*** Democracies Online Newswire - http://www.e-democracy.org/do *** Go Texas Go! I have come to the conclusion that at least half of "democracy online" technical infrastructure needs to be build within representative bodies (parliaments, legislatures, local councils, etc.). Please pass the important note below far and wide to any leading government assembly that has started using advanced Internet tools to enhance citizen participation in the official processes of democratic governance. At a minimum I believe all public meetings within a state should be required by law to be posted in a uniform web-based system that encourages automatic e-mail notification base on citizen determined parameters. Steven Clift Democracies Online Newswire http://www.e-democracy.org/do P.S. Here is are some further ideas to consider: http://www.egroups.com/message/do-wire/324 ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date sent: Fri, 30 Jun 2000 15:35:06 -0500 From: "Nick Osborn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: State of Texas Internet Broadcast Task Force Dear colleagues, We're working on a report to the Texas legislature focusing on best uses of the Internet to increase public participation in government open meetings. We're taking the approach that policy does not necessarily have to lag technology. Instead, policy choices can dictate how technology dollars are spent. That said, we are evaluating the costs and benefits of two broad alternatives for public participation: 1) Hearing or viewing a meeting broadcast over the Internet (real or delayed) ; and 2) Contributing to that meeting in terms of testimony, comment, etc. and being able to mine the site where public proceedings and documents are posted. Our research so far suggests that given the choice, members of the public would choose #2. It seems that some effort should be spent to capture audio and/or video of meetings. However, it may be more useful to the public to put scarce technology resources toward archiving, searching, and retrieving all the documentation for meetings, not just audio and video records. We're calling this approach a 'public participation portal.' We need to identify cases in which other organizations have had to make similar choices. We would especially like information about consumer feedback/evidence about usefulness, etc. If you have any experiences in this area which you could share, or know of such cases, please contact me at the address below. Nick Osborn Chair, Internet Broadcast Task Force Texas Department of Information Resources Tel (512) 475-3568 Fax (512) 475-4759 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.dir.state.tx.us ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. Clift - W: http://www.publicus.net Minneapolis - - - E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - - - - ICQ: 13789183 *** Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To unsubscribe instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please forward this post to others and encourage *** *** them to subscribe to the free DO-WIRE service. ***
