World e-Democracy Forum

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...

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. 

£30 million for digital solidarity in UK

In UK, the Smarter Government report announced, last december, a £30m investment in digital inclusion for UK online centres to get one million people online for the end of 2012. The majority of that funding will go directly to grassroots providers in the form of grants, according to eGovernment Bulletin. The report recognised the potential to reduce the cost of public services and improve customer experience by moving the majority of provision online. It also acknowledged 100% online government had to mean 100% online citizens, and the money was pledged to UK online centres to help get one million people online over the next three years.

France is testing online registration on the electoral roll

In France, 3 cities (Issy-les-Moulineaux, Le Havre and Aix-sur-Vienne) are testing online registration on the electoral roll. Six month after the beginning of the experiment, 20% of new voters in Issy-les-Moulineaux have used this online service to register.

In France, you must be registered on the electoral roll of your city before December 31 to participate in elections of the following year.

It is easy to use the online service: you have just connect to the municipal website or the national Monservicepublic.fr (My public services), fill out the form and scan a proof of postal address and of your identity.

The three cities have been selected by the French Ministries of Interior and Finance to test the online service, which could be generalized in case of success to all French cities by the end of 2010.

In France, about 2 million people are registered each year on the electoral roll. To do this, it is necessary to go to the city hall and fill out a paper form, or to send a form by postal mail. A formality considered burdensome and not very modern both by users as municipal services, faced the end of the year in queues that stretch before the city hall at the close of registration on December 31.

The opportunity to register via Internet is part of the first measures taken under the program "Together simplify" driven by Eric Woerth, Minister of Budget, Public Accounts, Public Service and Reform of state. The simplification of administrative procedures is one of the priorities of the modernization of public services expected by users. It is reflected in particular by developing new online services.

eGovernment of Tomorrow as seen by Sweden

Vinnova, the Swedish Governmenal Agency for Innovation Systems published "eGovernment of Tomorrow". In this report, four scenarios are presented for eGovernment in 2020 with the main idea that in the future public participation will grow and trust in government and society will be important.

It is very interesting to read what can imagine the swedish agency: from the idea that "Government goes private" because a private actor emerges with efficiency to the idea of co-production with a strong participation in communities from Government, it is a new style of Government which emerge.

Can we imagine something like a new service "Google Government" in the future?
Or an emerging "Big Brother society" where people felt that, on balance, improved services outweighed the risk to personal integrity?

• To download the full report

Middle East: 30% of bloggers are women

According to Eleana Gordon, founder of the Center for Liberty in the Middle East, presenting  its latest initiative, the Institute of Online Activism at the World e-Democracy Forum in Issy-les-Moulineaux (Paris), 30 % of bloggers in the Middle East are women. The Institute allows women in the Middle East access to tools to "turn their dreams into action for change." Her speech illustrates the rise of e-democracy in this region.

The Center for Liberty in the Middle East (Clime) is a nonprofit organization that supports defenders of democratic values of freedom and tolerance in the Middle East. Through its network of activists across the region, CLIME advocates a peaceful transition of political systems that protect individual liberties, allow the full political participation and respect of ethnic pluralism, religious and political.

Eleana Gordon is also founder of "Online Activism Institute", whose goal is to teach activism through e*learning, activist videos and virtual mentoring. After a year of development, it launched in 2009 in Egypt and Jordan with training for 90 women on its flagship online course, "Create Your Activism Plan."

The Online Activism Institute is a consortium of NGOs, web-development, and academic partners in the Middle East and United States, who work together to provide state-of the-art training and resources through an e-learning platform. The consortium is based in Cairo, Amman and Washington, D.C. with plans to expand to more locations in the future. The Online Activism Institute is funded through the U.S. Department of State's Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI). MEPI supports efforts to foster reform throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

• How to empower women leaders online (PEP-Net.eu)
• The CLIME website
• The Online Activism Institute website

This week, e-Government key players will be in Malmö, Sweden.

On Wednesday 18 November, Vinnova and the City of Malmö organize a Pre-conference for the EU 5th Ministerial eGovernment Conference. The aim of this pre-conference (fully booked) is to demonstrate actual use of and potential of eGovernment research.

Member State ministers responsible for eGovernment are scheduled to meet on the eve of the 5th Ministerial eGovernment Conference, 18 November, to agree on a Ministerial Declaration that will set out the path for the field of eGovernment up until 2015. The Ministerial Declaration will be presented jointly by the Swedish Presidency and the European Commission on the first day of the Conference, Thursday.

How to promote anti-corruption online?

How to promote anti-corruption activities and transparency in countries with challenging political environments for civil society organisations and journalists such as the Middle East? Again, the internet is one of the most promising channels, according to Hany Ibrahim from the Development and Institutionalization Support Center DISC, selected by PoliticsOnline in the "Top 10 who are changing the World of Internet and Politics". Mr Hany Ibrahim will present, during the next World e-Democracy Forum, the "Nazaha" website, which means in Arabic "Transparency and Integrity". Nazaha aims to raise public awareness about corruption and its harmful effects, both in the short and long run.

Malmö, a city in transition

On 1 July 2009, Sweden took over the Presidency of the EU. Because the scandinavian country is also ranked No. 1 in the annual United Nations e-Government report, Sweden is guest of honor of the World e-Democracy Forum 2009. The Swedish Ambassador in France will present the main trends of IT development in his country, a country with a long democratic tradition that has elected for the first time, last June, an representative of the "Pirate Party", defending its position that file sharing (e.g. music) should be decriminalized, at the European Parliament. 

Other Swedish guest of the World e-Democracy Forum 2009: Malmö, Sweden's third largest city, host of 18 to 20 November next European Ministerial Conference on e-Government. Hard hit by the crisis of 1970' and 80', Malmö has been modernized through ICT and sustainable development. Ms Carina Nilsson, President of Malmö e-Committee and Deputy Mayor, will present the initiatives of the city.

On 1 July 2009, Sweden took over the Presidency of the EU. Because the scandinavian country is also ranked No. 1 in the annual United Nations e-Government report, Sweden is guest of honor of the World e-Democracy Forum 2009. The Swedish Ambassador in France will present the main trends of IT development in his country, a country with a long democratic tradition that has elected for the first time, last June, an representative of the "Pirate Party", defending its position that file sharing (e.g. music) should be decriminalized, at the European Parliament. 

Other Swedish guest of the World e-Democracy Forum 2009: Malmö, Sweden's third largest city, host of 18 to 20 November next European Ministerial Conference on e-Government. Hard hit by the crisis of 1970' and 80', Malmö has been modernized through ICT and sustainable development. Ms Carina Nilsson, President of Malmö e-Committee and Deputy Mayor, will present the initiatives of the city.

Bull and Serpro announce a strategic collaborative agreement

Partner of the World eDemocracy Forum, French company Bull and brazilian Serpro (Brazil's largest State-owned IT services agency) are announcing that they have reached a ground-breaking collaborative agreement, focused around the joint development of innovative Open Source and free software technologies for e-government services.