Citizens Information Board shortlisted for two projects for the eGovernment Awards 2024

Citizens Information Board (CIB) is proud to have had 2 projects shortlisted for the eGovernment Awards 2024, which has recognised innovators in digital Government services for 21 years.

We were shortlisted in two categories:

Adrian O’Connor, Head of Division ICT, Digital and Data along with Aisling Kennedy, Michael Palmese, and Dara Woods from CIB’s Digital Content team represented the Citizens Information Board at the eGovernment Awards.

Find out more about our projects and the impact they made and are still making.

A trusted voice: The Citizens Information Board's social media response to COVID-19

When COVID-19 hit in 2020, CIB acted quickly to provide people with the trusted, accurate and up-to-date information they needed about the pandemic, in accessible language and on multiple platforms.

CIB ensured that accurate information about the pandemic was available on the Citizens Information website in real-time. We also ramped up our social media output — answering questions on social media and adjusting our content to align with searches and questions. This meant people could get immediate and accurate information from our social channels about changes to COVID-19 policies.

The public responded very positively to our more vocal and responsive presence on social media, which showed that we were really meeting a need. We had a huge increase in followers, impressions, and engagement with our posts without using any paid advertising or campaigns.

Informing and empowering our Diaspora: The Returning to Ireland portal

A 2018 Indecon report showed that insufficient access to information was a significant barrier faced by Irish emigrants seeking to return to the State. As a result, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade established a joint initiative with the Citizens Information Board (CIB) to create the Returning to Ireland (RTI) portal in 2019.

The portal helps Irish emigrants with the practicalities of returning home. Topics covered include how to ship your personal belongings back to Ireland or import your vehicle, as well as bringing a non-EEA de facto partner or spouse into the State. The project includes dedicated information pages on citizensinformation.ie, social media engagement, and public outreach events supported by an email service, returning2ireland@ciboard.ie.

The RTI portal also does regular social media engagement and information campaigns through Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram targeting specific countries with a high number of Irish citizens, particularly the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. RTI has also recently joined LinkedIn!

Finally, RTI engages in outreach events. These in-person events and webinars cover topics like social inclusion for returning citizens, coming back to the state as a teacher, and returning to care for an elderly relative.

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