Abstract

While e-Participation systems in many European member states are now in use at local and national levels, their introduction and operation in converging and outermost European Regions presents new challenges. Changes in democratic structure and cultural norms, socio-economic conditions and movement of populations require more explicit theoretical underpinnings and ethical codes, otherwise e-participation systems may become places for conflict rather than collaboration. Added to this are digital divide challenges stemming from low overall penetration of information technology in some regions and mixed-language communities. Within this context, the workshop will bring to the surface issues that are present in those regions, regarding the joint participation and cooperation of citizens and organisational bodies with different visions and interests. Ways to tackle these issues will be explored, leading towards a unified framework consisting of guidelines and of common codes of ethics for successfully implementing and applying e-Participation platforms, without leaving sections of the community behind.

Workshop introduction

The mission of e-democracy and e-participation platforms is to improve the democratic decision-making process by using ICT to enable citizens and governments to engage collaboratively with one another to deliver evidence-based policy. Systems delivering this exist in most of the EU and the developed world. Many of these are relatively isolated, but it is clear that the theories and technologies of e-participation are moving towards stability and acceptance. However, introducing e-participation systems into the converging and outmost regions of the EU, reveals crucial obstacles relating to the fundamental philosophy and principles of these systems. These obstacles include language division, digital division, changes in culture and the presence of conflict.
This workshop is inspired by the EC FP6 funded projects Western Balkans Democratic Participation (WEB. DEP) and Enabling Participation of the Youth in the Public Debate of Legislation among Parliaments, Citizens and Businesses in the European Union (LEXIS).

Objectives

• To identify specific issues and contexts that are likely to restrain the use of e-participating technologies in converging and outermost regions of the EU (such as the Balkans, Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean basin).
• To explore possible solutions to these. These solutions could be inspired by projects within these regions or by those tackling similar issues in other parts of the world. For example, projects working with people usually excluded from the democratic process or the Internet. It is hoped that these solutions will include e-participation governance ideas, such as methods to devise appropriate guidelines and conditions of use, as well as procedural and technical ideas.

Scope

The following topics are anticipated, though other pertinent topics are welcome:

• Cultural and ethical divisions, especially relating to age, ethnicity or the EU acquis communautaire. It is envisaged that this topic will inspire processes to develop and implement e-participation guidelines and common codes.
• Trust-building and conflict resolution ? both within populations and between citizens and government. It is envisaged that this topic will include methods to build consensus.
• Language division. Encouraging use of native languages on the Internet is a priority of many international initiatives (1). A brief survey of e-community and e-participation initiatives revealed that most engage with an areas dominant language or use English to cover target audiences with diverse native languages. A minority of initiatives used human or machine translation. Robust and affordable solutions need to be found.
• Digital divide - due to both social and physical causes.
• Semantic annotation and deliberative support. The inclusion of semantic argumentation techniques in e-participation systems is especially relevant to citizens new to participatory democracy or using technology in this context. Its use in sensitive collaborative decision-making is applicable to this context.

Target audience

The target audience of this workshop are research organisations, public bodies and private enterprises that are involved in the area of e-Participation or related collaborative initiatives that could help to meet the objectives.

The work of news agencies within the WEB.DEP project inspires the addition of media organisations to this list. It is suggested that media organisations can play an important role in the next wave of e-participation initiatives and members of these organisations (and those with related expertise) are particularly encouraged to take part.

References

1. UNESCO (2003); Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in the Information Society. Paris, France, UNESCO