SSKS blog

A one-day training event entitled, Web 2.0 Tools for Facilitating Knowledge Management, by Stephen Dale for the Improvement Service, was held at the Edinburgh Training Centre yesterday. Stephen Dale is an information and knowledge management professional and is both an evangelist and practitioner in the use of Web 2.0 technologies and social media applications to support personal learning and knowledge sharing.

On the day there were practical introductions to social networking and social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr and Slideshare, as well as introductions to Web 2.0 collaboration tools, including Google apps, blogs and wikis. There was also some time dedicated to how social media is being used to transform public sector services and privacy, security and freedom of information issues.

If you are interested in knowing more about this training or social media tools, the presentation and training materials on the course can be found at www.socialmediatoolkit.wikispaces.com.

The skills, expertise and creativity of the people who work in social services must be fully utilised, whether in the statutory, voluntary or private sector if we are to cope with an expected five years of cuts in the Scotish budget.  This was the view of Children and Early Years Minister Adam Ingram when he opened the debate on the social services workforce in the Scottish Parliament on 29 April.  He went on to say that opportunities to share training, develop common skills and break down culture, language and technology barriers must be identified and grasped.

In a wide ranging debate the need for strong, focused and purposeful leadership at national and local level was recognised. Community planning partnerships were alos seen as  key vehicles by working strategically to manage combined resources to deliver joined-up health, social care and educational support.

Read the full transcript

The LGA Group has launched the Local Government Workforce Strategy 2010: Delivering through People. The strategy aims to help councils in England and Wales  develop the flexible, skilled, motivated and diverse workforce needed to deliver effective, value-for-money services.