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PURPOSE OF THE WORKSHOPThe purpose of this one-day workshop is to bring together a number of senior government officials to discuss e-participation in the policy process from the perspective of the public sector. Specifically, the workshop will explore the evolving role of citizens in the development of public policy as new technologies emerge and Government Online becomes more mainstream.  BACKGROUNDThe Internet is the underlying infrastructure for e-government, both in information and service delivery; and, in fostering the exchange of information with an informed, aware citizenry. The degree citizens' connectedness determines to a large extent the efficiency with which online information and service delivery systems can function and their value to bureaucracies. The extent of Internet use by governments and citizens also determines to what degree a new form of e-participation can begin to flourish. The rapid growth in Internet use in recent years is reaching a critical mass. In some areas of Europe such as Scandinavia, Internet penetration exceeds 50% of the population.1 In the US, approximately 60% of Americans have access to the Internet from home or the office.2 In Canada, recent figures show that around 63% of Canadians have access to the Internet. In addition, survey evidence indicates that a significant number of Canadian Internet users (44%) visit Government of Canada Websites.3 With a sizeable percentage of their populace online, the national governments of the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, the Netherlands and the US, amongst others, have identified putting services online as a priority to stimulate national competitiveness, make governments more efficient and reduce costs. Recent polling shows that Canadians want greater involvement in the decision-making process and believe that governments should make greater efforts in this regard. Moreover, the Internet and other communication technologies are seen as means to increase engagement with citizens in the policy development process. While new forms of information and service delivery are likely to increase government accountability and help stimulate a new discourse with the public, this seems not to be the primary reason why governments are going online. Instead, the thrust of e-government remains -- in the main -- focussed on more efficient information and services delivery. Research shows that governments are at a very early stage of actually engaging citizens online. A look at international developments shows a growing number of experiments run online through government Websites (see Appendix A). There are examples of initiatives seeking to:
At this stage of development, however, few governments have effectively been able to involve large numbers of their citizenry electronically in the policy process. CHALLENGESThere are several that help to explain why government is still at an early stage of engaging citizens. First, working in what is known as a 24/7 environment, online citizens are able to go anywhere in the world, through the Internet, to gather, assimilate and use information and engage in real-time experiences. As a result, meeting citizens' expectations for short response times given the potential volume of online activity represents a major challenge for governments in a world of resource constraints. Second, a central issue concerns the respective roles and responsibilities of public servants and elected officials in engaging citizens in the policy development process. In a representative democracy it is Parliament, in the public mind, that has traditionally had the determining role in the policy-making process. The public service, pre-information technology era, was not as visible to the public in the development of policies. But as governments are becoming more visible in cyberspace, as a result of the Web and Government Online programs, there is pressure from the public to be involved in the policy development process. Thus, the roles and responsibilities of the two institutions, Parliament and the public service, are increasingly blurred as governments go online. This is a major issue - facing Parliamentarians and public servants alike.4 Third, another issue facing governments concerns inclusion and access. It is important to consider how to engage citizens of the online world in e-participation, while also ensuring that citizens who do not want to be online, continue to be involved. It is essential to use traditional tools that existed pre-Internet and pre-Government Online to ensure people, as a whole, are encompassed in the process. A fourth challenge is that the online culture may be different from the offline world. Citizens are increasingly using the Internet to mobilize social and political changes outside 'traditional' government processes. At the moment, the Internet defies any type of classification but it is evident in the online activist world that individuals with energy, drive and initiative are helping to propel the new political agenda. The challenge to public servants is to find ways to capitalize on this vibrant development to enhance policy-making outcomes. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDERIn this context, some of the issues and questions to stimulate discussions between participants at this workshop are, among others:
APPENDIX Ae-PARTICIPATION - VARIOUS EXPERIENCESFollowing are examples of how some governments are trying to engage citizens in the process of government decision-making. The descriptions put forth are meant to be illustrative and not exhaustive. CanadaIn Canada, the federal government is operating with a variety of considerations in mind including Government On-Line commitments; improving access to address the digital divide; encouraging policy dialogue on e-government; and, the development of a federal policy on consulting and engaging Canadians. Meanwhile, experience to date shows that while online consultation and citizen engagement has been limited, it is growing - as evidenced by departmental sites posting documents for public comment; growing numbers of pilot projects testing interactive tools and techniques; and, new combinations of online methods with offline processes. Examples include the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's policy consultations on trade; the Status of Women's Electronic Roundtable on Beijing +5; and, Environment Canada's online questionnaire on environmental education and sustainability.5 United Kingdom a) UK online In September 2000, the British Prime Minister formally launched Britain's new "UK online" campaign. The threefold aim of this campaign is to ensure:
An important part of the campaign and major development in the UK e-government initiative was the launch of a main portal site. In February 2001, the government launched a single window site known as the "UK online Citizen Portal" (www.ukonline.gov.uk). This is the heart of the e-government program and provides useful in-depth information and services around three main themes.6 One theme is CitizenSpace, set up to promote a more active role by citizens in government. Under the CitizenSpace section, there is a register of consultations where citizens can find out about, and take part in, various formal consultation processes. This online access facilitates greater participation by citizens and therefore, is encouraging citizen engagement and citizen interactivity. Furthermore, the portal may be used extensively for policy development in the future. In a March 2001 speech to a global e-Democracy forum, Cabinet Office Minister Graham Stringer stated that a key initiative in the launch of the UK online Citizen Portal was to see how the portal could interact with government online, which could eventually lead to "extensive policy consultations."7 A second part of the campaign was the appointment of Patricia Hewitt as the new Minister for Small Business and e-Commerce at the Department of Trade and Industry. In this role, Ms. Hewitt provides political leadership across government; drives the government's objectives on e-commerce; and, is charged with submitting a monthly report to the Prime Minister on progress in e-commerce and e-government. In addition, the UK has a Minister for e-Government with specific responsibility for delivery of e-Government objectives. Also in 1999, the government appointed an e-Envoy to facilitate e-government development. The e-Envoy is charged with managing the UK online campaign; ensuring universal access to the Internet; and, making certain that all government services are online by 2005. The e-Envoy reports directly to the Prime Minister, as well as reporting on a day-to-day basis to the Minister for Small Business and e-Commerce; and, the Minister for e-Government. b) UK Hansard Society Another very interesting experiment in online electronic democracy took place under the auspices of the UK Hansard Society. This began with a consideration of how electronic forms of communication have been used so far by government to enhance citizen participation; the practical and democratic limits of electronic forms of communication to discuss and debate issues; and, the prospects for further developments in electronic communication - including digital television. This initial study was then followed by an online consultation on domestic violence, set up in conjunction with the All Party Parliamentary Group. Some 200 women participated in the consultation via the Internet. c) International Teledemocracy Centre In Scotland, the International Teledemocracy Centre has been developing tools for online engagement for both the Scottish Assembly and the Scottish public service. Some of the electronic tools have been for the development of policy initiatives. According to the Centre, electronic consultations demonstrate how governments, Parliaments, and other democratically constituted organisations can effectively use technology to gather the opinions of the people they represent. For example, the Centre set up the online consultation for young people in Scotland to feed into the Scottish Youth Summit in June of 2000. From early May to early June 2000, any young person with access to the Internet could go to http://e-consultant.org.uk/ScottishYouth/, give their opinion on a range of topics, and vote on which of these key issues they think are the most important facing young people in Scotland today. The Website, which could be accessed from home, school, cybercafé or community centre, provided an opportunity for young people to participate in democracy over the Internet. Nine separate conferences across Scotland took place and were attended by over 1,000 young people and Scottish Ministers and the results of this six-week online consultation formed important input to the Youth Summit.8 d) Think-Net and Highland Health Another initiative for debate on the Internet, 'Highlands Health into the Future', is a discussion forum as part of a series of online debates called Think-Net (www.think-net.org). Think-Net is run by the Highlands Council and health in the Highlands is their latest topic. The site asks for participation and contributions not just from Highlanders, but also from every area where there is an interest in joining the discussion by asking, "What sort of health provision do you want to see in the Highlands by the year 2020?" Moreover, there is a paper by the Highland Health Board's Communications Manager, outlining some of the general issues. Over the next few months they will be putting a series of six papers online, to further facilitate discussions. New Zealand The New Zealand Government Online's Website (www.govt.nz) provides an overview of New Zealand; its government; government services; as well as government agency contacts. In addition to this, as of the spring of 2001, the New Zealand government, through their site, was consulting on:
These are just a few of the consultation processes the New Zealand government has set up since starting this part of their site. However, results as to the success of the consultations are not yet fully known. The New Zealand site represents only the first step forward in the development of an effective policy dev elopment regime. United States Experts have warned that the US federal government has lagged behind individual state governments in pushing e-participation. In a recent report, a group of 140 current and former government officials warned that countries like New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom are all ahead of the United States in e-government. Even in Bulgaria, they note, "you can actually ask a question online and get an answer from a government official."9 While developments to engage citizens are limited at the Executive level, there is some progress at the political level. As an illustration, an experiment in e-participation is the Web-page sponsored by US Senators Joseph Lieberman and Fred Thompson. The sites of the two Senators exemplify e-participation by promoting citizen involvement. Senator Lieberman's site invites e-mail questions and comments with the promise of a written response, while Senator Thompson's site runs a weekly public opinion survey on pertinent political issues. There is nothing quite similar to the Senators' home pages on UK Member of Parliament (MP) sites or on the Official Canadian MP Web-pages on the Parliament of Canada site.10 As well, the e-Government Project is an attempt to involve citizens as a partner in the legislative process.11 The site offers a series of ideas and invites comment on how Congress could help to advance the cause of e-Government. While there are a great many postings of ideas by the public, including civil servants, there is no clear indication of how any of this information will be used.
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