E-Government: Towards G2C<>C2G Communication

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E-Government Towards G2CltgtC2G Communication

• Leslie Regan Shade
• University of Ottawa
• Department of Communication
• shade_at_aix1.uottawa.ca

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Talk Outline

• Overview of Trends
• E-Government
• E-Democracy
• Citizen Engagement
• C2GltgtG2C Communication
• Your Time!?

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Trends in KBE/S

• Globalization
• Media Concentration
• Growth in Supranational Forums (e.g., WTO, IMF)
• Growing Anti-Corporate and Citizenship Movements

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More Stakeholders Want a Say in Governance

• NGOs, civil society groups, citizens
• Lobby groups on the left and the right
• Using traditional and new media

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Changes in Government Funding

• Public/Private sector partnerships
• Downsizing in public sector
• Contracting/outsourcing work
• Privatization of functions
• Decentralization
• New Economy Ethos

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Risks.

• security concerns
• privacy
• confidentiality
• stress
• overwork and/or under-work
• fraying social safety net

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Challenges to Governance

• Engagement -with citizens and with media
• Widening consultation processes-stakeholder
  summits
• Use of ICTs
•  

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Whats Happening in Canada?

• Government Online Initiative - www.gol-ged.gc.ca.
  Principles are to
• inform the public
• consider public concerns
• develop policies
• implement programs

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Ensure that Government is

• visible
• accessible
• accountable

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Good Information

• free flow
• continuous
• open
• relevant
• understandable
• reliable

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Other Government Initiatives

• Industry Canadas Connecting Canadians
• CAP
• Volnet
• School Net
• Access.ca

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New Kid on the Block

• Broadband Task Force broadband.gc.ca
• Whats the content driving broadband?

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Why Go Online?

• Branding Canada
• Better Service
• Better Government
• Stimulates e-commerce
• 24-7 availability

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Big Issues

• Privacy
• Security
• Accessibility
• Consultation

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Big Issues Privacy

• Assuring privacy is key
• Many dont feel secure doing online
  transactions.
• Why e-commerce initiatives targeted consumer
  privacy needs - Bill C6

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Privacy Elements

• Confidentiality
• Authentication
• Access control
• Integrity
• No fraud!

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Big Issues-Access

• Technical infrastructure
• Social infrastructure
• Literacy
• Content
• Design
• Universal Usability

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Accessibility Issues

• Persons with disabilities
• Low literacy rates
• No domestic access
• Canadas Dual Digital Divide

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Big Issues-Consultation

• User input into design of system
• Navigation
• Content
• Online or through focus groups?

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Types of E-Government Initiatives

• Citizen access to government information
• Facilitating general compliance
• Citizen access to personal benefits
• Procurement including bidding, purchasing, and
  payment

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E-Gov Services, contd

• Government-to-government information and service
  integration
• Citizen participation
• The Portalone-stop shopping

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Pilot Projects for Consultation U.S.

• "E-Government The Next American Revolution
• Council for Excellence in Government
• move from 1990s dot-com decade....to dot-gov
  decade
• public wants to be a more informed

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E-government Experiment

• an experiment in interactive legislation
• Senators Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman
• topics-- citizen access, standards and
  protocols, public kiosks, agency cooperation,
  public-private partnerships....

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Comment from Derek Ohlms Organization
Vanderbilt University Organization type
Academic Institution Date submitted8 AUGUST,
2000 0107 AM Topic Study Disparities in
Access to the Internet
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I am particularly interested in the availability
and use of internet access through public schools
and libraries. How many people per workstation do
these sorts of forums offer? Also, who has
access through facilities that place significant
limitations on time and demand cash for access.
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U.K. People's Panel -1998

• Part of the 'Modernising Government' initiatives
• Cabinet Office Modernising Public Services Group
• MORI (market research company)
• Birmingham University's School of Public Policy

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Peoples Panel

• 5,000 members of the public
• representative of the UK population age, gender,
  region and a wide range of other demographic
  indicators
• quantitative
• qualitative

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Peoples Panel

• quantitative (telephone surveys, postal mail-in
  surveys, face2face interview surveys)
•  qualitative (focus groups, workshops, depth
  interviews, citizens juries, deliberative polls)

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E-Democracy Goals

• Use IT to improve the effectiveness and
  efficiency of democracy
• Increase convenience timeliness of
  citizen/government interaction
• Reduce cost

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Tony Blairs New Hyde Park
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E-Government is part of E-Democracy

• Informing citizens
• E-politics use of Internet to improve
  effectiveness of political decision-making
• Facilitate participation in process

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Skills Learning

• Citizens will have to learn how to use
  e-democracy
• They need the motivation
• Trust
• Literacy Skills
• Access to ICTs

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Vision of Democracy Using New Media

• interactivity
• global
• free speech
• free association
• sharing of information and knowledge
• challenges official public opinion
•  

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Ideal of Strong Democracy

• accountable governments
• informed citizenry
• citizen participation
• in affairs of the state
• in civil society

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Design is Important

• people-centred
• participatory design
• citizen-centred evaluation of e-government
  services

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Design.

• inadequate pre-testing can lead to flops
• ex kiosk applications
• location of kiosk
• interface designs

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Citizen Engagement Action

• Case of the MAI

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Seattle WTO Meetings

• Pics from Council of Canadians site

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• Indymedia.org
• Local affiliates
• Pictures, videos, audio, articles
• E-mail updates
• Archives and links

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Indy Media Franchises??!!

• International in scope
• Policy to start own indy media centre
• Working groups technical and dispatch

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www.clickforcleanair.org
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The Right to Communicate the Communication of
Rights
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Dot Force Civil Society Consultation
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Problems with E-Democracy

• Misuse of IT
• Endless babble
• Overload can be dangerous
• Endless babble
• Accountability to citizens
• Endless and often mindless babble
• A constructive-free zone..

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• www.ecommons.net
• Office of Learning Technologies project
• Building public space online
• Hub InfoCentral
• Netizen News
• Citizen Forums

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• Forum moderators are responsible for facilitating
  discussions and ensuring that the Civil Rules are
  respected. They reserve the right to take
  whatever measures are required to ensure the
  Civil Rules are respected by site visitors.

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• Such measures include, but are not limited to,
  refusing to accept any message that may be
  construed or interpreted as discriminatory,
  promulgating hatred or obscenity, or defamation
  of any kind.

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Issues with Digital Debates

• Limit time for discussion
• Specify clear topic
• Independent moderator
• Clear rules
• Quick summary

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What tools for consultation?

• Whats the most appropriate?
• Web forums?
• E-Mail???
• Listserv moderated, unmoderated, digest or no
  digest
• Can too much e-mail create an avalanche?

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Most suitable online discussion framework

• Real time or asynchronous
• How close are decision makers to the process?
• Officials lurkers or participants?
• Do public servants contribute to discussion?
• Standards for response time

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Public Service Culture and New Media

• Public servants dealing with increasingly
  ambiguous role
• Most government websites designed to disseminate
  information, not gather it
• Mass listening is changing opinion polls are
  not the only option

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PS Culture Contd

• Departments must create new structures to engage
  with citizens
• Within government communication structure,
  perhaps more liaisons press officers,
  librarians, lawyers, etc.
• (from Report on Wilton Park Conference on
  E-Government, 15-18 Nov. 1999)

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Risk of E-Government Project Failure

• Management confusion
• Lack of focus and definition
• Lack of IT skills in public sector
• Grandiose scope all the bells, whistles and
  java applets
• Not enough

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Calling all Canadian Eyeballs!!

• In an information-rich environment, how to
  distinguish oneself from the mass of.American
  content and stuff???
• or from Canadian commercial sites
• or from Canadian media mergers BCEgtThomsongtCTV
  CanwestgtHollinger Videotron.Quebecor

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So, Whats at Stake?

• Public service effectiveness and efficiency
• Privacy and security
• Equity and community
• Governance
• Loss of public service jobs through
  digitization???

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Lets Consider..

• Will Internet infrastructure grow exponentially?
• How can new media overcome, rather than
  exacerbate, issues of access to publicly-funded
  services?
• You said paperless office???!

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C2GltgtG2C Communication

• Realize goal of packaging information as a social
  good, rather than a costly consumer product
• Citizen engagement is key
• Design level (end-users)
• Content
• Consultation

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Your Turn

• Best practices
• Worst practices
• Organizational culture cog in the wheel or
  empowered?
• How to attract and retain new grads?