The head of California's state office of technology sees social media as a "force multiplier" and is aggressively expanding the state's mobile presence this year, aiming to double the number of mobile apps offered in 2011.

Adrian Farley, the acting director and chief technology officer of OTech, told OhMyGov.com in an exclusive interview that the state of California, one of the earliest adopters of social media in government, had been very fortunate in experiencing almost no cultural pushback in attempts to integrate social media into official public communications. 

"So far our greatest challenges have been in informing government staffers of the appropriate types of information shared via social media tools," Mr. Farley said.

OTech, formally the California Technology Agency's Office of Technology Services (...no wonder they call it OTech), is the state office that allows for individual departments to communicate digitally with citizens, and helps provide a framework to control and manage the various technological tools at the state's disposal. Social media, one of the most effective and popular forms on online communication, has become an integral part of the office's outreach efforts over the past few years.

Mr. Farley was named to his post by former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and has stayed on board through the beginning of the new Jerry Brown administration.

Twitter for Tax Help?

In the interview, Mr. Farley pointed to what he sees as three of California's most notable recent successes in the field of social media, starting with the state's recently launched Twitter feeds (yes, plural) for the Franchise Tax Board. The feeds are personally branded with employees' names, such as @CA_FTBFiling_SC and taken together are viewed by Mr. Farley as an "expansive tool that allows citizens' questions to be answered in a direct way."  As the office responsible for all income taxes in the state of California, the FTB is in a unique position to provide helpful hints to citizens, which it does on Twitter through informational posts and reminders about important dates for filing tax returns. 

Another state-run Twitter feed cited by Mr. Farley comes from the state's Employment Development Department. The feed, @CA_EDD, lets citizens know about new job opportunities and unemployment benefits, and includes multilingual instructions for applying for unemployment benefits. So far it claims over 11,000 followers and has tweeted well over 500 times. Indeed, this can be a valuable resource for citizens in a state where the unemployment rate has climbed over 12% in recent months.

"Policy communications" can also be accomplished through social media, California is demonstrating. The state is enabling everything from releasing budgetary information to helping California citizens donate to earthquake victims in Japan via social media, Mr. Farley noted.

Going Mobile!

Looking to the next burgeoning field of digital communications -- mobile apps -- Mr. Farley noted that California has 40 official apps so far, with plans for another 40 to be launched throughout 2011. A look at the state's mobile website, m.ca.gov, reveals a wide menu of app options for everything from smog alerts to reserving a campground at a state park. More 311-related applications set to go online this year, and feedback on the state's mobile efforts so far has been very positive, Mr. Farley said. "These apps are mostly platform independent," Farley said. "They can be tailored to most types of smartphones, and this has led to a great response from users."

What are the biggest hurdles facing government communicators looking to use social media? Security and privacy, Mr. Farley said. "These are real concerns, but they can be addressed through good planning and policy," he noted.

"To the extent that governments can go towards social media with a plan in mind, they can address any issues that might come up," he said. California has not faced any issues such as viruses or data breaches with its social media or web efforts, but have a strategy to cover the possibility of such a setback.

Traditional web communications are working for California as well. Last year 16% of Californians paid their taxes online last year, while over 5 million used the DMV's website to renew their driver's licenses, Mr. Farley shared. With numbers like that you can understand if he has a certain level of confidence about the future of the states web 2.0 efforts.

What Comes Next?

"Money has never been the inhibitor to progress, but rather it has been time," Mr. Farley said. He added that "Ultimately, the key component for all communications efforts is personnel. If all communicators across government devote 10% of their time to these kinds of efforts, it would be the equivalent of hiring 10 to 15 staffers."

"It is a force multiplier," Mr. Farley went on to say. "As the amount of traditional media coverage declines, it allows for professionals in government to get information out there in a quick and effective way." He then made reference to the roughly 60 videos OTech has posted on YouTube as an example of government using social media in lieu of traditional media as a means to get the word out to the masses on the latest news and developments.

Ultimately Mr. Farley sees government at all levels, from local on up, as shifting their roles in the new age of tech communications. "Cities and counties are shifting away from being tech providers to being business analysts, leaving the state to take a more active role in tech services," he says.

And at a time where states across the country are looking at cost/benefit analysis as the first rule of thumb when piecing together a budget in the face of mounting deficits and uncertainty, the cheap and effective performance of social media may indeed be the wave of the future for government communications. And California, naturally, seems to be playing a starring role.