Archive for January, 2010
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28. January 2010 – 12:59 by Centre for E-Government
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Extended Call for Papers
You can submit a paper at the conference website until
1st of March 2010. EDem10 unites many different disciplines and promotes interdisciplinary approaches to E-Democracy. On primary aim is to bring together researchers and practitioners. We would like to invite individuals from academic, applied and practitioner backgrounds as well as public administration offices, public bodies, NGO/NPOs, education institutions and independent organisations to submit their research and project papers.
Registration
Please visit the conference website to register at EDem10. Members of PEP-NET benefit from reduced fees; please indicate your Special Status when registering! Conference Date: 6th and 7th of May 2010.
Programme
We are still working on the programme, but confirmed keynote speakers and workshops promise an exceptional event. There will be a PEP-NET Workshop! Please visit the Conference Website for details and regular updates.
Confirmed Keynote Speakers
- Stevan Harnad - American Scientist Open Access Forum; Universite du Quebec a Montreal, CAN; University of Southampton, UK
- Ismael Peña-López - Open University of Catalonia, School of Law and Political Science, Barcelona, Spain
- Jochen Scholl - The Information School, University of Washington, USA
- Micah L. Sifry - Personal Democracy Forum, TechPresident, New York, USA
- Andy Williamson - Hansard Society, London, UK
Further Information
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27. January 2010 – 11:51 by Centre for E-Government
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The Office of Science and Technology Policy Public Access Policy Forum launched a public consultation on Public Access Policy. The Administration was looking for public input on access to publicly-funded research results, such as those that appear in academic and scholarly journal articles. From 10. December 2009 until 7. January 2010, comments on the agenda below could be posted on www.whitehouse.gov/open (forum now closed):
* Implementation (Dec. 10 to 20): Which Federal agencies are good candidates to adopt Public Access policies? What variables (field of science, proportion of research funded by public or private entities, etc.) should affect how public access is implemented at various agencies, including the maximum length of time between publication and public release?
* Features and Technology (Dec. 21 to Dec 31): In what format should the data be submitted in order to make it easy to search and retrieve information, and to make it easy for others to link to it? Are there existing digital standards for archiving and interoperability to maximize public benefit? How are these anticipated to change.
* Management (Jan. 1 to Jan. 7): What are the best mechanisms to ensure compliance? What would be the best metrics of success? What are the best examples of usability in the private sector (both domestic and international)? Should those who access papers be given the opportunity to comment or provide feedback?
Although the forum is closed, Charles Bailey collected links to 45 major institutional submissions to the OSTP consultation on OA.
And Steven E. Hyman’s, Provost of Harvard, response publicised on The Occasional Pamphlet.
Posted in News, Trends | No Comments »
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26. January 2010 – 15:42 by Bengt Feil
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The year 2010 already brought with it a someinteresting news for eParticipation. The following items where of particular interest:
The UK government launched its own version of an open data portal to be used be NGOs and other public agencies. Data.gov.uk offers many different types of open government data in standardized formats to be used for analysis and applications. It is interesting to note that Sir Tim Berners-Lee is advising the project - This hints at the willingness for true openness!
Blogs.cabinetoffice.gov.uk
The bloggers of the Department of International Development (DFID) in the UK discuss the challenges and benefits of blogging as they have experienced them in the last 15 months since their started their blog. They clearly lay out the learning curve and the challenge of free publishing by government staff as well as the “real engagement” they were able to achieve.
Blogs.cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Evgeny Morozov of the Georgetown University presented his thoughts on three key assumptions on technology and social change. He asks for a re-examination of: 1. Data will organize itself, 2. Technology will democratize our public sphere and 3. Civil society will flourish on the web.
Futuregovnetwork.com
On April 17th and 18th programmers, hackers, designers, journalists and “other nerds” will meet in Berlin to hack on and explore open and semi-open German government data. The goal is to set up a number of applications using this government data in just two days. Detailed information in German can be found at:
Opendata.hackday.net
Peter Cruickshank discusses a model of how local issues are debated which he found at e-democracy.org. He relates this model to petitions and finds that is fits in general but argues that they can empower citizens and elected representatives in relationship with the media and administrations.
Spartakan.wordpress.org
Darve Briggs points out the importance of mobile devices for government engagement. He especially addresses the fact that some people might cut their web-connected computer in a recession but keep their mobile phone.
Davepress.net
Posted in News | 1 Comment »
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26. January 2010 – 11:14 by Fraser Henderson - ICELE
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CROSSROAD is a new project which aims to build a roadmap for ICT research in the field of governance and policy modelling, supported by the contribution of the results deriving from other FP7 projects in the area of eGovernment and Policy Making.
The main goal of the CROSSROAD project is to drive the identification of emerging technologies, new governance models and novel application scenarios in the area of participation, electronic governance and policy modelling, leading to the structuring of a beyond the state-of-the-art research agenda, fully embraced by research and practice communities.
In this context, CROSSROAD has initiated a Call for Contributions on “FUTURE RESEARCH ON ICT FOR GOVERNANCE AND POLICY MODELLING”. Authors of the five best papers will be invited to join the CROSSROAD Expert Scientific Committee in order to support the consortium during the roadmap’s development process.
Winners will each receive 2,500 Euro for their participation in the project , the deadline is 25th Feb 2010. For more information follow this link.
Posted in News | No Comments »
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24. January 2010 – 21:57 by Roberto Zarro
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In connection with the launch of data.gov.uk, the new British government website offering free access to a huge amount of public-sector data for private or commercial reuse, the UK Guardian has published the World Government Data Search, a search engine that collects datasets and other open data services provided by governments around the world. At the moment the service searches across the UK, US, New Zealand and Australian governments’ data sites. The Guardian published also a gallery of the 10 best mash-ups built on top of government data provided in the United Kingdom and a similar gallery dedicated to the experiences promoted in US, New Zealand and Australia
Posted in News, good practice | 1 Comment »
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21. January 2010 – 15:11 by Sabrina Franceschini
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The United Nations releases initial results of a survey, revealing the UK has jumped several places up the table of e-government development.
The UK has jumped several places in the United Nations’ 2010 e–Government Development Index, from tenth place in 2008 (the last time the index was created) to fourth. The latest table shows < href=https://www2.unpan.org/egovkb/global_reports/10report.htm target= “_blank”>puts the United Kingdom ahead of all other European countries, and behind South Korea, the United States, and Canada, respectively.
Full results of the survey are due to be published very soon as part of the UN’s upcoming report, “2010 United Nations e-Government Survey: Leveraging e-government at a time of financial and economic crisis,” which assesses the ability of e-government during the ongoing global economic environment.
“The public trust that is gained through transparency can be further enhanced through the free sharing of government data based on open standards,” states a UN overview of the report. “The ability of e-government to handle speed and complexity can also underpin regulatory reform.”
It continues: “While technology is no substitute for good policy, it may give citizens the power to question the actions of regulators and bring systemic issues to the fore. Similarly, e-government can add agility to public service delivery to help governments respond to an expanded set of demands even as revenues fall short.”
The preliminary overview of the report also points out that in the two years since the previous report, governments around the world had made “great strides in development of online services, especially in middle-income countries,” though it acknowledged: “The costs associated with telecommunication infrastructure and human capital continue to impede e-government development.”
Global E-Government Survey 2010
News; https://www.publictechnology.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=22406
In attesa di leggere i contenuti e le conclusioni del rapporto…intanto sono disponibili le “classifiche” dei paesi sulle varie categorie prese in esame.
Per la eParticipation, spiace dirlo, l’Italia risulta solo 55esima 
Posted in Trends | No Comments »
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20. January 2010 – 23:15 by Madarász Csaba
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eCampaigning is a mass success, wherever we get a glimpse about it’s achievements - used in the for-profit, non-profit and governmental sectors. The need to communicate better, more efficiently cases, raise money, call to action, advocate on issues and to move people for support is now a fundamental issue of our society.
The eCampaigning Forum - run by Fairsay,- is an annual event, placed in Oxford in collaborative (e/non-e participative) spirit and methodologies.
A good starting point is the event website’s wiki section and the materials can be grabbed from the site.
The event is from 23-24 March, in St. Anne’s College, Oxford, UK.
For non-profits: why to adapt online communication best practices, a good article from Allyson Kapin explains the basic facts.
Posted in Events, News, Trends | No Comments »
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19. January 2010 – 23:52 by Civil College
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A new interactive website of the previously introduced Rising Voices, the citizen media training initiative of Global Voices Online has just opened their new project’s website, which aims to map online technology projects, that promote transparency, political accountability and civic engagement in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, China and Central & Eastern Europe.
8 researchers in the next 3 month plans to document 32 case studies of the most innovative technology and transparency projects outside North America and Western Europe.
The team collaborates with well known, like minded mapping, discussion and toolset projects, such as ParticipateDB, Participedia, the International Association for Public Participation, the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation, ePractice, MobileActive’s mDirectory, and LocalLabs.
The project both open for volunteer researchers and welcomes contributors.
The site is offering beside twitter and facebook services, podcast and seem to fill a needed gap, by the sponsorship of the OSI and the Omidyar Network.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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15. January 2010 – 15:20 by POLITECH
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MOMENTUM (a Support Action to eParticipation Project co-funded by the European Commission) organised the eParticipation Conference: Current State of Play & Future Directions at the European Parliament (Brussels) on 15 December 2009. The Conference turned to be a huge success thanks to prominent speakers, outstanding attendees and a total of 124 participants.
The participants were welcomed by Anna Triantafillou (MOMENTUM’s Project Coordinator from Athens Technology Center), Mechthild Rohen (European Commission, Head of Unit ICT for Government and Public Services, DG Information Society and Media) and Thanassis Chrissafis (Coordinator, European Commission, DG Information Society and Media). The event was organised around 3 plenary sessions and a discussion:
- Plenary Session 1 - eParticipation Research and Practice Concerning Environmental Issues (moderated by Dr. Julia Glidden from 21c)
- Plenary Session 2 - Digital Policy Making (moderated by Dr. Julia Glidden from 21c)
- Plenary Session 3 - Using the Digital Channel to Have Your Say and Be Heard (moderated by Fraser Henderson from ParticiTech)
- Discussion - Future Direction (moderated by Dr. Maria Wimmer from the University of Koblenz)
The attendees of the Conferences had also a great pleasure to be joined by a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Dr. Paul Rübig and Christophe Nonnenmacher (Press Officer to MEP Sandrine Bélier) via video conference from Strasbourg (France). Both of them presented their insight into and view on the importance of eParticipation projects and ICT solutions towards greater involvement of the EU citizens in the decision-making processes.
The topic of the Conference and of respective plenary sessions turned out to be particularly interesting for the participants as a huge majority of them actively participated by asking the speakers engaging questions. In addition, the attendees had time for networking and to find out more about eParticipation Project co-funded by the European Commission from their representatives during an exhibition of the projects and a cocktail reception, which concluded the Conference.
Make sure to watch videos from the Conference on MOMENTUM’s YouTube Channel. You can also find pictures in the Picasa Album.
Posted in Events, News, Projects | No Comments »
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12. January 2010 – 13:31 by Eric Legale
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Vinnova, the Swedish Governmenal Agency for Innovation Systems published “eGovernment of Tomorrow”. In this report, four scenarios are presented for eGovernment in 2020 with the main idea that in the future public participation will grow and trust in government and society will be important.
It is very interesting to read what can imagine the swedish agency: from the idea that “Government goes private” because a private actor emerges with efficiency to the idea of co-production with a strong participation in communities from Government, it is a new style of Government which emerge.
Can we imagine something like a new service “Google Government” in the future?
Or an emerging “Big Brother society” where people felt that, on balance, improved services outweighed the risk to personal integrity?
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
