The Public Diplomacy Blog: Public Diplomacy Division

Showing posts with label Public Diplomacy Division. Show all posts

Monday

Public Diplomacy vs Nation Branding

We often tend to use Public Diplomacy (PD) interchangeably with Nation Branding. While there are definitely certain overlaps, a clear distinction does exist between both the practice areas. That's why I found Daryl Copeland recent post on the CPD Blog: PUBLIC DIPLOMACY, BRANDING, AND THE IMAGE OF NATIONS, PART II: MORE OF THE SAME, OR DIFFERENT? very interesting. In this very well written post, Daryl explains some fundamental distinctions between PD and nation branding and aptly states that,

"If public diplomacy is thought of as a nations’ book, then a nation’s brand is something like its cover, designed to appeal viscerally to the consumers of international policy by encouraging potential buyers to open the book (or visit the country, buy the product, or support the international policy objective). But because the market evolves quickly, the cover’s design may need attention even before the book requires revision and a new edition can be released."

He explains that PD is characterized by meaningful dialogue and relationship building and not based on "information dominance" or "message dumping." An alternative policy instrument in the hands of governments today, PD is central to managing international issues through consistent engagement, in which, communicating a point of view is as important as listening to a point of view. PD can be one of the approaches for nation branding and consists within itself host of activities focused on communications, stakeholder engagement, collaboration and influencing public opinion. With such an approach PD seems to be the application of public affairs and strategic communications to the practice of international relations (as I always maintained in this blog). Daryl also tends to agree when he says that PD has more in common with public relations as a practice. This was also underlined in the Report of the Defense Science Board (US Department of Defense, 2004) in which it clearly stated that,

"In an age of global media, the internet revolution and powerful non-state actors - an age in which almost everything governments do and say is understood through mediating filters of news frames, culture, memory, and language - no major strategy, policy, or diplomatic initiative can succeed without public support. Fulbright scholarships, youth exchanges, embassy press briefings, official websites in language versions, and televised interviews with ambassadors and military commanders are examples of public diplomacy."

To cite an example in the context of India, "Incredible India" , is more of a nation branding campaign while the distinguished lecture series organized by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is more of a PD exercise. PD as a practice has recently been growing and one of the primary reason is the media proliferation and information revolution (This was however was overlooked in the reasons given for a PD resurgence in the above mentioned blog post.).That's the reason why strategic communications form the core of PD.

Suggestions/Critiques welcome.

-- Madhur

Sunday

Survey of attitudes by India's PD division

The Public Diplomacy division of Government of India in collaboration with the Center for Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania, is conducting a survey of attitudes with regard to India's foreign policy. It is a survey of 'elite attitudes' - given that fact that it is a survey of international relations faculty in Indian academic institutions - and is a first of its kind exercise undertaken by the PD division.

It is currently also being conducted at the first National Conference on International Relations - Shifting Sands: India in the Changing Global Order, in New Delhi, India. The introduction to the survey states,

"... there is relatively little understanding about what Indians take to be the nature of international politics, and correspondingly, how their power and influence should be used. This survey seeks to help better understand Indian attitudes on the role of power, order, force and justice in international politics. How will the interplay of long-held beliefs, India's vision of itself, the rise of new actors and institutions and India's changing relationship with the West influence India's worldview and role in global affairs?"

It will be interesting to see the results of this survey, which has good news potential as well. The conference in itself is a first time initiative by the PD division to create a forum for Indian academics, policymakers and practitioners of international relations to meet, network and exchange ideas.

Suggestions/Critiques welcome.

-- Madhur

Public Diplomacy and communications strategy

One of my consistent arguments in this blog is that for public diplomacy to be effective it is important to be backed by an effective communications strategy. What I also mean by this is that not all PD programs can be/necessarily be like a communications campaign, but, there are communications implications (potential?) nonetheless of any PD program.

What is the story that we want to tell?

An interesting story carried today by Hindustan Times, quoted UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, to a question on how much difference was made to the fight against HIV by cheaper drugs made available from India,

"In 2001, no one had access to treatment. Now 86% of drugs given to poor people are from India. Within 10 years of setting the goal to provide treatment to all, 6.6 million people were on antiretroviral therapy (drugs used to treat HIV infection) at the end of 2010, a nearly 22-fold increase since 2001"

He also said,

"We need new partnerships between India and Africa to transfer technology to help African countries make cheaper Aids drugs"

This statement is important when seen in the context of the recent summit level meetings between India and Africa. This is also a great story that talks a lot about India's scientific prowess, business prowess in the context of drug companies and is also a significant political issue when we consider trade and business issues in the context of global pharmaceutical industry. Does having a communications strategy in place help exploit the potential of such stories - that are so intertwined in politics, diplomacy & human issues of global nature?

The argument for a communications strategy have recently found support in the article "Making public diplomacy work: The need for an effective communications strategy", in the Journal of International Communication, Volume 17, Issue 1, April 2011, by Amit Dasgupta. Dasgupta, who is the current Consul General of India in Sydney and former head of Public Diplomacy division in the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India (2007-09) says,

"In many countries, such as India, foreign policy formulation and practice has, till recently, been the exclusive reserve of professional diplomats. Such countries are new entrants to the world of public diplomacy and have begun to recognize the importance of engaging with non-State players. However, the success of public diplomacy lies entirely in the efficacy of the communication strategy it adopts."

Suggestions/Critiques welcome.

-- Madhur

Monday

Measurement and evaluation of Public Diplomacy

As India's Public Diplomacy Division brings structure and strategy to Indian PD efforts it is also important for the PD division to have systems in place that can evaluate these efforts. This is not easy. The U.S. National Strategy for Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication (2007) is a comprehensive document that sums up the importance of evaluating PD. In acknowledging the difficulties involved in evaluating PD efforts, the document states,

"As Edward R. Murrow once observed, no cash register ever rings when a mind is changed. The impact of information and education programs that touch the emotions, beliefs, intellects and allegiances of diverse audiences around the world is often difficult to gauge, especially when any public diplomacy activities may only produce long-term, rather than immediate, impact."

There are some obvious difficulties associated with measuring PD. Some obvious reasons are:

The gestation period for results of PD efforts tend to be long
Mostly the desired outcomes, measures and concepts tend to be intangible
What derives from the above is the fact that it is difficult to achieve the 'cause-effect' relationship It is difficult to ensure continuous, sophisticated 'tracking' as it is done in communication campaigns. The reason maybe lack of tools, large sizes of samples and databases in terms of numbers as well as spread etc
This in itself makes it a very time, labor and cost intensive process

Nonetheless it is important that evaluation is given a priority to ensure dynamism in PD strategy. According to Prof Eytan Gilboa, Director, Center for International Communication at Bar Ilan University, 10% of PD budget should be dedicated for evaluation and evaluation efforts should be a built in component of any PD strategy.

Suggestions/Critiques welcome.

-- Madhur

Gov2.0 Award for Public Diplomacy Division

The Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India, was on Friday awarded the prestigious Gov2.0 Award- 2011 by Governance Now magazine for exceptional achievement in 'Gov2.in' and for being the first central Ministry to propagate and use social media extensively. Other recipients were Municipal Corporation of Delhi(MCD), Delhi Traffic Police(DTP), India Post, Census India 2011 & Planning Commission 12th Plan.

The event was held in the evening of Friday, March 11 at the Hotel Le Meridien, New Delhi.

Initiated by Governance Now magazine in 2011, the 'Gov2.in' Awards aim to recognize the pioneers in the Government organizations for the use of social media tools for creating interactive platforms for improving citizen service delivery. It is also awarded for promoting use of social media by the government.Governance Now magazine successfully highlights issues related to governance and public policy.

On this occassion, a Gov2.0 forum was launched by Governance Now, which was inaugurated by Honourable Minister of IT and Communications, MrShri Kapil Sibal. Speaking on the occasion Mr Sibal said,

"Social media platforms are transformational and should be used to facilitate governance though some time is needed for teledensity to improve in rural areas but eventually the mobile revolution will power gov 2.0 there."

Speaking at a panel discussion in the morning session, Joint Secretary Navdeep Suri, who heads India's PD division said,

"The Public Diplomacy division is using social media to communicate more effectively with diverse constituencies, to receive feedback in a way that makes the Ministry of External Affairs more responsive to citizen concerns and to build global communities of friends of India. Effective use of Twitter during the evacuation of our nationals from Libya by Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and by PD division has received an extremely positive response."

The award was received by Under Secretary Abhay Kumar, who manages digital diplomacy initiatives at the Public Diplomacy Division, MEA, on behalf of the Division. The PD division is one of the first Government of India organisations to tap into the potential offered by social media and Web 2.0 tools.

Suggestions/Critiques welcome.

-- Madhur

Saturday

PM acknowledge 'corruption' as a perception management challenge

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday acknowledged that corruption negatively affects India's image abroad. In today's "conversation economy," perception is crucial for economic success, and the astute economist in Dr Singh could foresee the opportunities that India might miss if its image is associated with 'Corruption.'

Addressing the second annual conference of chief secretaries (top bureaucrat at the state level) of states in New Delhi, Dr Singh said:

"Corruption strikes at the roots of good governance. It is an impediment to faster growth. It dilutes, if not negates, our efforts at social inclusion. It dents our international image and it demeans us before our own people,"

This is very much in line with what I wrote in Sept. 2010, as to how corruption remains one of India's biggest perception management challenges. (Read: Corruption: India's perception management challenge.) At the Public Diplomacy in Information Age conference I participated in New Delhi, in December 2010, Shashi Tharoor too raised this point when he called for communication around the theme of "Credible India" to supplement current branding campaign of "Incredible India."

However, developing a line of communication on 'Credible India' may demand showcasing achievements at the ground level. This can be quite a task when we are yet to clean the mess of Commonwealth Games. What can be done instead is sustained communication on the "pace of progress" in India's fight against corruption that will eventually lead to a "Credible India."

Suggestions/Critiques welcome.

-- Madhur

Awaaz Do: Digital Campaign to spread awareness on Right To Education (RTE)

I am currently working on an interesting project to promote UNICEF's campaign to mobilize Indians to support Right To Education (RTE) in the country. It's a unique digital campaign, in the space of education policy, with the aim to keep the debate alive and the public discourse focused on issues around RTE in India. The target audience is the urban middle class - hence the digital medium - who can sign up and act as a pressure group to keep the government focused and accountable. The campaign is called "Awaaz Do." (Website)

In less than 3 months more than 2,00,000 people have already signed up and it is growing. The website acts as the platform that integrates all aspects of direct marketing and social media outreach for targeted engagement. What's unique about this campaign is its exclusive focus on engagement and creating buzz, even though there are resources for people who are interested to get more actively involved. It also acts as forum where different stakeholders come together to forge partnerships to ensure that the 8 million out of school children are given their due.

Increasingly, more and more organizations realize that when it comes to engaging Indians, digital is a medium that is quite powerful with lot of potential. With 3G services coming in, nearly 700 million mobile phone users and more than 80 million internet users, the future of media in India is definitely digital. For PD practitioners, looking at Indian audiences, this actually is a trend that better not be ignored.

Watch Mr Kapil Sibal, Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India, speaking in support of the Awaaz Do campaign:

Suggestions/Critiques welcome.

-- Madhur

Sunday

Conference: Public Diplomacy in the Information Age

"Public Diplomacy in the Information Age" was a very successful conference. Congratulations to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for pulling this off - a first of its kind international conference on PD in India! I hope this becomes an annual affair. It was also wonderful meeting some of my readers at the conference. I will share my learnings from this conference in subsequent posts and try to examine and ideate on the way forward.

Some initial observations:

Keeping with the spirit of New Public Diplomacy, it was heartening to see participation of representatives from different sectors - Policymakers, corporate world, diplomats, civil society organizations, students, foreign experts etc - MEA got it right in understanding the importance of collaboration and partnerships. Nobody can go alone in today's world.
Discussion topics, though not exhaustive, were chosen well that tried to capture the dominant themes in PD discourse today globally, including discussions on PD 2.0 and role of transnational corporations in shaping perceptions and 'generating influence.'
The tone of the conference was basic. Most issues discussed were maybe 'PD 101' for some participants who have some background in PD or global communications. Nonetheless, there were no dearth of interesting insights for the student and practitioner of Public Diplomacy.
While ignorance about PD among some participants can be understood given that it is 'new' in India, what I failed to understand was the lack of a nuanced understanding of PD and its role in statecraft among some academics and ex-diplomats. We may not be doing it but aren't we supposed to know what's happening around the world in our respective areas of expertise? Thank god the conference happened!

Public Diplomacy & Power:

A question that came up repeatedly was the relationship between 'Public Diplomacy' and 'Power.' Some sections of participants found it difficult to accept that PD 'IS' about 'power.' Public diplomacy is an important tool in the arsenal of 'smart power' of a nation - to enhance influence & achieve national, strategic objectives, lessening reliance on 'disruptive' hard power, to the extent possible, in an increasingly interconnected world. Isn't it interesting that India's attempts at institutionalizing PD follows adoption of 'power projection' in strategic discourses on hard power doctrines? Public diplomacy was essential in winning the cold war and will be key in current struggle against transnational terrorism. 'Persuasion' scores over 'Coercion' and PD is the 'force multiplier' for the Indian Foreign Service (IFS). In the 'Age of Information' where ideas, values, conversations resound across the world, PD will become an important tool of statecraft.

Suggestions/Critiques welcome.

-- Madhur

PD in the information age: Conference in New Delhi, Dec 10th- 11th, 2010

New Delhi will host an international conference on Public Diplomacy in the coming week. "Public Diplomacy in the Information Age" is being organized on Dec 10th and 11th at The Hotel Le Meridien, Janpath, New Delhi. There will be a series of workshops as well on Nation Branding, Global Media and PD strategies. To be chaired by the Foreign Secretary, Government of India, Dr Nirupama Rao, the conference would also have participants like Shashi Tharoor, MP, and Dr Nicholas Cull from the Annenberg School of Communication at USC. If I am not wrong, I think it is the first of its kind such conference on PD in India in terms of its scale and outreach.

I am glad I have been given the opportunity to participate and hope to share my learnings from the conference and workshops through this blog. Look forward to lots of learning and a stimulating exchange of ideas.

Suggestions/Critiques welcome.

-- Madhur

Saturday

Public Diplomacy 2.0: Taiwan's APEC Digital Opportunity Center Initiative

There are different ways in which countries are trying to leverage online media. Taiwan is a great example for creativity and innovation with Web 2.0. It has developed a unilateral initiative called ADOC (APEC Digital Opportunity Center), that aims to reduce digital divide and promote e-business among member economies of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC).

The stated objectives of ADOC are:

to increase Taiwan's visibility
to strengthen relations with APEC member economies

Taiwan, because of its unique position in international politics, and China's attempts at reunification, is restricted from participating in most international organizations and also to obtain new diplomatic relations. ADOC is an innovative attempt to by pass all these hurdles and create another opportunity for engagement.

The idea was mooted in 2003 to enhance IT capabilities of ADOC partner member economies (PMEs), and it has made great progress since it was initiated in 2004. Currently it is present in seven APEC members — Chile, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Viet Nam and Thailand — where it has set up 26 ADOC Digital Centers so far. According to the Taiwanese government,

"The ADOC Program has helped build local ICT capacities and implemented training programs."

The website is good and very informative. Currently ADOC is also organizing a blogger's competition in its website. Its also a good way to integrate Taiwan's ICT capabilities in diplomatic initiatives. In fact, there might be a tremendous opportunity for Indian educational institutes to market online educational programs in some developed economies also like United States, where education is prohibitively expensive for a majority.

Suggestions/Critiques welcome.

-Madhur

Public Diplomacy (@IndianDiplomacy) division begins to tweet

India's Public Diplomacy division at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) recently started its own twitter account - @IndianDiplomacy. The first tweet appeared on the morning of July 10:

“Official twitter account of Public Diplomacy Division of Ministry of External Affairs, India @IndianDiplomacy”.

News reports quoted Mr Navdeep Suri, PD division's top guy that the ministry is testing social media as a tool to conduct PD. He said everybody is using social media hence it is important for MEA to have a presence there. On content, he was of the opinion that depending on the response received, the twitter account and other social media usage will evolve. It shows Mr Suri understands the importance of engagement, interactivity and content creation on a platform like social media and also the dynamism of the medium.

The PD division has, since then, posted its MEA's bi monthly magazine - India perspectives to twitter.The number of followers are growing everyday and in 20 days it has nearly 2000 followers and been listed 82 times as well. The approach to experiment with social media shows in the twitter account which is laudable There are also prompt responses to messages from other 'tweeple'. A recent interesting tweet was:

"Visit facebook page of PM Dr. Manmohan Singh http://tinyurl.com/39ltgj9"

However, a majority tweets are either responses or information on MEA activities, visits of foreign dignitaries, information on summits and agreements etc. Then a tweet on July 15th attempted to define PD's objective as

"PD seeks to engage directly with the public in India and abroad to foster better understanding of Indian foreign policy"

This reflects a very reactive approach to using social media for PD. I hope the twitter account doesn't become another platform for information dissemination. As the MEA website is already there why would we need another platform for the same. This is a fundamental question I encounter as a communication consultant regularly. The trick is to build interactivity and creating content for engagement.

Suggestions/Critiques welcome.

-- Madhur

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