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On behalf of Dialogic, Christiaan Holland is a member of the editorial board of the eParticipation project of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. This eParticipation project includes the organization of the eParticipation Summit.
What opportunities do new developments on the internet offer for better collaboration between citizens and the government? And how can we effectively connect governance and internet culture?
These questions will be the focus at the eParticipation Summit on Thursday, 15th November 2007, at the Amsterdam venue Pakhuis de Zwijger. The eParticipation Summit is a working conference on the new possibilities of the internet ('web 2.0') for citizen participation and how governments can harness and promote these opportunities. This summit is an initiative of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (Untranslated).
The Balkenende IV government places a strong emphasis on citizen participation. Dutch citizens should have the space to initiate projects and collaborate with their government. This implies a different role for the government and public administration, its way of working, and the necessary (e)skills of its civil servants and officials.
Recent technical developments on the internet - commonly encapsulated in the term 'web 2.0' or 'social web' - potentially offer excellent opportunities for this. Profile and community sites, wikis, weblogs, RSS, multimedia content, Google Maps, and mash-ups: all new applications that have significantly transformed the internet. The government can also benefit from these. The question is: how? (Untranslated)
An inspiring programme for the eParticipation Summit is currently in the works. Keynote speakers include:
– Tom Steinberg (founder of the British MySociety.org)
– Jacques Wallage (Mayor of Groningen and professor of Public Communication at the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences)
– Joeri van den Steenhoven (Chairman of Netherlands Knowledgeland).
We kindly ask you to reserve Thursday, 15th November 2007, on your calendar. Early registration is available at www.minbzk.nl/eparticipatie.
Also, take a look at eParticipatie.nl, a private initiative focused on building a community around eParticipation!
See you on 15th November!