Post in Is it worth funding ICELE, asks Coleman

Apr 03 10:46 UTC

Discussion is warming up at Connecting Bristol where Stephen Coleman,
after citing various e-democracy projects, says:

"In the case of ICELE it has been difficult to arrive at any judgments
because I simply don’t understand what they are aiming to achieve. Is
it new research and understanding? Or new tools to be used by
governments? Or critical debate about the merits and values of e-
participation? Perhaps someone can tell me what ICELE is for and why
considerable amounts of public money should be spent supporting it?"

Join in here
http://tinyurl.com/2c965t

One problem, I think, is that  ICELE (International Centre for Local e-
Democracy)  don't appear to engage online, so it is difficult to know
what they are doing. No blog, no presence in other people's spaces.
Has anyone seen them anywhere?

Understanding and practising online engagement seems very important
when Cabinet Minister Tom Watson says the future lies in engaging with
distributed online communities, not setting up more centralised
projects.
http://tinyurl.com/2h542y