World e-Democracy Forum

Vote Now for the Top 10 who are changing the World of Internet and Politics

Vote Now For The Top 10
Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics

PoliticsOnline and the World e-Gov Forum are proud to announce the list for nominations of the Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics. For the eleventh year in a row, PoliticsOnline subscribers and visitors from around the world are invited to help select the top 10 individuals, organizations and companies having the greatest impact on the way the Internet is changing politics.

This prestigious award seeks to recognize the innovators and pioneers, the dreamers and doers who bring democracy online. This year marked another tough year in choosing the top finalists. The integration of politics and the Internet are reflected in this year's diverse, international nominees.

The winners will be invited as honored guests to the 11th World e-Gov Forum October 13-15,2010, in Issy-les-Moulineaux, (Paris, France), where they will take part in an awards ceremony and other special programs throughout the three-day forum.

Please review the finalists below and then select one who has had the greatest influence on the world of ePolitics in 2010.

Note: The descriptions for each nominee are written from nomination and basic biographical information.

A website to keep track of one’s political opponents

It is called the "Accountability Project" and its website has just been launched by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to fight "against misinformation, lies and double-speak". The idea is simple: citizens can document Republican candidates and their claims and public statements at local events, as well as their campaign tactics. They are encouraged to film with anything that can record video - from a cell phone to a video camera - what candidates say at public events, and then submit the videos to the DNC-run site. In playing a complete transparency everyday citizens can see what their Republican candidates for office are saying and candidates themselves will see that there’s a cost to their dishonest statements.

The French Data Protection authority takes an interest in political communication

With the advent of new communication technologies, CNIL (the French Data Protection Authority) will update its recommendation passed in 2006 on political communication. According to CNIL, the last French election campaigns and especially the American ones have used innovative political communication practices relying on the development of ICT. In 2006, at the dawn of presidential and legislative elections, the French authority for privacy and personal data protection had outlined a certain number of practices, such as the management of internal data of political parties (which, according to article 8 of the Data Protection Act of January 6, 1978, don’t need to be declared and don’t require the common agreement of the party members), the organization of sponsorships and political communication operations : forbidding the use of local administrations files and local community files, use of the electoral rolls and commercial files...

Digital economy rankings 2010: Beyond e-readiness

This year begins the second decade of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual benchmarking study of countries’ digital development, previously known as the “e-readiness rankings”. Given the prevalence of Internet-connected consumers, businesses and governments, and the indispensable role that digital communications and services now play in most of the world’s economies, we believe that the countries in our study have achieved, to one degree or another, a state of e-readiness. The study’s new title, the “digital economy rankings”, captures the challenge of maximising the use of information and communications technology (ICT) that countries face in the years ahead.

Does Internet deepen the civic divide?

In a very interesting article published by the French newspaper "Le Monde" on June 22nd, political scientist Thierry Vedel asserts that Internet deepens the civic divide, strengthening the expertise of those who already take interest in the political life while others would content themselves with the television as main source of information. Based on a study led in December 2009 by CEVIPOF (Centre for Political Research at Sciences Po in Paris), within the framework of the European project Mediapolis, Vedel explains that 48 percent of the respondents chose television as their main source of information about politics while 21 percent opted for the radio. Nevertheless, the study proves that the importance of television decreased over the years while that of the Internet increased.

Call for nomination for the 10 Who Are Changing the World of Politics & the Internet

PoliticsOnline and the World eDemocracy Forum are proud to open the call for nominations of the Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics. For the eleventh year in a row, PoliticsOnline subscribers and visitors from around the world will help select the top 10 individuals, organizations and companies having the greatest impact on the way the Internet is changing politics.

Submit your nominations now

The winners will be invited as honored guests to the 11th World eDemocracy Forum October 13-15, 2010, in Issy-les-Moulineaux, (Paris, France), where they'll take part in an awards ceremony and other special programs throughout the two-day forum.

With Twitter, a French MP breaks the closed-door hearing at the Parliament

This morning, members of the Cultural Affairs commitee at the French National Assembly took part in a hearing where French football coach Raymond Domenech and former French Football Federation (FFF) head Jean-Pierre Escalettes explained France’s World Cup fiasco. A hearing «in camera», at the request of the FFF.

However, a member of the Parliament, Lionel Tardy, broke up this private hearing, tweeting the debates for one hour.

Intelligent Community Forum and Communities on Three Continents Launch the Intelligent Community Association

The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), a New York-based think tank dedicated to studying the use of information and communications technologies to build the 21^st Century community, announced today the formation of the Intelligent Community Association (ICA).  Formed at the request of the political and business leaders of communities honored over the last decade in ICF's Intelligent Community Award program, the nonprofit association agreed in its charter to deepen personal interaction among the public, institutional and private-sector leaders of the member communities, and to promote economic growth, social advancement and cultural development.  The new association will also create a sustained program of research and a best practices database to improve the ability of member communities to achieve their goals, as well as share knowledge with other communities around the world. 

3-day conference on electronic voting

From 21st to 24th of July 2010, international experts will discuss electronic voting in Bregenz, Austria, on the banks of Lake Constance. Jointly organized by the Council of Europe and e-voting.cc, the conference proposes a seven session program and will review the latest e-voting experiments. At the heart of discussions: security, confidence and transparency issues surrounding the electronic voting.

http://www.e-voting.cc/topics/conference2010

The Huffington Post ready to overtake the New York Times

Interesting article written by Francis Pisani, on his blog Transnets, about the evolution of the online press in the United States. Launched five years ago, the Huffington Post is about to overtake the New York Times website in terms of traffic with 13 million visitors in March 2010 alone, as compared to a little more than one million, two and a half years ago. Beyond the symbol, a new way of informing is about to emerge.

Lady Gaga at the rescue of candidates in the Belgian elections?

Few days away from the Belgian general elections on June 13th, which are seen as crucial for the future of the country, the candidates encourage the voters to take interest in the poll, either by using humor, like the Ecologists or by taking inspiration from infamous stars, such as Lady Gaga. But the on-line campaign doesn’t seem to better revive an already dull atmosphere. As a journalist of RTBF pointed out, "on the Internet as well, the campaign will be played out in Flanders". On Sunday, 44 Percent of the Belgian voters will use electronic voting machines to express their preferences.