Archive for April, 2008
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30. April 2008 – 12:11 by Bengt Feil (TuTech Innovation GmbH)
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Dear Readers,
Welcome to the March edition of the PEP-NET newsletter, the first in 2010. We’ve got news of the second PEP-NET discourse, a brand new “success story” feature, news of some new arrivals to PEP-NET, a reminder about the EDem10 conference, and a round-up of activity on the blog.
Do not forget that we don’t just communicate by newsletter: you can keep up-to-date with us through the news digests on the blog, blog posts and discussions on the Facebook page.
PEP-NET discourse
The second PEP-NET discourse is fast approaching and preparations are already underway to ensure that it runs smoothly. The theme of the discourse will be “eParticipation in the new EU member states”. Participants from new EU member states with a background in eParticipation and participation in general will discuss opportunities, barriers and issues relating to eParticipation in the new member states. The three-phase discourse, which will make use of the existing DEMOS platform, is scheduled to commence on 12th April, and will run for two weeks.
PEP-NET success story
We’ve decided to start showcasing PEP-NET members as a regular feature in the newsletter. This will give you the chance to get to know a little bit about interesting people and organisations that are active in eParticipation and also to find out why they find PEP-NET so useful. We’d love to feature more PEP-NET members in the future, so if you are a PEP-NET member please get in touch if you would like to take this opportunity to step into the limelight.
In this issue we’re going to introduce Noella Edelmann from the Danube University in Austria.
For PEP-NET members, perhaps the most relevant part of Noella’s job is marketing the Centre for eGovernment as a project partner and finding new projects for the Centre to participate in. As a researcher, Noella focuses on eParticipation, Open Access, internet and psychology, and user experience. She is also the Managing Editor of JEDEM, the Open Access eJournal of eDemocracy and Open Government (www.jedem.org) and is responsible for EDEM, the annual eDemocracy Conference that is also featured in this issue.
Noella sees PEP-NET as an opportunity to make contacts, find sources of information, exchange and generate new ideas, and identify opportunities for new projects – all of which are central to her work at the Danube University Krems.
Some examples of how PEP-NET has helped her and her organisation are the upcoming PEP-NET special edition of the JEDEM journal, the PEP-NET workshop at the EDEM 2010 conference and the successful bid with other PEP-NET members for the EC-funded project “Your Space”.
Selected articles on the PEP-NET blog
Here are a few selected articles published on the PEP-NET blog in February and March:
• In “Generation X, Y or Z?”, the Centre for E-Government compares the characteristics of three generations with a focus on their use of digital communication tools. • Francesco Molinari announced an Electronic Town Meeting, which took place on 6th February. Although the meeting has already happened, the article is a useful brief introduction to the concept: “Tuscan citizens reflecting on the limits of landscape policy.”
• Bengt Feil wrote several articles about collecting distributed opinions from across the web: “Empowering Politicians through crowd sourcing? – ThinkTank and Expert Labs,” “The Social Graph: Identifying statements by the same person on the web,” “Google Buzz, Twitter and Blogs: Identifying distributed public opinions.”
• Fraser Henderson wrote about the National Digital Inclusion Conference in the UK: “Digital Inclusion Confusion”. Amongst other things he prophesised that the digital inclusion problem will solve itself in the long-term.
New arrivals
John Heaven has started work for TuTech Innovation GmbH, the co-ordinator of PEP-NET. He will be working with Bengt Feil to ensure that PEP-NET continues to be a success.
Since the last newsletter several new associate members have joined PEP-NET. They are:
• European Institute for Public Participation (http://www.participationinstitute.org)
• ActValue Consulting and Solutions (http://www.actvalue.com/)
• The Democratic Society (http://demsoc.org)
• echo source (http://echologic.org)
• liberTIC ()http://www.liber-tic.com)
• Regione Toscana (http://www.regione.toscana.it)
Want to become a PEP-NET member?
Find out how at http://pep-net.eu/becoming-a-member
All the best from:
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29. April 2008 – 09:01 by Danish Technological Institute
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Danish Technological Institute (DTI) is an independent, not-for-profit institution with the mission to promote research, business and society, through technology-supported innovation and growth. It has 850 employees spread over seven locations in Denmark and Sweden, and supplies approved technology services such as consultancy, tests, certification, and training for companies and public-sector organisations. DTI’s Centre for Policy and Business Analysis has some 25 employees and provides high level consultancy in policy analysis and evaluation at national and international levels, across the three areas of technology and society, labour market and training, and regional and business development.
For more information please visit: www.dti.dk
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25. April 2008 – 14:25 by University Bergamo
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The “Research Group on New forms of Politics in the networked society” of the University of Bergamo includes:
Anna Carola Freschi is a Ph.D. in Political Sociology at the University of Florence, Faculty of Political Sciences. She is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Economics, University of Bergamo, where she teaches Sociology and Economic Sociology. She holds a Jean Monnet Module on Information Society and Social Change, at the University of Florence. Her work is about e-participation in an extended meaning (ICTs applied to participation in institutional and non institutional contexts). She has written articles, essays and books about local governance transformation and the social implications of networked society for social and political participation in the Italian society. She is the author of the strategic section of the Italian Guidelines on digital citizenship, a central document of the national Government to support local e-democracy initiatives. She is currently coordinating the group, who collects sociological expertises in social inequalities, deliberative democracy and gender issue, studying some Italian local experiences of e-participation in the institutional contexts (urban strategic planning, participatory budgeting, regional law-making, Agenda 21, etc.).
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24. April 2008 – 09:03 by E-Voting.CC
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E-Voting.CC offers holistic and professional consulting covering the whole electoral process, from the planning and the preparations over the implementation to the independent evaluation and election observation worldwide.
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23. April 2008 – 16:19 by Hamburg
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The official name “Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg” goes back to Hamburgs membership in the medieval Hanseatic League. These are the roots of the international trade city Hamburg the commercial and cultural centre of Northern Germany. Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany and the second-largest port city in Europe. Apart from national capitals Hamburg is the most populous city in the European Union. The city, defined according to its current administrative area, contains 1.76 million and the so called Hamburg Metropolitan Area with more than 4.5 million inhabitants.
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23. April 2008 – 15:37 by CTI
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The Research Academic Computer Technology Institute (CTI) is a non-profit National Research Organisation under the supervision of the Hellenic Ministry of Education. The Institute’s goals are:
- to conduct basic and applied research concerning hardware and software technology, networks and the socio-economic impact of Information Society,
- to design and develop products and services, to support all forms of ICT, education and training in relation to the Information Society, – to provide consulting, management and technical support services, – to promote innovation and transfer of know-how.
CTI executes 25 projects annually on average, financed by the EU and national actions. CTI has also worked as a technical consultant for numerous Ministries for information and telecommunication technologies, in the Greek Public Sector, having therefore significant expertise in the use of ICTs in decision-making processes.
CTI has a modern technical infrastructure, a complete organisational set-up and a remarkable scientific staff of 210 people: experienced researchers, faculty members, computer engineers and technicians, other domain experts, postgraduate students and administrative staff.
CTI’s e-Government Sector (www.teg.cti.gr) is active in a wide range of areas concerning electronic governance:
- Electronic Democracy and security/trust methodologies with emphasis on electronic voting systems.
- Digitization, documentation, management and promotion of content.
- Language processing infrastructures and tools for effective information management
- Enterprise resource management systems, back-office reorganization and web services
Recently, eGov Sector has designed and developed an internet e-voting system, within a national research project.
For more information please visit: www.cti.gr
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23. April 2008 – 11:48 by POLITECH
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POLITECH INSTITUTE is a not-for-profit international association (AISBL) and a European Center of Political Technologies located in Brussels, Capital of Europe, dedicated to promote novel concepts and innovation empowering the different stakeholders in a ‘citizen-driven’ digital world, as well as support the development of effective strategies, policies and share of best practices in the converging domains of Political Technologies for a better use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) towards the advancement of modern public governance and democracy.
POLITECH INSTITUTE offers its members a European and International platform of network, exchange, consultation, information, debate, training, and a European home to research and development initiatives to generate innovation and share best practices.
POLITECH INSTITUTE delivers powerful and expert services to empower, train, educate, activate and mobilize public, academic, civil and private stakeholders and end-users to meet successfully the challenges of modern politics and public governance in Cyberspace.
INITIATIVES & PROJECTS:
POLITECH INSTITUTE organises and participates in international events and workshops dedicated specifically to the implementation of ICT in the EU, such as the “Worldwide Forum on e-Democracy”, Issy-les-Moulineaux (France), the annual “Global Forum, Shaping the Future”.
POLITECH INSTITUTE, in the framework of the first International Executive Master in e-Governance, launched by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) in 2004 and in partnership with University of St. Gallen (Switzerland), Monterrey Tech (Mexico) and the University of Tampere (Finland), organized, in January 2005, a week of seminars and debates dedicated to the European dimension of e-Governance.
POLITECH INSTITUTE publishes the European Review of Political Technologies (ERPT), a unique pan-European online periodical bridging the domains of Political Technologies.
POLITECH INSTITUTE publishes The European eDemocracy Award Report, in partnership with IP LABEL for The Annual European eDemocracy Award, in the framework of The Worldwide Forum on eDemocracy.
For more Information please visit: http://www.politech-institute.org/
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15. April 2008 – 17:14 by Dan Jellinek
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Headstar is a UK-based research, publishing and events company focused on technology, innovation and social issues. Its publications include E-Government Bulletin, on the use of ICT to modernise public services and democracy, and E-Access Bulletin, on access to technology by people with impaired vision.
Headstar’s successful series of conferences and events on technology and social issues include ‘e-Democracy’, the UK’s leading event on the use of the internet and other new technologies to enhance all aspects of the democratic process. Headstar also conducts online debates, consultation and discussion using unique ‘virtual think-tank’ methods; and research and consultancy in all its areas of expertise.
For more information visit: www.headstar.com
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11. April 2008 – 09:23 by Madarász Csaba
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The CEE Citizens Network is a social development initiative involving 17 countries from Central and Eastern Europe. The Network exists to both improve each member organization’s efforts and also result in some external impact in the CEE region through the following objectives:
- Increase awareness of the general public throughout CEE on the potential and impact of citizen initiatives
- Increase skills and capacities of citizens to more effectively participate in local and national development
- Promote citizen participation throughout the CEE region
The mission of the Network is to promote citizens participation in Central and Eastern Europe and provide opportunities for grassroots initiatives to learn and exchange experiences and ideas.
For more information visit: www.ceecn.net
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9. April 2008 – 14:00 by Julia Glidden
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21c is a specialist ‘e’-knowledge management boutique which provides end-to-end strategy and project management services to the public and private sector. Our clients benefit from the agility, innovation and genuine sense of partnership of a close knit team and the methodological rigor of a Big Five consulting firm.
21c helps clients to structure and deliver successful citizen-centric IT programmes. We work closely with our clients throughout every stage of the project cycle – from proposal development to implementation – to identify effective solutions, achieve key milestones and disseminate results. We provide the critical – and often missing – link between IT architects and the community.
21c are uniquely placed in the government market to bring together networks of specialist organisations and people to ensure best of breed solutions for our clients. Our consultants are Prince2 and Managing Successful Programmes qualified, and have hands-on international experience in helping clients to achieve the transformational potential offered by new technologies.
21c Consultancy combines a unique insiders’ understanding of how government operates with a proven track record in the private sector.
For more information visit: www.21cconsultancy.com
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