Hello again, gosh it’s been a while. For the latest instalment of Digital Heroes I have not one but two people which, to avoid confusion, have their very own posts. Both of them currently work for the Scottish Government Digital Engagement Team, helping to make all of their consultations digital (a huge task) and also trialling more progressive forms of involvement, crowdsourcing policy ideas on a wide range of subjects. We’ve worked with them for the last couple of years and it’s been awesome watching them undertake what is in effect an enormous change exercise. They’re both moving on to pastures new in the near future so if you need a horribly well qualified person to join your organisation, holler at them.
So, onwards to the thorny questions. This time we’re hearing from Eachann (Chris’ interview is linked at the bottom), the impossibly Scottish half of the team. Who is Eachann? What does he think about biscuits? Are we even sure he likes biscuits? Let’s find out.
1. What’s your name and where are you from?
My name is Eachann Gillies, I hail from the west coast of Scotland. Currently residing in Glasgow.
2. What do you do for a living?
I do digital stuff. My proper title is ‘Digital Engagement Manager’, and my duties include managing Scottish Government consultations and running workshops to help colleagues engage digitally with their stakeholders and the wider public.
3. Favourite band and / or artist?
This changes all the time but recently Kurt Vile’s ‘believe I’m goin’ down’ and ‘M83’s Saturdays=Youth’ have featured heavily.
4. Creature of habit or maverick thinker?
I’m going to cheat and say that these two aren’t mutually exclusive. You can exhibit maverick behaviour within the confines of your habits, after all. The reverse is also true!
5. Your house is on fire, what do you save?
My first instinct is to say my partner but the question does stipulate ‘what’ rather than ‘who’ so I’d have to say my bike.
6. Biscuits – dunk or leave unsullied?
I can’t say I’m a huge biscuit sort of person, unfortunately. I think leave unsullied, though.
7. Best gov site you’ve seen (other than gov.uk) and why?
I love the US Department of the Interior. Despite the bland name, their instagram feed is pretty great. They’re not doing anything particularly innovative but their content is spot on and has made me more determined than ever to visit the US. Runner up goes to @SWFifePolice and their #popupbob hashtag which makes me chortle every time I see it.
8. Best project you’ve worked on at SG and why?
This is still in its infancy, but I think our Digital Engagement workshops have huge potential.
9. Where do you hope gov will be in ten years in terms of digital democracy?
I hope that we’ll get better at understanding the importance of the communities, conversations and interactions that exist or occur online. People growing up today are at home in a digital environment and are developing relationships with the world in these kinds of contexts. If government isn’t there with them, inhabiting that space, that’s going to increase apathy and widen the gap between government and people.
10. Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Ten years is a long time but…I’d like to continue helping government talk to/with people. It makes the most sense for this to happen digitally, so probably related to that. I find myself most happy when I’m working on something I believe in, so if not in government, then I’d like to be working towards improving conditions for cycling and active travel.
11. Any shout outs?
Shout out to Leah Lockhart for always working on something interesting, and to Mark Muir’s Digital Meetup group in Glasgow.
So there we have it, lots of insight, and an appalling revelation about biscuits. If you want to talk to Eachann about helping your organisation with a bit of digital engagement, Twitter is a thing you could use.
Until next time*
