Office of eDiplomacy

About eDiplomacy

The Office of eDiplomacy (IRM/BPC/EDIP) has been a permanent part of the Bureau of Information Resource Management since October 2003. Formed in response to recommendations from the Overseas Presence Advisory Panel  that the State Department improve its ability to communicate and share knowledge, the Office has three broad mandates to:

• bring State diplomats into the Information Technology decision-making process; 
• improve ways to connect to and collaborate with others inside and outside State; and 
• promote knowledge management.

The Office of eDiplomacy combines the expertise and experience of Foreign and Civil Service Officers and contract professionals. It aims to strengthen American foreign policy by putting State Department's knowledge resources at the disposal of American diplomats and other members of the U.S. Government foreign affairs community whenever and wherever they need them.

Innovation and Knowledge Leadership

From online communities to Virtual Presence Posts, eDiplomacy promotes better and wider use of new information technology, business process change, and development of an organizational culture for innovation in the way State leads the foreign policy process at home and implements foreign policy abroad. The Office developed the knowledge leadership strategy that provides a framework for progress in critical areas, and whose goals are represented in the Bureau of Information Resource Management's Strategic Goals for 2006-2010:

1. The Right Information: Knowledge Leadership for Diplomacy -- Superior diplomacy
   and decision-making facilitated by superior information;
2. Anytime/Anywhere Computing: Diplomats on the Move -- Technology that makes the knowledge and communication resources of the Department available to personnel when and where they need them;
3. External Partnership: Diplomacy Through Collaboration -- Improved connectivity and collaboration with other U.S. Government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, business, and the public -- domestic and abroad;
4. Risk Management: Mission Effectiveness and Security -- An approach that recognizes and balances the needs of diplomacy and security risks;
5. Work Practices and Workforce: Leading Change -- IT professionals highly trained for mission support, and all non-IT staff trained to use technology effectively.

The Office of eDiplomacy directly manages initiatives and programs for knowledge leadership, interagency collaboration, and public outreach by American embassies and missions abroad. It also supports the work of other offices in State that pursue similar goals.

Major Programs

• Virtual Presence Posts (VPPs)
• Diplopedia wiki
• Communities @ State blogs
• Enterprise Search
• Classified Web Publishing
• Collaboration Clearinghouse

Contact Us

Stephen Smith, Director of eDiplomacy
Daniel Sheerin, Deputy Director of eDiplomacy
202-663-0253
http://contact-us.state.gov