DEMO-net:%20Overall%20Project%20Presentation

1
DEMO-netOverall Project Presentation
2
Fact Sheet

• DEMO_net Contract Number FP6-2004-IST-4, 027219
  
• Duration 4 years
• Budget 6.000.000
• EC funding 6.000.000

3
The Consortium (1)

• Digital North Denmark (DK)
• The University of Leeds (UK)
• Örebro University (S)
• University of Koblenz (D)
• Fraunhofer AIS (D)
• University of Bremen, ifib (D)
• University of Macedonia (GR)
• National Technical University of Athens (GR)
• Copenhagen Business School (DK)
• Aalborg University (DK)

4
The Consortium (2)

• Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, FNSP
  (F)
• Technical University of Košice (SK)
• Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IT)
• University of Bergamo (IT)
• Yorkshire and Humber Assembly (UK)
• European Projects Management Agency / Vysocina
  Region, EPMA (CZ)
• Napier University (UK)
• University of Iceland (IS)
• University of Helsinki (SF)
• University of Southern California (US)

5
DEMO-net Objective

• To strengthen scientific, technological social
  research excellence in eParticipation
• To achieve a lasting integration of currently
  fragmented research in eParticipation
• To stimulate joint research in DEMO-net's agreed
  research areas
• To disseminate DEMO-net research amongst
  eParticipation stakeholders
• To provide a barometer of research effectiveness
  for eParticipation in Europe by establishing a
  corpus of lessons-learnt resource to show what
  kind of projects have delivered what kind of
  results and thereby considered effective for
  eParticipation.

6
Objectives will be achieved by

• Co-ordinate integrate research activities
  clustered around the research objectives
• Analyse existing eParticipation research across
  Europe
• Mobilise relationships among all stakeholders
• Achieve co-operation between government
  academia to improve quality of research
  understanding
• Provide technology platform for discussion,
  co-operation data exchange
• Disseminate research outcomes for the benefit of
  researchers, government citizens
• Ensure growth and sustainability

7
Research Objectives

• Establish a corpus of material of empirically
  based research and policy documents related to
  eParticipation
• Research knowledge architectures to support
  access to corpus
• Research interfaces to support evidence-based
  decision-making
• Investigate barriers to eParticipation across
  Europe
• Research discourse analysis techniques to explore
  agenda setting, and alliance building at
  different levels.
• Map of current emergent eParticipation
• technological infrastructures
• eParticipation methods.
• Establish criteria for evaluation of future
  eParticipation initiatives in a systematic
  standardised way
• Harmonise align concepts, terminology methods
• from academic disciplines.
• from the various non-academic stakeholders, eg
  European, national, regional and local
  governments

8
Integration Strategy - 1

• Integration Plan
• Investigation of integration challenges and how
  to overcome them
• Setting up European eParticipation virtual
  research centre
• Exchange of researchers between institutions
• Placement of researchers in regions
• Focused workshops
• PhD student seminars
• Students exchange programs
• Students field studies

9
Integration Strategy - 2

• Joint Research Programme
• Gap analysis and roadmap
• Knowledge and collaboration platform
• Application and use
• Large scale discourse analysis
• eParticipation tools and methods
• Management of diverse information and knowledge
• Virtual Communities
• Large scale public participation
• How and what to evaluate
• Emerging standards and business models
• Transferability of concepts, methods, standards,
  tools etc

10
Integration Strategy - 3

• Spreading of Excellence Plan
• Planning
• Requirements of supporting Technical
  Infrastructure
• Training Activities
• Dissemination and Promotion activities
• Consortium Management

11
DEMO-net partner relationships
Eg the EU-NSF networking at eGov
12
DEMO-net will deliver

• Virtual centre of excellence in eParticipation
  research which will ensure
• Research community that advances IST applicable
  to eParticipation an environment that
  encourages collaboration
• Sustainable eParticipation research community
• Significant contribution to PhD development
• Critical exposure of researchers to pressing
  democratic problems
• Significant input to government policy
  development for citizen engagement both in
  individual EU countries and the EU as a whole

13
Overall aims

• The DEMO-net project aims to
• to promote and develop technological and
  socio-technical excellence in the emerging field
  of e-Participation.
• build on the experience accumulated by leading
  European research organisations that have studied
  the underlying principles of e-Participation and
  actively worked with governments across Europe in
  applying and evaluating e-Participation

14
Work Packages
15
WP1 Integration Strategy

• Collects barriers and challenges from WP2-6
• Legal, institutional, cultural, linguistic,
  professional, infrastructural and financial
• Will develop a coherent integration framework
  which address 3 dimensions of integration
• Research among disciplines
• Research and application
• Geographical dispersement

16
WP2 Educational and student exchange

• Develop educational and support structures for
  research students in eParticipation
• Ensure a common body of research knowledge in
  eParticipation
• Puts in place funding mechanisms for
• cross fertilisation of ideas
• development of connections with regional
  innovation programmes
• Identification of emerging research agendas

17
WP3 Research exchange programme

• Promotes cooperation between technical and
  socio-technical researchers, government
  specialists and industry specialists
• Aims to
• create cross-disciplinary teams working on
  research and innovation projects
• develop funding opportunities for new projects
• stimulate wide discussion and dissemination of
  research results to develop and stabilise expert
  networks

18
WP4 Setting challenges

• Identify and respond to developing global
  research and innovation challenges in
  eParticipation
• Analyse the European eParticipation research
  landscape, comparing it with international
  developments
• Develop research agenda and roadmaps to govern
  future direction and future of network
• Put together research teams and thematic networks
  to respond to evolving challenges

19
WP5 Joined eParticipation technical research

• Understand existing tools and technologies used
  for eParticipation
• Analyse the technical challenges of
  eParticipation
• Develop standards and ontologies for information
  structuring
• Utilise methods of Knowledge Management for large
  scale eParticipation

20
WP6 Joined eParticipation socio-technical
research

• Develop the theoretical basis for
  cross-disciplinary socio-technical research in
  eParticipation to introduce and implement
  eParticipation in different application areas
• - Establish ways to support internal relevance
  (quality of online discourse) and external
  relevance (way eParticipation outcomes are used
  by political actors)
• Support socio-technical theoretical basis of
  technical solutions and their implementation

21
WP7 Establishing information infrastructure for
the NoE programme

• Gather fragmented research and best practice in
  eParticipation
• Provide an infrastructure for management of the
  network
• Design and construct a suitable collaborative and
  knowledge platform
• Develop a business model for the sustainability
  of the information feeding from within and
  outside the network partners

22
WP8 Dissemination

• Disseminate and demonstrate the projects results
• Inform eParticipation stakeholders in Europe
  about DEMO-net and possibilities for cooperation
• Prepare relevant training material