digital disruption - gnowit | real time media monitoring disruption what every government relations...

Digital DisruptionWhat Every Government Relations Professional Should Know

Executive Summary PurposeAcross the country, government relations teams are missing out on the benefits of emerging technologies. Reliant on outdated methods of finding information, these departments are bogged down by overspending and inefficiency. But things are starting to change. A shift towards increased automation has begun. New technologies are causing a digital disruption that will reshape the government relations industry, affecting firms of all sizes. Organizations that embrace this dis-ruption will gain a competitive edge; those that ignore it will lose clients to their more efficient competitors.

This white paper will explore insights gathered from 119 government relations (GR) professionals. The majority of these individuals hold managerial or consulting positions in public relations (PR) agencies. Through telephone interviews and an Internet sur-vey, we here at Gnowit – a custom web intelligence company – have identified several key issues affecting this group. The aim of this white paper is to provide insights into emerging technological trends that will shape government relations monitoring in the years to come.

Written By: Molly Davidson

www.gnowit.com

To survive in an increasingly digital industry, GR professionals must embrace the digital disruption caused by emerging technologies. Fully exploiting existing technologies is a big part of this perspective shift. With regards to automated-monitoring software, we recommend careful selection based on the needs of your agen-cy. Particularly useful features for GR professionals include the following:

the capacity to monitor specific parts of the Hansard record the capacity to monitor the transcripts of specific provinces and levels of government real-time alerts (which can be adjusted based on urgency) tools to help users instantly assess the relevance of media-generated information

The above features will enable users to spot emerging trends and policy shifts, perform more accurate analysis, and brief team members quicker.

Since early adoption can give users a competitive advantage, we also recommend keeping up-to-date on technologies still in development. A prime example is speech-to-text transcription software, which has the potential to eliminate wait times for provincial transcripts and create unprecedented access to municipal gov-ernment.

Moving forward, the most successful GR teams will be those that take part in an open dialog with willing service providers and technology developers. At Gnowit, we are excited by the possibilities this new era of innovation and collaboration will provide.

Among GR professionals, there is a growing appetite for technologies that will procure vital information in fast, reliable, and cost-efficient ways. Most current methods of monitoring the government and the media waste agency resources and management time. As a result, the information-collection process is both te-dious and inefficient. Contributing issues reported by our respondents include the following:

information overload caused by government and media sources difficulty extracting relevant information from the Hansard record delayed access to time-sensitive government transcripts difficulty procuring municipal government transcripts difficulty tracking simultaneously-occurring government proceedings

Each of these issues is due, at least in part, to a failure of technological innovation in the industry. Now, as a result of growing demand, automated-monitoring software and related technologies are becoming increas-ingly sophisticated. This is great news for many organizations, though it poses a significant challenge to those reluctant to give up traditional ways of doing business.

Problem

Solution

Managing digital disruption is also about changing the way you think about business relationships.

Customized Web Intelligence - www.gnowit.com 2

Contents

1 Introduction

2 Current State of the Industry

3 Traditional Challenges

3.1 Delayed Access to Government Transcripts

3.2 Limited Access to Government Information

3.2.1 Municipal Monitoring: the Growing Demand

3.2.2 The Municipal Challenge

3.3 Scrums and Press Conferences

4 Changing Landscape

4.1 Information Overload and Insufficient Time

4.2 Factors Contributing to Information Overload

4.2.1 Online Media Explosion

4.2.2 Open Government Initiatives

4.2.3 Reliance on Manual Government Monitoring

5 Projected Future

6 Digital Disruption

7 Solutions

7.1 What to Look for in an Automated-Monitoring Solution

7.2 Developing Technologies

7.3 The Advantage of Collaboration

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Customized Web Intelligence - www.gnowit.com

1. Introduction How prepared are government relations (GR) teams for this impending shift? We at Gnowit set out to answer this question. Focusing specifically on the challenges of those working in public relations (PR) agencies, we collected survey and interview responses from 119 GR professionals. The vast majority of these professionals held managerial, executive, or consult-ing positions.

This white paper explores the major issues reported by our respondents. It offers recommendations for professionals facing the approaching tide of digital disruption.

The government relations profession is about to be transformed from within. Practitioners are becom-ing increasingly frustrated by traditional methods of gathering information, which can be highly ineffi-cient.

Out of a desire to better serve their clients, those in managerial positions have begun thinking seriously about digital technology. This shift is part of a larger societal phenomenon known as digital disruption.

Digital disruption occurs when digital technologies begin to change client or customer behaviours. It starts with digital disruptors, the innovators who, according to disruption expert James McQuivey, “ex-ploit digital platforms and tools to offer new value for customers”. Once disruptors move into an industry, that industry is forever changed. New business mod-els, value propositions, and customer relationships are created. Traditional ways of doing business become obsolete.

Once primarily associated with the music and enter-tainment industries, disruption is spreading. Accord-ing to experts, every major industry will soon expe-rience its effects. Consider the following statistics, which speak to the effect of digital disruption on the journalism, retail, banking, and telecommunications industries.

Between 2006 and 2013, print advertising reve-nue dropped by 55% in the U.S. In 2013, U.S. retailers received approximately half of their usual holiday foot trafficCurrently, 55% of Canadians do most of their banking on the InternetWorldwide, digital communications company Skype costs mobile operators 100 million dol-lars per day

2. Current State of the Industry

Our survey respondents and interviewees were mem-bers of small, medium, and large GR teams (small teams were defined as 1-10 employees, large teams as upwards of 50). Several of the same core issues were reported in teams of all sizes.

One of our most striking finds relates to the types of responsibilities managers and executives are taking on. Many of these individuals spend large chunks of time monitoring government proceedings and the media. This means less time with clients and less time performing higher-level analysis. This, we found, is a symptom of belonging to a team that is stretched too thin.

Though external factors – such as the recent influx of data from social and online media - are forcing deci-sion-makers to expend significant time and resources on monitoring, vital information continues to slip through the cracks.

The bottom line: most GR teams are not as efficient, thorough, or cost-effective as they could be.

There are two types of factors contributing to this state – contemporary and traditional. Since digital disruption will have a dramatic impact on both types, both will be discussed in subsequent sections of this paper.


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3. Traditional ChallengesThe rise of digital technologies has caused the old barriers in many sectors to vanish. Consider the retail industry, where online platforms have enabled the creation of digital shops. These platforms have al-lowed many retailers to bypass traditional obstacles, such as high start-up costs.

Unfortunately, in the GR profession, a lack of indus-try-specific innovation has allowed many traditional challenges to persist. The professionals we spoke to reported two major issues that are not unique to the digital era, both of which are related to the accessibili-ty of government transcripts.

delayed access to Hansard transcriptsdifficulty procuring municipal transcripts

The creation of online Hansard databases and the rise of automated-monitoring software have improved ac-cess to government proceedings over the last two de-cades. However, this improvement has not kept pace with client expectations, which have been affected by digital disruption in other sectors. For this reason, access is an ongoing issue.

3.2 Challenges: Limited Access to

Government InformationA large number of interviewees were looking for ways to access government information that is not publicly available. There was considerable interest in tracking the following sources.

municipal government transcriptsscrums and press conferences

Currently, there are no technologies on the market capable of capturing and procuring information from these sources. However, there are promising solutions in development, which are discussed in the last sec-tion of this paper.

3.1 Challenges: Delayed Access to

Government Transcripts

One of the biggest issues interviewees faced was related to delayed access to provincial Hansard documents. Some sources reported waiting up to 20 days after a debate for the transcript to be published online.

Several of the professionals we spoke to explained that, often, their goal is to procure just-in-time infor-mation for clients. When time is of the essence, a 20-day delay renders otherwise important information useless.

These delays were particularly problematic for those who were most interested in monitoring at the pro-vincial level, as federal transcripts are generally posted in a much shorter period of time. However, given that we had more respondents who monitored provin-cially than federally, it is safe to say this a large-scale problem.

3.2.1 Challenges: Municipal Monitoring -

the Growing Demand

The desire for information from municipal govern-ment proceedings is increasing.

One experienced GR professional told us he believes his work can have the greatest impact at the munic-ipal level of government. He expressed the opinion that, by the time an issue comes up in federal pro-ceedings, a decision has already been made.

Another interviewee echoed this sentiment, stating that some issues are decided “from the bottom up”. Even those who did not currently have any use for municipal monitoring understood its growing impor-tance.

Between 2010 and 2012, the number of lobbyists in Toronto increased threefold due to a perception that the council did not have a fixed voting pattern. These numbers clearly illustrate an awareness on the part of GR professionals of the impact municipal government can have.

“In most cases, getting government transcripts one or two days later is just no good. Th e value PR agencies provide their clients with is accurate, relevant and timely information. We want to help them achieve that in a much more efficient manner.” - Dr. Andrew Droll, Data Scientist, Gnowit.


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3.3 Challenges: Scrums and Press

Conferences

4 Changing Landscape

3.2.2 Challenges: The Municipal Challenge

Proceedings in smaller municipalities, such as Wa-terloo, may be useful for professionals dealing with projects that impact these communities. As a rule, these municipalities make less information available than their larger counterparts. Though Minutes are taken during proceedings, they often undergo lengthy approval processes before being posted online. This can make automated monitoring difficult, if not im-possible

When it comes to the big four municipalities, au-tomated monitoring is not without its challenges. Recordings can not be analyzed with monitoring software. Minutes merely summarize events, missing important insights that can be found in the interac-tions of government officials. Neither audio/video recordings nor Minutes can match the quality and consistency of official Hansard transcripts.

The four largest Canadian municipalities are of pri-mary interest to industry professionals. The list below shows the methods by which each of these municipal-ities makes government proceedings available to the public.

Toronto – livestreamed and televised, Minutes available Montreal – livestreamed, Minutes availableCalgary – livestreamed, sometimes televised, Min-utes availableVancouver – livestreamed, televised, Minutes available

Some interviewees expressed a desire to gain access to political scrums and press conferences. Unfortunate-ly, it can be difficult to get notice of these events. In many cases, access is limited to politicians and mem-bers of the press.

When it comes to specialized technology, the GR pro-fession has fallen behind. Luckily, three main factors are starting to drive change within the industry.

recent improvements to relevant technologies industry attitudes toward technologydigital disruption the GR field and in linked in-dustries

It is no secret that social and online media have had a huge impact on the business world. In addition to the inherent challenges of engaging with clients in a digital space, businesses that deal with public opinion – such as GR teams and PR agencies - must find waysof sorting through vast quantities of online data.


Currently, there are tools available to help with the task of monitoring government and media-generated information (these are discussed in later sections of this paper). GR professionals have seized on these tools eagerly, creating a demand for more.

According to a 2010 study in the Public Relations Journal, 59% of PR professionals believe technology is underutilized in PR campaigns. In our survey –

carried out in 2014 - the vast majority of GR professionals in PR agencies conveyed the

same sentiment. As most of our inter-viewees expressed excitement about new technologies, the view that it is

underutilized must refer, at least in part, to the quality and capabilities of existing

technologies.

Digital disruption is also playing a powerful, though so far indirect, role in changing the GR industry. The disruption of journalism – which has necessitated a new online business model – has created large vol-umes of data presented in a digital format, furthering the demand for technology-based solutions.

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4.1 Changing Landscape: Information

Overload and Insufficient TimeInformation overload is a massive problem with far-reaching effects. It affects knowledge workers in every industry. Consider the following statistics:

An estimated 28 billion hours of workplace productivity are lost to overload in the US each year The US economy lost nearly 1 trillion dollars to overload in 2010 (Ibid) 47% of Canadian executives felt overwhelmed by data in 2011

In the years since these statistics were published, the technologies that disseminate information have only multiplied. In our 2014 survey, most GR professionals agreed that information overload makes it difficult for them to do their jobs.

Small and medium teams were more likely to report difficulties related to overload, but there were execu-tives in large teams that either experienced the same problems or were unsure of the extent to which these problems existed within their organizations.

Because information overload is so insidious, many executives are unaware of how much more productive their teams could be.

In GR, the following factors are contributing to the growing information overload problem.

the digital disruption of journalism and de-mocratization of publishing on the Internetrecent open government initiativesreliance on manual government monitoring

The digital disruption of journalism – described brief-ly in the previous section – has lead to an explosion of online news, blogs and social media content which has proven difficult to monitor.

This issue has been further complicated by the de-mocratization of the Internet, which has enabled the mass creation of amateur content. Current estimates put the number of existing websites at over 1 billion. In a world where anyone can publish on any subject – including politics and governance – finding relevant and timely information can be a monumental chal-lenge for GR professionals.

4.2 Changing Landscape: Factors

Contributing to Information Overload

4.2.1 Changing Landscape: Online Media

Explosion

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59% Of PR professionalsbelieve technology is underutilized in PR campaigns.


Another big issue had to do with the time and re-sources professionals expend trying to extract rel-evant information from the Hansard record. Many of those we interviewed described hours wasted in Committee Meetings or in front of television sets,

waiting for a relevant issue to be mentioned (often fleetingly). One professional was so

pressed for time, he described playing Question Period in the background while he attended to other work.

Many interviewees expressed inter-est in monitoring particular parts of

the Hansard record at the exclusion of others. Being bombarded by the

results for Question Period when only those from certain Committee Meetings

are relevant can exacerbate the problem of infor-mation overload. Unfortunately, not all automated monitoring technologies allow for this type of source selection.

As the populace becomes more accustomed to calling up information at the click of a button, the govern-ment faces expectations of increased accessibility. In 2012, the federal government attempted to fulfill these expectations by posting hun-dreds of previously unreleased data sets in its Open Government Portal.x

This move – part of Canada’s Action Plan on Open Government – is viewed as a success. The majority of our survey respondents believe the government is more transparent than it has been in the past. There were, of course, dissenters. One senior lobbyist with years of experience expressed the opposite opinion. Whatever the government’s intent, the release of this new information - sometimes as raw data – poses new challenges for GR professionals. These issue will become more pressing as provincial and federal governments go increasingly digital.

GR professionals struggle with their own unique form of information overload, which strikes during attempts to manually monitor government proceed-ings. Three major issues were frequently reported.

difficulty tracking simultaneously-occurring government proceedingsdifficulty extracting relevant information from the Hansard record difficulty locating information within Hansard using existing technologies

Many interviewees had, on at least one occasion, been responsible for monitoring more than one set of government proceedings at a time. This was espe-cially true in growing PR agencies, as well as agencies with clients who required information from various government sources. When a client wishes to monitor Hansard for several provinces, more than one mem-ber of a GR team may be occupied with proceedings that fall on the same day.

4.2.2 Changing Landscape: Recent Open

Government Initiatives

4.2.3 Changing Landscape: Reliance on

Manual Government Monitoring

Information overload leads to wasted time and re-sources, as well as missed opportunities. As Canadian society goes increasingly digital, these problems will only get worse. GR teams that continue with busi-ness as usual will have to work harder and harder to find vital information. Analysts - and, in many cases, executives – will become trapped in a vicious cycle, constantly trying to play catch up.

Changing Landscape: The Bottom Line

5. Projected FutureMany of the challenges reported by our interviewees – especially information overload – are indicative ofthe pressures of an increasingly digital society. Whilecurrent coping mechanisms (such as having managersand executives take on lower-skill tasks) are keepingmany GR teams afloat, these are not sustainable.

We predict that, in the coming years, many GR teams will hire more analysts to monitor the growing vol-umes of media and government-generated data. Unfortunately, due to the rate at which this data is ac-cumulating, increasing manpower will not be enough to fix the problem. Continued reliance on out-of-date methods of collecting information will cause many teams to become bloated and sluggish.


Delayed and limited access to government informa-tion – already serious challenges - will become disas-trous for some organizations, as competitors adopt technologies to lessen or eliminate their impacts.

Most GR professionals recognize the untapped poten-tial of technology. They know that going digital could help them do more with less. Clients – by now accus-tomed to the superior service and customer engage-ment provided by digital disruptors in other indus-tries – are ready to work with organizations that have made the digital leap. Various software programs with GR and PR applications are in development. The stage is set for wide-scale digital adoption in the GR field.

At this historical moment, GR professionals in man-agerial and executive positions have a momentous opportunity. The majority are aware of it. But is awareness enough?

According to a recent survey conducted by Forrester Research, while 74% of executives have a digital strat-egy, only 15% feel they are equipped to execute it.

In many cases, fear of extensive change makes deci-sion-makers reluctant to put plans into action.

First, understand what it means to become a digital disruptor. Start by accepting the urgency for change. A big part of embracing disruption is experimenting with free – or nearly free – tools and platforms, many of which are user friendly. The risks of moving for-ward are relatively low (certainly lower than waiting for your competitors to act).

The first step toward concrete action is reducing information overload, the single biggest distraction in many, if not most, GR teams. Existing automat-ed-monitoring technologies can offer dependable, cost-efficient solutions to this problem. However, not all professionals use this technology to its full potential.

Many of our interviewees reported using numerous monitoring services for online media, social media, and government documents. Unfortunately, casting a wide net can exacerbate information overload. We recommend choosing one software for each type of source you want to monitor, or (preferably) one mul-tipurpose software for all source types.

So, digital disruption is about to change everything. Existing issues – old and new – will escalate, lead-ing some GR teams to disaster. What can you do to prepare?

Commit yourself to accepting and adapting to digital disruption Cut down on information overloadStay up-to-date on developing technologies related to what you doConsider partnering with digital developers and service providers

6 Digital Disruption

7 Solutions


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Content summaries: When it comes to media monitoring, any feature that allows you to assess an article’s usefulness before you visit its source will be an immense time saver. Alerts containing content summaries are a good example.

Drill-down capabilities: Choose software with an intuitively-organized inter-face. The convenience of clicking graphs and buttons in order to see more or less detail can save a great deal of time.

Reducing information overload removes distractions within a GR team, freeing up time for the execution of digital strategies.

Staying on top of developing technologies is one of the best ways to ensure your team stays competitive in the digital era. The knowledge you gain will enable you to make quick, informed decisions, ensuring you and your team members are responsive to future change. As some developers have begun seriously considering the needs of GR professionals, you will find an increasing number of specialized tools to increase the efficiency and reach of your government-monitoring efforts.

7.2 Solutions: Developing Technologies

7.1 Solutions: What to Look for in an Automated-Monitoring Solution

Custom source selection: Look for service providers that allow you to select each one of your sources. For professionals who need to track both government decisions and public perception, it is important to have the option of choosing different types of sources (blogs, newspa-pers, Hansard records, etc.).

Source-splitting capabilities: For government monitoring, choose software that allows you to monitor specific provinces, specific levels of government, and specific parts of the Han-sard record (such as Question Period). Software that allows for this level of specificity will help you avoid irrelevant material, which can be highly distracting.

Adjustable alert frequency: Real-time email alerts ensure you have the up-to-the-minute information you need to act on behalf of your clients. On the other hand, email is one of the most frequently-reported sources of information overload. The solution? Software that allows you to choose specific alert times and frequencies for each topic you monitor.

There are a number of features that can help GR professionals cut down on information overload.

One promising technology that could be developed for the GR context is speech-to-text transcription software.

With the capability to create government transcripts in real time, speech-to-text could provide the following benefits.

eliminate wait times for provincial transcripts enable automated municipal monitoring enable automated monitoring of press conferencesenable the creation of an online municipal Hansard data-base

By creating unprecedented ac-cess to government transcripts, speech-to-text could solve some of the enduring challenges GR professionals face. Put simply, this technology could revolu-tionize government and media monitoring.


In order to meet the challenges brought on by digital disruption, GR professionals should maintain an ongoing relationship with technology developers and service providers. The best solutions are the ones tailored to your needs.

Which new technologies would most benefit you and your agency? What would help you do your job? Per-haps you are excited by the possibilities of speech-to-text transcription software. Maybe an online database of current GR contacts in Canada would best serve your needs. Whatever service you want to see on the market, the innovation to make it a reality will only come about through collaboration. If you are interested in part-nering with Gnowit to build a custom solution, please contact us at [email protected]. To learn more about our existing solutions, visit www.gnowit.com/hansard-monitoring.

7.3 Solutions: The Advantage of Collaboration

Currently, there are voice-recognition software programs with transcription capabilities on the market. Unfor-tunately, these products are limited in their capacities, and none of them are designed to capture government proceedings.

We at Gnowit are in the early stages of developing a sophisticated speech-to-text software, and we could not be more excited about it.

White paper written by:

Molly DavidsonMolly Davidson is a research analyst and content writer at Gnowit

Inc. Her areas of professional interest include business communi-

cations and research methodology.

This white paper was a collaborative effort made possible by

Gnowit’s business development team. Unless otherwise noted, all

information was obtained by the individuals who comprise this

team.

Want to Keep Track of Your Government?


We would like to thank everyone who took the time to fill out our email survey, which was geared specifically toward government relations professionals in public relations agencies. We would also like to

thank those who spoke candidly in telephone interviews about their

experiences in the industry. The insights we gained through your co-

operation are invaluable; they have greatly improved our company’s

understanding of the government relations field.

Questions or general comments regarding this paper can be sent

directly to Molly Davidson at [email protected].

http://www.gnowit.com/hansard-monitoring

Tom

Learn More

http://www.gnowit.com/hansard-monitoring

iJames McQuivey, “Digital Disruption,” Financial Times, ft.com

iiRick Edmunds, Emily Guskin, Amy Mitchell, and Mark Jurkowitz, The State of the News Media in 2013: An Annual Report on American Journalism, The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, stateofthemedia.org.

iii Jeremy Bogaisky, “Retail in Crisis: These are the Changes Brick and Mortar Stores Must Make,” forbes.com

iv “How Canadians Bank,” Canadian Banker’s Association, cba.ca

v Iain Morris, “Skype Costs Mobile Industry $100 Million a Day: Tynec,” telecomengine.com

vi Robyn Doolittle, “Lobbyists flock to Toronto’s city hall under Mayor Rob Ford”, thestar.com. The Toronto Star, March 8, 2013 http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/03/08/lobbyists_flock_to_torontos_city_hall_under_mayor_rob_ford.html

vii Donald K. Wright and Michelle Drifka Hinson, “How New Communications Media Are Being Used in Public Relations: A Longitudinal Study”, Public Relations Journal 4, no. 3 (2010)

viii Jonathan Spira, “Overload! How Too Much Information s Hazardous” Wiley, 2011

ix SAS, “Annual Information Overload Report”, www.sas.com/reg/gen/ca /information2011 (accessed Sep-tember 11, 2014)

x Government of Canada, Canada’s Open Government Portal, http://data.gc.ca/eng/canadas-ac-tion-plan-open-government

xi Nigel Fenwick, “CIOs: Choose Your Digital Future,” CIO Journal (from the Wall Street Journal), mobile.blogs.wsj.com


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