Arguments Opposed to the Resolution - Revision history

Csrobertson: /* Crossing the Digital Divide */

2007-05-16T04:33:38Z

Crossing the Digital Divide

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	Interactive features available for users â virtually every site contains a prominent guestbook or forum as well as the option to petition the particular department.		Interactive features available for users â virtually every site contains a prominent guestbook or forum as well as the option to petition the particular department.

	==== ~~Crossing~~ the Digital Divide ====		==== Bridging the Digital Divide ====

	The South Korean government, recognizing the sharp digital (and economic) divide between its urban and rural areas, launched the [http://www.invil.org/english/ Information Network Village] project in 2001. (A promotional video - in English - is available [http://www.invil.org/english/intro1/prroom/index.html here].)		The South Korean government, recognizing the sharp digital (and economic) divide between its urban and rural areas, launched the [http://www.invil.org/english/ Information Network Village] project in 2001. (A promotional video - in English - is available [http://www.invil.org/english/intro1/prroom/index.html here].)

Csrobertson: /* Crossing the Digital Divide */

2007-05-16T04:24:09Z

Crossing the Digital Divide

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	==== Crossing the Digital Divide ====		==== Crossing the Digital Divide ====

	The South Korean government, recognizing the sharp digital (and economic) divide between its urban and rural areas, launched the [http://www.invil.org/english/ Information Network Village] project in 2001. (A promotional video - in English - is available [http://www.invil.org/english/intro1/prroom/index.html here].) The project's goal is to "reduce the digital divide between rural and urban regions by increasing availability of e-government services and to increase income level of local residents by boosting regional economy through e-commerce, which eventually leads to the improvement of the quality of life in rural communities."		The South Korean government, recognizing the sharp digital (and economic) divide between its urban and rural areas, launched the [http://www.invil.org/english/ Information Network Village] project in 2001. (A promotional video - in English - is available [http://www.invil.org/english/intro1/prroom/index.html here].)

			The project's goal is to "reduce the digital divide between rural and urban regions by increasing availability of e-government services and to increase income level of local residents by boosting regional economy through e-commerce, which eventually leads to the improvement of the quality of life in rural communities."

			So far, the project has reached a total of 233,540 local residents in 79,279 households in 280 villages over the course of four development "stages" (each stage integrates a new group of villages into the Information Network Village project)[http://www.invil.org/english/intro1/performance/].

	=== Estonia ===		=== Estonia ===

Csrobertson: /* Crossing the Digital Divide */

2007-05-16T04:05:14Z

Crossing the Digital Divide

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	==== Crossing the Digital Divide ====		==== Crossing the Digital Divide ====

	The South Korean government, recognizing the sharp digital (and economic) divide between its urban and rural areas, launched the [http://www.invil.org/english/ Information Network Village] project in 2001. (A promotional video - in English - is available [http://www.invil.org/english/intro1/prroom/index.html here].)		The South Korean government, recognizing the sharp digital (and economic) divide between its urban and rural areas, launched the [http://www.invil.org/english/ Information Network Village] project in 2001. (A promotional video - in English - is available [http://www.invil.org/english/intro1/prroom/index.html here].) The project's goal is to "reduce the digital divide between rural and urban regions by increasing availability of e-government services and to increase income level of local residents by boosting regional economy through e-commerce, which eventually leads to the improvement of the quality of life in rural communities."

	=== Estonia ===		=== Estonia ===

Csrobertson: /* South Korea */

2007-05-16T04:00:59Z

South Korea

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:00, 16 May 2007
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	Interactive features available for users â virtually every site contains a prominent guestbook or forum as well as the option to petition the particular department.		Interactive features available for users â virtually every site contains a prominent guestbook or forum as well as the option to petition the particular department.

			==== Crossing the Digital Divide ====

			The South Korean government, recognizing the sharp digital (and economic) divide between its urban and rural areas, launched the [http://www.invil.org/english/ Information Network Village] project in 2001. (A promotional video - in English - is available [http://www.invil.org/english/intro1/prroom/index.html here].)

	=== Estonia ===		=== Estonia ===

Cconley at 19:23, 11 May 2007

2007-05-11T19:23:51Z

@@ Line 331: / Line 331: @@
 [http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main Regulations.gov] publishes pending agency regulations and permits the public to submit comments directly. While this is merely an Internet implementation of the prior process of commentary, the increased ease of public participation in the process is remarkable.
 == Conclusions ==
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 Despite these concerns, the potential of e-government is enormous. Within a representative democracy, e-government has the potential to tighten ties between elected representatives and their constituents, creating incentives for the former to be more responsive and the latter to be more involved. Furthermore, e-government presents the possibility (whether or not desirable) of adding elements of direct democracy into our representative system.
-The goal of e-government, put simply, is to remove barriers between the government and the governed; to the extent that it is successful in doing so, it is likely to positively impact government and society.
+The goal of e-government, put simply, is to remove barriers between the government and the governed, and thereby to positively impact government and society. Doing so, however requires that governments take a hard look at the current relationship between citizens and government, identify areas where ICT allows this relationship to change, and implement those changes that create net social benefit. The willingness to reconsider long-standing notions of civic behavior and proper governance, and to alter the status quo, is precisely the "special magic" that is necessary for government in a digital age.

Cconley: /* Tampere, Finland */

2007-05-11T05:21:46Z

Tampere, Finland

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	=== Tampere, Finland ===		=== Tampere, Finland ===

	"The City of Tampere in Finland has become internationally known for its e-government activities." [http://www.governanceinternational.org/english/interview2.html] Tampere's embrace of Internet technologies such as online forums as a supplement to traditional forms of interaction between citizens and government is admirable in itself, but ~~where it truly shines~~ is its embrace of innovative uses of technology to alter the relationship between citizens and government and its dedication to ensuring access to all of its citizens.		"The City of Tampere in Finland has become internationally known for its e-government activities." [http://www.governanceinternational.org/english/interview2.html] Tampere's embrace of Internet technologies such as online forums as a supplement to traditional forms of interaction between citizens and government is admirable in itself, but what stands out is its embrace of innovative uses of technology to alter the relationship between citizens and government and its dedication to ensuring access to all of its citizens.

	==== "Real World SimCity(tm)" ====		==== "Real World SimCity(tm)" ====

Cconley: /* Challenges to e-Government */

2007-05-11T05:03:23Z

Challenges to e-Government

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	It is worth noting that democratic government does not exist in a vacuum and is not the sole body interested in e-government. The [http://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/ Hansard Society] and the [http://www.sunlightfoundation.com/ Sunlight Foundation] provide two examples of non-governmental entities investing considerable effort into researching and advocating for e-government. As long as government in a given country is in practice democratic, external and internal pressures have the potential to force institutional change to make e-government feasible.		It is worth noting that democratic government does not exist in a vacuum and is not the sole body interested in e-government. The [http://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/ Hansard Society] and the [http://www.sunlightfoundation.com/ Sunlight Foundation] provide two examples of non-governmental entities investing considerable effort into researching and advocating for e-government. As long as government in a given country is in practice democratic, external and internal pressures have the potential to force institutional change to make e-government feasible.

			=== Scale ===

			A final criticism of e-government is scale. Many of the notable successes in e-government to date have occurred on a relatively small scale, in smaller nations such as Estonia or South Korea or in cities and towns. Large-scale e-government initiatives, particularly those encouraging greater citizen participation, may face different challenges than the same initiative might face on a smaller scale, such as the difficulty of processing a substantially greater amount of citizen input. This suggests that e-government may not be transformative at all but may merely reflect an incremental change in the inherently more direct modus of local governments.

			There are several possible responses to this criticism. First, it strikes too broadly: even if some e-government initiatives are difficult to scale up, it does not follow that all such initiatives are. In fact, in many cases increasing the scale may increase the effectiveness of e-government initiatives intended to promote transparency and efficiency, since these traits are most easily lost at higher levels.

			More to the point, some initiatives are "difficult" to scale to larger governments because larger governments are locked into a preconceived model of citizen interaction. Federal agencies are accustomed to interacting with large public interest groups through notice-and-comment rulemaking; using the same mechanism to interact with individual citizen input may well not be efficient, but it does not justify rejecting the entire idea of individual input. Instead, consideration needs to be given to whether mechanisms such as reputation systems can be refined to enable citizen input in a manner that is usable by the agency (and, of course, are not susceptible to gaming).

			At a minimum, this suggests that e-government requires careful analysis of the role that scale plays in the success of e-government initiatives; the national government may not be able to adopt every innovation from local governments, but needs to assess its portability to the federal realm.

	== e-Government Success Stories ==		== e-Government Success Stories ==

Cconley: /* e-Government Success Stories */

2007-05-11T04:44:23Z

e-Government Success Stories

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	* The [http://www.ega.ee/ E-Governance Academy] is "a non-governmental, non-profit organisation, founded for the creation and transfer of knowledge concerning e-governance, e-democracy and the development of civil society."		* The [http://www.ega.ee/ E-Governance Academy] is "a non-governmental, non-profit organisation, founded for the creation and transfer of knowledge concerning e-governance, e-democracy and the development of civil society."

			=== Tampere, Finland ===

			"The City of Tampere in Finland has become internationally known for its e-government activities." [http://www.governanceinternational.org/english/interview2.html] Tampere's embrace of Internet technologies such as online forums as a supplement to traditional forms of interaction between citizens and government is admirable in itself, but where it truly shines is its embrace of innovative uses of technology to alter the relationship between citizens and government and its dedication to ensuring access to all of its citizens.

			==== "Real World SimCity(tm)" ====

			One of Tampere's successful e-government initiatives was a "real world SimCity" which encouraged citizens to try their hand at urban planning to accommodate an anticipated influx of immigrants. Citizen-players used multimedia technologies to simulate the effects of locating the immigrants in various locations within the town, forcing players to consider and balance the effects of a given plan on traffic, local parks, tax revenue, and various other factors. [http://www.ici.ro/ici/revista/sic2000_4/art05.htm City of Tampere: Turning Civic Participation into Reality via the Internet] (Unfortunately, the town planning game appears to be no longer available.)

			This effort succeeded on multiple levels. 330 planning suggestions were submitted to the government, allowing the planning commission to evaluate both the concrete suggestions as alternatives and to use the suggestions to ascertain the importance that citizens placed on relevant factors such as park space and traffic. Citizens, meanwhile, became more connected with the government, appreciating the complexities and tradeoffs involved in urban planning in a manner difficult to communicate with offline planning maps.

			==== Expanding Access ====

			Tampere has also focused on expanding access to Internet services. There are two local initiatives focused on ensuring maximum access for all residents:

			* The [http://www.tampere.fi/kirjasto/nettinysse/english.htm "Netti-Nysse"] ("Internet Bus") is an effort to support Tampere residents attempting to get online. The Netti-Nysse is essentially a mobile Internet training center which is scheduled by small groups for a set of four informal training sessions on computers and the Internet. It focuses primarily on underserved populations, demonstrating the material available on the Internet and providing information about free access points and continuing training throughout the town.

			* [http://www.etupa.fi/ eTupa] is a company designed to support Tampere's growing base of Internet users. It provides consulting services for citizens considering the purchase of a PC, making recommendations about the most suitable computer for the person's needs. It also provides technical support, including on-site support. eTupa was founded as a government-subsidized entity and has since transitioned into a fully private enterprise, though most services except hardware repair and on-site assistance remain free.

			==== Long-Term Goals ====

			"Supporting peopleâs computer literacy plays an essential part in building the information society but it is still not enough. Giving people meaningful content and the opportunities to use computers are also needed. In Tampere, the information society is being developed through wide and good cooperation thanks to the eTampere project.

			"What eTampere and Netti-Nysse are aiming at, is mostly evoking discussion, creating co-operation and showing the need for novel practices in an inclusive information society. It is our goal to help people to see the possibilities and then make their own choices concerning their role in the information society." [http://www.tampere.fi/kirjasto/nettinysse/english.htm]

	== The Potential of e-Government ==		== The Potential of e-Government ==

Cconley: /* The Promise of e-Government */

2007-05-11T03:59:17Z

The Promise of e-Government

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	# More informed policymakers - Most policy consultations are conducted with the usual suspects on a relatively narrow range of interests. Yet ... within [MPs'] own constituencies there are untapped polic experts who have ground level experience of government policy. The development of online networks of expertise may be one way of reaching such expertise.		# More informed policymakers - Most policy consultations are conducted with the usual suspects on a relatively narrow range of interests. Yet ... within [MPs'] own constituencies there are untapped polic experts who have ground level experience of government policy. The development of online networks of expertise may be one way of reaching such expertise.
	# A more informed public - The emergence of an online third force sector providing greater information on parliament and its representatives may assist the public's knowledge or at least stimulate some public debate about the role of parliaments and representatives."		# A more informed public - The emergence of an online third force sector providing greater information on parliament and its representatives may assist the public's knowledge or at least stimulate some public debate about the role of parliaments and representatives."
	[http://www.esri.salford.ac.uk/ESRCResearchproject/papers/ESRC_Representation_in_the_Internet_age_final_report.pdf ESRC Final Report on Representation in the Internet Age], , p. 10.		[http://www.esri.salford.ac.uk/ESRCResearchproject/papers/ESRC_Representation_in_the_Internet_age_final_report.pdf ESRC Final Report on Representation in the Internet Age], p. 10.

	There are many ways in which e-government can produce dramatic changes in the way our government operates. For purposes of this debate, we will focus on three specific arenas in which e-government initiatives promise change: improving the government's efficiency and effectiveness in forming policy and delivering services, increasing transparency to ensure accountability, and enabling a greater public role in the processes of governance. Each of these arenas requires more than "business as usual" from the government, demanding an understanding of the possibilities enabled by ICTs and a willingness to reconceptualize the nature of government.		There are many ways in which e-government can produce dramatic changes in the way our government operates. For purposes of this debate, we will focus on three specific arenas in which e-government initiatives promise change: improving the government's efficiency and effectiveness in forming policy and delivering services, increasing transparency to ensure accountability, and enabling a greater public role in the processes of governance. Each of these arenas requires more than "business as usual" from the government, demanding an understanding of the possibilities enabled by ICTs and a willingness to reconceptualize the nature of government.

Cconley: /* The Promise of e-Government */

2007-05-11T03:58:49Z

The Promise of e-Government

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:58, 11 May 2007
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	# More informed policymakers - Most policy consultations are conducted with the usual suspects on a relatively narrow range of interests. Yet ... within [MPs'] own constituencies there are untapped polic experts who have ground level experience of government policy. The development of online networks of expertise may be one way of reaching such expertise.		# More informed policymakers - Most policy consultations are conducted with the usual suspects on a relatively narrow range of interests. Yet ... within [MPs'] own constituencies there are untapped polic experts who have ground level experience of government policy. The development of online networks of expertise may be one way of reaching such expertise.
	# A more informed public - The emergence of an online third force sector providing greater information on parliament and its representatives may assist the public's knowledge or at least stimulate some public debate about the role of parliaments and representatives."		# A more informed public - The emergence of an online third force sector providing greater information on parliament and its representatives may assist the public's knowledge or at least stimulate some public debate about the role of parliaments and representatives."
	[http://www.esri.salford.ac.uk/ESRCResearchproject/papers/ESRC_Representation_in_the_Internet_age_final_report.pdf], p. 10.		[http://www.esri.salford.ac.uk/ESRCResearchproject/papers/ESRC_Representation_in_the_Internet_age_final_report.pdf ESRC Final Report on Representation in the Internet Age], , p. 10.

	There are many ways in which e-government can produce dramatic changes in the way our government operates. For purposes of this debate, we will focus on three specific arenas in which e-government initiatives promise change: improving the government's efficiency and effectiveness in forming policy and delivering services, increasing transparency to ensure accountability, and enabling a greater public role in the processes of governance. Each of these arenas requires more than "business as usual" from the government, demanding an understanding of the possibilities enabled by ICTs and a willingness to reconceptualize the nature of government.		There are many ways in which e-government can produce dramatic changes in the way our government operates. For purposes of this debate, we will focus on three specific arenas in which e-government initiatives promise change: improving the government's efficiency and effectiveness in forming policy and delivering services, increasing transparency to ensure accountability, and enabling a greater public role in the processes of governance. Each of these arenas requires more than "business as usual" from the government, demanding an understanding of the possibilities enabled by ICTs and a willingness to reconceptualize the nature of government.