November 2003

E-GOVERNMENT
E-Government Can Help Meet Globalization Challenges

WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
Plan for UN to Manage Internet 'Will Be Shelved'

INTERNET
Middle East Dissidents Use the Internet to Take Action

21ST CENTURY SKILLS
NEPAD Unveils Computer Literacy Plan for Africa

E-GOVERMENT FOR ALL CONFERENCE, DAY 5
Connecting Research with Policy and Practice
Federal E-Government Initiatives in the U.S.
International Perspectives on Achieving E-Government for All
"Open Space" Discussion Forums

Note: During the 10 days of the E-Government for All conference (November
3-14), the Headlines team will include highlights from the ongoing
conference sessions, along with our usual headlines. We hope you find the
additional summaries useful. For more information on the conference, please
visit http://www.egov4all.org.

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E-GOVERNMENT

E-GOVERNMENT CAN HELP MEET GLOBALIZATION CHALLENGES
The UN-backed Fifth Global Forum on Re-inventing Government declared last
Thursday that "improved governance and public administration" are necessary
preconditions for sustainable development. The forum of more than 100
delegations, which convened in Mexico City last week, recommended the
rapidly evolving tool of e-government to contend with the expectations of
citizens in the new century. The Forum said that e-government would enhance
participatory democracy, while e-administration and back-office components
would aid in the transition to the electronic delivery of services.
E-learning was emphasized as a strategy to build talent, using performance
measurements, monitoring, evaluation and core public service values.
Conference participants had the opportunity to learn from the Mexican
government's experience with doing more for less. "The public sector must
challenge itself continuously to improve the way it does business," UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a message read by
Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Jose Antonio Ocampo
at the opening.
SOURCE: UN News Centre
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=8812&Cr=internet&Cr1=govern...
#

WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

PLAN FOR U.N. TO MANAGE INTERNET 'WILL BE SHELVED'
Management of the Internet will be one of the main points of contention at
the final round of WSIS preparatory talks, going on this week in Geneva.
However, UN officials say they see no compromise emerging. Poorer nations,
such as Brazil and India, and some richer ones like China, are growing
dissatisfied with the workings of California-based ICANN (Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the semi-private Internet
address regulator. Critics argue that the Internet is a public resource and
should be managed by national governments at an international level, by a
body such as the International Telecommunications Union. Defenders of the
status quo, namely the United States and the European Commission, claim that
government control could stifle the free flow of information and ideas.
These arguments seem to be losing ground to new challenges, such as spam,
privacy and security issues, hate speech and child pornography, which may
require international regulation and enforcement.
SOURCE: Financial Times: AUTHOR: Francis Williams
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullSto...
=StoryFT&cid=1066565751923&p=1012571727172

INTERNET

MIDDLE EAST DISSIDENTS USE THE INTERNET TO TAKE ACTION
W. Sean McLaughlin examines how dissidents in the Middle East use the
Internet as a tool to take action in the face of state-imposed constraints
on Internet access. "Non-state actors have revisionist goals and the
Internet offers advantages for accomplishing these political objectives,"
says McLaughlin. State officials seek to oppose Internet-based dissidence by
limiting Internet infrastructure or imposing censorship constraints.
McLaughlin develops a model for Internet-based dissidence and then applies
it to different case studies: The Muslim Brotherhood in both Jordan and
Egypt, and the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia. These groups have been
highly effective in using the Internet to conduct their dissidence, despite
state-imposed constraints on their activities. McLaughlin argues that
successful use of dissent in the Middle East could have important
implications for the political landscape of the region.
SOURCE: First Monday; AUTHOR: W. Sean McLaughlin
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_11/mclaughlin/index.html

21ST CENTURY SKILLS

NEPAD UNVEILS COMPUTER LITERACY PLAN FOR AFRICA
In Kenya, computer literacy will be required for all students completing
secondary school by 2008. The NEPAD initiative, which eventually will serve
the entire African continent, would require sufficiently trained teachers in
information and communication technology (ICT) in all African schools.
George Saitoti, Kenya's Education Minister, says the government plans to
conduct an ICT in-service training for 43,000 teachers over the course of
the initiative. The program will make schools ICT proficient, starting at
the secondary level by 2008, then the primary school level by 2012. The goal
is to make 2,500 primary and secondary schools "ICT-ready" annually.
Twenty-two strategic institutions have been linked to a network through the
Kenya Education Network (KENET), a partnership between the governments of
Kenya and the United States. Kenya is one of the 18 countries that have
already signed up for the first phase of this ICT literacy initiative.
SOURCE: The Nation (Nairobi)
http://allafrica.com/stories/200311050066.html

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E-Government for All:
November 3-14, 2003
Over 1100 participants from 78 countries
Information and registration: http://www.egov4all.org/

CONFERENCE SUMMARY, DAY 5

CONNECTING RESEARCH WITH POLICY AND PRACTICE

"While accessibility is a big consideration for me as well, I worry that a
disproportionate amount of attention gets devoted to the form/shape of
e-government activity (namely website design, appropriateness of technology,
etc.) rather than the substance," noted Ryan Turner of OMB Watch. "On one
level, this includes what information is available, what *more* information
will be available than is currently, and what information has the potential
for being lost or taken away). On another level, however, it also includes
exploring the tension between how technological considerations shape, frame,
hamper/hinder, or foster the activities of government, whether it be data
collection, analysis by government workers or the public, and
dissemination."

"But the one additional level I still don't hear is how well e-government
activity factors in the need to educate citizens/the public about the basic
functions and processes which underly whatever level of technology
dressing," he continued. "Just because you can have e-rulemaking facilities
doesn't mean everyone understands how a rule is made, how to submit
comments, how to follow up with agency heads, where to look for background
citations, etc."

Educator Dave Bloch offered a teacher's perspective on the issue. "To me,
every Website is just a new version of those slide shows and flimstrips we
used to see in elementary school," he said. "Every screen on your Website is
a slide, and it has to TEACH something! What's different is that, besides
the content, the screeen also has to teach HOW TO NAVIGATE ITSELF. This has
been our best argument for simple and unified layout and navigation, as we
pulled all our disparate department Websites into one County site. The
hardest part of doing this Webmaster job is to keep thinking like a citizen,
and NOT like someone who works inside the County building walls. Seems to me
that, the more we can keep our view looking from the Outside In rather than
Inside Out, the better a job we do."

"It is important to keep the website clientele in mind," Darrell West said,
continuing with this point. "Average citizens struggle with more things on a
website than is the case with webmasters or other people with specialized
knowledge about technology or government. Since there is no uniform look to
government websites, every time someone goes onto to a new government site,
he or she must take a few moments to figure out how this particular site is
organized and how to find the material that is needed. Keeping that citizen
perspective in mind when you design government websites is an important
perspective."

Karl Hebenstreit, Jr. of the U.S. General Services Administration noted a
conversation at a recent usability workshop in which speakers suggested that
the government develop a collection of case study "personas" that would help
government website developers think more about the needs and abilities of
particular audiences. "The idea is that we should be able to build some
composite 'personas' (probably about a dozen) which could then be shared
across government agencies, and that these 'personas' could help guide user
interface design," Karl explained.

Meanwhile, Don Straus returned to the issue of multilingual content, raised
earlier in the week. "But my interest here is not to persuade anyone in this
distinguished group, but rather to understand why the distinction between
multilingual 'information' and 'participation' hasn't been more generally
recognized," he said.

"[F]or me, one reason for participation is the possibility of more
realistic, effective decisions," Rosemary Gunn replied. "Then the important
question in thinking about whose participation should be encouraged is not
language or citizenship - it is who will be affected by a decision and who
needs to be involved to get it implemented - and therefore who decision
makers need to hear from before deciding. Say that some level of government
is talking about aspects of education where many of the affected parents are
non-native speakers (whose children may be citizens, whether the parents are
or not). If the decision doesn't take the affected families into account, it
may be hard to implement, and people may wonder 'now why didn't that work?'"

"What is badly needed is collaborative discussions involving people with
your concerns and mine, with the goal for both side to find solutions rather
than to just WIN from their different concerns and points of view," Don
replied.

FEDERAL E-GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES IN THE U.S.

The closing days of the Federal E-government panel discussion tied up loose
ends as FCC webmaster David Kitzmiller gave his final responses to questions
previously posed by Belinda Spinosi, Erik Baekkeskov and Shani Smothers.

On Wednesday, good government advocate Belinda Spinosi asked Kitzmiller how
Section 508 accessibility requirements should be enforced on US government
websites, including addressing the issue of website readability.

"I think that your approach to looking at 508 enforcement language provides
a welcome perspective that I think will be helpful in broadening our
efforts, not just fulfilling the law," responded Kitzmiller. "Our starting
point must come from what IS in the standards, even though the regs
[regulators] don't say that filing a complaint is the ONLY way of enforcing
508."

Within the language of Section 508, there are three enforcement tools
mentioned, said Kitzmiller. First, individuals may file complaints and suits
against an agency. Second, federal documents must contain Section 508
compliance requirements. Finally, the U.S. Attorney General must prepare a
biennial report and make recommendations regarding the state of Federal
department and agency compliance with the requirements of section 508.

"It's been my experience, and I firmly believe that the FCC and many other
Federal agencies, have indeed taken it upon themselves to fully implement
the spirit and intent of Section 508," said Kitzmiller. He said the large
number of attendees at the Interagency Disability Educational Awareness
Showcase evidences the federal government's commitment to complying with
Section 508.
On Wednesday, Erik Baekkeskov, a PhD student in political science at
University of California Berkeley, asked, "To what extent are alternatives
(paper/phone) to online access a part of accessibility in the Federal
strategy? How do you manage your infrastructure -- is all work done by
federal employees and computers, or are functions contracted out to vendors
(e.g., EDS)? If the latter, what functions?"
"All of our official documents are available on paper for public inspection
at our headquarters," Kitzmiller responded. "All public releases come with
instructions for obtaining materials in alternative, accessible formats, and
there's also a publicized method of accepting public submissions in
alternative formats." The FCC also has a specialist focused on providing
transcription and FCC information in Braille, large print,
screen-reader-ready electronic text, audio and video formats available upon
request, he added. Complaints can be files on the web, by email, by postal
mail, or over the phone, TTY, or by fax. "We offer Agency and division-level
TTY and toll-free numbers backed-up by fully staffed state-of-the-art local
and national call centers with 508-compliant voicemail systems," continued
Kitzmiller. As for managing FCC infrastructure, two of the seventeen bureaus
and offices use outside contractors to some extent on basic HTML pages, he
said. However, most of the FCC's e-filing systems are created and maintained
by outside programmers under the guidance of the IT department and
Bureau/Office program staff.

On Thursday, Shani Smothers, graduate student and Benton Foundation intern,
asked, "Is there any particular reason that e-government initiatives, only
think of accessibility in terms of disability access? Why are low-level
readability and foreign language access not priorities as well and included
in the amendments and compliance standards?"

"[The FCC's] own definition of accessibility does address more than just
accessibility in terms of people who are blind or deaf or hard of hearing,"
Kitzmiller responded. He said their accessibility handbook addresses other
accessibility practices like people with mobility impairments, people with
low-vision, people with speech disabilities and people who may have a
combination of these types of impairments. "Our improved design standards
indirectly address accessibility for people with cognitive difficulties,
low-level readers and older adults, but we plan to add this in writing to
our policies and handbook in the near future," he added. Currently, foreign
language accessibility is not written into FCC official website policy, he
said, but it is increasing.

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACHIEVING E-GOVERNMENT FOR ALL

Panelist Pablo Bermudez expanded on the idea of user friendliness,
describing two classical approaches to graphic design and "friendliness."
Most administrations dealing with e-government assume it's an IT problem,
while others see e-government as a more integral problem. "From my point of
view, the second must be the right one!," writes Pablo. "It's not just a
matter of assigning the project to the tech guys and pretending that they
will come up with the perfect solution." It involves much more than that, he
says: "Communication skills (using the right language(s)), anthropological
approaches (especially in ethnically diverse countries), a will to publish
-- not to retain -- information for the public (Freedom of Information Acts
that consider the use of web portals), a will to preserve physical and
electronic information (not just as accountability but to preserve an
institutional and historical memory), and a will to build a real democracy
where people's opinion can be considered, especially for those who never had
a voice (unconnected, geographically dispersed or culturally alienated or
forgotten buy the state)..."

Next, Krishnan clarified his comments about e-administration as the key to
e-governance. "It is not technology (ICT or CTI) which can bring about
e-Governance. It is the acceptability and mindset of people," he said. "As
long as the government does not come as a stumbling block, the progress can
happen anywhere." Educating users would be required, and citizen voluntary
groups and NGOs can help in taking e-Governance forward. Krishnan cited
infrastructure as a crucial element to be addressed.

In response, Andrei Marusov began by offering a definition for e-governance.
"I share the view that e-Governance is about 'facilitation of interactions
between citizens, government organizations and elected officials, including
governing and policy-making process,' whereas e-Administration is the
'internal and public sector management component,'" he said. If ICT use in
the governmental sphere is restricted merely to the delivery of services,
Andrei said he would agree with Krishnan that e-administration is the key to
e-governance. "Then, Singapore should be a blueprint for the world and China
- its best pupil," he said, citing several articles as examples. "But ICTs
promise more - involving citizenry in policy-making, public deliberations,
bridging not the digital but the 'alienation or disengagement divide'
between those who govern and the governed.... For example, the Western
preoccupation with ICTs 'bridging the disengagement divide' is clearly
understandable - there is something wrong with the very legitimacy of the
democratic state if voter turnout falls, disengagement and public apathy
grow and consumerist approach towards the state and civic duties is on the
rise."

In his next posting, Andrei drew participants' attention to the importance
of international evaluation and benchmarking studies. He is concerned that
reliance on such studies may lead to pitfalls for practitioners in
developing / transition countries. In particular, he critiqued the Taubman
Center's third annual update on global e-government. Andrei suggested that
the Center's e-government country rankings are not a reliable source for
comparison. "Because its methodology is 1) biased towards agenda of ICT
developed countries (not adequate, given study purposes); 2) the evaluated
websites for some countries are wrongfully selected; and 3) there is
suspicion evaluators did not fulfill diligently their duties. The latter two
shortcomings are about professional accuracy, not just about
Euro-American-centrism..." Andrei reached this conclusion when he found that
Tajikistan (known for civil war and corruption) occupies 19th place ahead of
other former Soviet republics, as well as Poland, Spain, and Estonia.

"The mystery about Tajikistan is uncovered very quickly," he wrote. Only TWO
Tajik sites were evaluated. They are both ONLY in English, not updated for
2-3 years, created due to foreign assistance. "So, these are sites not for
Tajiks but for English speakers," he concludes. He also questions the
evaluators' accuracy. "It is pretty strange that ranking for many sites fell
down, in comparison with 2002. I keep an eye on Ukrainian / Russian sites
for 2 years and did not observe much downwards development on them. Is it
because the team of Taubman's evaluators was replaced?" He continued, "Given
these considerations, overall e-government ranking crumbles..." Andrei then
invited all conference participants to look into their own countries'
profiles and sources.

Balasubramaniam Kavassary from Mumbai, India recently concluded a project
for the evaluation of a project for replication of e-governance-related
applications for municipal corporations and local bodies. The evaluation was
based on functional assessment, technological assessment and others,
including cost-implications, security, platform, etc. "I am of the opinion
that the applications that need to be developed for e-governance should be
built up in such a way that while the citizens / tax-payers requirements are
met on the one hand, appropriate decision support capabilities should be
present and made available to apex level," wrote Balasubramaniam. "The
applications for Municipal Corporations / Local Bodies needs to be viewed
and designed NOT in isolated fashion but in an Integrated approach."

"OPEN SPACE" DISCUSSION FORUMS

Continuing the discussion of e-democracy, Kathy Goldschmidt said that
separation of powers is one of the problems facing the U.S. when it comes to
involving citizens in online policy. "Right now ... e-government resources
and initiatives are focused on Executive Branch information and services,"
she explained. "Because of separation of powers, those resources, and the
laws that mandate them, do not apply to most legislatures (including
Congress). Some government agencies are experimenting with e-deliberation
and e-rulemaking, but there's very little happening in legislatures." In her
work with Congress and with state legislators, Kathy has found a wide range
of obstacles to enabling legislative e-government, including legislative
culture, politics, funding, industrial age rules and procedures, technical
proficiency, awareness of the possibilities, etc. "Pressure from citizens is
mounting, but pressure isn't enough to overcome all of the obstacles," she
said. "It's going to take research, resources, and a cultural shift in how
legislatures operate."

Next, Ben Peacey described New Zealand's three tiers of government -- all of
which are getting involved in e-government. At the national government
level, e-government is seen as a way to provide governmental services
cheaper, faster and better, and efficiency is the main drive. At the
regional level, "they are less inclined to look at e-government because they
are charged with maintaining the surrounding environment and providing other
services such as public transport and so forth, but their main concern is
the environment and therefore they are looking at having online submissions
and the submission process being available through their websites," he said.
Finally, at the local council level, New Zealand's Local Government Act 2001
states that local councils should be the collector of constituents' views,
which can be presented to national government when required. The focus for
most of the local councils is providing a potentially cheaper way of
collecting citizens' views. "So while all three tiers of government are
interested in e-government, they are all taking different approaches to how
they implement e-government and aspects of e-democracy," Ben concluded.

Ken Jarboe of Athena Alliance asked Gail Watt of Sweden to expand on what is
meant by e-deliberation. "Do you mean communications and interaction via
electronic means?," he asked. "If so, how do you include those who are not
online in the deliberation process?"

"To be most meaningful and effective, eDemocracy encompasses a concept of
deliberation - discussion and thought-trading based on complete and
comprehensible documentation/information (documentation/information being
the eGov function)," responded Watt. "So let me say that eDem must have the
eGov functions as well as deliberation/collaboration and that indeed a
multi-channel approach is needed in order to potentially include all -- even
those not on-line." In Sweden's democratic activities, the existing bias is
toward the offline channels, he added. "The goal should be to balance the
channels so that on-line people have a better chance to participate in the
democratic exercise and that those not on-line are
encouraged/trained/provided with access in order to get on-line," Watt
concluded.

Watt noted that Ben Peacey questioned how much national governments actually
want to encourage e-democracy and whether they could and would provide a
forum for a discussion about e-democracy. "Your are on to the sore point,
Ben, both when it comes to national and local govt in Sweden," Watt said.

Politicians in Sweden talk about the benefits of e-democracy, but they fear
losing control of the political agenda. Watt said this is why practitioners
are slow to implement e-democracy. "We are all trying to find the right
creative alliances to speed up the inevitable forward process toward more
and more real eDemocracy," he said, "and eDemocracy to me does not mean
direct democracy, but rather methods that 'positively tinker' with the
current definitions of representative democracy."

If e-deliberation only focuses on interaction via electronic means, then how
do you include those who are not online in the deliberation process,
questioned Tim Erickson, founder of Politalk (http://www.politalk.com). "I
think that we make a mistake when we talk about e-deliberation or
e-democracy as something separate from face-to-face and other types of
democracy," he said. E-democracy is a tool to be used in a larger context,
not a separate process, he added. Erickson challenged proprietors not to see
E-democracy as an alternative, which excludes some segments of the
population.

Gail Watt discussed cultural differences and the difference between Sweden
and the US in terms of e-deliberation and e-democracy. "Since the Swedish
population shows more trust in the neutrality of their government agencies
than they do with interest groups (which all too often have a party -or
left-right politics flavor here) the whole concept of 'community' as you
know it in the US, gets turned around a bit in Sweden - and perhaps in
Europe in general," explained Watt. "And this indeed makes our Swedish job
of implementing e-democracy tools into a change-generating force a good bit
more difficult than the 'grass-roots' approach."

"I agree that you do not want to exclude those on-line any more than you
want to leave out those not on-line, Ken Jarboe replied. "How do you merge
the two so there is not two separate and unconnected processes," he asked.

"I tend to agree that, while connected, e-gov and e-dem are different -- and
electronic voting issues are another related but separate issue," said Paul
Leighton from StopViolence.com. Leighten noted the recent controversies
surrounding Diebold, a company that makes electronic voting machines whose
top executives are ardent Bush supporters.

"What's interesting in this entire thread is that there has been no mention
of another form of eGovernment other than eDemocracy," said Taran
Rampersand, software developer, a writer and a consultant in Trinidad and
Tobago. He continued, "Please don't get me wrong, I shall never advocate
eCommunism or eAnarchy or eMonarchy. But the lack of such terminology in
eGovernment discussions certainly is indicative of the synergy between
eGovernment and eDemocracy." Rampersand then questioned whether e-democracy
could be passive and still effective.

"The fear of e-democracy is huge," said Ben Peacey. He said politicians
have considerable power, and he questioned why they would want to undermine
themselves by involving citizens often considered incompetent. He said that
in some sources, e-democracy is thought of as the equivalent to Classical
Athens democracy. Peacey said he does not agree. "I think e-government needs
to progress further and be implemented before there is any really effort by
governments to produce a platform for e-democracy."

"Governments and politicians need to dispel their fears about e-democracy
and it is possible that a successful e-government operation could help this
along with the incoming generations of politicians," Peacey concluded.

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E-GOVERNMENT
Most Countries' Websites are Ignored

DIGITAL DIVIDE
The Simputer Moves Upmarket

EDTECH
Beaumont Foundation Announces Grants for Schools

E-GOVERMENT FOR ALL CONFERENCE, DAY 3
Online Chat with US Public Printer Bruce James
Connecting Research with Policy and Practice
Federal E-Government Initiatives in the U.S.
International Perspectives on Achieving E-Government for All
"Open Space" Discussion Forums

Note: During the two weeks of the E-Government for All conference (November
3-14), the Headlines team will include highlights from the ongoing
conference sessions, along with our usual headlines. We hope you find the
additional summaries useful. For more information on the conference, please
visit http://www.egov4all.org.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

E-GOVERNMENT

MOST COUNTRIES' WEB SITES ARE IGNORED
Most nations have their own official websites, but only 20 percent of people
with Internet access ever use them, according to a United Nations report
released Tuesday. In 2003, 173 of the UN's 191 member states had websites,
while 18 countries, many in Africa, do not, the report added. "Only a very
few governments have opted to use e-government applications for
transactional services or networking, and even fewer use it to support
genuine participation of citizens in politics," the report states. In
another ranking, Great Britain beat the US in terms of "e-participation" --
government willingness to interact and dialogue with citizens over the
Internet. Report author Mark Stevenson highlights a particular initiative in
the former Soviet Union: "Estonia, for example, has a site called 'Today I
Decide' at which people can propose, amend and vote on policy issues," he
said. "Officials then are required to consider those proposals." The report
also says women and the poor have less access to the Internet, while
security and privacy issues discourage use. "Some governments use Internet
services to cut red tape, but we see the Internet as advancing and
consolidating transparency and democracy," says Jose Antonio Ocampo, the UN
undersecretary-general for economic and social affairs.
SOURCE: Associated Press; AUTHOR: Mark Stevenson
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/UN_E_GOVERNMENT

DIGITAL DIVIDE

THE SIMPUTER MOVES UPMARKET
India's Simputer is gaining cool points as a possible link to bridge the
digital divide. After intense publicity, Encore Technologies launched the
Simputer in October 2002. The firm continues to shake the device's rustic
image and move it upmarket by promoting the handheld as multi-purposed and
able to transform into any type of portable computer. "The Simputer is very
different from a PDA," says Ravi Desiraju, CEO of Encore Technologies. "Such
handhelds are just accessories to the PC, whereas a fully configured
Simputer can replace a desktop." Desiraju adds that for the cost of one
computer, one can buy five Simputers. Presently, 2,000 Simputers have been
shipped to Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Europe and the US. Desiraju expects
another 2,000 to ship before the end of the year.
SOURCE: CNET Asia; AUTHOR: John Lui
http://asia.cnet.com/newstech/personaltech/0,39001147,39156876,00.htm

EDTECH

BEAUMONT FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES GRANTS FOR SCHOOLS
The Beaumont Foundation of America recently announced its 2004 grant process
for schools. The Foundation will award state-of-the-art Toshiba-branded
technology equipment to educational institutions serving low-income
populations in grades K-12. This year, 29 states are eligible to participate
in the competitive grant process. Education grants will be available for
schools that meet all eligibility criteria, including having a minimum of 50
percent of students qualifying for the National School Lunch Program. "We
believe, given access to technology and digital information, children -- as
well as their parents -- will have a better opportunity to advance socially,
economically and intellectually," said Beaumont President and CEO Frank
Newton. "Our program addresses the great need for digital equity for
underserved populations in the United States." Letters of interest from
qualifying schools will be accepted online beginning this month. Details
about the grant application process can be found at
http://www.bmtfoundation.com.
SOURCE: Beaumont Foundation; CONTACT: Daryl Ann Borel
http://www.bmtfoundation.com/bfa/us/public/en/media/releases/10232003.html

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E-Government for All:
Our free virtual conference is now open!
Over 1000 participants from 73 countries
Information and registration: http://www.egov4all.org/

CONFERENCE SUMMARY, DAY 3

LIVE CHAT WITH U.S. PUBLIC PRINTER BRUCE JAMES

Bruce James spent the hour responding to questions from conference
participants. Connie Acton, who teaches computers to senior citizens at West
Contra Costa Adult Education, asked Mr. James about the use of proprietary
document formats: "My personal concern is that government agencies are
requiring Adobe Acrobat for reading and downloading documents. This is a
cumbersome method and I would like to see it abolished. I realize that this
may not be in your domain but it is my immediate concern." James replied,
"In the sweep of history, this is transitional but it currently allows us to
present information electronically as you see it on paper. We also provide a
text equivalent on www.gpoaccess.gov."

A group of librarians at the University of California/San Diego asked James
about the future of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). [W]hat
are your thoughts about using the existing infrastructure of FDLP libraries
and the new technologies to restore the responsibility for collection
building, public access, service, and long term preservation to a
distributed, diverse group of libraries that are already dedicated to doing
this?" "We are spending a great deal of time considering the technological
possibilities and constantly looking for partners to handle key aspects of
the growing FDLP Electronic Collection not already covered under the
permanent public access commitment for GPO Access," he replied. "There are a
number of pilot projects underway with publishing agencies and our
depository library partners to safeguard portions of the collections at risk
and to ensure just the type of distributed permanence you suggest."

Jennifer Hill of the Benton Foundation questioned James about how the push
for e-government would create inequitable access to certain populations. "In
the old days there were only two choices between visiting a depository
library and purchasing your own personal copy from the GPO. Today, many more
Americans can access information over the Internet than was ever possible
before as evidenced by the more than one million consumer accesses to GPO
Access everyday." Andy Carvin responded with a follow-up question. "But as
you note in your keynote, within five years about 95% of govt documents will
be published digitally... Yet it remains to be seen if all Americans will
have Internet access by then - especially those with limited literacy
skills, etc."

"We have 1,280 Federal Depository Libraries across the country in almost
every congressional district, each equipped with public access work stations
and trained government information specialists available to assist in their
use," James replied. "In addition, there are thousands of other public
libraries with similar public access terminals."

Changing the topic, Erik Baekkeskov asked whether the GPO used outside
contractors for its online initiatives. "All of the materials in GPO Access
are maintained on GPO servers," James replied. "Other materials in the FDLP
electronic collection are maintained on partner sites or other agency
websites. For security purposes we don't comment further."

Bob Walter of Pittsburg State University asked James whether he felt that
government information was a public good versus an economic good, to which
James replied briefly, "These policies are set by Congress and it's our job
to implement their will through the public laws of the United States."

Greg Benson, Executive Director of the NYS Forum, posed the final question.
"I'd be interested in your long term vision of GPO within the larger context
of e-gov," he asked. "In short -- and with full understanding of the
unpredictability of technological developments -- where do you see all of
this ending up 15-20 years from now?"

"I think about this all of the time and have the good fortune because of my
position to be able to discuss these issues with those who will be the
digital architects of the future," James answered. "It's likely that within
the next 20 years that the nature of the information that we are saving for
posterity will be in completely different form than it is today. I expect
that historians 100 or 200 years from now looking back at the early part of
the 21st century will find it much more useful to be able to view the
proceedings of Congress as they actually took place, to be able to switch to
the Washington Post, and see how CNN was reporting those events. Our
challenge over the next few years is to build the platform that will allow
this to take place."

CONNECTING RESEARCH WITH POLICY AND PRACTICE

Darrell West continued the conversation about multilingual content on
government websites. "Having multiple languages on government websites is a
way for a community to reach a larger audience," he said. "If the goal in
various nations is to boost tourism or encourage foreign investment or serve
various populations within the country, translating webpages into several
languages is a way to boost the odds of achieving those goals."

"I think we could get closer to a consensus if we distinguish between
citizens participating in decisions making (such as a referendum) which
should involve 'problem solving' and an individual's 'desire for
information,'" Don Straus replied. "I believe most of us would agree with
providing multi-lingual requests for information. I suspect there might be
many fewer who would opt for multi-lingual problem solving. I believe that a
democratic government can best be 'democratic' in practice if the
participants in decision making interact in the same language."

Martin Levenson of Mexico then decribed the state of e-government and the
digital divide in his country, citing the challenges they face there. "I
think that the problem of information access here must point to the people's
possibility of access[ing] the technology they need to interact
electronically with the government much more than readability or disability
problems," he explained. "If you think that, in the best case, about 4% of
the mexicans (the same is in other countries in Latinamerica) have access to
the Internet, then is easy to understand that this is one of the most
important of our problems. Local and Federal government agencies are trying
to do somethings about that, but we have a loooong road to go in this way.
If you think in direct democracy with 4% of the people who can vote it don't
sound very democratic."

Kenan Jarboe of the Athena Alliance returned to John Horrigan's example of
the Baltimore online vote on the color of a local bridge. (The mayor's
choice of color lost by a narrow margin, with around 5,000 votes cast.) "A
decision was made by public referendum where the only means of voting was
via the Internet," he said. "Did any of the news stories even point this
out? Or was this viewed by Baltimore as a successful model? ... If this was
seen by the Baltimore powers-that-be as a success without any even glimmer
of recognition that it was an extremely limited vote, then it simply
illustrates how big of a problem we have and how far we have to go."

Wrapping up the day's discussion, William DuBay of Impact Information
criticized the U.S. government's inability to offer content at a reading
level accessible to most Americans. "I doubt if there are five people in the
federal government who know how to write at the level required by law," he
said. "The average adult reader in the U.S. reads at the 7th-grade level.
Addressing that audience does not come automatically, but only with training
and method. As Jacques Barzun said, 'Simple English is no person's native
tongue.' Jonathan Kozol used to say that we have two literacies in the
country, two nations. Most of our technical, regulatory, health, and news
information is all delivered at the 10th-grade level and up. What is
government doing to address this literacy and numeracy gap? We cannot blame
the problem on the schools, immigration, or non-Native speakers of English.
Most of the literacy problems are of native English speakers."

"I can't see how we can address the issue of speakers of other languages
without addressing this issue first," DuBay concluded.

FEDERAL E-GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES IN THE U.S.

Mark A. Foreman, former U.S. e-government czar, chimed into the discussion
with a response to David Kitzmiller and Jennifer Hill's previous dialogue
about mainstreaming accessibility into US legislation. "[George W. Bush] is
the first President who directly was involved in stating that government
must be made accessible and he made sure that Sec 508, E-gov, etc. were
directly included in his New Freedom Initiative," Forman said. He also noted
that the 24 presidential e-government initiatives had to comply with Section
508 before being launched. "I co-chaired the internal Section 508 Committee
with the Administrator of the Office of Procurement Policy, and the Federal
CIO Council had a designated lead for Section 508 compliance," he continued.
"Members of Congress and the Administration viewed E-gov as providing
accessibility to all, and that included the use of many other tools than
websites (e.g., voiceXML, USA Services call center operations)."

Good Government advocate Belinda Spinosi broke down how Section 508 will be
enforced. "Because the Section 508 standards will be incorporated into the
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), agencies' procurement of accessible
technology will be subject to the same stringent compliance and enforcement
mechanisms as other parts of the FAR," she said. Six months after the board
issues its final standards, individuals with disabilities can file
complaints alleging that a Federal department or agency has not complied
with the accessible technology standards, she said. Individuals may also
file civil actions against the violating agency.

Spinosi pointed out that Department of Justice rulings state that there is
nothing to prevent an agency from going above and beyond what is called for
as the bare minimum of accessibility for the disabled. "Waiting for citizens
with disabilities to file the 2 year long process of complaints in the
Department of Justice is more than an unfair burden and abusive," she said.
Spinosi suggested that a dialogue begin about technology alternative
solutions to accessibility, like web pages opening without a mouse.

The last word of the day came from Erik Baekkeskov, who posed questions
about alternatives to online access and infrastructure. "To what extent are
alternatives (paper/phone) to online access a part of accessibility in the
Federal strategy?" he asked. "How do you manage your infrastructure -- is
all work done by federal employees and computers, or are functions
contracted out to vendors (e.g., EDS)? If the latter, what functions?"

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACHIEVING E-GOVERNMENT FOR ALL

Martin Levenson noted that Mexico's Michoacan state, among others, is
focusing on creating a "multi-channel" relationship with citizens. About 95
percent of the population has access to the telephone, so the Michoacan
state government decided to open a call center that would be "the navigation
hands and eyes of the people that don't have Internet," he said. "This is
now our vision and we are trying to put this call center to work," he
continued. "The next problem we have, of course, is about the funding, and
this can be another theme we can talk about, and I'm sure our experience in
Latin America will be very different than first world governments'
agencies..."

Andy Carvin reiterated Martin's point regarding multi-channel relations with
citizens. "Many countries continue to use multiple means -- phone, fax,
community radio, etc. -- for disseminating government-related materials," he
stated. Sharon R. Swain of the University of Texas - El Paso Library agreed
with Martin that the issue of access to information (or lack of it) can make
a great difference to the development of a country. "Where there is a wide
gap (larger digital divide) you will find a populace that is distanced from
its government," she said.

Panelist Vikas Nath joined the conversation from Azerbaijan, where he is
attending a conference. Based on his e-governance work, Vikas shared one
conclusion that is firmly embedded in his mind: "E-governance models that
are successful or workable in the Developed Countries need not be applicable
in the Developing Countries," he said. "In fact, there are a lot of
fundamental things which the North can learn from the simple yet
locally-relevant e-governance models in the South."

"In developing countries, one often finds less developed or virtually absent
communication channels to transmit information on governance issues to the
common person," he continued. "Or, where such communication channels exist,
they may be highly censored or may not be objective." The introduction of
e-governance models in this case not only stimulates the flow of information
from source to destination, but more importantly, changes the architecture
of information flow, especially who the information flowing to. In short,
the potential of information staying restricted to a small group and being
exploited for private gains is reduced, he explained. Improved communication
channels and information flow could help in checking corruption, promoting
fairness in recruitment process for government jobs or simply reducing
agricultural land conflicts. More than 50 examples, classified into five
generic models applicable for the South, can be found on Vikas' website,
http://www.digitalgovernance.org. Vikas then invited participants to discuss
the relevance of implementing such models.

Kenan Jarboe of the Athena Alliance followed Vikas with a question: "In
cases of a culture and a government ethos of control of information, is it
possible that e-government will simply become another restricted form of
communications -- especially if the systems are designed to enhance the
transactions and communications among the chosen few?" Jason Kitcat, based
at the University of Sussex in the UK, responded. "E-government can only be
a 'force multiplier' for governments committed to openness," he said. "ICTs
should not be regarded as an inherent force for openness or democracy.
Technology has incredible power to control and track citizens, in the same
way can ICTs be incredibly empowering to those who want to open up all their
documents and processes... The culture of the government using the
technology will be the key factor."

Paul Maguire in New York state commented on Vikas' statement about
e-governance stimulating and widening the flow of information. "This seems
to me to make the GIGO (Garbage in, Garbage out) truism more important," he
said. "There are both advantages and the obviously disadvantages to the
changes that Vikas talks about. In an environment where someone wants to
present 'their' version of the truth, this is a very strong tool. How do we
deal with this?"

Andrei Marusov shared some thoughts about the Ukrainian experience. He said
that although the Ukrainian government does not have yet official policies
"to beat digital divide," there is a visible lobby on the part of the
All-Ukrainian Association of Internet Cafes to make private Internet cafes
the backbone of public Internet access infrastructure. "Its head (former
official of the Ukrainian presidential administration) goes further,
claiming they could become the basis for creating nationwide e-government
offices," Andrei explained. He believes that choices in public Internet
infrastructure should look at feasibility considerations, then examine
whether the chosen infrastructure will contribute to building the knowledge
society or knowledge economy.

Andrei then disagreed with Gopalakrishnan Devanathan's previous assertion
that e-administration is the key to e-governance. "E-Administration is only
one component of e-Governance," he said. "Its desirable or ideal use is
conditioned by so many societal factors.... Applying ICTs to state
administration in a totalitarian state will only result in more
effective/efficient administration, and that's all." It is more important
who is holding the power and how they decide to use it.

On the topic of what languages should be "allowed" on e-government
resources, Andrei gave examples from the newly independent states of Ukraine
and Estonia. Although Russian is a common language in both countries, there
is discrimination against the language in governmental policy. For example,
in Ukraine, the governmental policy mandates that state websites "must be in
Ukrainian, English or any other language."

"No hint about Russian," he continued. "The reason for such 'irrational'
behavior is simple: the logic of nation-building still overrides any other
considerations."

"OPEN SPACE" DISCUSSION FORUMS

Continuing the discussion about accessibility, Taran Rampersad of Trinidad
and Tobago asked for clarification about why PDF files are difficult to read
for the visually impaired. "From my understanding, it's often an issue of
document layout," Andy Carvin replied. "For example, if you create a highly
designed document for paper printing and them make a PDF version, it's
impossible to identify the purpose of images in the document (like tables or
other descriptive images). Also, if the document breaks up the text in
multiple columns or other stylized displays, voice-generating reading
software won't be able to read it back to people with visual disabilities."
Elizabeth Gorgue then shared Adobe's website on this issue
(http://access.adobe.com). The County of Santa Clara, California, where
Elizabeth works, posts PDF attachments with an HTML version as well. Andy
Carvin asked if there any incentives (other than good corporate citizenship)
for Adobe to make accessibility a real priority. "Are there any other sticks
or carrots that can be used to push forward the process? Or do we have a
situation where PDF, by its very nature, will never be truly accessible?"

In the arena of 21st Century Skills, Gloria Bobbie shared her experience.
"When working as a consultant on a Star School Project, I watched millions
being spent on building towers and putting computers in classrooms (the
usual)," she noted. "What was missing was a sustainable plan for teaching
people to effectively 'use' the computers." There is not enough money for
the faculty development. Gloria believes "it is time take a more
comprehensive approach and to redefine accessibility to include not only
having access to technology, but to having access plus the professional
training to use it correctly. A large number of those computers being placed
in classrooms are never turned on...yet we say a school... has access
because the computer is in the classroom." Taran Rampersad noted that 21st
century skills build on 20th century skills, and it's important to reinforce
these traditional skills to assist in building the new ones. He gave an
example from Trinidad and Tobago, where there are people without running
water, electricity and telephone line access. "And these same people have
GSM cell phones. Is that progress?" he wondered.

Gail Watt, e-democracy specialist from Stockholm, Sweden, introduced the
topic of e-democracy. "Without a functioning e-government, there can be no
e-democracy," he stated. Ben Peacey, from the University of Canterbury in
New Zealand, took issue with Gail's comment about e-deliberation based on
solid information provided by e-government. "...Information released via an
e-government site is political and has been through a political process when
generally policy analysts have written the material and the material has
been approved for release by the government, thus creating a potential bias
on the information," Ben wrote. To engage with e-democracy and
e-deliberation, citizens need more information than just what is on the
e-government portal. Rik Panganiban summarized the "gray areas" between
e-government and e-democracy with a quote from e-democracy advocate Steven
Clift: "E-government is paying your taxes online; e-democracy is having a
say in how those taxes are spent." Leatrice Ferraioli asked to hear from
others as to what they see as the constraints imposed on government sites to
not provide policy and other substantive information that may inform citizen
decisions. Next week, a session hosted by Alan Rosenblatt of e-advocates.com
will look at e-democracy in further detail.

Michal Zalesak of the Czech Republic raised the topic of m-government
(mobile communications in government). Many countries, such as those in
central and western Europe, have demonstrated success in mobile penetration,
providing more stable cornerstones for m-government, which also has
considerable advantages: information and services that travel with citizens
wherever they move (thanks to mobile technologies such as SMS/GPRS). Lacey
Jennings asked, "What can be done to ensure that government services (e- or
m-) are device independent and support user portability?" She gave as an
example the dramatic increase in the use of handheld devices by US medical
professionals. "Part of the advance in this sector may be attributable to
Federal guidelines governing the use and exchange of patient's medical
information ... These standards helped pave the way for interoperability,"
she explained. Mark Headd responded that most governments do not design
information or applications with multiple devices in mind. A good reason for
designing to standards is that it enables the conversion of content from one
format to another. However, "a good number of government web sites do not
comply with accepted standards for page design -- by this I'm talking about
the standards developed and adopted by the World Wide Web Consortium,
specifically the XHTML 1.0 specification," Mark wrote.

Lacey followed up by asking, "If the standards already exist and the
continued evolution of multiple devices is a given, why don't more
government agencies develop for the greatest common denominator?" Mark said
he didn't think cost was necessarily the reason: "There are some good,
practical examples out there of government sites that adhere to standards
that actually reduce costs and improve efficiencies." Rather, he thinks it
has something to do with the "traditionally one-dimensional way of thinking
about the Internet.... I think the important ingredient is to change the way
that people think about the Internet from a tethered visual desktop
experience to ... so much more."

Michal Zalesak added to the discussion on reasons for not adopting
standards. "From my experience, the first reason is need for additional
investment -- governmental websites and sources of information have existed
some time and their migration to open standards, such as XML, that enable
provision of information to various devices: from web to mobile phones and
digital TV," he said. "Building m-government does not mean taking the latest
solutions and applying them, but taking solutions, that are commonly used
and citizens regularly use them - such as SMS in [the Czech Republic]." He
said that m-government is about "motivating people with interesting
applications from the governmental perspective, that would enable citizens
either to save some money or receive more interesting public services
through mobile devices in comparison with traditional ways of providing
information." Responding to a question from Andres Ibanez, Michal explained
why m-government is a challenge for developing countries and e-democracy in
general, citing issues including the price of devices, their ease of use and
the cost of operation.

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E-GOVERNMENT
Aussies Do It Right: E-Voting
City Seeks Help Coloring the Howard St. Bridge

TELEPHONY
AT&T May Face Fine for Telemarketing

SPECIAL FEATURE: E-GOVERMENT FOR ALL CONFERENCE, DAY 1
Connecting Research with Policy and Practice
Federal E-Government Initiatives in the US
International Perspectives on Achieving E-Government for All

Note: During the two weeks of the E-Government for All conference (November
3-14), the Headlines team will include highlights from the ongoing
conference sessions, along with our usual headlines. We hope you find the
additional summaries useful. For more information on the conference, please
visit http://www.egov4all.org.

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E-GOVERNMENT

AUSSIES DO IT RIGHT: E-VOTING
The United States could take a lesson from Australia when it comes to
electronic voting machines. The Aussies addressed security concerns by
making e-voting software completely open to public scrutiny. Though designed
by a private company, the system was based on specifications set by
independent election officials, who posted the code on the Internet for the
public to review. The reaction was positive, and a few people wrote in to
report bugs. Additionally, the electoral commission hired an independent
verification and validation company to audit the code. Australia's
Electronic Voting and Counting System (eVACS) runs on Linux, the popular
open-source operating system available on the Internet. In order to keep
expenses down, eVACS does not provide a voter-verifiable receipt. However,
Matt Quinn, lead engineer on the project, thinks that all e-voting systems
should offer a receipt. The issues of voter-verifiable receipts and secret
voting systems could be resolved in the United States by a bill introduced
in the House of Representatives last May. The bill would force
voting-machine makers nationwide to provide receipts and make the source
code for voting machines open to the public.
SOURCE: Wired; AUTHOR: Kim Zetter
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,61045,00.html

CITY SEEKS HELP COLORING THE HOWARD ST. BRIDGE
Through a poll on the Baltimore, Maryland city government website, Mayor
Martin O'Malley is asking citizens to settle an artistic dispute. At issue
is the color that the city will paint the 1,000-foot long Howard Street
Bridge, one of Baltimore's most visible structures. The bridge is the last
to be painted as part of the "Gateway of Color to Baltimore" project, whose
color scheme was devised by artist Stan Edmister. Mayor O'Malley does not
like was he calls the "God-awful" color scheme of rust brown, green and blue
with a splash of yellow. He prefers a Kelly green arch. Fred Lazarus IV,
president of the Maryland Institute and an authority on urban landscapes,
said, "Stan understands how all the colors hold up and the relationships
among the bridges. The mayor doesn't really understand how the color palette
relates to structure and function." O'Malley will abide by the results of
the Internet poll, located at www.Baltimorecity.gov.
SOURCE: Baltimore Sun; AUTHOR: Jamie Stiehm
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.bridge29oct29,1,6275429.story

TELEPHONY

AT&T MAY FACE FINE FOR TELEMARKETING
Yesterday, the FCC proposed to fine AT&T $780,000 for breaching the recently
enacted legislation mandating that companies cannot telephone consumers that
have registered with the federal "do-not-call" list. Officials say the FCC
found that AT&T made calls to 29 consumers on 78 occasions after those
consumers had asked company solicitors not to call them again. The agency
proposed a $10,000 fine for each call. This would be the first action taken
against telemarketers for making calls to homes against consumer's wishes,
and more actions are to come, say government and industry officials. "We're
actively working on several potential matters, and if we find violations,
you can expect serious and swift enforcement actions," said David H.
Solomon, head of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau. Consumers have filed 56,000
complaints with the FCC and the Federal Trade Commission since October 1.
SOURCE: Washington Post; AUTHOR: Caroline E. Mayer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59919-2003Nov3.html

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E-Government for All:
Our free virtual conference is now open!
Over 900 participants from 68 countries registered so far!
Information and registration: http://www.egov4all.org/

CONFERENCE SUMMARY, DAY 1:

CONNECTING RESEARCH WITH POLICY AND PRACTICE
Invited Speakers:
Darrell West, Taubman Center for Public Policy, Brown University
John B. Horrigan, Senior Research Specialist, Pew Internet & American Life
Project

Darrell West kicked off the discussion by summarizing the findings from his
recent report, E-Government and Accessibility: Highlights from a National
Survey. "[D]espite the extensive progress made in upgrading government
offerings, several pressing policy issues remain for government officials,"
he said. "For example, not all Americans are sharing in the fruits of
technology. In addition, individuals who are visually or hearing impaired or
face other physical challenges do not have the same access to online content
as the non-disabled. This limits the utility of digital government and
denies the advantages of e-government to large populations of American
society."

John Horrigan presented survey results on how Americans are using
e-government services. "About 56% of all Americans ... contacted government
in the past year," he said. "80% of those with a college education did this,
compared with 44% of high school graduates. And whites were more likely to
say they contacted government than non-Whites (by a 58% to 48% margin). As
for which Internet users use e-government, those who have more online
experience are the heavy e-gov users. 78% of online users with 6 or more
years of online experience visited a government Web site in the past year,
compared with 42% of new internet users (those online for a year or less).
Online experience tends to be associated with education and income."

Elizabeth Gorgue, e-Government "evangelist" for the County of Santa Clara,
California, jumped in the conversation to talk about what she called "huge
opportunities for online 'e-democracy.'" Citing the potential of federal
websites like the Regulations.gov site, Gorgue suggested that government
portals could do a better job at highlighting documents most requested by
citizens, allow them to sign up for email alerts based on personal interest
and enable peer-to-peer comments on proposed legislation.

FEDERAL E-GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES IN THE U.S.
Invited Speaker:
David Kitzmiller, Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Achieving access for all is a multi-dimensional challenge for all
e-government initiatives. Panelist David Kitzmiller, FCC webmaster,
described how the FCC focuses on five approaches to improve accessibility:
design, content, people (users), systems and interaction with the public.
Besides focusing on these key elements, the FCC also presents policies on
the website that address standards of customer service, website maintenance
& schedules, privacy, security notices, information quality guidelines,
freedom of information act notice for electronic records and information
about required plug-ins, players and readers. "Our challenge is to make our
web site readable, useful, useable, efficient, effective, interactive and
informative for all citizens," Kitzmiller said, "including traditionally
underserved communities such as people with disabilities, people in rural
and tribal areas, older adults, people with low-literacy, non-English
speakers and people from a variety of backgrounds and educational levels."

Andy Carvin, senior associate at the Benton Foundation and program chair of
the conference, asked Kitzmiller about the greatest barrier to website
accessibility."Is it mostly a technical challenge?" he asked. "Is it an
internal communications challenge (ie, getting all internal contributors to
the website to think about accessibility and readability issues)? Is it the
sheer size of the website?" Kitzmiller answered that the challenge is mostly
technical, but it's also related to the sheer size of the website. Carvin
then posed to local, state, and federal webmasters participating in the
conference if technical challenges or other issues are more of an obstacle.
Elizabeth Gorgue responded: "We take accessibility very seriously, and look
at it on 3 dimensions: i) accessibility for persons with disabilities; ii)
accessibility for residents lacking a home connection to the Internet; and
iii) accessibility for persons with limited English proficiency."

"In the beginning, the legal issue certainly got our attention, but from
what I have seen at the FCC and at agencies across the US Federal
Government, It's my belief that there really IS a broad understanding of the
importance of accessibility and readability," Kitzmiller continued.

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACHIEVING E-GOVERNMENT FOR ALL
Invited Speakers:
Pablo Bermudez Mogni, Executive Director, Information Society for the
Americas
Vikas Nath, United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
Judy Brewer, W3C Web Accessibility Initiative

Pablo Bermudez opened the session by summarizing the challenges and
opportunities presented by the information society. "Less favored sectors
like the rural populations, poor sectors, ethnic groups and people with
physical disabilities are not taken into account when these strategies are
designed and executed," he explained. He stated that governments have a
unique opportunity to improve customer service and the competitiveness of
their countries, to consolidate truly equitable and participative
democracies, and to produce intelligent, efficient and honest public
servants.

Vikas Nath of the United Nations Development Program then gave a brief
overview of digital governance. He promised to discuss several innovative
models of e-governance that have emerged and are evolving to change the way
information is distributed in society.

Next, Judy Brewer from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) invited
participants to visit some online slides that focused on WAI's work on
developing accessibility guidelines. Judy also provided some discussion
questions for thinking about the potential impact of standards harmonization
or fragmentation on the pace of making the Web accessible. "Can adoption of
the same set of Web accessibility guidelines across different countries,
states, and provinces actually accelerate the process of making the Web
accessible, by creating a unified market for Web authoring software
developers to respond to?" she asked.

In the discussion, Greg Benson of the New York State Forum asked for views
on whether e-government's focus on efficiency and cost cutting might eclipse
the considerations for making government websites fully accessible. Donald
Straus raised questions about the use of multiple languages on websites and
in email discussions: "Should multi-languages be accepted only in
international discussions? And if only a single language, how to choose it?"
Andy Carvin replied by extending the topic to its e-government implications,
particularly for a country such as India, where many languages are spoken.
"Perhaps the more important question is what multi-lingual content, if any,
is appropriate for your particular audience," he said. "The challenge, of
course, comes in communities with populations made up of many language
groups. In California, for example, it would be a worthwhile start to
provide information in English and Spanish. But what about the large
populations of Cambodians, Armenians, Iranians, Vietnamese, Hmong, etc that
also happen to live there? Is it realistic for a government to provide
content in _every_ major language group for a multi-lingual population?
Where do you draw the line?"

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