On the 23rd of September 2010, we officially launched the book on "Systems Thinking and e-Participation: ICT in the Governance of Society" (http://www.igi-global.com/bookstore/TitleDetails.aspx?TitleId=37232), co-edited by myself and Alejandro Ochoa-Arias. It was a very important and fruitful effort for us and collaborators. We hope the readers will also find it relevant for their work on both systems thinking and e-government.
The event was celebrated with a seminar with Dr. Juan-Ignacio Criado from Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Spain, left in the picture), and Dr. David Pullinger, head of Digital Policy of the UK Government Central Office of Information (right in the picture). As a common theme, we discussed developments on e-government considering the cases of Spain, the UK, Colombia and Ghana. All the speakers pointed out to the importance of reflecting on the values that drive the implementation of e-government, so that we can review and improve policies and plans.
From different perspectives, we considered it important to understand those individuals using electronic government services, and those designing or managing them, given that between them there might be gaps in knowledge, understanding and skills to be able to communicate and interact electronically. There are already policies and plans in place to enable more transparency, representation and efficiency. However, the 'soft' component of e-government, the people, and our values of values of dialogue, accountability and quality of life, need to be addressed. In particular, I expressed concern with the notion of the 'common good' that seems to be adopted to convince people of the importance of e-government. We all want to get on with our lives, and e-government services could help in this regard, only that getting on with life could have good or not very good implications as to how it is done, for whom, and with which consequences.
From different perspectives, we considered it important to understand those individuals using electronic government services, and those designing or managing them, given that between them there might be gaps in knowledge, understanding and skills to be able to communicate and interact electronically. There are already policies and plans in place to enable more transparency, representation and efficiency. However, the 'soft' component of e-government, the people, and our values of values of dialogue, accountability and quality of life, need to be addressed. In particular, I expressed concern with the notion of the 'common good' that seems to be adopted to convince people of the importance of e-government. We all want to get on with our lives, and e-government services could help in this regard, only that getting on with life could have good or not very good implications as to how it is done, for whom, and with which consequences.
During the seminar we also announced the new Technology and Governance Network (TGN), a group of collaborators researching on the unfolding of technology policy, design and use in profit and non-profit organisations, and its potential impacts in new forms of governance. This theme is broad enough to facilitate inter-disciplinary work between researchers and practitioners, and to allow for the specific exploration of phenomena related to the interplay between citizens, technology suppliers, governments and other actors. We aim at improving existing knowledge and practices in formulation and implementation of policies and plans in these areas.
With new developments in technology (i.e. cloud computing), new policies (i.e. inter-operability), and new demands (i.e. mobile government, inclusion, information security), e-government can take new directions. It is important though to develop it in systemic ways, in other words, looking after different aspects, engaging in the process rather than in achieving outcomes, and ultimately, enabling people to see e-government as a tool to facilitate communication.
With new developments in technology (i.e. cloud computing), new policies (i.e. inter-operability), and new demands (i.e. mobile government, inclusion, information security), e-government can take new directions. It is important though to develop it in systemic ways, in other words, looking after different aspects, engaging in the process rather than in achieving outcomes, and ultimately, enabling people to see e-government as a tool to facilitate communication.
