“Children and young people imagine Diagonal Avenue”

The web participatory i.de.a. Diagonal that we commenting announces an exhibition that opened the last 21th in Sala Ciutat on the participatory process that has been done in 23 schools in the city, for your students think about how they would like to outside the avenue remodelled, under the name “Infants i joves imaginem la Diagonal” (Children and young people imagine the Diagonal).

The exhibition, limited, almost minimalist in my view, but whose visit recommend (a quarter of an hour is sufficient), because some curiosity can be found, shown in some murals the main ideas that children and young people transmitted on the new avenue, to pass, then to an area where they can be observed in more detail the proposals, composed, if I remember evil, by 96 cards where participants have pasted figures representing the uses that they would like to be given to the track on a plane for a couple of streets of the Diagonal Avenue. A video without sound of less than five minutes tries to explain how developed the meetings in schools.

Of course, with a proper use of the possibilities of the Internet, it would not be necessary to them outside explaining all this: it would be reproduced in the official web site of the participatory process. Furthermore from the brief that i have linked, in another, i.de.a. Diagonal summarizes the meeting that the Major of Barcelona City Council had with some of the participants in a municipal hall: nothing more. Even in the news section of the municipal general web site there are more information on the web participatory: a vídeo presents the act of students with the Major and a dossier of press provides the main ideas common exposed by the students. These documents might also be accessible from i.de.a. Diagonal, as it could be the 96 cardboards resulting from the debates and the murals of exposure. A tool very didactics, but more difficult to show by issues of right to self-image, and more in the case of minors, would be expose videos with the discussions that took place in the classroom where it is really all we could hear the views of those who, as the Major says in his meeting with the authors, will be the future users of the new Diagonal Avenue you want to press ahead.

Plataforma Diagonal per a Tothom (Platform Diagonal to Everyone)

I have already in the past the lack of interactivity that presents the web i.de.a. Diagonal. Today is a space information that collects history, pictures and videos, but there is no possibility of deliberation, or on its past, present or future, despite the potential Internet. In line, ultimately, with the majority of web institutional: information without the possibility debate.

Again the particular initiative has been shown dynamics to publicize, in this case, their proposals. If I spoke to the Forum of Catalan Transport link, you find in paragraph Discussions on the Net, as an area of exchange of views, today I presented two concrete proposals on a possible new Diagonal Avenue made by Plataforma Diagonal per a Tothom (Platform Diagonal to Everyone), one both the platform, composed of various associations, such as, in relation to the use of the bicycle, one of its components, Bicicleta Club de Catalunya (Catalonia Bicycle Club). In addition, can be found the interview that today publishes the digital edition of the newspaper La Vanguardia with the spokesman for the platform.

Why you cannot obtain this information on the web participatory official i.de.a. Diagonal? There is a long time for consultation of the month of April and the citizens could analyze with time concrete proposals.

Lack of link between Blog Barcelona and web i.de.a. Diagonal

We have already made reference to the lack of possibilities of interrelationship between the people interested in exchange views on the reform of Diagonal Avenue to be reflected in the official web site of the participatory process, i.de.a. Diagonal.

But what has been the surprise (or not) to check that the Blog Barcelona, official blog journal of the city of Barcelona, contained various inputs on the reform of Diagonal Avenue. It would not be good, taking advantage of the possibilities of ICT, at least linking on the web i.de.a. Diagonal the opinions in the Blog Barcelona concerning the reform of Diagonal Avenue?

If you allow me, I will do so in this space. You will see that in the right column of this blog, as “Blog Barcelona”, appear two links, one that leads to the home of the blog, but that does not show directly the entries referred to the reform of Diagonal Avenue, and another that leads to a new blog that I created under the title “The reform of the Diagonal Avenue in the Blog Barcelona ” and that links in each entry with one of the contributions on the reform of the Diagonal have done the Blog Barcelona. These entries I located through the search of the Blog Barcelona. I will go upgrading for which do not have to do so much work, because in the cloud of labels of the Blog Barcelona nor do we have the “reform of Diagonal” to choose.

New resource: unblogenred.es

I found the blog of red.es, an agency of Ministry Industry, Tourism and Trade responsible for the information society. A part of the topic at hand, in unblogenred.es you can find information and views on various topics related to information society. The entrance to the Diagonal on the participatory process is not generating much debate at the moment.

New resource: Fòrum del Transport Català

In a previous post referred to the lack of interaction with and among citizens that they are currently lacking in the official website of the participatory process i.de.a. Diagonal. The truth is that GoogleAlert, which helps me locate information on the Web on the subject at hand is not very prolific show satisfactory results. But apart from some timely contributions to virtual comunities deserves special attention because of the systematic contributions to the theme of his staff, the Forum del Transport Català that I linked in a new section “Discussions on the Net.” Represents what is missing in the official website: a real discussion between those who want to collaborate on what should be, should not, may or may not be Diagonal Avenue. This is the true potential of electronic participation: creating a place of ideas, but public, open to all, not restricted to the official organizer of the participatory process, as in the newsletter not visible to other participants in the process that will analyze .

i.de.a. Diagonal (2) – Lack of networking

One of the main features of the Internet, especially since the so-called Web 2.0, is the possibility of networking among its users, whether through blogs, discussion forums, instant messaging and other tools.

We must therefore, if an electronic citizen participation process, based largely on a website created specifically for that purpose, should not a place to collect feedback from citizens, beyond “The citizen question” , which contains five questions and answers raised by passers and asked by municipal technicians. This section also remains static for more than four months, namely March 16, when it published the first place: the same five people, with the same question, same answer. And is not that people do not write, who can not.

There is more freedom to participate in the group ”Upload your photos of the Diagonal“, where it can be accessed from the Flickr implementation, but it is only a photographic exhibition.

I.de.a Diagonal (1) – Presentation. Failure to use of audio-visual tools.

This entry we begin analyzing the web and its possibilities and shortcomings as a tool for participation.

The page presentation consists of four parts: a header and three columns. The header includes links to the four major sections of the site, which will consider in future entries: “The participatory process,” “All you need to know the Diagonal,” “Why we created the new Diagonal” and “What is i. de.a. Diagonal.

The content of this page is an entry in the web, so we will not elaborate on its structure. In short, the left column gives access to participatory tools, the center collects the main stories on the process (or, more often, reminders about the content of the web) and on the left gives access to pages special interest information on the web.

To date, this column offers a 57 seconds video with images of the Diagonal, which, playing with the speed of the camera seems to have claimed the transition to a daily marathon of tranquility almost relaxing: the call, vocabulary in current, urban pacification.

The link in the middle of the third column is a lost opportunity to exploit the potential of new technologies in the dissemination of knowledge. Under the title “You missed the training sessions?” … “Download here all material you access to three documents in PDF format offering the images that accompanied the presentations by the various speakers at the briefing that took place during March and April, which have already been discussed in a previous entry. The sessions are organized in four papers and end of each one opened a question and answer session. Given that the technological capabilities of the Barcelona City Council allows the live broadcasting the plenary sessions of the Municipal Council at its website, as well as viewing deferred, it is difficult to understand how “all material” of the training sessions is limited to chips, sometimes only with images without comment, which accompanied the exhibition of the speakers. For a person not initiated in the analysis of urban design, mobility and trade in the area of the Diagonal is not easy to reconstitute the discourse of the speakers, or to draw conclusions from its visual presentation, beyond curious to get some data on these issues. Would not have been more informative to allow access to a full audiovisual recording sessions?
The last section of the third column links to a Web page on the public art that can be found on the Diagonal, which will consider in due course.

The left column, for participatory tools offers direct access to the questionnaire of participation, which will discuss extensively below, and a photographic collection on the Diagonal in which readers can enter their photos via the Flickr application of Yahoo.

Diversification of channels of participation and superiority of the website

Last 8th june, the second phase of the consultation process for the reform of the Diagonal Avenue started: receiving input from citizens. After the first stage, the training sessions, as discussed in a previous post, and after the parenthesis of the European elections also reflected in this blog ,the second phase is being placed at the disposal of one million people with a small printed survey enables opinion on the subject.


It is important, it said in reference to electronic voting, the diversity of channels that are used instead in this phase. The forms take the form of leaflet, which contained nine questions that will be analyzed in detail in future entries, and are distributed to all households, in addition to being available at the offices of citizen attention, in close to the municipal buildings in Diagonal, on public transport or moving across the Diagonal Avenue and in the hands of the reporters who have been deployed there. Thus, the individual citizen who is unable to attend sessions that will be carried out through meetings of various organs of participation existing (sectorials councils, district councils, neighborhood associations tables ...) are the guarantees that have opportunity to express their opinion through the triptychs.


In line with the globalization of channels for participation in this phase of collecting proposals, has also opened the possibility to answer the questionnaire by telephone.


If the voting mechanism of the referendum that finally materialize the query was limited to e-voting, remote or attendance, the collection of ideas prior to the completion of projects to choose is by no means exclusively electronic.


At this point, still to test the telephone channel, showed a benefit of using this website in relation to the printed paper. The triptych, shown is a size A4, where one side is intended to gather the opinion of the participant and the other is making up the front, back and outline the process. The result of this condensation, the two questions that arise in open format, without a list of options to dial, can only write four lines of nine centimeters each. Meanwhile, the same two questions answered via the web, allow at least answer the same size as this post. The level of description possible of the open questions is therefore much higher in the participation in electronic paper.

Electronic voting exclusively ?

The Measure of Government on the participatory process for the reform of the Diagonal of Barcelona City Council fixed public consultation will be carried out exclusively by electronic voting. Is it time this bet?

Input does not know. Perhaps too many novelties are introduced simultaneously. The first citizen to vote directly on an individual that does not correspond to an election or a referendum on a major national issue ... What about electronic voting ?

Estonia, the pioneer in introducing electronic voting in elections (beyond experience limited to a small portion of the electorate on a trial) uses both electronic voting and the traditional ballot box. As noted by Alexander H. Fabian Breuer i Trechsel in its Report for the Council of Europe. E-Voting in the 2005 local elections in Estonia, or in general, beyond the area of Estonia, Albert Batlle i Cerrillo Augustine ( "TIC i processos polítics" published by the Foundation for the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. 2007) Rosa Borge (2005) and Josep M. Reniu (2007), the introduction of electronic voting has to be progressive, in coexistence with traditional systems, as a transition. After all, the digital divide exists. Although the remote electronic voting via the Internet should be complemented by an electronic attendance system installed at the polling stations (with the necessary insurance counseling by volunteers), some groups may feel excluded from the search box and do not find it, for cultural reasons or generational, as Pippa Norris (2002).

Holidays during the european elections

I read in newspapers that the participatory process has been halted until after the European elections of June 7 to avoid mixing apples and pears. It seems that participating in the decision on the reform of the Diagonal Avenue and, simultaneity, European campaign could be inopportune, at least according to the spanish electoral law.

Agree that we are pioneering a process (the Diagonal, not European) and recommended to go with common sense and do not care can be given away before, but the subconscious makes me cry: wrong!

Wrong, because the next stage of the Diagonal Avenue participatory process, once the information is generally the views of citizens. According to the electoral law in the campaign period, candidates can only talk?

Wrong, because it loses an opportunity to inform, with practice, that the possibility of speaking personally about an issue, has nothing to do with an election campaign.

Wrong, because precautions could include sharing the bulletins announced participation, which at this point, with the lack of detail regarding the reform of the Diagonal, could basically be blank to allow citizens to write, so little message policy should contain.

Wrong, because the coincidence of an election campaign with a dynamic process of participation could help the citizen to appreciate the differences between the platforms of choice and social help to define what is most comfortable.

Wrong, because if what I see so far is on the web " "i.de.a. Diagonal", a how many electoral messages are there?

And worse, because if people can speak freely on the dangers campaign messages must be "institutional" in the participatory process ... And this means that institutions can not control the content of their messages?

Well, while we wait to June 8.

Nile's Blog: Barcelona wins international e-Government 2.0

Nile's Blog: Barcelona wins international e-Government 2.0

Congratulations on this award. I think it reinforces, among other things, the consultation process for the reform of the Diagonal Avenue. It is worth thinking about it a little depth.

And what can we decide?

It is well known that the referendum questions offer a considerable range of possibilities to guide the voter in accordance with the results you want. But it is early to speak of question them to do and now we have no clue, beyond, perhaps, of a possible questionnaire very limited: choice a), choice b), as suggest the organizers of the consultation: and go when we have more data.

The problem arises precisely in the absence of non-option, as is clear from the comments of the press and the "i.de.a. Diagonal" I've linked to other entries. Diagonal Avenue is integrally remodeling, yes or yes, to that and Trambaix Trambesòs are, yes or yes, and do they have to move, yes or yes, on the outside and can not be run by underground. Or not, post a question ...

I attended the second of the briefings that have been developed on Saturdays from 10 to 14 hours in Barcelona. It should be scheduled briefings for four hours on Saturday mornings, I do not know to what extent it is a good start to encourage citizen participation, but once there, all the speakers worthwhile heard: and I regret not going recommended care who I asked. But no horse to do battle this issue, because the web "i.de.a. Diagonal" plans (and I hope to refresh concepts) hung sessions (I hope also that the questions from the floor), for now page states that it is collecting the material. And as the foundation of this blog is the use of ICT in processes of social choice, I was fine.

Well, what I was going. At that meeting, a lady, a neighbor of the Diagonal Avenue (now I doubt if the first to speak), stating his preference for that instead of nobody knows how much money you invest in a new Pharaonic work (if I remember correctly the term was not theirs but appeared in other forms of) the project could focus on an adaptation of the current Diagonal Avenue, as we know, the more passable, and devote the remainder going to other needs of the city. There were other opinions coincide among attendees.

But it seems that this is not in the projections of the planners of the consultation process and I think the possibility should be assessed; allow, ultimately, with the money that probably will cost the drafting of projects and improving the road with rest of what is expected to spend, meet other needs.

I would not say whether I am in favor of or against one or other option or if you prefer spending the cobblestones are inlaid artwork recognized. What I think is worth it, what made people think, extend the possibilities of Elections. Oh...! Think someone a consultation to decide what is done, another to decide how it's done ... Oh, that's the grace of ICT, as we shall see.

It goes without saying that I feel any better than its absence, and I applaud the initiative in general and ICT in particular, but let me put to you will explain my thoughts.

Who can vote ... owners or users?

Before talking more specifically of the "i.de.a. Diagonal" link in the summary what you will see, there are at least two issues unrelated to the use of new technologies and also be raised in a traditional ballot box referendum and ballot. The two spent this and the next entry.

We go now to think about who may vote. The approach adopted is that they can vote every 16 years older than Barcelona registered. I am talking about memory at this point in the first of the two cases that mention, but if I remember correctly, a political party, Convergència i Unió, representatives suggested a minimum period of registration to be placed in a year as an important voice of another political party, Partido Popular, has reflected on the immigrant vote. I will not go into any of these two issues. The left in case anyone is encouraged ...

There is a fresh take, for me most importantly, the owners can vote, but not users, while users, if they are not owners, are excluded.

Owners (a term I do not like and which gladly pick any best offer) I understand the census, more than anything else to distinguish them (hence I do not like the proposal) from another group: the users of the Diagonal Avenue. We agreed that I can be registered in Barcelona and the Diagonal tread once a month or a year or five years ... while non-registered using the Diagonal every day, because you have to go through it to go to work or, more significant still, working in her or his environment. And like someone has family living in the avenue and every Sunday moves to "rice" with her.

I see no clear choice as surely as I look from an economist. Given these consumers, users, who can not comment on how it will be (well, we'll see if this is really possible) who frequent the place. And for those who work so it would not be difficult to determine the electoral roll, the contract of employment or discharge of tax or the lease of the premises where the business is established could right "to register" for the occasion. After all, since March 16 that has begun the process "i.de.a. Diagonal" until April next year there is time to manage this census.

Would be more difficult for the family who will make the rice with the grandparents, but perfection does not exist.

I believe that the user can establish at least should be able to comment on what you use.

ICT

There are many definitions of information technology and communication that can be found mainly in terms of field of study we need to define them. For example, see how Jorge Enrique Granados Diaz offers four, in less than half a page. Personally, for broad and adequate to the purpose of these lines, I stay with Stephen Haag, Maeve Cummings and Donald J. MaCubbrey referenced in the article, because it is simple, understandable and includes all those elements that are ultimately used to incorporate our existence:

"The information technology component of any computer-based tool that people use to work with information, support information and processing the information needs of an organization. Under this definition they include ICT within personal computers, Internet, mobile phones, digital assistants and all those people like devices. "

Surely somewhere else we will find that "an organization" has been replaced by "people" that our purpose is what interests us. The tool par excellence of this whole Internet was not very peaceful purposes, but has become a channel for information and basic communication in the developed world and is widely used on a personal level. Those who practice what we are here, so it should not expand on the subject.

A brief history of the Internet offers us, among others, Janet Abbate in Inventing the Internet. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1999, while Andreu Baró Veà us with the prospect of one of the leading players in its development.

But for now Let the idea that when we talk about ICT here, we refer to the Internet, basically, but we will see, with mobile, PDA's and Digital Terrestrial Television, as mechanisms for the generation, transmission and reception of information.

Try to see if this serves to facilitate social choice mechanisms, focusing on which I believe is the largest of which have been implemented in this country, although still in its infancy: the broadcast media in the transformation process of Diagonal Avenue of Barcelona, but that just speaks from the perspective of ICT-based procedure. In principle, generators and receivers of information should be fed back their positions by providing information on a two-way.

Why blog?

I'm doing the final work of Official Master in the Knowlegde and Information Society on the possibilities of information technology and communication which I prefer to qualify "expression of individual preferences" rather than, laconically, "politics."

I am convinced that the means to break the traditional space-time barriers in human communication that we can put the Internet, mobile telephony and the emerging digital terrestrial television may be used in collective decision-making processes, as are in the world of work, economic and, in the broadest sense, cultural.

My work aims to show these possibilities, without forgetting, however, that its implementation required a determination is active, beyond words, those that regulate the processes of collective decision, the political representatives we have chosen in some way.

In this context, the Barcelona City Council has begun the process described on the website to which I referred in the show: "i.de.a. Diagonal”.

It is, in my opinion, the most ambitious undertaken by a Spanish government for the use of ICT in a decision process: ambitious in a double sense, the population involved (in principle all citizens registered in Barcelona) and their "effectiveness" as it is not any pilot or trial, but an actual process of choice.

But personally I have left (there are some in the light of comments in the press) that some issues beyond the specific object of the consultation is worth commenting on.

Today, more than two months since the launch of the official website of the participatory process is lacking a fluid input from citizens. It is true that only has completed the first phase of the process, the "i", and general information on the process itself and the reform of the Diagonal Avenue, and then created a period of receiving input from citizens but there are thoughts which, as I will (and hopefully, I would like to go) husking, could pre-process and that will be demonstrating along the same.

But first, some considerations are needed "technological" prior.

Presentation

I would like this blog is an area of thinking on the process of citizen participation called "i.de.a Diagonal" launched by the Barcelona City Council on the reform of the Diagonal Avenue in Barcelona due to the union of two lines of trolley named Trambaix (west of the city) and Trambesòs (east of the city). Diagonal Avenue is one of the most importants axes of Barcelona.

It is not so much a contrast of views on as it should (or not) be the Diagonal, although anyone who wants to respond to are welcome, but the participatory process itself, how we vote, how votes are , who voted ...

I start with some very general thoughts.