*** Democracies Online Newswire - http://dowire.org *** *** Headlines from top blogs: http://dowire.org/feeds ***
It is great to see e-democracy tools spreading from one place to another. While stand along home grown options might seem at first most attractive, the lack of e-democracy resources mean we have to pool together with a mix of reusable open source and lower cost proprietary systems. Steven Clift http://dowire.org Also see: "Scottish Parliament e-Petitioner: Finalist for eEurope Award for eGovernment August 2005" http://itc.napier.ac.uk/ITC_Home/ITC/News.asp http://www.e-europeawards.org From: http://itc.napier.ac.uk/ITC_Home/News/e_Petitioner_Bundestag_launch.as p See: http://itc.napier.ac.uk/e-Petition/bundestag/ e-Petitioner Bundestag launch On the Thursday 1st September the German Parliament launches its first "eParliament" system - the e-Petitioner. The e-petitioner system will provide citizens with a means to voice their concerns through the formal processes of the Bundestag. The e- petitioning model was developed through a close collaboration the International Teledemocracy Centre here at Napier University, BT and the Scottish Parliament. This model is unique in that it is open to any citizen to raise and sign an e-petition, or to add comments to an online discussion if they wish. e-Petitioner transforms an old style of public petitioning. It overcomes, lack of awareness, illegible signatures, lack of information, lack of debate and lack of feedback and instead provides an open, accountable and deliberative participation process. In Europe, the success of e-petitioner can be illustrated by its selection as a finalist for an eEurope Award at the Ministerial eGovernment Conference in Manchester in November. Funded by the European Commission the awards recognise innovation and good practice in eGovernment in Europe. The evaluation panel recommended the e- petitions system as follows: This system uses simple and elegant technology to enable citizens to access high level decision making processes; is high, because it promotes community democracy through easy access to the decision making body; This is a high impact project which represents a good model for other eDemocracy initiatives. Professor Ann Macintosh gave a brief talk at the Bundestag on Wednesday about the e-petitioner system. Ahead of her visit she commented: "I am very pleased that our e-Petitioner system is being adopted by the German Parliament. It will provide German citizens with a means to voice their concerns through the formal processes of the Bundestag. Having worked with The Scottish Parliament to develop the e-petitioning model, it is very exciting to see the concept being accepted by the Bundestag." Speaking ahead of the launch, Michael McMahon MSP, Convener of the Public Petitions Committee of the Scottish Parliament said: "Over the past few years we have enjoyed a close working relationship with our colleagues in the German Bundestag Petitions Committee and we are delighted that they have decided to adopt an e-petitions system based on our own. This is an excellent example of the Parliament's adoption of innovative techniques and modern procedures, having a global impact." At the launch Mr Klaus Guttmacher, Chairman of the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag said: "Our "Public Petitions" system has been developed in close collaboration with our friends in Edinburgh on the basis of the Scottish model. We intend to test out this addition to our petitions system in an initial two-year trial. The German Bundestag's online presence will hence be expanded to include the heading "Öffentliche Petition" or "public Petitions". In contract to other internet forums the results in this instance will feed directly into the practical work of parliament." ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. Clift - - - W: http://publicus.net Minneapolis - - - - E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota - - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - - MSN/Y!/AIM: netclift UK Office Hours - 1pm - 11pm - - T: 0870.340.1266 Join my Democracies Online Newswire: http://dowire.org *** Past Messages, to Subscribe: http://dowire.org *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To UNSUBSCRIBE instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** New RSS XML Feed Available: *** http://www.mail-archive.com/do-wire@lists.umn.edu/maillist.xml
