Web Technologies Supporting Direct Participation in Democratic Processes

introduction

WEBOCRACY PROJECT

The EU-IST project Webocracy responds to an urgent need to establish efficient systems providing effective and secure user-friendly tools, working methods, and support mechanisms to ensure the efficient exchange of information between citizens and public administration institutions.

The project has designed and developed a Webocrat system - a Web-based system comprising modules/functions of content management, computer-mediated discussion, discussion forums, organisational memories, information retrieval, data mining, and knowledge modelling. The system supports communication and discussion, publication of documents on the Internet, browsing and navigation, opinion polling on questions of public interest, intelligent retrieval, user alerting, and convenient access to information based on individual needs. The development of the system is complemented with development of a methodological framework for implementing Webocrat-like systems into practice.

Objectives

The objectives of the Webocracy project can be characterised at two levels:
  • the organisational objectives: they aim at a new type and new quality of services provided for citizens, and;
  • the scientific objectives: the design of a generic modular architecture of a Web-based system (referred as the Webocrat system), and the development of modules of the Webocrat system and their implementation in an integrated fashion.
WEBOCRACY

Basic facts

Project full name: Web Technologies Supporting Direct Participation in Democratic Processes
Project acronym: WEBOCRACY
Project reference: IST-1999-20364
Funded under: 5th FWP (Fifth Framework Programme)
Action Line: 1.1.2.-1.4.2 On-line support to democratic processes
Start date: October 1st, 2000
Duration: 39 months
Total effort: 348 person-months
Total cost: 1.77 million euro
Comission funding: 1.5 million euro Contract type: Cost-sharing contracts
End date: December 31st, 2003
Project status: Completed

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