Heads of State Embrace Twitter to Spread a Culture of Open Political Discourse Across the Globe

The Digital Policy Council releases global rankings to reveal which world leaders seek direct communication with their citizenry.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Digital Policy Council (DPC), an international, non-partisan "think tank" on 21st Century Governance, has released updated rankings on the use of social media by heads of state.

The DPC is the research and public advocacy arm of Digital Daya ('digital influence'), a new generation strategic consultancy that empowers leaders in the public sector to leverage the new media of the Internet to communicate their message, build public influence, and execute high-impact programs to reshape governance and public policy.

According to The Digital Policy Council's most up-to-date research, 20% or one out of five heads of state are now on the social media site Twitter.  This represents a 50% increase in the number of countries from when the DPC first began tracking these metrics in 2009.

"Governments are preparing for a digital society.  Direct communication with citizens is now becoming an expectation of heads of state," said Omar Hijazi, Managing Partner at Digital Daya. "The simple concept is inclusive governance; where the adoption of social media technologies can drive considerable transformation and innovation to the practice of government."

The movement towards inclusive governance was sparked in December 2009, when President Obama signed into effect a commitment of his administration to create an open government and to harness digital technology to drive a radical reshaping of government.  Over the course of the year, the governments of the U.K., Australia, and Japan followed suit with similar policy actions.

The net effect of these directives was to declare information maintained by federal governments a national asset for public use, to empower public service officials to involve citizens directly in policymaking, and to stage government-owned technology as platforms for the private sector to build upon and co-create solutions to national challenges.

Download the full report at www.digitaldaya.com/world_leaders_on_twitter

About The Digital Policy Council™

Based in Washington D.C., the Digital Policy Council (DPC) is an international non-partisan 'think tank' whose mission is the advancement of open discourse on issues of inclusive governance through the use of the Internet and Web 2.0.

SOURCE The Digital Policy Council