Business Networking Strategy

I had an interesting meeting with a group of policy makers and a press officer from Northern Ireland’s Department for Employment and Learning (DELNI) last month. I have been talking to the team there for a couple of months about their pilot to become the first Government Department to have a Facebook presence.

The furore surrounding last week's launch by Charles Clarke and Alan Milburn of 'The 2020 Vision' masked a new trend emerging in politics - the recognition of networking as a key tool to interact with voters. The recent instance of votes for 'housemates' on Big Brother outperforming votes in general elections has been a cause for concern for anyone interested in the democratic process. Any attempt to involve the public in policy making has to be applauded and surely networking is the ideal vehicle.