E-Government for All

Announcing E-Government for All: A Virtual Conference on E-Government and the Digital Divide

Sponsored by the Benton Foundation, the New York State Forum and Group Jazz

In conjunction with the American Library Association Office of Information Technology Policy, the Association for Community Networking, Athena Alliance, BytesForAll.org, the Council for Excellence in Government, CTCNet, the Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center (ITTATC), La Sociedad de Información de las Américas, One Economy Corporation and Thinkofit.com.

About the Conference

There has been much interest in the US and abroad in utilizing the Internet to improve communications between governments and citizens. The Internet has great potential in giving individuals greater access to their governments, while at the same time improving efficiencies and cutting bureaucratic red tape. But the reality is that a sizeable portion of society lacks both access to the Internet and the skills to use it effectively.

As state, local and national governments expand their e-government activities, millions of underserved citizens fall further behind, effectively becoming cut off from the people and institutions that serve them. Governments, in conjunction with the private sector and civil society, must develop sustainable strategies for ensuring that all citizens can reap the potential benefits of e-government. We must also work to ensure that public information and services remain accessible to all, especially people with disabilities, understandable to low-literate citizens and readable for non-English speakers.

E-Government for All will convene key stakeholders in government, research, business and civil society to tackle the challenge of implementing e-government while simultaneously addressing the digital divide. Participants will interact via the Internet and conference calls over the course of the conference, participating in virtual keynotes, panel sessions and community forums.

Goals of the Conference

- Raise awareness and spark engagement among policymakers of the importance of tackling the digital divide while pursuing e-government activities

- Convene and evaluate a first-ever virtual gathering of experts and practitioners to develop strategies to expand the relevance and accessibility of e-government in underserved communities

- Develop a set of guiding principles that can be used as a "call to action" for better e-government policies in the context of bridging the digital divide and the need to ensure access to government information and services for all

- Publish a post-conference report to summarizing the activities the conference and the collective wisdom of participants

Issues to be Covered at the Conference

- E-government best practices
- Access to government information, services and decisionmaking
- Latest research from leading experts
- Citizen's panel: underserved community experiences with e-government
- Partnerships between government, the private sector and civil society
- Government website accessibility
- E-government and importance of 21st century skills
- International perspectives of e-government
- and more!

How to Participate

E-Government for All is free and open to the public.

Simply click the Registration button on the homepage and fill out the form. You'll then be registered to participate in the conference, which begins November 3.

For more information, please feel free to email us at
egovinfo@groupjazz.com.