"In the past 5-10 years, eParticipation has emerged as a novel theoretical and practical domain, and it will further characterize the policy agendas of most industrialized and developing countries in the near future.
However, documented practice shows mixed results from eParticipation initiatives, and concerns about sustainability-related matters (the likelihood that an expensive trial program will become “embedded” as a stable practice in the institutional setup of the concerned public sector organization) have started to emerge.
This is why Francesco Molinari and I are launching the initiative of this collective book to be published in 2012 by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.).
The book should provide relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research findings in the area of eParticipation. It is aimed to promote awareness and further debate on the scope and limitations of citizen engagement supported by ICT in modern democracies. It will also offer operational guidelines and lessons learned from past experiences to the benefit of government executives wanting to engage in eParticipation trials.
Specifically, the book is designed to deliver:
- a collection of European and international best practice of sustainable eParticipation
- a set of evaluation exercises to be used as guidelines for political understanding and future action
- an overview of existing methods, tools and ICT solutions available as a result of prior experiments
- an initial assessment of the “market potential” of the above.
For more information regarding this call, please visit http://supart.org/"
