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So controversial that it had to be released as a Christmas eve surprise. ;-) Also, I am not sure where the power point version I saw in Lyon is online ... anyone? - SLC Also see: http://www.telecities.org/news/index.htm From: http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/press_release/0,2309,sid%253D2774%2526cid% 253D33603,00.html Or: http://snipurl.com/40ts eCitizenship for All European news release Published: 24/12/03 Contact: Marc De Maeyer Deloitte Marketing & Communications Director +32 2 600 60 48 As an introduction to the conference “Towards a better quality of life” from 26-29 November in Porto, hosted by EUROCITIES and its sister networks TeleCities and Access, TeleCities and Deloitte presented the first eCitizenship for All Awards for eGovernment projects developed by Members of the European TeleCities network. The event coincided with TeleCities’ tenth anniversary. Projects of the following cities were nominated for the awards by an independent panel of experts from the academic world and business: Aalborg, Bremen, Edinburgh, Espoo, Glasgow, Helsinki, London Borough of Camden, Metz, Stockholm, Tampere and Turin. These projects distinguish themselves in terms of their contribution to innovation, fulfillment of user needs, sustainability and transferability. TeleCities and Deloitte also presented the findings of a first annual benchmark survey into eCitizenship for All, which reflects the current status of implementation of TeleCities’ major challenges: eLearning and Inclusion, eDemocracy and Community Building, eSecurity and Re-engineering of Local Public Administration. In total, 72 European cities from 19 countries contributed to this survey. The research demonstrates that a small number of larger cities is clearly in the lead, particularly in re-engineering of their internal processes to enable the delivery of digital services. However, the majority of cities participating in the survey have only made their first steps towards the implementation of the eCitizenship for all challenges. The research findings are captured in TeleCities European knowledge base, to which all its Members have direct access. The knowledge base represents a valuable tool for European cities to benchmark themselves against each other and provide scope for bilateral learning and knowledge sharing. TeleCities and Deloitte presented the research findings at the First World Summit of Cities and Local Authorities on the Information Society, in Lyon on 4-5 December. The following cities were honoured with the eCitizenship for All Awards 2003 in recognition of excellence in one of TeleCities four challenges: City of Bremen with Bremen Online Services (eSecurity), The London Borough of Camden with Home Connections Choice-Based Lettings (re-engineering), City of Helsinki with Nettimaunula (eLearning) and City of Tampere with Participation Palette (eDemocracy). As recognized by Frans De Braekeleer, partner in charge of the Public Sector for Deloitte Belgium, pointing to a recent Deloitte Research public sector study, cities evaluating the return on their investment in technology, should evaluate IT investments not only by the cost savings they generate for government, but also by the benefits they create for citizens and businesses. This suggests a direct correlation between eGovernment and economic competitiveness. In assessing the citizen’s advantage of eGovernment, cities have to address the time and effort it takes to comply with regulatory and reporting requirements, activities often seen as red tape and extraordinary burdens to citizens and businesses trying to conduct government transactions. Teresa Serra, TeleCities President (City of Barcelona) concluded that in support of a continued promotion of bilateral learning and knowledge sharing amongst European cities, TeleCities and Deloitte will repeat the benchmark study into eCitizenship for All next year and again profile innovative eGovernment projects that enable European citizens to fully benefit from the gains of the Information Society. BACKGROUND INFORMATION The four winning projects: City of Bremen (Germany) The City of Bremen’s (541.000 inhabitants) main challenge is the combination of the city’s historic tradition of citizenship with the aim of becoming a very ambitious partner in modern times through eGovernment. Bremen’s eSecurity project Bremen Online Services offers more than 100 on-line transactions with scalable security, including electronic signatures distributed on smart-cards. The project aims to develop eGovernment and to provide on-line transactions and payments in a secure and legally binding way. It aims at citizens, businesses and intermediaries. The quality of service has increased and significant savings have been achieved by eliminating government paperwork. The project is part of a public private partnership by the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and regional and national partners from the private sector. As a result, new jobs are being created in the region of Bremen and the project had an impact on the eGovernment industry all over Germany. The London Borough of Camden (United Kingdom) The London Borough of Camden’s (198.000 inhabitants) aim is to tailor its services to the needs of citizens, by making them more accessible and responsive. London-Camden’s re-engineering project Home Connections is a customer-focused project that has utilised e- technology to introduce choice, transparency and accessibility into the social housing market. This brand new service supports the letting of public housing. It transforms the relationship between the citizen (the home seeker) and the local authority or social housing landlord. Home seekers are encouraged to apply for vacant homes, advertised weekly in print and electronic media. There is a choice of channels (internet or automated telephone) and languages (Arabic, Bengali, Cantonese, English, French, Somali, and Turkish). At the end of each week the highest pointed applicants are invited to view their chosen property which they can choose to refuse or accept. Helsinki (Finland) In Helsinki (560.000 inhabitants), eCitizenship means equality, an opportunity to every citizen to participate and benefit from information technology and technological development. Helsinki’s eLearning project Nettimaunula is an information society project in which a local information society model is realized by improving ICT infrastructure in the area, offering grass root ICT-education especially for the elderly and building up a community intranet system for the residents. The projects provides residents with new ways to get information and take part in issues concerning their own lives by using the internet. To allow residents to participate in the project and maintain it themselves, the concept provides free computers for those who cannot afford to buy one, cheap broad band internet connections and it teaches people, with focus on the elderly, the basic ICT-skills. The unemployed were integrated in the project by teaching them basic ICT-skills and employing them as technicians, educators and content creators in the project. Nettimaunula is based on co-operation with local stakeholders like resident’s associations, civil servants and local voluntary workers. Tampere (Finland) For the people of the City of Tampere (201.000 inhabitants), the benefits of eCitizenship are remarkable. Public services are no longer tied to time and place. More and better information becomes available and new channels of participation are being opened. Tampere’s eDemocracy Participation Palette represents the development of on-line participation, based on three mutually supportive factors: forms of on-line participation, education of the community and access to internet. The Tampere palette contains an extensive range of on- line participation opportunities, community training and facilitating access to internet. The civic participation portal provides information about municipal government and participation opportunities and contact information, permanent channels of eParticipation, topical consultations, the opportunity of initiating official motions and monitor their progress and links to other discussion and participation arenas. The development of on-line participation in Tampere is based on forms of on-line participation, education of the community and access to internet. Conclusions of the eCitizenship for All Survey 2003: Deloitte’s European survey into the state-of-the-art of eCitizenship for All – focusing on eLearning and Inclusion, eDemocracy and Community Building, eSecurity and Re-engineering of Local Public Administration – demonstrates that Europe’s cities have embarked on the challenges of eEurope 2005 and support TeleCities’ aims of eCitizenship for All. The area in which European cities make the biggest progress is re-engineering of their internal processes. The aim to provide digital services to citizens is clearly on top of Europe’s eGovernment agenda’s. Cities are already heavily investing in the delivery of digital services, or have plans to do so. The drivers behind re-engineering projects are cost cutting programmes and regulatory requirements. Whilst these drivers are internally orientated and re-active, a more citizen-centric approach is needed to respond to the needs of citizens. As a consequence of the cities current focus, the number of initiatives in eDemocracy and Community Building is relatively scarce. eDemocracy facilitates democratic renewal and promotes citizen’s participation. As these processes demand a citizen-centric approach, such initiatives are not yet widely seen. Whilst the general awareness of the need for eSecurity is high, the implementation of eSecurity related measures is lagging behind. Ideally, eSecurity initiatives should go hand in hand with the development of digital services. As regards eLearning, most initiatives focus on the learning dimension itself, but neglect the need for digital inclusion of citizens. Whereas the number of eLearning initiatives in Europe is modest, the general level of quality appears to be high. Cities having implemented eLearning initiatives, typically focus on the role of the city in a regional context. This co-operation of cities with major stakeholders has a positive impact on the quality of digital services. In conclusion, a more citizen-centric approach of eGovernment is needed to anticipate the real needs of the all inclusive information society. The aims of TeleCities: eCitizenship for All The aim of eCitizenship For All is to support European local administrations to develop policies and These gains include the right of citizens to access public services in the most effective way, to actively participate in local public decision-making processes, which affect their quality of life, in a secure environment. eCitizenship for All supports Europe’s ambition to become the most competitive and inclusive knowledge-based economy in the world, also in light of the challenges of the EU enlargement. Information technologies can play an increasingly important role in enabling European citizens to actively participate in local public decision-making and therefore influence Europe’s ambitions at local, national and EU level. eEurope 2005 With eCitizenship for All, TeleCities has the ambition to support an inclusive Information Society at city level. eCitizenship for All stands for the right of all citizens to have effective access to public services, to participate in local public decision-making processes affecting the quality of life and to equally share the benefits from Information Society, in a secure environment. To accomplish this, TeleCities focuses on the implementation of the following Challenges: eLearning and Inclusion, eDemocracy and Community Building, eSecurity and Re-engineering of Local Public Administration. By fostering the role of local authorities to achieve these challenges, TeleCities supports the European Commission in a fuller implementation of the eEurope 2005 Action Plan. About TeleCities TeleCities is the major European network of cities committed to leadership in the Information and Knowledge Society. Established in 1993 in the framework of EUROCITIES, TeleCities is open to democratically elected city governments as well as to business and scientific partners. TeleCities provides a platform of over 100 local authorities from 20 different European countries, sharing experience and developing practical solutions achieving an Inclusive Information and Knowledge Society, both at European and local level. Its aim is to promote eGovernment and eCitizenship at local level to ensure that all citizens can equally gain from the benefits of the Information and Knowledge Society. For further information about TeleCities-Deloitte eCitizenship For All initiative, please contact: TeleCities Anna Lisa Boni Phone: +32 2 552 08 69 Fax: +32 2 552 08 89 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web site: http://www.telecities.org Deloitte Marc De Maeyer Phone: +32 2 600 60 53 Fax: +32 2 600 60 41 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web site: http://www.deloitte.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - DoWire.org - Democracies Online Newswire http://www.dowire.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Join the Democracies Online Newswire - DO-WIRE 'must reading' 'highest quality' DOWIRE is your primary source for what's important and happening with democracy, government, politics and the Internet around the world. DOWIRE is a free, high quality moderated e-mail announcement list with no more than seven messages a week. 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