We are organising (on demand of the EC) a European meeting of great examples of web2.0 in public services. It will take place in Brussels on March 16th.  “We” means Lee, Dominic and Justin, myself. Plus a wider network of friends already guaranteeing their participation.

Why? We’re fed up with making presentations about what you can do with web2.0. Our aim is to gather the best people around and show how web 2.0 projects already are changing public services, in order to change government perception for good. And we feel there is a strong interest of web2.0 people to meet at a European level.

Participation is free: we have no budget, we do it on a voluntary basis and the EC ePractice platform offers premises with wifi and food (thanks!). And yes, it is all very close term, so we really count on word of mouth to reach out.

Please do come to the event, either to present your project or just to discuss. And please, help us spreading the word about this and let’s make it together a memorable event, not just another workshop on web 2.0. Sponsors are also welcome for covering travel and additional costs.

Below I reproduce the text from the official website.

Over the last 3 years, we have seen a dramatic rise in user driven, web 2.0 style initiatives in and around public sector service provision. Initiatives such as Patient Opinion, Farmsubsidy and Theyworkforyou all seek to challenge, disrupt and improve on traditional models of public service delivery from the outside, built on the web 2.0 principles of openness, transparency and sharing.

The promoters of this event perceive a GROWING GAP between the innovation culture underlying these initiatives and the way that government approaches ICT innovation in public services. This gap is cannot be filled by repeating the same PRESENTATIONS ON WHAT CAN BE DONE with web 2.0. It is long time to DEMONSTRATE WHAT IS DONE ALREADY and to learn from experience.

There have been similar event in European countries, but it is now long time for a EU-level event: firstly, challenges are similar in different EU countries, thereby making the exchange of experiences particularly
meaningful and useful; secondly, we are at a particular moment of re-design of European policies, when a new ICT policy is being discussed following i2010.

The workshop will therefore bring together the best experiences from all over Europe, with two goals:

  • share experience and knowledge between the people running these projects, and promote the surge of collaborative initiatives
  • raise awareness and better understanding between government officials about WHY and HOW to promote web 2.0 in government

The workshop will focus on:

  • projects that apply web2.0 in government, run by civil society, individual citizens, private companies and government
  • existing policies on how to enable and promote web 2.0 in government

The structure of the workshop will be very interactive and hands-on, with short, to-the point 10 minutes presentation of projects, long time for informal discussion and knowledge exchange between participants.

The workshop is jointly organized by Tech4i2, Headshift, FutureGov and the European Commission / ePractice portal.

, ,

Powered by ScribeFire.