From our friends at ICELE:

PRESS RELEASE

20th December 2007

ICELE ANNOUNCES INTERNATIONAL AWARDS

The International Centre of Excellence for Local eDemocracy, ICELE, today launched its prestigious international ‘Making a difference online’ awards.

The International Awards will be presented to the winners at the forthcoming International Symposium ‘Empowering Citizens through Technology and Participation’ being held at the end of February 2008, and will recognise politicians and organisations who have ‘made a tangible difference’ by engaging online.

The awards will be given in three categories:

>> Organisational eParticipation – touching communities
This eminent award will be given to the organisation who can show how, through engaging online, they have made a real difference to the communities they serve, from a change in services, to a change in policy, to the delivery of a new service.

>> ePolitician – making a difference on the ground
This award will be given to the politician who can demonstrate how, by engaging online, they have made a difference to their electorate, and how online engagement has improved local people’s lives.

>> Ministerial Award – improving lives locally
In addition to the above two awards, Parmjit Dhanda, Minister for Local eDemocracy at Communites and Local Government, will look at the final short listed group and select the project which is the most outstanding piece of work in England and which he feels deserves to be highly commended. That person or project will receive a special Ministerial Award.

Councillor Matthew Ellis, Chairman of ICELE, commented: “Everyday the ICELE team adds a vast array of case studies to www.icele.org that show how powerful online engagement can be, and how, if used well, it can really touch and improve local people’s lives. The ICELE Making a Difference Online Awards will celebrate the ‘best of the best’ out there, and we hope, as well as celebrating everyone’s efforts, they will help to inspire and encourage others to give online participation a go!”

Local eDemocracy Minister, Parmjit Dhanda, said “it is a pleasure to support the work of ICELE and the International Awards and in particular to give backing to the ‘Ministerial Award’ in this field” The awards will be open to organisations and politicians worldwide and will be short-listed and judged by a panel of experts from ICELE’s International Advisory Group which features organisations including Communities and Local Government, the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the National
Association of Secretaries of State.

Entering the awards could not be simpler – a quick online application is available at www.icele.org.

Remember the final date for submission is the 23rd January 2008.

For more information on the International Symposium please visit www.empowerment-symposium.com.

Also note:

Press Release:

MAJOR CITIZEN EMPOWERMENT CONFERENCE COMES TO LONDON!

Participants from around the world to gather in London in February to discuss Citizen Empowerment through ICT

London, UK – A major International Symposium – ‘Empowering Citizens Through Technology and Participation’ – will discuss the increasing importance of citizen engagement in decision making between the 28th and 29th of February, 2008 in the Congress Centre in London’s West End.

With the launch of the Communities and Local Government’s (CLG) ‘Action Plan for Community Empowerment’, citizen engagement is an emerging hot topic in the UK. As the Rt Hon. Hazel Blears MP, Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government recently stated:

“We are paving the way for the new statutory ‘duty to involve’ local people that comes into force in 2009…….it’s time to step up a gear; to go further and faster and to be more ambitious about what we achieve. The kind of change we envisage means change at a very local level; devolution right to the doorstep”

-Faced with increased pressure to include citizens in local decision making, public administrators have a growing need for new consultation strategies. The forthcoming International Symposium will address this need through a number of concurrent workshops which will examine:
• How the new ‘Participation Agenda’ affects local government
• How new technologies can help to engage citizens
• What tools are available for Local Authorities and politicians?
• How policymakers, Local Authorities and community groups can build for success.

The Symposium is managed by an International Steering Group including the UK Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG), the International Centre of Excellence for Local eDemocracy (ICELE), the Council of Europe, the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and the National Association of Secretaries of State, USA (NASS).

The event was first launched in 2006 with twin Symposiums in Budapest, Hungary and Baltimore, USA. The Symposiums attracted 500 delegates from over 35 UK Local Authorities and 50 countries. Bigger and better than before, the 2008 Citizen Empowerment Symposium promises to deliver:

• Key themes with structured objectives
• Further best practice sharing by people who have actually delivered
• International Awards
• Networks of like-minded people

To register for the event and for more information visit www.empowerment-symposium.com.

To meet potential delegates and discuss the Symposium join the Facebook Group: Citizen Empowerment Symposium ‘08.

Notes to editors:

1. The Empowering Citizens Through Technology and Participation Symposium is the second International eParticipation Symposium, with a number of key partners:

Key Partners:
• International Centre of Excellence for Local eDemocracy (ICELE)
• Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG)
• United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)
• The Council of Europe
• National Association of Secretaries of State, USA (NASS)

2. The Council of Europe Ad Hoc Committee on eDemocracy (CAHDE) will hold its latest meeting on 26th February in conjunction with the Symposium.

3. Delegate fee is a competitive £99 for the two days including lunches and one evening reception

Contact:

Susie Ruston and Alice Chicken, Conference Organisers
21c Consultancy Ltd
info@empowerment-symposium.com
T: +44 (0) 20 7616 8400

or

Dylan Jeffrey, Symposium Director
Department for Communities and Local Government
Dylan.jeffrey@communities.gsi.gov.uk
T: +44 (0) 20 7944 3216

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