eCitizen II kick-off seminar 16 -18 February
in Tampere, Finland
Kick-off seminar of theCitizen II project 16-18 February 2010 gathered together representatives from the project partner organizations in Tampere to discuss the project key subject of eGovernment and eParticipation as well as the project management and reporting issues. Goals of the project coordination and planned activities were discussed and preliminary work plan was agreed upon.
Mr. Antti Leskinen, Head of the Local Democracy Unit of City of Tampere, introduced Tampere approach to eParticipation and Valma as a concrete eParticipation service for citizens. In addition, T-seniority project was introduced as a practical eParticipation service for elderly citizens in Tampere. Future perspectives for utilizing social services in business development and public service enhancement through collaboration with universities were introduced in Demola. External experts were also invited to introduce the latest developments in utilizing social media for the specific needs and requirements of public services.
Component 3 responsible partner, Sheffield City Council, Gary Heane and Dr. Julia Glidden introduced the key concepts and work plan for carrying out both joint seminars and study tours as well as local workshops. Based on results of the local reports from partners on jointly pre-selected themes related to eGovernment and eParticipation and the accumulated experiences, skills and knowledge in the subject Sheffield will coordinate preparation of the main project output, a Pan-European Best Practice Manual on eParticipation with recommendations for local and regional administrations on deployment of the gained eParticipation knowledge and practices.First local report templates, themes and practical arrangements of joint seminars were discussed and preliminary action plans agreed upon.
Project Steering Group (PSG) assembled during the kick-off to agree on meeting composition, adequate representation of the partners and tasks of the PSG. It was decided to arrange the first official PSG meeting during the next joint seminar and study tour 18-19 May 2010 in Bilbao.
