e-Democracy Awards 2008

After two days of debates focused on e-Democracy and e-Government, the 9th World eDemocracy Forum announce the eDemocracy Awards 2008 during the closing session, on October 17. Andrew RASIEJ, Founder and President of TechPresident.com, Barack OBAMA, the US Presidential democrat candidate, the Spanish Socialist Party  and the Dream + project leaded by the Regional Council of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, in France, are the winners 2008 !

Special mentions : David All, founder of slatecard.com and of TechRepublican.com, a kind of “political Facebook”, David Kralik, Director of internet Strategy for American Solutions, with Newt Gingrich, they animate a “plateform for American people” online, Firoze Manji, Chief Editor of Pambazuka News, produced by a pan african community of over 1000 citizens and Victoria’s Government, Australia for its e-Government Ressource Center which has been aggregating the world’s e-Government strategies.

e-Democracy world forum’s Award 2008 : Andrew Rasiej

Awarded by Andre Santini, Mayor of Issy-les-Moulineaux, and Minister of State for Civil Service.

TechPresident, a daily blog and email digest of how candidates are using the web and how the web is using them, which was launched in February 2007. It covers the gamut of online campaign activities: from campaign websites, online advertising and email lists to video postings on Youtube. TechPresident‘s “Dailydigest” email newsletter has become a must –read for the leading journalists, bloggers and activists. TechPresident led the online discussion of how the campaign tools will be used in governance.

Andrew Rasiej, social entrepreneur, has found the “Personal Democracy Forum”, yearly conference which is assembling political and technologies actors. He advised lots of American MPs about Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Dick Gephardt. Thanks to him, the “Net Guard” was created: they have to restore communications in time crisis.

In1997, he founded the MOUSE project (Making Opportunities for and Education) in order to improve technologic equipment at school. It works in hundred schools in NYC. In .Rasiej has participated to the New-York Education service “task force” to reduce the “numeric gap” in the town.

International and Politics Online Award : Barack Obama

Awarded trophy to Joe Smallhoover, President of the Democrats Abroad in France

The US Presidential Democrat candidate is awarded for his Internet strategy, especially for his website mybarackobama.com. He’s the first one to have collected so many funds and people during an American presidential campaign. Since of the beginning of his campaign during the democrat’s primaries, he planned a perfect organization with “self-governing cells”. It allows him to collect 275 millions of dollars, thanks to lots of small givers.

European and Politech Award : the PSOE

The European Institute Politech measures the quality of european political websites. The website of the Spanish Socialist Party reached the best mark in European e-democracy (77,5/100). The party's website  (www.psoe.es), reflecting the e-participation values. Installing the med-citizen in the cyberspace with the most recent tools (Youtube, Picasa, Facebook, GoogleMaps…) the party is showing the Internet potential in the post-modern democracies.

French and Club de l’Hyper République Award : the Dream + project

The Award is awarded to Alexandre Desrousseaux, Chief of the Dream+ project, charged of mission ICT, collectivities and democracy at the Regional Council of Nord-Pas-de-Calais (France).

With to this project, the Regional Council propose several supports methods to local authorities about the use of digital tools in the service of one more opened and participative local democracy: cycles of seminaries, projects calls allowing the granting of a subsidy to support action of mobilisation of ICT in the local democracy actions.