ACTIVITIES :: eTen :: Projects :: Project of the Year 2006
eParticipate: eTEN Project of the Year 2006
The result
eParticipate has been elected eTEN project of the year 2006. Visitors of the eTEN website selected eParticipate as the best communicating eTEN project in 2006. The project offers an open standard product that focuses on engaging with citizens in an age where voting turnout is going down. The project received the largest vote of the almost 900 votes. Voters explained that for them the project "enhances democracy and provides a vehicle for encouraging young people to participate in a medium where they feel comfortable" and that it is "important to make our democratic institutions as transparent as possible".
Second was D-Space (Discovery Space) - a project which aims at the deployment of a virtual science thematic park that will connect schools, universities, science museums and parks with a network of robotic telescopes around the world. The GEOCOMPASS project, which offers high quality GIS mapping solutions and infrastructure and marketing services to mountain and countryside tourism communities in Europe, was third.
The winning project
The eParticipate project is creating a sustainable trans-European Deployment Plan of a multimedia platform that has been developed and proven in the UK.
eParticipate provides an open integrated standard web-based network and gateway of existing "best of breed" applications (called Public-i) that enable public bodies to implement and benefit from a full range of eParticipation tools that broaden the participation of citizens in the democratic process. The Public–i suite enables the creation and transmission of rich multimedia content either live or on demand over the Internet by the local authorities themselves. The directness and transparency of the video is preserved. There is no need for any post-production or editing and webcasts are automatically archived. The system requires little more than a few clicks of a mouse to select a meeting and begin webcasting.
The eParticipate system is localised and customised, has had high profile launches and is now in operational use by citizens at four European local authority partners in Ireland, Slovakia, Spain and UK. The partner local authorities are now using the platform to revitalize the relationship with their citizens through giving them full transparent access to their democratic process.
The election
This was the third eTEN Project of the Year contest. The eTEN programme started the contest in 2004 as a communication action to help increase the reach and impact of the projects. This year again the election was held to decide which project website communicates best about the e-service it offers. Anyone visiting the eTEN website could take part giving one vote only. While selecting a project, voters were encouraged to visit each of the twelve projects' websites and decide which one of them presented its objectives and service ambitions and achievements in the clearest and most understandable manner. There is no prize for the winner but the honour of being the best communicating eTEN project of 2006.
