Information Screens DCC Central Area Office

Description

How to communicate and reach out to the local aging population (with limited internet access) and the constant flux in new communities in the area, was a challenge we set out to address early last year. We felt that the existing local community and new arrivals were very reluctant to just pop into the area office and only came in with specific problems, such as Housing.

While Dublin City Council is very active on social media, the majority of local people did not use social media, did not have smart phones or English was not their first language. While our local community centres and libraries were an excellent source of information, again it depended on people dropping in.

Our proposal was extremely simple, to put up a large information screen at the front railings of the office so people passing by could just stop and read the various notices to see what the local authority was up to in the area. We pull various notices and posters from the Councils and its partner’s social media accounts along with posters from local community groups and send them to the screen as a rolling slide show. The content is added to daily and also contains all the contact details for our various units, such as Public Domain, Housing and Community.

Aim of Initiative

To provide clear, accurate, trusted information to the community in the north east inner city of Dublin who we are not reaching through our regular communication channels

Who is it aimed at

Available and used by all, but aimed specifically to those who are not online

3 Steps critical to success

1. Integrate a screen into our existing infrastructure
2. Requires a high build quslity to reduce risks of any antisocial behaviour
3. Constant source of information to keep it relavent and interesting for users

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. No significant challenges but perhaps the most difficult was wiring up the monitor with power and internet access.
2. NA
3. NA

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. Increased engagement with our local community
2. Increased footfall to our front desk for general queries, for example we recently ran a promotional campaign to reduce dog fouling in the area and advertised on the screen that we had free dog poo bags and dog treats available at our front desk. With the notice on the screen we had a steady flow of local residents popping into chat and collect a few bags.
   While they are at the front desk we also made sure they became aware of all the other services we provided.
3. Increased attendance at local events advertised through the information screen