Reconfiguring Government - Public Engagements: Enhancing the Communicative Power of Citizens

Abstract

The OII/Cabinet Office workshop 'Engaging with the Google Generation' sought to explore how the latest Internet, Web and related digital information and communication technologies (ICTs) could help to produce better government to meet the diverse democratic and public service needs of all citizens. The main broad questions addressed were: (1) Is there something distinctive about the emerging generation of Internet users and their digital environments? (2) Is there a set of fresh ways of applying Web advances to help bring people together, create new spaces for constructive democratic interaction, and enable government to deliver public services that meet personal, family and community choices? (3) What are the key policy implications of these developments?

Keywords: Internet, ICT, government, democracy, Internet users, public services, policy