eCitizen partners met in Odense
Study tour to Odense on 21-23 March brought altogether 21 participants from 9 partner organisations. The main topic of the study tour was awareness raising on eGovernment tools and methods, and promotion of citizens' participation in local decision making. These themes become more and more acute as the project's concrete results - new tools and services - are being finalised.
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Mr Poulsen presented Odense as the city of knowledge, innovation and culture
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Mr Poulsen from the Mayor's Office started the study tour with a presentation of Odense, city with a 1000 year history. He mentioned that it is the 4th largest municipality and the 3rd largest urban area in Denmark. He also mentioned that there is a great interest on participation and finding an answer to such questions as how to develop a more clear policy and methods to involve citizens into discussion with local decision makers.
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Ms Antabi talking about the importance of communication
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Ms Katja Antabi from the communication department concentrated on Odense's strategy for internal and external communication and branding. As in all major cities, also in Odense communication is a challenging task, where the Internet is used more and more as a tool.
Ms Birgit Pedersen confirmed the importance of the Internet also in eGovernment development and mentioned that Odense website is a major player in this field. On eDemocracy she mentioned that in Odense it is considered as a part of the city's general policy on citizen involvement, and in many parts is still an open question. Especially important is to ensure that the little "e" does not enlarge the divide among active and passive citizens and thus create a digital divide. In addition she mentioned that activating the younger generation is a great challenge.
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Mr Askergaard, Mr Grinis and Mr Laitinen
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During the study tour partners had possibilities to present and test their ideas for awareness raising with other partners and also to get new insights and feedback from a real professional in marketing. Professor Sören Askegaard from the University of Southern Denmark, Brand Base, approached awareness raising from a service-oriented angle. He commented that local governments should try to understand their citizens' situation and needs for eServices better, and not see the situation as a traditional marketing situation.
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Intensive discussion on eCitizen follow-up
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Follow-up for eCitizen was discussed during the study tour and as a conclusion it can be stated that there is a strong will to continue the work on developing and implementing partner cities' eGovernment strategies and plans. These discussions will continue in the next project meetings and will hopefully result new concrete forms for cooperation.
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