ABOUT 'E-DEMOCRACY OR E-HYPOCRISY'
VIEW THE LIVE STREAM HERE (21st September 2004, 7-9pm)
CONTRIBUTE TO THE DISCUSSION BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE EVENT BY VISITING THE 'E-DEMOCRACY OR E-HYPOCRISY' WIKI HERE.
PUT QUESTIONS TO THE PANEL VIA EMAIL IN ADVANCE OF AND DURING THE EVENT <questions@cybersalon.org>.
CHAIR
Jane Austin
Recollective
<www.recollective.co.uk>
Jane Austin is founder of interactive design consultancy Recollective.
Recollective's aim is to make their interactive work beautiful, usable and useful. Recollective believes that information should be available to all and works to make sure everything they design is as accessible and as relevant to the widest number of users as possible.
Current and recent work includes:
• a redesign of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and
the Arts (NESTA) site <www.nesta.org.uk>
to achieve the highest level of accessibility.
• The Centre for Public Scrutiny <www.cfps.org.uk>
- created to promote the value of scrutiny in modern and effective government
to improve the quality of public services.
• Surrey County Council <www.surreycc.gov.uk>
• Developing social software for teachers for the Department for
Education and Skills (DFES) <www.dfes.gov.uk>
and the Centre for British Teachers (CFBT) <www.cfbt.com>
Jane also runs a module in Creative Entrepreneurship at Greenwich University as part of the BA in Creative Industries and acts as a talent scout for the NESTA creative pioneers programe.
PANELISTS
Isobel Harding
National e-Democracy Project
<www.e-dem.info/DesktopDefault.aspx>
Background in education, the National
Health Service, Training Enterprise Councils and local government. Currently
heading up a community project team, set up to deliver the impossible,
at no cost, and with little strategy. Now successfully doing exactly that
and delivering community and business projects with primarily external
funding iro £1.5m pa. Active participant in anything controversial
or anything giving the voice to the customer, and therefore a happy participant
and lead in the Local e-Democracy National Project. Passionate about lifelong
learning, partnership, transparency and horses. Like to use a wry sense
of humour!
William Davies
Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr)
<www.ippr.org>
Will Davies is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute
for Public Policy Research, where he runs the Digital Society research
programme. Previously, he worked on The Work Foundation's iSociety project,
where his research focused on the relationship between communities and
new media. He is the author of two iSociety reports 'You Don't Know Me,
But...: Social Capital & Social Software' looking at new uses of the
internet in supporting social networks, and 'Proxicommunication: ICT and
the
Local Public Realm' exploring uses of ICT in sustaining local communities.
ippr is the UK's leading progressive think tank. Through our well-researched and clearly argued policy analysis, reports and publications, our strong networks in government, academia and the corporate and voluntary sectors and our high media profile, we play a vital role in maintaining the momentum of progressive thought.
ippr was founded by Lord Hollick who developed the idea for an independent progressive think tank in 1986. With Lord Eatwell, Clive Hollick worked for two years setting the charity up. ippr was publicly launched in 1988 with Tessa Blackstone as its first chair and James Cornford as its first director.
Since its inception, ippr has built up a well-deserved reputation for generating new and imaginative ideas. Our aim is to continue to be a force for change by delivering far-reaching and realistic policy solutions that we hope will produce a fairer, more inclusive and more environmentally sustainable world.
As an independent charity, we are completely funded by donations from individuals, companies and public, voluntary and trade union organisations.
Tim Levell
BBC iCan
<www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ican>
Tim began his career as a journalist, working for BBC local radio stations and Breakfast News. He then spent eight years on Newsround, firstly as a reporter, then director and producer, and then as launch editor of the successful CBBC Newsround website. This site, aimed at children aged eight to 12, was the world's first daily news site for children, and aimed to make news and current affairs interactive and appealing for a young and demanding audience. It was getting 8 million page impressions a month by the time Tim left to join iCan, the BBC's new Internet project to encourage civic participation. At iCan, Tim's responsibilities are shaping the editorial content written by BBC journalists, which explains how users can get involved and how they can influence local or national policy, and overseeing what users do day-to-day on the site. A redesign of iCan is planned for early 2005.
The iCan site aims to help people take first steps in addressing issues which concern them.
If there's something that's bothering you and you don't
know where to start, or you can't do it on your own, iCan is here to help.
Some of the ways to get started using iCan include:
• Find information and advice on hundreds of issues
• See what's going on in your area on iCan by typing in your postcode
on the homepage
• Get details of local people who can help you (like your MP or
councillor), also by typing in your postcode on the homepage
• Read our guides to help you take action, or stories sent in by
users
• Post a notice about something that concerns you on your local
noticeboard*
• Write an article to share your experiences with other users*
• Start a campaign online* (To do this, you need to become a member
first.)
Steven Clift
Publicus.Net
<www.publicus.net/>
Steven Clift is an online strategist and public speaker focused on the use of the Internet in democracy, governance, and community. For the last decade he has worked to fundamentally improve democracy and citizen participation through the use of the Internet. He seeks to change the world one e-mail at a time.
One of world's leading experts on e-democracy, he is actively networking people around the world determined to make a difference with this new media. A frequent media commentator, Steven Clift speaks publicly with meaning, energy and enthusiasm while providing accessible and useful information. He has presented hundreds of times across twenty-three countries.
Through Democracies Online, he shares knowledge and practical advice directly to thousands of subscribers on his DO-WIRE e-mail announcement list. His Publicus.Net web site contains dozens of original articles and presentations, including his E-Democracy E-Book. Behind the scenes, he supports peer-to-peer online networks for parliamentary online leaders, civic online consultation facilitators and others.
In 2001 and again in 2003, he was listed among 'The 25 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics' by Politics Online and in January, 2000 he was selected as one of Minnesota’s 100 rising stars of the decade by Minneapolis St. Paul magazine.
TRIGGERS FOR DISCUSSION
We really want the Cybersalon audience to contribute ideas, raise questions and respond to the issues via the online WIKI - before, during and after the event - and to bring their wireless handheld and laptop devices to the evening to contribute to the ongoing discussion.
The following democracy quotes appear on the WIKI. Please use it to add your own thoiughts and ideas to the discussion.
Democracy Quotes
“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation
with the average voter.” - Winston Churchill
"Democracy encourages the majority to decide things about which
the majority is ignorant." - John Simon
"That government is best which governs least." - Henry
David Thoreau
"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they
don't have any." - Alice Walker
"Democracy means government by discussion, but it is only effective
if you can stop people talking." - Clement Atlee
"Politicians used to put out leaflets with pictures of their
family and pet dog and copies of their lousy speeches and it would be
enough. Unfortunately many politicians now just create a web site with
pictures of their family and pet dog and their lousy speeches but it is
not good enough," - Stephen Coleman, Oxford Internet Institute
"The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest
problem in the relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator
will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how to say
it." Bill Gates
"The net is more than an organizing tool - it has become an organizing
model, a blueprint for decentralized but cooperative decision-making.
It facilitates the process of information sharing to such an extent that
many groups can work in concert with one another without the need to achieve
monolithic consensus." - Naomi Klein, No Logo
Our democracy, our constitutional framework is really a kind of software
for harnessing the creativity and political imagination for all of our
people…The American democratic system was an early political version
of Napster." - Al Gore
"The political technology of the Industrial age is no longer
appropriate technology for the new civilization taking form around us.
Our politics are obsolete." - Alvin Toffler
“From gas prices to cultural jamming and on-line concerts, the Internet
is a hotbed of activity. On-line activism is everywhere and while this
kind of Internet usage might not get the attention that dot.com startups
and broadband battles do, the innovative uses of the Internet are reminders
that real people are using technology to incite actions and maker their
voices heard." - Emma Smith
"There is a connection waiting to be made between the decline
in democratic participation and the explosion in new ways of communicating.
We need not accept the paradox that gives us more ways than ever to speak,
and leaves the public with a wider feeling than ever before that their
voices are not being heard. The new technologies can strengthen our democracy,
by giving us greater opportunities than ever before for better transparency
and a more responsive relationship between government and electors"
- The Honourable Robin Cook
Democracy Links
Demos – Classical Athenian Democracy
<www.stoa.org/projects/demos/home>
Astroturfing – from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
<en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing>
Democracy Quotes - Wisdom Quotes: Quotations to inspire and challenge
- by Jone Johnson Lewis
<www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_democracy.html>