The E-participation webinar is part of the Geneva E-diplomacy Platform and built on the first Geneva E-diplomacy Day (16 November 2012) and the Online Learning Day (17 April 2013). In a similar fashion to the Online Learning Day, the E-participation webinar took the form of an Oxford style debate with six participants facing off over three main topics.
Introduction to the debate:
The debate opened with the following background statement:
“Social media, open gov / open data initiatives and remote participation are opening up international organisations and development agencies. The increased use of cloud-based technologies is making organisations more consultative, transparent and accountable. True or false?”
Debate 1
The way that most International Organisations are using social media suggests that this is not true engagement, but simply broadcast.
Support: Pete Cranston (Diplo)
Oppose: Paul Conneally (ITU)
Debate 2
Remote Participation programmes and initiatives make International Agencies more transparent and inclusive
Support: Marília Maciel (IGF)
Oppose: Guy Girardet (Diplo)
Debate 3
Open Gov Open Data initiatives are more relevant in a national context than at an international level.
Support: Jovan Kurbalija (Diplo)
Oppose: Tim Davies (Practical Participation Ltd)
A summary blog post of the webinar is available here.
In case of any questions, please contact Mr Guy Girardet on guyg@diplomacy.edu
