Public Sector: Councils are blind to internet

Will McInnes, MD of social media agency Nixon McInnes, added that many councils are still banned from accessing websites such as Facebook.

'Most people think this stuff is in the future,' said McInnes, who was greeted with cheers of agreement by delegates. 'There are a lot of businesses and other organisations that are changing, but a lot of public sector organisations are deferring the need to move on this. Let's stop postponing; we are now in a networked world, and the networked world has profound implications for public organisations.'

McInnes also contended that public sector organisations are monitoring traditional media, but missing online outlets such as bloggers and groups on social networking sites - and often the problem is poor infrastructure.