Ian Wilson, who runs the Stratford Institute for Digital Media at the University of Waterloo, ranked the province 10th out of 13, when it comes to its overall online presence.
"Saskatchewan has some distance to go," Wilson told CBC News Wednesday, talking about the findings of a nationwide study of government online. "There's plenty of room for change and improvement in how the government of Saskatchewan provides services, informs citizens and engages them in discussions."
The study looked at websites, online services and the overall internet presence of the provincial and territorial governments.
Researchers spent January and February collecting data for the eGovernment study, which was released this week.
Wilson said governments cannot ignore the new media as more and more people look to the internet for information.
"Canadians live online," he said, noting that — on average — individuals use the internet about 45 hours every month.
"If we want young people to be engaged in politics, we should be taking it to them, where they are," Wilson said.
He said that holds especially true in Saskatchewan.
"In Saskatchewan, where the population is spread out, this is how people find out about the services that are available," Wilson said.
Saskatchewan scored lowest, among the provinces, for its use of social media.
"Saskatchewan is just not there," Wilson said. He found the province does not have a YouTube account or a Facebook page, and a Twitter account is closed to the general public.
Wilson said he found that baffling.
"I don't know what they're doing with [Twitter]," he said.
While Wilson conceded some elements of social media are "just chatter", they can play an important role in disseminating information or gathering public feedback.
"There are some very thoughtful people and organizations that will engage," Wilson said.
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Quelle/Source: CBC News, 18.04.2012
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