Today social networks and other online messaging tools all use email as the central method to notify users of events (e.g. new messages, content) on their platforms. But email is not able to handle the task of being the unifying tool for online communication very well. This development also negatively effects public administrations which try to use email and other forms of online communication depended on email to engage with citizens.

The Mozilla Raindrop project steps forward to solve this problem by providing automatic tools to separate the important messages from the less important ones. This effort poses both challenges and opportunities for public administrations. By adapting to the changing realities of email use today the engagement with citizens could be improved. It is therefore necessary to keep a close watch on the upcoming developments in this field.

A short overview of Raindrop is provided on the Pan European eParticipation Networks site:
http://pep-net.eu/blog/2009/11/03/mozilla-raindrop-the-unified-intelligent-inbox/