*** Democracies Online Newswire - http://www.e-democracy.org/do *** Details on three more e-democracy/e-government conferences ... hmmm, a month ago I was thinking "I wonder why there are so few conferences on e-democracy topics this year." Also see: http://www.ifip.or.at/cal_even.htm http://members.tripod.com/knownetwork/internetinfo-events.html (see below) And see Wilton Park's GOVERNANCE/THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION section: http://www.wiltonpark.org.uk/conferences/welcome.html Steven Clift Democracies Online From: http://www.globalforum.it/ http://www.globalforum.it/htm/frame/inglese/frset_inglese.htm Third Global Forum Fostering democracy and development through e-government 15-17 March 2001 Naples The Italian Government will host in Naples (Teatro San Carlo, Palazzo Reale and Castel dell’Ovo), from 15 to 17 March 2001, the Third Global Forum on "governance", which will be dedicated to the theme of electronic government as an instrument of democracy and development. The first Global Forum was held in Washington in January 1999, and was attended by President Clinton, while the second was held in Brasilia last May. The organisation of the Third Global Forum sees contributions from international organisations such as the United Nations, the OECD, the European Union, the World Bank and other important foundations and universities. The appointment in Naples is of particular interest: - due to the up to the minute nature of the themes (e-government will be debated from the viewpoint of services to citizens and business, but also from that of privacy, of electronic document validation, of communications and of on-line democracy); - due to the number and quality of attendees expected (over a thousand representing central governments and local administrations, international organisations, and business and the academic world and research centres, NGOs and associations); - due to the opportunity offered to Italy and other countries to illustrate the reforms which are changing the face of administration and its’ relations with users, and to learn from the best practices of others the way to further accelerate this change in favour of citizens and business; - due to the opportunity offered above all to developing countries to debate and understand the benefits accruing from ICT applied to administration and their potential in terms of economic and social growth, transparency and democracy. All the themes debated at the convention will be analysed with particular attention to two horizontal problems: women and equal opportunity in the information society, and the reduction of the "digital divide". In this sense the Third Global Forum in Naples becomes one of those occasions for reflection and action promoted by the Okinawa Charter on the Information Society and by the Secretary General of the United Nations. Further, the Forum will also be a showcase for certain leading ICT sector companies and for some cases of excellence: from 12 to 17 March, and thus parallel to the convention, there will be a limited yet significant exhibition, of the most interesting applications of information technology to administration and governance. Finally, some participants (especially those from developing countries) will be offered, before the Forum, from 12 to 15 March, high level training seminars, organised in collaboration with the United Nations, the World Bank, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Italian and other training institutions. The plenary opening and closing sessions of the Forum will be held at the Teatro San Carlo, while the panels and seminars will be held at the Palazzo Reale and the Castel dell’Ovo. The ICT applications for public administration exhibition will be held in the spaces adjacent to the Library. Attendance at the Third Global Forum is by invitation from the Italian Government only. For further information please do not hesitate to contact : [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Fax: +39 06 6899 7245;Tel. +39 06 6899 7455. >From KnowNet Initiative: http://members.tripod.com/knownetwork/internetinfo-events.html e-Local Government : Developing and implementing value added services for the 21st century citizen January 18 - 19, 2001, London e-local government will facilitate in-depth discussion on managing change and will deliver the specifics on how the government's modernisation agenda will impact your organisation. Case studies will be led by practitioners who are already implementing best practice in e- government at a local level. IT Revolution: A millennium Opportunity January 25- 29, 2001, New Baneshor, Kathmandu, Nepal The conference also offers to discuss practical aspects of IT which will allow the participants mutual learning as well as an opportunity to explore new horizons and perspective for developing nations. Besides, it provides a common forum for sharing success stories while using IT in consolidating development efforts. Countries like Nepal can learn for use IT to provide better health services or education to poor and rural people, and increase agriculture productivity. (new!) The Bolton Business School Conference: Ethics, ICT and Social Exclusion February 8-9, 2001, Bolton, UK This conference will explore the ethicality of 'social exclusion', the ethical dilemmas that this creates, and the impact of ICT on the issue of social exclusion. It will also examine the particular impact of technical developments and contemporary issues in ICT. [AND MANY MANY MORE LISTED!] From: http://www2.arnes.si/~ljjavno1/ http://www2.arnes.si/~ljjavno1/cfcidx.html E-NETWORKS: ARENAS FOR DEMOCRATIC ENGAGEMENT? Piran, Slovenia 12-15 September 2001 DEADLINE: 15-MAR-2001 Electronic networks are considered potentially important technological tools for involving citizens in the political arena. Many initiatives embracing this objective have been undertaken across Europe and North America; just as many predictions - positive and negative - have been made on the net effect of this labour. Some of these initiatives have been subject to empirical investigation; some have been supported through forms of action and participatory research. Whatever the source of data, evidence is accumulating, and a tentative assessment of the value of electronic networks for democratic life is now possible. The European Institute for Communication and Culture (Euricom) is hosting a colloquium concerned with the relation between electronic networks and democracy. The central objective of this seminar is to provide opportunity for theoretically grounded empirical studies to be presented by scholars active in this area in order to collectively consider the present state of knowledge and make proposals for new investigative inroads. Contributions are welcome which examine aspects of community networks, digital cities, and other virtual arenas employed for supporting politically-based information, debate and action. Background > Although interest in and experimentation with electronic networks has been ongoing at least since cable television infrastructures were constructed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, this concern intensified with development of opportunities for computer-mediated communication in the 1980s and with popularisation of the Internet in the 1990s. A milestone in scholarly attention to these developments transpired in 1996 when the European Institute for Communication and Culture (Euricom) sponsored a colloquium on 'virtual democracy'. This event was followed by theme issues of journals and publication of edited volumes. Taken as a whole, this work reflects increasing concern about the possible contribution of electronic networks to democratic life. One of the questions central for much of this work can be formulated as follows: In what manner and to what degree do electronic networks contribute to a more informed and politically active citizenry? This Euricom Colloquium is intended to extend exploration of that question. Abstracts Persons interested in participating in this Euricom Colloquium are invited to submit extended abstracts (ca. 500 words) for papers. Deadline for receipt of abstracts is 15 March, 2001; it is recommended, however, that persons interested contact the organisers of the Colloquium prior to that date. Address queries to: Nicholas Jankowski [EMAIL PROTECTED] Slavko Splichal [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: http://www.ifi.unizh.ch/I3E-conference/ Scope This conference is the first IFIP conference on e-commerce, e- business, and e-government sponsored by the three committees TC6, TC8, and TC11. It provides a forum for users, engineers, and scientists in academia, industry, and government to present their latest findings in e-commerce, e-business, or e-government applications and the underlying technology to support those applications. The conference will comprise a main track with papers in various topics and 5 minitracks dedicated to special topics. http://www.ifi.unizh.ch/I3E-conference/minitrack1.htm Minitrack 1 ELECTRONIC DEMOCRACY-WHERE, HOW, BY WHOM? PUTTING DEMOCRACY ON THE E- GOV AGENDA Track chair Åke Grönlund, Umeå University, Informatics, Sweden. ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.informatik.umu.se/csips/ed-cfp.html Scope Electronic Government, high on the agenda in many countries, is usually described as comprised by three parts, one of which is about democracy: 1.Service: Providing people with more convenient access to government information and services. 2.Efficiency: Making government organizations more efficient. 3.Democracy: Providing greater opportunities to participate in democratic institutions and processes. The success stories told, however, almost exclusively come from the service field. Projects with a clear democracy-improvement angle, such as citizen juries and community networks are most often run and evaluated without any connection to the discussions of electronic government. So, where did the democracy part of e-government go? Is there a cultural divide being inscribed? Is government about to become electronified by the service and efficiency agendas whereas the democracy discussions will take place in communities disconnected from government? Electronic Democracy (ED) most often refers to the use of ICT for communication between politicians and citizens by means of information, voting, polling, or discussion, separately or in any combination. This narrow definition reduces ICT to a simple tool and makes democracy an optional add-on to, not a defining part of, the core business of government. A wider definition sees ICT as a medium permeating most of our activities and democracy as a vast system of decision-making, organization, and governance. The electronic medium’s role in the democratic system extends far beyond electronic town hall meetings and polling. ICT permeate most activities related to societal planning, governance, and political organization, including organization in the civil society, which means ICT have implications for the working of democracy also in representative systems. So as to understand the role of ICT in these processes, and the implications for the working of the democratic system, research on ED should be framed in a context encompassing all aspects of the democratic system. This minitrack therefore invites papers dealing with any of the variety of ways in which the democratic system is increasingly framed by the electronic medium; empirical studies of ICT use in democratic processes related to administration, formal politics, and civil society, separate or together. One purpose is contributing to the strife for an e-gov agenda where democracy matters play an important role. Topics include, but are not limited, to: 1.The role of democracy in e-government initiatives. 2.The effects of ICT tools for simulation, visualization, data mining etc. on democratic processes. 3.The relations between community networks and the formal democratic system 4.Legislation issues pertaining to democratic processes, such as privacy and openness 5.Intermediary organizations and new arenas for democratic processes 6.The relations between the standards and procedures of ”netlife” and those of formal politics 7.Innovative applications of ICT in democratic processes. 8.The changing role of the administration as it gets armed with new ITC tools. 9.ICT adaptation processes in government. 10.”Democratic technology”? – Can ICT developed for business use be employed for democracy as is? If not, what changes to development processes have to be made? Submissions and enquiries should be sent to Åke Grönlund at [EMAIL PROTECTED] ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. Clift - W: http://www.publicus.net Minneapolis - - - E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - - - - ICQ: 13789183 *** Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To unsubscribe instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please forward this post to others and encourage *** *** them to subscribe to the free DO-WIRE service. ***
