This is a presentation of research done within the EU Community project and its evaluation, combining reputation management and sentiment analysis techniques for policy modelling
Public Agencies or Nonprofit Organizations: Which sector is maximizing its
E-participation tools to promote citizen engagement?
There is a long literature regarding the importance of civic participation, perhaps starting as early as the early 19th century with Alexis de Tocqueville. Implicit the “new public service” is the importance of providing information for the public, but also taking information in from the public. Technology allows for more inclusiveness in governing through e-participation. Government’s move to increasingly rely on nonprofit organizations for the provision of services had brought organizations in the public and nonprofit sectors into a position where they are both active in promoting a public benefit. Recent moves in governing argue to bring more stakeholders to the virtual decision-making table. ICTs provide the vehicle for more people to be at that virtual table. The extent to which public and nonprofit organizations utilize these mediums has grown in recent years. What is missing is a comparative study of utilization between the two sectors of similar organizations. This paper will compare similar organizations’ use of ICTs in the two sectors. An analysis of Web sites and social media platforms will be conducted using indexes that allow for a cross-sector comparison. The purpose is two fold: to broaden the empirical analysis of ICT adoption, and second, to better understand which sector is more open to public input via these new mediums. Administrators in both sectors can use the results of this to see not only the ICT tools their ‘competitors’, to use New Public Management terminology, are using but also see where they are lagging in promoting e-participation.
Open government platforms U.S. federal governmentInes Mergel
As part of the Open Government initiative, the U.S. federal government has set up a series of platforms to inform, educate, engage and collaborate with the public. This document categorizes the existing platforms based on their OG contributions, goals, audience, processes, and observed outcomes.
Open Government Data Ecosystems: Linking Transparency for Innovation with Tra...Luigi Reggi
Presentation at IFIP EGOV 2016 Conference. September 5, 2016.
Abstract. The rhetoric of open government data (OGD) promises that data transparency will lead to multiple public benefits: economic and social innovation, civic participation, public-private collaboration, and public accountability. In reality much less has been accomplished in practice than advocates have hoped. OGD research to address this gap tends to fall into two streams – one that focuses on data publication and re-use for purposes of innovation, and one that views publication as a stimulus for civic participation and government accountability - with little attention to whether or how these two views interact. In this paper we use an ecosystem perspective to explore this question. Through an exploratory case study we show how two related cycles of influences can flow from open data publication. The first addresses transparency for innovation goals, the second addresses larger issues of data use for public engagement and greater government accountability. Together they help explain the potential and also the barriers to reaching both kinds of goals.
This is a presentation of research done within the EU Community project and its evaluation, combining reputation management and sentiment analysis techniques for policy modelling
Public Agencies or Nonprofit Organizations: Which sector is maximizing its
E-participation tools to promote citizen engagement?
There is a long literature regarding the importance of civic participation, perhaps starting as early as the early 19th century with Alexis de Tocqueville. Implicit the “new public service” is the importance of providing information for the public, but also taking information in from the public. Technology allows for more inclusiveness in governing through e-participation. Government’s move to increasingly rely on nonprofit organizations for the provision of services had brought organizations in the public and nonprofit sectors into a position where they are both active in promoting a public benefit. Recent moves in governing argue to bring more stakeholders to the virtual decision-making table. ICTs provide the vehicle for more people to be at that virtual table. The extent to which public and nonprofit organizations utilize these mediums has grown in recent years. What is missing is a comparative study of utilization between the two sectors of similar organizations. This paper will compare similar organizations’ use of ICTs in the two sectors. An analysis of Web sites and social media platforms will be conducted using indexes that allow for a cross-sector comparison. The purpose is two fold: to broaden the empirical analysis of ICT adoption, and second, to better understand which sector is more open to public input via these new mediums. Administrators in both sectors can use the results of this to see not only the ICT tools their ‘competitors’, to use New Public Management terminology, are using but also see where they are lagging in promoting e-participation.
Open government platforms U.S. federal governmentInes Mergel
As part of the Open Government initiative, the U.S. federal government has set up a series of platforms to inform, educate, engage and collaborate with the public. This document categorizes the existing platforms based on their OG contributions, goals, audience, processes, and observed outcomes.
Open Government Data Ecosystems: Linking Transparency for Innovation with Tra...Luigi Reggi
Presentation at IFIP EGOV 2016 Conference. September 5, 2016.
Abstract. The rhetoric of open government data (OGD) promises that data transparency will lead to multiple public benefits: economic and social innovation, civic participation, public-private collaboration, and public accountability. In reality much less has been accomplished in practice than advocates have hoped. OGD research to address this gap tends to fall into two streams – one that focuses on data publication and re-use for purposes of innovation, and one that views publication as a stimulus for civic participation and government accountability - with little attention to whether or how these two views interact. In this paper we use an ecosystem perspective to explore this question. Through an exploratory case study we show how two related cycles of influences can flow from open data publication. The first addresses transparency for innovation goals, the second addresses larger issues of data use for public engagement and greater government accountability. Together they help explain the potential and also the barriers to reaching both kinds of goals.
ODDC Context - An Investigation of the use of the Online National Budget of N...Open Data Research Network
Presentation in the first workshop of the Exploring the Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries project. Looking at the context of open data, and the research case study planned for 2013 - 2014. See http://www.opendataresearch.org/project/2013/unilorin
Presentation by Janet C Achora – PhD Candidate Agriculture and Rural Innovations- Makerere University
Session: Implementation of ICTs for Development Strategies in Agriculture
on 5 Nov 2013
ICT4Ag, Kigali, Rwanda
Presented by Mammusa Rantsoti-Lekoa (Policy Liaison Officer) at the Public Engagement Workshop, 2-5 Dec. 2008, KwaZulu-Natal South Africa, http://scienceincommunity.wordpress.com/
Report on current policies and regulatory frameworksOles Kulchytskyy
The Report on current policies and regulatory frameworks for social media and content convergence: information disorder, human rights and regulatory implications (D2.1) provides a
comprehensive insight into regulatory and governance initiatives addressing the human rights concerns related to information disorder in social media and a better understanding of the
regulatory and governance implications, including their potential impact on the fragmentation of the single market.
The information is prepared by the team of the COMPACT project (http://compact-media.eu/).
COMPACT is a Coordination and Support Action funded European Commission under framework Horizon 2020.
The objective of the COMPACT project is to increase awareness (including scientific, political, cultural, legal, economic and technical areas) of the latest technological discoveries among key stakeholders in the context of social media and convergence. The project will offer analyses and road maps of related initiatives. In addition, extensive research on policies and regulatory frameworks in media and content will be developed.
Using a lens of feedback and engagement this paper discusses the relationships between people, organisations, and energy use in workplaces. It reflects on two projects that explored participatory energy practices in public and private organisations. The first, “Working with Infrastructure, Creation of Knowledge, and Energy strategy Development (WICKED)”, explored energy management practices in a range of different retail companies. The second, ‘Gooddeeds’ aimed to collaboratively create an ICT based tool and related social processes with a city municipality. The paper concludes, firstly, that energy management sits against the backdrop of competing organisational, institutional and political priorities and the core strategy of an organisation matters. Second, we need to move beyond the ‘them and us’ culture and ‘information-deficit’ approach intrinsic in the notion of dashboards and feedback to appreciate the positive contribution all can make to energy efficiency. Finally, there are still large discrepancies across organisations with regards to energy management capabilities and metering technologies. In conclusion we note that relationships and partnerships are central in moving forward.
Presentation about the impact of amount of Internet use and digital skills on political information seeking behavior at Harvard Kennedy School, October 2017.
ODDC Context - Open data, public budget and its relations to people’s rights ...Open Data Research Network
Presentation in the first workshop of the Exploring the Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries project. Looking at the context of open data, and the research case study planned for 2013 - 2014. See http://www.opendataresearch.org/project/2013/inesc
ODDC Context - Opening the Cities: Open Government Data in Local Governments ...Open Data Research Network
Presentation in the first workshop of the Exploring the Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries project. Looking at the context of open data, and the research case study planned for 2013 - 2014. See http://www.opendataresearch.org/project/2013/jcv
Talk for launch of the W3C UK & Ireland Office, Keble College, Oxford, 18 April 2011, focusing on the ecology of policy choices shaping freedom of expression in the digital age.
BDVe Webinar Series - Big Data for Public Policy, the state of play - Data-dr...Big Data Value Association
Do you know how data-driven approaches can influence the policy cycle and the benefits derived from this? Have you ever participated in a policy-lab, collaborating with other stakeholders to develop and test a policy? In this session, Anne Fleur van Veenstra from TNO will delve into current practices, insights and lessons learnt from current policy-lab projects, followed by Francesco Mureddu, from the Lisbon Council, who will look ahead and identify the main challenges and opportunities by presenting and discussing a roadmap for Future Research Directions in data-driven Policy Making.
Anna Dahlgren, professor i kunstvidenskab Stockholm Universitet: Metadataens politik. Kulturarvsinstitutionernas bildmetadata produceras är avgörande inte bara för vår förståelse av historiska epoker utan även av samtidens skeenden och aktörer. I ett nyligen startat forskningsprojekt undersöker vi denna metadatans politik genom att titta på praktiker och regelverk i de gränssnitt där kulturarvsinstitutionernas bildsamlingar metadata skapas och dess vidare implikationer och utmaningar.
Future Research on Convergence and Social Media Oles Kulchytskyy
The information about global media discourses on social media regulation is prepared by the team of the COMPACT project (http://compact-media.eu/).
COMPACT is a Coordination and Support Action funded European Commission under framework Horizon 2020.
The objective of the COMPACT project is to increase awareness (including scientific, political, cultural, legal, economic and technical areas) of the latest technological discoveries among key stakeholders in the context of social media and convergence. The project will offer analyses and road maps of related initiatives. In addition, extensive research on policies and regulatory frameworks in media and content will be developed.
ODDC Context - An Investigation of the use of the Online National Budget of N...Open Data Research Network
Presentation in the first workshop of the Exploring the Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries project. Looking at the context of open data, and the research case study planned for 2013 - 2014. See http://www.opendataresearch.org/project/2013/unilorin
Presentation by Janet C Achora – PhD Candidate Agriculture and Rural Innovations- Makerere University
Session: Implementation of ICTs for Development Strategies in Agriculture
on 5 Nov 2013
ICT4Ag, Kigali, Rwanda
Presented by Mammusa Rantsoti-Lekoa (Policy Liaison Officer) at the Public Engagement Workshop, 2-5 Dec. 2008, KwaZulu-Natal South Africa, http://scienceincommunity.wordpress.com/
Report on current policies and regulatory frameworksOles Kulchytskyy
The Report on current policies and regulatory frameworks for social media and content convergence: information disorder, human rights and regulatory implications (D2.1) provides a
comprehensive insight into regulatory and governance initiatives addressing the human rights concerns related to information disorder in social media and a better understanding of the
regulatory and governance implications, including their potential impact on the fragmentation of the single market.
The information is prepared by the team of the COMPACT project (http://compact-media.eu/).
COMPACT is a Coordination and Support Action funded European Commission under framework Horizon 2020.
The objective of the COMPACT project is to increase awareness (including scientific, political, cultural, legal, economic and technical areas) of the latest technological discoveries among key stakeholders in the context of social media and convergence. The project will offer analyses and road maps of related initiatives. In addition, extensive research on policies and regulatory frameworks in media and content will be developed.
Using a lens of feedback and engagement this paper discusses the relationships between people, organisations, and energy use in workplaces. It reflects on two projects that explored participatory energy practices in public and private organisations. The first, “Working with Infrastructure, Creation of Knowledge, and Energy strategy Development (WICKED)”, explored energy management practices in a range of different retail companies. The second, ‘Gooddeeds’ aimed to collaboratively create an ICT based tool and related social processes with a city municipality. The paper concludes, firstly, that energy management sits against the backdrop of competing organisational, institutional and political priorities and the core strategy of an organisation matters. Second, we need to move beyond the ‘them and us’ culture and ‘information-deficit’ approach intrinsic in the notion of dashboards and feedback to appreciate the positive contribution all can make to energy efficiency. Finally, there are still large discrepancies across organisations with regards to energy management capabilities and metering technologies. In conclusion we note that relationships and partnerships are central in moving forward.
Presentation about the impact of amount of Internet use and digital skills on political information seeking behavior at Harvard Kennedy School, October 2017.
ODDC Context - Open data, public budget and its relations to people’s rights ...Open Data Research Network
Presentation in the first workshop of the Exploring the Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries project. Looking at the context of open data, and the research case study planned for 2013 - 2014. See http://www.opendataresearch.org/project/2013/inesc
ODDC Context - Opening the Cities: Open Government Data in Local Governments ...Open Data Research Network
Presentation in the first workshop of the Exploring the Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries project. Looking at the context of open data, and the research case study planned for 2013 - 2014. See http://www.opendataresearch.org/project/2013/jcv
Talk for launch of the W3C UK & Ireland Office, Keble College, Oxford, 18 April 2011, focusing on the ecology of policy choices shaping freedom of expression in the digital age.
BDVe Webinar Series - Big Data for Public Policy, the state of play - Data-dr...Big Data Value Association
Do you know how data-driven approaches can influence the policy cycle and the benefits derived from this? Have you ever participated in a policy-lab, collaborating with other stakeholders to develop and test a policy? In this session, Anne Fleur van Veenstra from TNO will delve into current practices, insights and lessons learnt from current policy-lab projects, followed by Francesco Mureddu, from the Lisbon Council, who will look ahead and identify the main challenges and opportunities by presenting and discussing a roadmap for Future Research Directions in data-driven Policy Making.
Anna Dahlgren, professor i kunstvidenskab Stockholm Universitet: Metadataens politik. Kulturarvsinstitutionernas bildmetadata produceras är avgörande inte bara för vår förståelse av historiska epoker utan även av samtidens skeenden och aktörer. I ett nyligen startat forskningsprojekt undersöker vi denna metadatans politik genom att titta på praktiker och regelverk i de gränssnitt där kulturarvsinstitutionernas bildsamlingar metadata skapas och dess vidare implikationer och utmaningar.
Future Research on Convergence and Social Media Oles Kulchytskyy
The information about global media discourses on social media regulation is prepared by the team of the COMPACT project (http://compact-media.eu/).
COMPACT is a Coordination and Support Action funded European Commission under framework Horizon 2020.
The objective of the COMPACT project is to increase awareness (including scientific, political, cultural, legal, economic and technical areas) of the latest technological discoveries among key stakeholders in the context of social media and convergence. The project will offer analyses and road maps of related initiatives. In addition, extensive research on policies and regulatory frameworks in media and content will be developed.
Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessonsODI_Webmaster
John Young's presentation at the GDN workshop on 'Maximizing the Impact of Agricultural Research in Africa' held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in October 2008. In his talk, he reviews and expands upon the six lessons that ODI's RAPID programme has learned about helping research inform policy and practice.
E-consultations: New tools for civic engagement or facades for political corr...ePractice.eu
Author: Jordanka Tomkova.
Since the 1990s, public institutions have been increasingly reaching into democracy's toolbox for new tools with which to better engage citizens in politics.
How can NGOs and civil society organisations enhance their production and use...Sarah King
Ruth Mayne is Oxfam’s Senior Researcher on Influencing and its Effectiveness. She has an interdisciplinary background and a long experience working as a researcher, policy advisor and practitioner on humanitarian, development and environmental issues.
Application Democratic Governance and Policy NetworksPolicy n.docxmammiesfa
Application: Democratic Governance and Policy Networks
Policy networks are a prevalent feature of democratic governance. The policy network approach requires collaboration among interested parties in order to make progress in forming public policy. The various actors in a policy network organize, form coalitions, communicate, coordinate, and compete around policy issues of interest to them. Policy networks are organic entities that may change over time. Depending on the policy issue, today’s allies in a policy network may be tomorrow’s enemies. For example, conservative and libertarian groups may work together to defeat a new tax proposal but may quickly part ways over the legalization of medical marijuana. The operation of policy networks is shaped by the political, social, and economic climate in which they operate.
To prepare for this Assignment:
Review the articles “Analyzing and Managing Policy Processes in Complex Networks: A Theoretical Examination of the Concept Policy Network and Its Problems” in this week’s Learning Resources. Consider the definitions of policy network presented and the evolving structures and processes associated with the term
policy network
.
Recall the issue you selected for this week’s Discussion and think about which actors and organizations might be part of the policy network related to the issue.
.
This is what I wrote about this week
How should policy makers balance competing interests?
Policy makers have tried to balance competing interest since the beginning of time and have been successful had it until now. Thanks to social media people all over the country are able to express their views on any and everything that is going right and wrong in this country. Policy makers are now forced to listen to the people and can no longer turn a blind eye to what’s going on in the United States. The Obama administration saw the impact of social media and used this platform to reach people who had never voted for and young people who never paid that much attention to politics. According to Harvey (2014), “Social media has become as much a part of American politics as county fairs, according to Harvey.”
Philips, A., (2014).
Social media has had an impact on politics.
Retrieved from
http://lasvegassun.com/news/2014/aug/24/social-media-has-had-impact-politics/
.
The Assignment (2
Briefly describe the issue you selected.
Describe the actors and organizations in the policy network related to your chosen issue.
Explain how democratic governance influences the operation of policy networks, specifically the one(s) related to your issue. Next, explain how policy networks influence democratic governance.
Based on your analysis, draw conclusions and share insights about the relationship between democratic governance and policy networks.
Support your Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are asked to provide a reference list only for those resources
.
Using Social Media to Enhance Civic Engagement in U.S. Federal AgenciesYasmin Fodil
This report was created by Yasmin Fodil and Anna York for their Harvard Kennedy School masters thesis, and looks at the use of social media to enhance civic participation in the United States and the United Kingdom in order to make recommendations to U.S. federal agencies on how to move forward.
Presentation of the Sense4us project at the 2nd European TA Conference - Berlin, 26 February 2015
"Policy Making in a Complex World:
The Opportunities and Risks Presented
by New Technologies"
1. Political Issue Analysis
System (PIAS)
Through a series of usability workshops, interviews, and contextual analysis this project
explored the evolving applications of online political communication tools and examined user’s
searching and ‘deliberative’ processes. The focus of the project was upon environmental and
other political issues and in particular, how users found political party policy documents and
contacted their local member about these issues. A prototype to aid in these practices and
report outlining a series of recommendations were produced.
Background
Through the workshops undertaken in
this study many participants were:
Key themes and recommendations
Craig Bellamy (VeRSI)
Martin Gibbs (IS: Uni Melb)
Andy Williamson (Hansard Society: UK)
Sean Cubitt (University of Southampton: UK)
Mitchell Harrop (IS: Uni Melb)
Jaan Kotli (VeRSI)
The Political Issues Analysis System
(PIAS) project sought to investigate
how citizens in Melbourne, Australia
were using the Internet to seek political
information about key political issues. It
also sought to understand how citizens
contacted their elected representative
about these issues. Through
workshops, a number of case studies
with interviews, and the development
and testing of a prototype, the research
uncovered some notable trends in
terms of engagement with the political
system online. Email is still the favoured
means of contacting elected
representatives--and although there are
a number of systems being developed
to assist online politics--individuals still
had a great difficulty in discovering
published policies from the major
parties in key policy-debate areas.
Plus, many of the policies published by
the parties exist as political
advertisements and do not not
necessarily aid balanced and
deliberative debate. More research
needs to be undertaken as to the
political effects of the Internet,
particularly in terms of deliberate
politics and engagement with
established political processes in key
policy areas. And pressure needs to
placed on the parties to allow open-
access to policy material that may be
aggregated into systems that aid voter
decision making.
One of the key themes that emerged
from undertaking the workshops for this
study is that citizens find it difficult to
locate quality policy information online.
Plus there have been few attempts to
aggregate the published policies of
Australian political parties so that voters
may compare and deliberate upon the
different policy positions of the parties.
This is perhaps a key barrier to the
Internet being used constructively by
citizens within Australia to engage with
formal democratic structures. Some of
the key recommendations of this study
include:
•Polices published by political parties
should be made available in such a way
that they can be aggregated
•Political parties should produce clear,
concise, and understandable policy
information for the public
“...surprised how difficult it was to find a
wide range of policies in one place to
compare. Often had to rely on previous
knowledge of Internet + policies in order
to have answers” – James
“It was hard to find a website that listed
the policies of the different parties in a
way that allowed to compare.” - Greg