What is a community

A community is group of parties who want to exchange digital data with one another.

There aren’t any specific rules on who can form a community, but here is an overview of the key parts.

Communities are not agencies

It’s easy to think of a community aligning directly to an agency, but this isn’t what communities are for.

A community should form around a common interest, regardless of the government agencies involved.

There is a very good chance that your agency will exchange data with other government agencies. These agencies should be involved in your community.

Being part of a community

If you want to exchange information digitally with others then it’s time to consider joining or creating a community.

Joining one

Joining a community should be your first choice. While there is no restrictions on who can make their own community, or how many communities there can be, it’s better for everyone to try and keep communities together.

You can check the community directory to see if one exists already.

Each community has their own process for new members, but they’ll describe that on their page.

Please also let us know when you join so we can let you know if anything major is happening.

Creating your own

If there aren’t any existing communities that are suitable for your needs, then it’s up to you to create one.

It’s a bit of work, but the effort you put in now will make a big difference to how effective your community is.

If you’re going to create your own community, get in touch. We’ll walk you through it.