I just got back from what we were told (with characteristic enthusiasm) was possibly the world’s first official consultation meeting about a government backed e-democracy proposal – set up by Vox Politics.
Given the general apathy about the subject in the media and among the political elite in the UK, I wasn’t sure if there would be more than about ten people but in the event more than 50 people crowded into a small room within earshot of Big Ben and while neither the e-envoy nor the e-commerce minister showed as had been hoped, some good points were raised and experiences shared. I was glad of the opportunity to see Dan Jellinek, author of the very useful e-government bulletin, Bill Thompson, professional e-gadfly and a number of people I met through Haddock and have seen little of since including Tom Loosemore who is responsible for the commendable Fax your MP site, Matt “warchalking” Jones and Azeem Azhar.
I feel minded to write something at a bit more length about the discussion itself but I would prefer to do so for a newspaper, magazine or newsletter, and in any case it will take a little longer – if you are interested in commissioning something, get in touch…
