Training Trends in 2014

In recent years, DigitalGov University (DGU) has evolved from a prescriptive training program to a more agile program looking to federal government leaders like you to share the innovations, tools, resources, hurdles and case studies of how you work to meet the digital expectations of the 21st century citizen customer better. Whew. That’s a mouthful.

Thanks to all the participation from you, across many agencies, we’ve hosted over 100 events this past year with over 8,000 attendees. So, we thought we’d take took a look at the most popular (by attendance) in-person, on-line and recorded events throughout 2014.

Top 5 In-Person Events

1. The DigitalGov Citizen Services Summit was our most exciting and largest attended in-person event this year. It was held in May with over 200 attendees and featured panels on:

• Performance analysis, where we heard use how agencies are using analytics tools to help minimize bounce rates, gauge content consumption, and maintain a connection to the customer.
• Customer Service Across Channels, featuring examples from agencies highlighting the importance of meeting customers “where they’re at,” using a FAQ system and constantly thinking out of the box about gaining insights from customers.
• Inter-Agency Work, showcasing examples of cross-agency collaboration, where, in many cases, opening data and sharing information was key to the success of programs in these agencies, and
• Public Private Partnerships where four panelists from across government shared their success stories involving open data and feedback via GitHub and challenge competitions.
• Note: We are hosting our second Summit on May 21, 2015.

2. #SocialGov Summit – Improving Open Data Innovation was a close second with 189 attendees. This event was held at the White House in August, in collaboration with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The role of social media in government was showcased by a format that included: listening to the experiences and insights of innovators in the Startup and Tech Communities, sharing existing and needed resources for advancing open data and innovative tech programs, and collaborating on tailored open data programs and events that deliver better results.
3. #SocialGov Summit on Entrepreneurship and Small Business featured the use of News Genius, an online collaborative annotation platform and was coordinated across the #SocialGov CoP.
4. #SocialGov Summit – International emphasized how issues in #SocialGov are of global concern, and how we can collaborate easily and freely across oceans without the need for big resources. The governments of Canada, Ireland, and Australia joined us via Google Hangout.
5. Rounding out our list was the UX Community of Practice Summit—the first of its kind. Hosted in January and co-sponsored by the User Experience Community of Practice and the DigitalGov User Experience Program. This was a huge success with over 100 participants. This event focused on The Paperwork Reduction Act, innovative testing methods, and mobile UX.

Top 5 Webinars

We also hosted some very popular webinars. Our most highly attended webinars (#1 and #2) focused on Plain Language.

1. How to Tell Your Agency’s Story-Plainly
2. Get out of the Jargon Trap: Plain Language Training Can Help
3. Evaluating Digital Communication: An International Incident was an event that crossed boundaries, literally. The event that was co-sponsored by the Federal Communicators Network and the Web Content Managers Forum, and was organized the governments of the US, Canada, and the UK.
4. Our FedRAMP program offered events hosted by Director of FedRAMP, Matthew Goodrich, and captured large audiences from the vendor community with updates and tips on the using the program. Learn more about FedRAMP.
5. Finally, #SocialGov came in at #5 with the U.S. Federal #SocialGov: 2 Years of Smashing Silos + Elevating Citizen Services with Social Media “U.S. Federal #SocialGov: 2 Years of Smashing Silos + Elevating Citizen Services with Social Media”).

Top 5 On-Demand

Lastly, we took a look at our webinar recordings and evaluated which were most viewed this year. Overall, we’ve had more than 34,000 views on-demand. Keep in mind some of these webinars took place in 2013:

1. API Webinar Series: APIs for Dummies – An Introduction – The basics on APIs hosted by 18F’s Gray Brooks and gets you started in the world of API solutions.
2. API Webinar Series: Learn How to Use and Create APIs – Step 2 on implementing APIs, also hosted by Gray.
3. How to Create an Annual Metrics Report – Very timely—read this recap and use Sarah Kaczmarek of GAO’s template to craft your own annual metrics report.
4. Yammer -The Power of Social Networking Inside Government Agencies – A New Media Talk – This event took place in March of 2012, but agencies are using this tool internally to minimize email. There is also a federal friendly Terms of Service.
5. How to Use Assistive Technology to Comply with Section 508

What’s Next?

klenger, iStock, Thinksotck

We are planning more great events for 2015 and we hope you can join us. Leave a comment below on what you’d like to see in the upcoming year.