Communications-Related Headlines for November 12, 2003

E-GOVERNMENT
Ambitious Sri Lankan Project to Usher in E-Governance
Administration Urges Senate to Revisit Cuts in Tech

21ST CENTURY SKILLS
UK Government Skills Targets Under Threat

EDTECH
Schools Website Launched in Northern Ireland

E-GOVERMENT FOR ALL CONFERENCE, DAY 7
Partnerships for Success: How Government, the Private Sector and
Civil Society Can Work Together
E-Democracy and Civic Participation
Public Use of E-Government: Citizen Perspectives
"Open Space" Discussion Forums

Note: During the 10 days of the E-Government for All conference (November
3-14), the Headlines team will include highlights from the ongoing
conference sessions, along with our usual headlines. We hope you find the
additional summaries useful. For more information on the conference, please
visit http://www.egov4all.org.

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E-GOVERNMENT

AMBITIOUS SRI LANKAN PROJECT TO USHER IN E-GOVERNANCE
In anticipation of the World Summit on the Information Society, the Sri
Lankan government is working on its plan to introduce e-government in the
country. The ambitious pilot program, with a budget of about $300 million,
is the nation's first attempt to bring together all government institutions
through networking. The e-Sri Lanka project is intended to improve delivery
of public services, facilitate coordination across agencies, and increase
government accessibility and accountability. Once fully implemented, the
project will enable weather forecasting for fishermen and provide for
electronic bidding and e-tenders. Sri Lanka is seeking technical assistance
from ICT-savvy nations such as India and Malaysia.
SOURCE: Digital Opportunity Channel; AUTHOR: Champika Liyanaarachchi,
OneWorld South Asia
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/view/72556/1/

ADMINISTRATION URGES SENATE TO REVISIT CUTS IN TECH
As the US Senate debates the Commerce, Justice and State FY 2004
appropriations bill, the Bush administration is asking for better funding
for an assortment of IT security and e-government initiatives, as well as
more funding for the Patent and Trademark's (PTO) technology projects. The
Senate allocated $1.21 billion for the PTO, and the administration requested
$1.39 billion. The administration is pressing lawmakers to restore funding
for the Commerce Department's Office of Technology Policy, which is
responsible for promoting innovation, encouraging entrepreneurship,
improving infrastructure and educating people through technology. The Senate
Appropriations Committee has recommended distributing the funds for the
office to other parts of the agency. The House allocated $7.8 million for
2004 in its version of the appropriations bill; last year, the Technology
Policy Office received $9.8 million.
SOURCE: Government Computer News; AUTHOR: Jason Miller
http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/24143-1.html

21ST CENTURY SKILLS

UK GOVERNMENT SKILLS TARGETS UNDER THREAT
The Association of Colleges (AoC) in London will warn at its annual
conference that a over the next two years the UK will face a shortage of
government funding to provide adults with necessary skills. The Learning and
Skills Council (LSC) show that its priority targets (16-19 provision for
basic skills for adults) for 2004-05 have been funded, but colleges bids of
up to GBP30m nationally for courses not on the LSC priority list have been
rejected says the press release. The figures for 2005-06 show the current
allocations will be GBP20m short of projected needs and no growth for other
adult skills training. "These figures are extremely worrying. FE colleges
warmly welcomed the White Paper 21st Century Skills. But we have been
pointing out to Government for some time the disparity between its ambition
to drive up skill levels and the resources available to deliver the
improvements it is seeking," says Dr John Brennan, AoC Chief Executive. He
continues, "Colleges support the targeting of public finances towards adults
lacking basic qualifications, but globalization demands rising skills levels
across the board." Government must address the funding issue in order
preserve its push for 21st Century skills for citizens.
SOURCE: PR Newswire
http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=111588

EDTECH

SCHOOLS WEBSITE LAUNCHED IN NORTHERN IRELAND
A new interactive school directory is being launched to connect children
across Northern Ireland. The Adream project will give each school its own
free website where students work can be showcased and their creativity
shared. The websites, which will be moderated by teachers, will also allow
young people to upload art, drama, music, and literature to their site. Many
school have already set up their websites, but BBC Northern Ireland
presenter Donna Traynor will launch the official launch of the Adream
project today. "The project has the potential to link schools, not only
locally but also globally," says Gary Cullen, Adream director. "We have
links with schools in Sydney, Italy and Spain. By creating a virtual
environment, I think the project makes it easier for our young people to
engage wherever they are." Cullen says the response from school has been
tremendous. "Pupils see it as a display board for their endeavors and
because it is electronic it can be held for posterity," he said.
SOURCE: BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/3262201.stm

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E-Government for All:
November 3-14, 2003
Over 1200 participants from 80 countries
Information and registration: http://www.egov4all.org/

CONFERENCE SUMMARY, DAY 7

Public/Private Partnerships for Success

In response to Ken Jarboe's question about the greatest obstacle for
creating partnerships, Gail Watt cautioned the group that when we look at
and study e-government, e-democracy, e-deliberation, community involvement,
etc., "we never should underestimate the cultural and historical background
in which we are working. We can change a lot of realities, but seldom will
be successful if we violate cultural and historical realities."

Becky Stawiski agreed with Gail that attention should be paid to cultural
realities. "What we are discovering in the City Heights area of San Diego
with its diverse cultural background is that technology can serve to unite
cultures," she said. "Some people who have received basic computer training
have indicated that learning about technology has made them feel part of the
larger technology community."

Benjamin DeLanty, an evaluator who works for a health and human services
consultancy, thanked the panelists and participants for a great dialogue and
then posed a question: "What partnerships have been formed with research and
evaluation firms to study and measure impact of programs and funding? In
turn, how do you use this information to guide future endeavors,
partnerships, and projects?"

E-Democracy and Civic Participation

"There are some things that government can do to pre-empt a flood of emails
from their constituents (or otherwise)," said Ella Smith of the
International Teledemocracy Centre. "Here in Scotland our (newish)
parliament was set up with an aim to foster and increase citizen
participation. One of the ways it does this is by encouraging the use of
petitions - at the same time being open about the process and its
limitations. In terms of e-democracy, the Public Petitions Committee are
using an e-petition system
(http://itc.napier.ac.uk/e-petition-scot/default.asp)."

Gopalakrishnan Devanathan of India returned to Ella's earlier comments
regarding pushbutton democracy. "e-Gov will not sustain if it is just
implementation of technology for the sake of implementation," Krishan said.
"It needs deep involvement, commitment and buy-in by citizens. Watch-dog
group of senior citizens and professionals can be set-up to disseminate
information to the public at large which can be debated and accepted. It is
easier said than done. But we should make a beginning to succeed.
e-Governance of the people, by the people for the people is the need of the
hour. Let's all work towards that."

Commenting on the role of interactive discussions in e-democracy, Don Straus
noted that facilitation skills are often missing from the equation. "That
facilitation is a new, and still little known or used skill, needs to be
emphasized," I spent my life before retirement in the dispute-solving
procedures of arbitration and mediation. But these are tools for adversarial
dedision making. Those skills are still important, but should be merged with
the relatively new problem solving skills of facilitation. The exchanges
here have already revealed that facilitation is better known and used in
Scotland than in the US, and we have a lot to learn about its importance for
e-government." Taran Rampersad of Trinidad and Tobago echoed Don's comments,
but added, "I am left to wonder who should facilitate discussion between a
government and it's citizens. The facilitators in such a case would be under
great pressure, and would have to be respected by both."

Moderator Alan Rosenblatt entered the conversation and reviewed several
questions posed by participants, including one by Jennifer Cowley of Ohio
State University about the potential for using on-line discussion forums to
discuss local government issues. "I think the Internet plays a perfect
complement to local policy engagement," he said. "Consider how MeetUp.com
has allowed for the formation of many local politics groups that are meeting
offline after organizing online.... Local online news media are very popular
now, so I think it is a good idea to take advantage of those resources for
posting online ads relevant to local politics that link to issue websites.
Some newspapers provide online forums and these are also good venues for
engaging both voters and local policymakers."

"In all cases, it is advisable to have a website to drive traffic to from
these local outreaches," Rosenblatt continued. "These websites can become
"go to" sources of local political info, action/advcacy tools, and
information about offline meetings. Also, building a local email list is key
to creating a core grassroots organization within a community. As this list
grows, email alerts can be used to educate and activate this community."

Kathy Goldschmidt of the Congressional Management Foundation noted: "We did
focus groups about citizens' use and expectations of congressional Web
sites, and one of the discussions we had was about how it never really
occurs to them to seek out policy information and information from their
representatives. The participants said that if they encountered the
information in their daily routines, they would probably look at it from
time to time. They said that it's not that they're not interested in it, but
that it's not often part of their lives. Someone suggested encouraging sites
like AOL and Yahoo! to add public policy and/or legislative sites as options
for their personalized content (My AOL and My Yahoo!). This way, every time
people open their Web browsers, they would have the option of clicking over
to policy information and/or becoming engaged in a policy discussion. So
this is what this anecdote suggests: to better engage citizens, we have to
make it easy for them, to make it part of their lives. It's not only about
creating 'go to' Web sites, but also about integrating public policy and
engagement into citizens' existing routines."

"In my view, the most important thing is that people's views are taken
seriously and actually effect policy outcomes, not just received and
forgotten," added Rik Panganiban. "The e-consultation in 2000 that took
place in the city of Esslington, Germany on a new housing project is a well
known example of a local online consultation that worked and that actually
made a difference. A government authority can't just throw up a discussion
board and expect people to be happy. They actually have to get their own
policy makers to engage people in meaningful ways."

Alan Rosenblatt then offered some observations on how to mobilize citizens
to participate. He suggested a combination of online advertising, email
appending, viral marketing and rich media-embedded email. " While some may
object to interest group politics, it is important to remember that both
sides do it on most issues and those that are reaching out to large numbers
of voters, have, in my mind, a stronger democratic justificatio," he said.
"They are mobilizing ordinary citizens to combat old school politics."

"We have run many email campaigns over the past 5 years and we have won just
about all of them," Rosenblatt added. "And while I would not suggest that
email was the only deciding factor, I think that should provide
encouragement that policymakers take these email campaigns seriously."

Public Use of E-Government: Citizen Perspectives

Jessica Alvarez, from Digital Community of Columbia Heights and Shaw,
responded to Gary Mendez's question about what level of government has the
greatest potential to reach its constituents. "We have to first look at the
local level and what are the pressing local needs of the constituents (with
that thought in mind, we also have to be clear about what portion of the
population you intend to reach.)," she said.

Alvarez offered a keen example to demonstrate the importance of intention
and what portion of the population will be served. She said in the midst of
a movement to advance the District of Columbia's technological capacity some
issues take priority over others. For example, health care is a pressing
need, yet local online access to health care information is limited and
fruitless. However, "Online systems for parking infraction payments, real
property tax information and business registrations have been developed and
continue to improve," she said. Alvarez said she does feel positive that
federal governments have the potential to reach citizens, but only if the
content and services are developed keeping in the mind the user's needs.

The discussion threaded toward accessibility. "I think accessibility is a
big deal not only being able to get to a computer or the internet but
understanding the basic tools and how to navigate once you come to a website
or web page," said Latonya Brown from Columbia Heights/Shaw Family Support
Collaborative.

"I think that what Taran [Rampersad] said about society changing to be less
geographically based is really an interesting concept, in light of this
discussion," moderator Gary Mendez commented. He said that low-income people
are often dealing with pressing needs, which make the issue of geography
important.

Responding to Alvarez's example of DC's health care, Mendez said, "The
healthcare system in D.C. for instance, it doesn't become a problem until
someone gets sick or injured, and then often people are left in the dark and
end up using the emergency room when they don't need to etc." He added that
even though DC is a 'government anomaly', the problem is consistent across
the board. "Cooperation between the tiers is crucial for our future," he
said. He questioned whether e-government could be achieved without also
acquiring an "e-government digital divide", one more divide making it hard
for low-income citizens to catch up.

Rampersad began to tie the discussion in with the 'Partnerships for Success'
portion of the conference. "The idea regarding the digression of
geographical boundaries - Pierre Levy's book "Collective Intelligence:
Mankind's Emerging World in Cyberspace" is where I first saw it
conceptualized," Rampersad responded. He said that the free software and
open source movements prove this theory.

He offered an example of closing a major DC hospital. He said this situation
could potentially cause an uproar of local community. "But with the internet
enabled, the low income population throughout the country may not only
lobby, they may come up with ideas and concepts that remove the need for
such a major hospital, instead replacing it with a better adaptation of
medical care." He said that low-income people are often thought to lack
intelligence, this is not the case. There are primary basic needs (food,
clothing and shelter) and then there are secondary needs (Medicare, and so
forth), Rampersad said.

"The first tasks for a self-sustaining E-government would be to use
technology to apply help for the primary items, and allow people to be at a
comfort level where they could focus their intelligence on more advanced
needs. Notice I said 'help', not 'give,'" Rampersad said. He said that maybe
in the 'Partnerships for Success' portion of the conference, these concepts
should be further discussed.

Rampersad concluded, "Helping people meet their primary needs allows them to
focus on their other needs-and these other needs include what we are
discussing. And we have the ability to do this with lowered geographical
boundaries. It's a tough thing to do - but no matter what is done, it will
remain a priority."

"Open Space" Forums

In the "E-Government and the World Summit on the Information Society" forum,
Rik Panganiban from the World Federalist Movement began the discussion by
providing the most recent UN WSIS plan of action, which included specific
language about e-government. This plan says that the goal is to first
"implement e-government strategies focusing on applications aimed at
innovating and promoting transparency in public administrations and
democratic processes, improving efficiency and strengthening relations with
citizens." Secondly, the UN must "develop national e-government initiatives,
at all levels, adapted to the needs of citizens and entrepreneurs, to
achieve a more efficient allocation of resources and public goods." Finally,
the UN must "support international co-operation initiatives in the field of
e-government, in order to enhance transparency, accountability and
efficiency at all levels of government."

Rosemary Gunn from Information Renaissance offered the declaration of the
Fifth Global Forum on Re-Inventing Government for reference. The document
has nuances she said, but the document does explicitly mention "the
involvement of stakeholders in society" and "the role of ethics in public
service and sensitivity towards and respect for citizens' needs."

Organizers of the World Summit Awards, the official digital content
competition of WSIS, have just published the list of awards to 40 projects
finalists in over 130 countries, offered Andy Carvin, who served as a judge
representing the US. He included a list of five e-government awarded
projects, including the official summaries submitted during the nomination
process. The report can be viewed at
http://www.europrix.org/wsis-award/nominees/index.htm. He said all of the
projects were worthwhile, but accessibility remained a problem. "When we
judges were given the selection of 17 semi-finalists from which to select
the finalists, we discovered that none of the sites under consideration
passed basic accessibility standards tested via Bobby [software]." Carvin
said that judges felt few government websites in the competition were taking
accessibility seriously, even though in some cases it can be a fairly simple
problem to fix.

In the "E-government is a part of E-Democracy??" Ben Peacey from the
Sociology Department at the University of Canterbury took the discussion
into dialogue about e-government and e-democracy issues. "I find some of the
issues of control, trust, information/knowledge, e-government and
e-democracy that have been discussed very interesting, but also wonder about
the practical approaches that have been taken to get around these issues and
whether they are successful."

These issues make it difficult to see how governments can produce a fair and
un-biased e-democracy option, said Ella Smith, of International
Teledemocracy Centre. "What advantage is there for governments?" she asked.
She said that e-government was sold on the fiscal savings and efficiency
gains that could be possible, but e-democracy does not necessarily provide
the same savings and gains.

The debate on online/offline participation overlooks the fact that ICTs are
embedded in real life and it is unrealistic to study online events in
isolation, said Smith. "I'm not trying to minimize the digital divide issue
here - just emphasizing that online deliberation never really exists without
an offline equivalent." Developers of e-democracy have to be aware of the
limits of e-tools and should include some aspects from 'offline'
equivalents.

Gail Watt agreed with Smith, but offered a counterpoint to her statement
about e-democracy not necessarily having the fiscal savings and efficiency
gains of e-government. "I think e-democracy can and indeed has saved money.
Have a couple examples where citizen discussion of a civil servant proposed
day care center removal led to alternative citizen proposals that saved even
more money in a budget squeeze," Watt said.

In the "How does E-government differ from E-governance?" forum, Andy Carvin,
responded to Gail Watts call for opinions on the difference between
e-government and e-governance. "I'm under the impression that in some parts
of the world, like India, the word e-governance is used in the same way we
use the word e-government in the US -- ie, they're the same concept, but
different local term of art." He then called for participants to share if
they use the words interchangeably in their respective nations.

"I still have not been able to put my fingers on the core of what I'm
hearing here or whether we have 2 distinct concepts 'out there'," replied
Watt. "I tend to think we are in a semantic circle, but I'm not totally
sure. "

Rosemary Gunn explained one potential difference between "e-government" and
"e-governance." She said, "E-government [is] online interchanges with
government that involve services, getting benefits, paying taxes or fines,
registrations, licenses and so forth." On the other hand e-governance is,
"online interchanges between the public and "the government" related to
policy making (and perhaps implementation?); e-rulemaking in the US and
"consultations" in Canada and the UK are examples." She would prefer a
single concept, but the distinction is necessary because whereas electronic
services have grown quickly, electronic means of involving the public in
policy making is happening more slowly.

"E-governance would be measurable, and could even be seen in degrees, "
offered Taran Rampersad. "E-government cannot be measured-it either 'is', or
'isn't'. E-government is best explained with Boolean logic, E-governance is
best explained with Fuzzy Logic (truth, values, etc)." He ventured to
further explain that E-government would remain an abstract concept, whereas
E-governance will include different methods of attaining E-government and
its effectiveness.

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