dimecres, 31 de maig del 2006

Electronic Frontier Foundation

http://www.eff.org/

He encontrado esta iniciativa a favor de los "derechos digitales" que viene funcionando con cierto éxito en Estados Unidos.

Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Defending Freedom in the Digital World.

EFF is a nonprofit group of passionate people — lawyers, technologists, volunteers, and visionaries — working to protect your digital rights.

From the Internet to the iPod, technologies are transforming our society and empowering us as speakers, citizens, creators, and consumers. When our freedoms in the networked world come under attack, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is the first line of defense. EFF broke new ground when it was founded in 1990 — well before the Internet was on most people's radar — and continues to confront cutting-edge issues defending free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights today. From the beginning, EFF has championed the public interest in every critical battle affecting digital rights.

dimarts, 30 de maig del 2006

TallerWeb1.0

Nuestra colega y amiga Mentxu Ramilo nos ha hecho llegar un interesante texto sobre su experiencia al frente del TallerWeb1.0, un proceso de mejora participativa de páginas webs institucionales en Euskadi (en pocas palabras, mejor que veais el texto). Ni que decir tiene que no sólo merece la pena dicho texto sinó la iniciativa en su conjunto. http://www.enpresadigitala.net/castellano/biblioteca/biblioteca_informacion.jsp?id=703

International Workshop on Government, Citizens and Innovation

The Government of Catalonia (Generalitat de Catalunya) is organizing the third e-Governance Catalonia Forum to be held next 8th june at the Auditori del Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya under the title: International Workshop on Government, Citizens and Innovation. Their aim is to make a revision on how ICT could become an efficient tool to bring together public administration and citizens, improving processes and granting a higher transparency of public policies.

divendres, 26 de maig del 2006

Blogs in Campaign Communication

Aquí podéis encontrar los detalles de esta referencia bibliográfica.
Author: Lawson-Borders, Gracie; Kirk, Rita
Affiliation: Kent State
Source: American Behavioral Scientist, 2005, 49, 4, Dec, 548-559.IS: ISSN 0002-7642
Descriptors: Political Participation; Internet; Political Campaigns; Information Technology; Mass Media Effects; United States of America; Elections; Citizen Participation
Abstract: In Election 2004, campaign Weblogs - or blogs - became a standard feature of campaign Web sites. Monitoring the adaptation of emergent technological tools into political communication assists future generations of scholars to understand the genesis of communication applications and explore future uses. Blogs are online diaries where information is electronically posted, updated frequently, and presented in reverse chronological order. Three concourses of research provide insight into blogging as a political communication function: the investigation of the blog as a social diary, the analysis of blogs as organizing tools, and blogs viewed as a form of civic, participatory journalism. The authors do not claim that blogging had a significant impact on the 2004 election outcome. However, they do argue that its effective use has been demonstrated and emerging applications of the tool pave the way for future campaign communication, one the authors suggest will become a standard part of campaign communication.
36 References. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright 2005.].
Language: English
Publication Year: 2005
Publication Type: Journal Article
Country of Publication: United States
Classification: politics and communication
Journal Name: American Behavioral Scientist
Journal Volume: 49
Journal Issue: 4
Journal Pages: 548-559

divendres, 19 de maig del 2006

Seminario: Gobierno y Administración Electrónica

He recibido esta información. La transcribo aquí por si os pudiera ser de interés.

Estimados Amigos:
El Magíster en Gestión Pública tiene el placer de invitarles, los días 25 y 26 de mayo, el Seminario Permanente de Gobierno y Administración Pública por séptimo año. En esta edición se tratarán las Nuevas Tecnologías, y a lo largo de sus doce horas de duración, pasarán responsables políticos, de la administración y representantes del mundo académico para tratar temas que van desde los nuevos mecanismos de funcionamiento de los partidos a las reformas en el Estado, pasando por la participación ciudadana.
Para inscribirse ponganse en contacto con la oficina del Magíster en Gestión Pública a través de nuestra dirección (mgp@cseg.ucm.es<mailto:mgp@cseg.ucm.es>) o del teléfono (913942554). Las plazas son limitadas y la admisión se hará por orden de inscripción hasta que se cubran en su totalidad.
Les esperamos.
Coordinador del Magister en Gestión Pública
Centro Superior de Estudios de Gestión
Edificio B, Mas Ferré, Campus de Somosaguas 28223 Madrid
*/Tf.913942554/2957/2958 Fax:913942956/*

dijous, 18 de maig del 2006

Barreras para el e-government & e-administration

El Internet Institute de la Universidad de Oxford (OII), solicita a la comunidad cinco minutos de nuestro tiempo para contestar un breve cuestionario para un importante estudio que están realizando para la Comisión Europea titulado “Barreras para el Gobierno y la Administración electrónicos”. Este cuestionario se centra en el ámbito de la UE, pero puede ser rellenado por cualquier persona perteneciente a cualquier Estado, perteneciente o no a la UE, con experiencia en el ámbito del Gobierno y la Administración electrónicos.
Su estudio pretende identificar los obstáculos clave para obtener los beneficios potenciales del Gobierno y la Administración electrónicos par el uso de Internet y otras tecnologías electrónicas relacionadas para ofrecer servicios públicos e información. Las respuestas serán analizadas para ayudar a los responsables políticos sobre cómo el uso de Internet por los poderes públicos puede mejorar la atención de las necesidades de los ciudadanos, empresas, gobiernos y otros colectivos interesados en el ámbito de la Unión Europea. Las respuestas serán tratadas de forma estrictamente confidencial.
Para responder el cuestionario en inglés, francés, alemán o español, podéis dirigiros a:
http://www.egovbarriers.org/?view=survey

dimarts, 16 de maig del 2006

Testing the capacity of ICT to support central government consultation in UK

In recent years, significant piloting of eDemocracy concepts and tools has been conducted at local government and parliamentary levels. The Department for Constitutional Affairs is responsible for developing eDemocracy capacity in central government and is currently collating intelligence to inform an eDemocracy strategy across central government.
In scoping out this strategy, the DCA has commissioned the Hansard Society to assist in piloting eDemocracy techniques and tools across central government departments as part of their communication and consultative processes.
The DCA and Hansard Society will address four main issues during the pilot project:
* How can government improve intra- and inter-departmental communications using information and communication technology?
* How can central government strengthen consultation and interaction with citizens using eDemocracy tools?
* Which eDemocracy techniques and tools are available for use by central government?
* What attitudes and confidence does the public in relation to technology-enabled interaction with the government?
To support this investigation, three web-based platforms associated with eDemocracy will be utilised:
- Weblogs
- Instant messaging
- Online deliberative forums
Government departments will be offered the opportunity to make use of one or more of these platforms in isolation from or in parallel to conventional, offline techniques.
The pilot will report in June 2006. The evaluation of this pilot exercise will help inform government policy on online consultation and participation. It will also contribute to ongoing debates about the contribution technology can make to vibrant and inclusive representative democracy.

dilluns, 15 de maig del 2006

New e-voting research group

The Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (Mendoza, Argentina) launched last March a new research group in legal issues of e-voting solutions. Juan Carlos Carrillo is its leader. Mendoza has carried out several e-voting experiences since 1999 inviting firms like Telpin, Indra, Demotek or Scytl. The last one, for instance, managed last December the first binding Internet voting election in Latin America.

More details
www.uncu.edu.ar/contenido/index.php?tid=1&mid=127&itemaction=ampliar&M_Item=10897

dijous, 11 de maig del 2006

Vegadeo Summer Course

Next July the Vegadeo City Council, in conjunction with the Universidad de Oviedo, will held a summer course on Law & ICTs. Miguel Ángel Presno Linero will assume the e-voting keynote. His papers explore the factibility of an e-voting implementation and assume that null votes are not a compulsory option from a democratic point of view because they are not include in the legal content of the right to decide. Interesting!

More details: orion.ciencias.uniovi.es/~mesa/CursoVegadeo2006/cursoverano.htm

dimarts, 9 de maig del 2006

Italian feedback (II)

Besides the electronic tally already described in previous posts, Italian elections also used, at least in one muncipality, a DRE electronic voting. NEDAP, an experienced Dutch company, proved its technology in Cremona with a non-binding pattern. More details:

www.comune.cremona.it/Article1538.phtml (Cremona Website)
www.election.nl/bizx_html/IVS-GB/ (Nedap Website)

divendres, 5 de maig del 2006

WOTE 2006

The IAVoSS Workshop on Trustworthy Elections (WOTE06) will be held next month in Cambridge (UK) in conjunction with the 6th Workshop on Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PET). The program committee includes leading e-voting experts like David Chaum (program chair), Rebecca Mercuri and Berry Schoenmakers. Besides its important technical approach, social and legal topics are also accepted.

More details: www.win.tue.nl/~berry/wote2006/

Cursos de Verano

Varias iniciativas:
  1. Durante los próximos 10 a 14 de julio se desarrollará el curso "Democracia electrónica, participación política y sociedad de la información y el conocimiento", dentro de los Juliols de la Universitat de Barcelona. El curso está codirigido por los Drs. Manuel Medina (Profesor Titular de Filosofía de la Ciencia, Tecnología y Sociedad de la UB) y Josep Mª Reniu (Profesor Lector de Ciencia Política y de la Administración). Tomarán parte, además de los citados, Rosa Borge (UOC), David Sancho (UPF), Andoni Alonso (U.Extremadura), Javier del Arco (Fundación Vodafone) y Jaume Gatell (Diputación de Barcelona).
  2. Entre los próximos 17 a 21 de julio se llevará a cabo el curso "Las nuevas tecnologías: ¿El nuevo fuego de Prometo o la vieja caja de Pandora?", dentro de los cursos de verano de la Universidad de Oviedo. el curso está codirigido poer los Drs. Miguel Angel Presno (Profesor Titular de Derecho Constituciional de la Universidad de Oviedo) y Santiago Ibáñez (Profesor Titular de Matemática Aplicada de la Universidad de Oviedo). Participan, además, Sergio Castro (Ayuntamiento de Oleiros), Rocío Fraga (Pexego Sistemas Informáticos), Javier Fdez. Teruelo (UniOviedo), Juan Salom (Guardia Civil), José Manuel Fdez. Martínez (Trisquel Media), Jesús Mª Rguez. Presedo (USC), Aurelio Junquera (Vegadeo), Ignacio Villaverde (UniOviedo), Lorenzo Cotino (UV) y Juan Antonio García Amado (Unileón).

dijous, 4 de maig del 2006

International Sunbelt Social Network Conference in Vancouver

La semana pasada, del 24 al 30 de abril de 2006, tuvo lugar The International Sunbelt Social Network Conference (*) in Vancouver. El grupo de trabajo BROG [Blog Research on Genre Project http://www.blogninja.com/] de la Universidad de Indiana en el que colaboro, prsentó una ponencia con el título: "Linguistic Diversity and Language Networks on LiveJournal". Aquí van algunos detalles.

Authors:
Susan Herring herring@indiana.edu SLIS, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN USA
Benjamin Clark, Inna Kouper, John Paolillo SLIS, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN USA
Irene Ramos-Vielba Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN USA
Lois Ann Scheidt, Sharon Stoerger, Elijah Wright
Abstract:
In the past few years, social network analysis has been used to analyze patterns of linking among weblogs (e.g., Herring, et al., 2005), including within large, self-contained blog hosting communities such as LiveJournal (Paolillo & Wright, 2005). A shared language is a sine qua non for meaningful interconnection. Yet although the growth of blogging has resulted in an increase in the number of languages in which people blog, no study has yet considered language in relation to weblog networks. In this paper, we analyze the linguistic diversity of LiveJournal by randomly sampling journals and coding them for language use. For three of the most commonly-found non-English languages—Russian, Portuguese, and Japanese—we crawl the 'friends' links of 30 source journals, coding the languages used in these, and visualizing the resultant networks. Preliminary analysis suggests that, with the exception of Russian, non-English LiveJournals comprise a small minority, and that the three languages analyzed display differing degrees of network density and homogeneity, with Russian being the most homogeneous, followed by Portuguese and then Japanese. We interpret these findings by identifying a set of technical, individual, and societal factors that may predict language choice and cross-journal linking on LiveJournal.
Session:
On-Line Communities B
Keywords:
blogs , linquistics , internet , on-line communities , online communication behavior , visualization , language choice , network mapping

(*) The International Sunbelt Social Network Conference is a major forum for social scientists, mathematicians, computer scientists, ethnologists, and others to present current work in the area of social networks. It provides an opportunity for individuals interested in theory, methods, or applications of social networks to share ideas and common concerns.

dimecres, 3 de maig del 2006

2006--year of the blog

Title: 2006--year of the blog
Author: Bowman, John
Source: Policy Options/Options Politiques, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 88-90, March 2006
Descriptors: Weblogs -- Political uses; Canada -- Government and politics -- Public opinion; Elections -- Canada
Abstract: The 2006 campaign marked the emergence of blogging as part of the political game in Canada. Bloggers abounded-- professional bloggers like Paul Wells and Andrew Coyne, amateur bloggers with exotic names, bloggers who sought fame and bloggers who insisted on anonymity. Anybody with a Web site can now be a pundit. Bloggers broke some significant stories, even if their facts were sometimes in need of further checking. Bloggers outed Mike Klander after he took down insulting comments from his own juvenile blog, resulting in another really bad day for Paul Martin's Liberals. Bloggers conducted reality checks, formerly the domain of campaign war rooms and newsrooms. John Bowman, who wrote the blog report for the CBC News Online election Web site, assesses their role and their impact on the campaign.

The importance of a (conscious) null vote

As Jordi stated in the previous post, ERC has decided to recommend their supporters to cast a null vote for the next referenda to be held in Catalonia about our internal constitution. Up to here there's no problem at all... it's a political decision like another one.
The problem could arise when imagining a future use of e-voting in our country. It's quite usual to hear that one of the best achievements of e-voting systems is the vanishing of null votes, which are defined only as unconsciuous errors made by voters. The question that null votes are often marginal in quantitative terms does not imply that all of them must be understood as errors. In fact in several elections null votes have became the only option to cast a critical vote in a clearly conscious way: we fund them in the Basque Country when Batasuna was illegalized or in Argentina during the severe economic, social and institutional crisis.
We have defended in different forums the need to include those ways of casting votes when designing an e-voting solution. Unfortunatelly it seems we only receive the echo of our voices. But think about it, to cast a (conscious) null vote is endeed a way to participate. Dont' you agree?

dimarts, 2 de maig del 2006

El vot nul polític d'Esquerra

Esquerra Repúblicana de Catalunya (ERC) s'ha decidit finalment per recomanar l'anomenat "vot nul polític", és a dir, l'emissió d'un vot que, tot i ser invàlid, té una innegable lectura democràtica i ideològica.

Malgrat les lamentables i sorprenents declaracions d'alguns líders socialistes (De Madre) assenyalant que aquesta opció va en contra de les conquestes democràtiques assolides col·lectivament en les darreres dècades, cal preguntar-se, en relació al vot electrònic, si les plataformes tecnològiques que les empreses ofereixen estarien en disposició d'introduir propostes com la d'Esquerra.

Segurament és possible si es fa un cert esforç tècnic, però cal pensar-hi i sobre tot cal esmerçar-hi temps i esforços. No val però mantindre l'absència de l'opció de vot nul i fins i tot defensar-ho dient que evita els errors dels votants. Casos com el d'Esquerra, o d'altres ben propers com les darreres eleccions municipals basques, demostren que ens trobem amb un aspecte molt millorable dels actuals sistemes electrònics de vot.