learning standards framework
2.5.6Communication of marketing information
2.5.7 Communication of services available to users

3 Context

4 Aims and objectives

5 Methods
5.1 An audit
5.2 An online questionnaire
5.3 The interviews
5.3.1 Reason for interviews
5.3.2Scoping the interviews
5.3.3 Setting up the interviews
5.3.4Interview question framework
5.3.5 Conducting the interviews
5.3.6Interviewees
5.3.7 Confidentiality and attribution
5.4 The time-line

6 Audit Analytical Findings
6.1 Audit audience
6.2 Overall organisational findings
6.3 Is there explicit mention made of digital media services in your organisation's strategy / vision / mission statement?
6.3.1 Mission criticality of DMS
6.3.2Use of specific tools
6.3.3 Business models
6.4 What do organisations think are the main barriers to achieving their aspirations?
6.4.1 Sector-wide issues
6.4.2Issues relating to education services
6.4.3 Issues relating to individual organisations
6.5 What are the digital media services your organisation currently supports?
6.5.1 Infrastructure
6.5.2Solutions and websites
6.5.3 Digital media uses within organisations
6.5.4Information sharing applications
6.5.5 Shared access to administrative applications
6.6 Do you charge for any digital media services your organisation provides?
6.7 Are there organisational issues which your organisation has had to address as a result of introducing digital media services? (E.g. staffing and skills, prioritisation of organisational goals)
6.7.1 General issues
6.7.2Organisational structure
6.7.3 Staffing
6.7.4Information and systems management
6.7.5 Communication and change management
6.7.6Motivating forces for organisational changes
6.7.7 Internal motivators
6.7.8External motivators
6.8 Do you feel that your organisation has, since the advent of digital media services, shifted in its role in relation to its audiences or to other organisations?
6.8.1 Changed public relationships
6.8.2Changed business relationships
6.9 Is your organisation planning any new digital media services in the future?
6.9.1 Channel development
6.9.2Service Development
6.9.3 Internal systems
6.9.4Organisational change
6.9.5 Communication with users
6.9.6Barriers to future DMS
6.10 Are you aware of any current or planned digital media services that allow your organisation to do fundamentally new things it could not have done before?
6.10.1 Improvements in existing services
6.10.2Types of new service
6.10.3 Specific examples of new services
6.10.4How successful have new services been?
6.11 How is it ensured that your organisation's managers and other responsible staff have the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding of digital media to enable the creation of digital media services?
6.12 Has your organisation used digital media as a means to support and manage its current services in a more efficient way?
6.13 Do you believe that your organisation has as much control over the quality ( e.g. of content published through a content management system) of the digital media services it offers in comparison to its traditional service offering ( e.g. of content published to a magazine)?
6.13.1 Organisational and technical measures
6.13.2Specialist skills
6.13.3 Partnerships
6.14 Has your organisation had to comply with any governmental policies or frameworks?
6.15 Has your organisation been inspired to think of using digital media services due to sectoral or governmental initiatives?
6.16 Does your organisation carry out user requirements research to ensure that any developed digital media services do in fact satisfy an existing need in users?
6.16.1 Issues
6.16.2Initiatives
6.17 Who does your organisation target as priority audiences for its traditional services and offerings?
6.18 Does your organisation use digital media services to advertise its non-digital media or traditional offerings or services?
6.19 Does your organisation use digital media services to advertise its digital media offerings or services?
6.20 Have digital media services led your organisation to acquire new audiences?
6.20.1 Social barriers
6.20.2 Geographic barriers
6.20.3 Technical barriers
6.20.4 Physical disability
6.20.5 Problems encountered in removing barriers
6.21 Does your organisation's traditional audience differ from the audience targeted now by its digital media services?
6.22 Does your organisation provide digital media services to support education?
6.23 Does your organisation ensure that the technical skills required to use its digital media services are appropriate to those of its users?
6.24 Does your organisation have a multi-channel policy with regard to its digital media services provision?
6.25 Does your organisation see digital media services as providing a means of supporting partnerships between partner organisations via common shared services ( e.g. the Scottish Executive's e-procurement initiative)?
6.26 Does your organisation provide services that employ specialised hardware channels, e.g. digital media terminals, personal digital assistants, PCs, headsets, etc., for your visiting on-site audiences?
6.27 Does your organisation provide digital media services for the discovery and accessing of content by audiences, e.g. portals, gateways?
6.28 Does your organisation source its own digital content or broker digital content from other sources, or both?
6.29 Does your organisation provide digital media services that allow users to develop their own digital media resources and / or services, e.g. blogs, personal portfolios, community projects, etc.?
6.30 Does your organisation provide digital media services that support its creative processes, whether those are digital in format or not?
6.31 Does your organisation seek advice on strategy or technical matters of ICT and digital media services from external consultants or other specialists?
6.32 How is your organisation's website's content developed and managed ( e.g. from within a particular department, or through a collaboration of departments, subcontracts, etc.)?
6.33 How is your organisation's website's platform developed and managed ( e.g. from within a particular department, or through a collaboration of departments, subcontracts, etc.)?
6.34 Is your organisation participating in any government initiatives on common data / service sharing?
6.35 What is your organisation's policy on open-source software?
6.36 Does your organisation follow the guidelines as laid out in various government frameworks such as the e-Government Interoperability Framework (e GIF)?
6.37 Who, if anyone, is responsible in your organisation for the identification and implementation of digital information management standards?
6.38 Are there areas of your information services for which you feel standards are not yet adequately established?
6.39 What hardware assumptions does your organisation make for your audience's computing resources?
6.40 What software assumptions does your organisation make for your audience's computing resources? For example, what kinds of plug-ins for browsers does your organisation require users to have?
6.41 What bandwidth assumptions does your organisation make for your audience's telecommunications infrastructure? That is, do you make available different versions of your digital media service, e.g. a website, to accommodate those with broadband and those with dial-up?
6.42 Does your organisation develop its own digital media services or have them developed by a third party?
6.43 Does your organisation host its own digital media services?
6.44 Which of the following information systems does your organisation use?
6.44.1 Specialist applications
6.44.2Networked infrastructure management
6.44.3 Mobile applications

7 Conclusions
7.1 Organisation characteristics
7.1.1 Organisation size
7.1.2Organisation type
7.2 DMS Users
7.2.1 Excluded users and barriers to users
7.3 Managerial Skills
7.4 Service tpyes
7.4.1 Ideas for DMS
7.4.2User-led services
7.4.3 Partnership working
7.4.4Seamless DMS: Local DMS-mediated services
7.4.5 Distributed and remote working
7.5 Strategy
7.5.1 Mission criticality of DMS for TCS organisations
7.5.2Why are DMS mission critical?
7.5.3 Culture and learning
7.6 Business models
7.6.1 Premium services
7.6.2Inspiration to develop new business models and novel DMS
7.6.3 Digitisation business models
7.7 Marketing
7.8 Infrastructure and systems
7.8.1 Technical standards

8 References

9 Appendix 1: Interview framework

10 Appendix 2: online questionnaire
About this questionnaire
Roles and questionnaire responsibilities
Confidentiality and use of results
What do we mean by digital media services?
Identification
Why digital media services?
Digital media in your organisation's strategy
Digital services as an essential enabler
Digital media as efficiency and quality facilitators
Digital media in and as government policy
WHO'S digital media services?
Needs-driven digital media services
Existing audiences
Overall organisational marketing strategy
Reaching new audiences
Capability-driven digital media services
Where and when are digital media services used?
Channels
At work
On-site
What digital media services?
Digital management: content management-driven digital media services
Digital creation: creation-driven digital media services
How are digital media services provided?
Management of digital media services
Common information and services environments
Digital media services development models
Your audience's computing infrastructure
Your organisation's digital media technical capability
Digital media systems used

The views expressed in the report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Scottish Executive or any other organisation(s) by which the author(s) is/are employed.

The Scottish Executive is making this research report available on-line in order to provide access to its contents for those interested in the subject. The Executive commissioned the research but has not exercised editorial control over the report.

The report is published by Information and Analytical Services Division, on behalf Tourism, Culture & Sport Policy, Scottish Executive Education Department, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ. If you have any enquiries about the report please contact Gaynor Davenport (244-4077).

Published in September 2005.

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