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e-Democracy and ICT
Developing democracy by using ICT
Allar, Janne and Andri
Turkey 2013
e-Democracy provides an opportunity to redisign political and administrative processes aimed towards more transparent, effective and participatory governance
e-Democracy is an essential component of modern democratic governance
The core of e-Democracy is not technology itself but the use of technology to empower citizens
What is e-Democracy?
Citizens participation in government on all levels by expressing their opinion and by voting
Making use of electronic communication in democracy
Citizens being offered information in order to form an opinion on political matters by using communication technologies
Idea of e-Democracy
Citizens can be approached easily◦ Information can be transported in a
more pointed way◦ effortless way of communication◦ no need to physically move◦ effective way of communicating
Cheap◦ Messages can be delivered to a great
quantity of recipients without much additional effort
Changing the „silent majority“ to active, citizens, making use of their opinions
Benefits of e-democracy
74 % of population are Internet users 63 % of the households have a computer
at home, 82 % of home computers connected to Internet.
Over 700 Public Internet Access Points in Estonia, 51 per 100 000 people.
More than 1,1 million smart-card type ID-cards issued (Estonian population is app. 1,3 million)
90% of tax declarations were e-declarations and 97% of businesses decalarations
1’st place in Internet Banking – next are Norway, Nederlands, New Zealand
18th of 134 place in Network Readiness index, 3th in eGov, 1 in eGov services (Global IT Report 2008-2009 for World Economic Forum)
e-Estonia
Handbook on e-Democracy◦ http://www.ega.ee/files/edemo_0.pdf
Democracy Administration◦ http://www.ega.ee/files/Demo%20admin
e-Voting: lessons learnt and future challenges◦ http://www.ega.ee/files/27.10.06_Report
_evoting_Conference.pdf
Estonian publications
Political campaigning◦ Candidates or strategies are
introduced to the public via internet Communication with citizens
◦ The public is asked for opion on discussion etc.
Briefing government documents◦ The public gets informed about new
developments Voting
◦ Citizens can vote on behalf new laws or candidates
e-Democracy examples
e-Voting in Estonia - 140 000 voters in 2011
e-Democracy examples
*Armchair voters begin to vote...
Todays information and communication technologies help people with disabilities to:◦ Talk
Text-to-voice Programs
◦ Hear Software, hardware
◦ See Bionic eyes
◦ Move, walk Proccessor controlled
legs
ICT and disabled people
Disabled people benefit most from e-democracy
Disabled people can now participate more easily in society and democracy by using ICT services
e-Democracy and disabled people
Tehcnology ◦ Usage of computers and other
electronic devices that compensate or help with different impairments
Software◦ Different programs that help disabled
people to recieve information or express themselves
Means of communication◦ Internet, mobile networks and different
online services
How disabled people benefit from ICT and e-democracy?
eGovernment is a generic term that refers to any government functions or processes that are carried out in digital form over the Internet
What is e-Government?
e-Tax Board/e-Customs◦ Online filing of income taxes for
citizens and businesses e-Police and Border Guard Board
◦ Information about your documents, applications etc.
e-Health◦ Patients reciepts, health history etc.
e-Elections◦ Online voting and information about
candidates or laws
e-Government examples
Balanced e-Government
Required for citizens ◦ Personal identification card for
every citizen – ID Card
e-Government and ID card
Recent and most famous example – Arab Spring◦ Social media was the main instigator
of the uprisings◦ Its role in the uprisings has
demonstrated to the world its power◦ Information allowed the world to stay
updated with the protests and facilitated organizing protests
Movie about role of internet in todays world democracy◦ We Are Legion: The Story of the
Hacktivists (2012)
ICT democracy example
Role of ICT is tremendous in our world today
Democracy and governing will have to change and adapt new technologies
We live in interesting times!
Summary
“Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we
deserve. ” – George Bernard Shaw
Thank you for listening!