Enriching dialogue by harnessing the dynamic potential of Social Networking Sites:

Engagement will be mediated via tools that:

The WeGov project - closing the loop between policy makers & citizens

Our target audience includes:

Who we are:

The WeGov project will develop a toolset that allows full advantage to be taken of a wide range of existing and well established social network-ing sites (Facebook, Twitter, Bebo, WordPress etc.) to engage citizens in two-way dialogues as part of governance and policymaking processes. A key feature of our approach is to allow policy makersmakers to move away from the limitations inher-ent in the current practice of using bespoke and dedicated platforms (e.g. specific opinion solicit-ing websites hosted by government) and instead make full use of the high levels of participation and rich discussions that already take place in existing social networking communities.

• make it possible to detect, track and mine opinions and discussions on policy oriented topics. • will allow discussions to be seeded and stimu-lated through injection of policy discussion points into relevant communities in a secure and managed way. • will allow the origins and evolution of opinions to be tracked to provide auditable records of provenance, guard against misuse, and ensure trust and privacy for all involved.

• MPs and IT staff from Parliaments, • Citizens and other stakeholders, such as networks, regional bodies, • NGOs, • Businesses, • International organizations, •• and the media.

The consortium represented in the project WeGov is constituted of six experts in the eParticipation community (Hansard Society, Gov2u, GFI) and government consulting (GESIS) with an outstanding international reputation and skills in the area of ICT re-search and development, in particular ad-vanced open social networking platforms.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission under the SEVENTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME THEME ICT 2009.7.3 ICT for Governance and Policy Modelling.

How can you be involved as an observer

The benefits of participating as an observer are:

The WeGov project - closing the loop between policy makers & citizens

How can you reach us?

You will provide constructive suggestions for im-provement, as well as insights from parallel ini-tiatives that you might be involved with. The main role of the observer will be to provide a robust feedback channel that is both objective and informed. Conversely, observers will act as ambassadors for the project’s outcomes to the wider community.

• Full participation in an innovative EU funded project • Access to training and knowledge sharing materials • Being kept informed of the latest developments in the field•• Access to a carefully selected stakeholder group

We are very interested in your opinion and would like to include your involvement in the project.

For more information please visit: http://www.wegov-project.eu/

Email: somya@gov2u.org evika@gov2u.org

TTel: +30-210-6121340

Fax: +30-210-6147206

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission under the SEVENTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME THEME ICT 2009.7.3 ICT for Governance and Policy Modelling.