Net & Politics 2006 (Top 10)
The Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics
PoliticsOnline and the World E-Gov Forum are proud to announce the list for nominations of the Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics. For the seventh year in a row, PoliticsOnline subscribers and visitors from around the world are invited to help select the top 10 individuals, organizations and companies having the greatest impact on the way the Internet is changing politics.
This prestigious award seeks to recognize the innovators and pioneers, the dreamers and doers who bring democracy online. This year marked the toughest year ever in choosing the 20 finalists. The integration of politics and the Internet are reflected in this year's diverse, international nominees.
The winners, those top 10 nominees who receive the most votes, will be invited as honored guests to the World E-Gov forum October 18-20, in Issy-les-Moulineaux, (Paris, France), where they'll take part in an awards ceremony and other special programs throughout the three-day forum.
The Nominees for 2006
AceProject
AceProject.org
The ACE Electoral Knowledge Network provides comprehensive and authoritative information on elections, promotes networking among election-related professionals and offers capacity development services; driven by a fundamental belief that election administration should be seen as a profession in its own right.
ACE is a joint endeavor of seven partner organizations, all long-term supporters of providing comprehensive, up-to-date and reliable information on the "state of the art" in election policy, planning, organization and management. The extensive use made of the ACE Web site (over 2.4 million annual visitors) in its English, French and Spanish versions, is testimony to the fact that it is fulfilling an important need.
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Analitica Venezuela
Analitica.com
Analitica magazine was the first Venezuelan opinion magazine to be distributed
electronically, through the global medium of the Internet. For an uninterrupted ten years it has allowed users to express their thoughts and opinions about the main issues and current events in Venezuela and internationally. This organization presents an objective viewpoint of the most relevant happenings in a Latin American country which has led the vanguard of technological advances. The publication looks to emphasize Venezuela's external relations along with its macroeconomic, oil-related, social, and legislative problems, as well as those related to the citizenry.
Today tolerance and diversity of opinion are of dire importance to forge a better future for Venezuela and this online outlet has most definitely changed the world of politics and the Internet.
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Care2, Randy Paynter
Care2.com
Care2.com has quietly become the largest social action network in the US. Nearly twice as big a MoveOn (at 6 million members), Care2 is an online community of progressive activists. In addition to the social networking resources available on its website, Care2 also runs ThePetitionSite.com, which allows individual activists, as well as advocacy groups, to create petitions that generate messages to Congress or any other email target. Groups using ThePetitionSite.com can hire Care2 to promote a petition to its 6 million member community, using it to recruit Care2 members to join the group's own email list. Care2 also runs FrogLoop.org and MovingIdeas.org, which provide social networking and information resources to the non-profit community.
And the most remarkable thing about Care2 is they have grown to this size without any overt advertising. They grow at a rate of thousands of people every week entirely through viral marketing, electronic word-of-mouth.
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Derek Wyatt, MP
DerekWyatt.co.uk
Derek Wyatt MP, of the UK, is one of a select group of technology savvy MPs in Westminster. He has been the Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Internet Group since 1997. In that time under Derek's leadership the Group has informed and educated Parliament on a wide range of issues relating to the Internet including: Computer Misuse, Digital Rights Management, Web accessibility and Copyright.
In addition, Derek and Parliamentary colleagues have visited Washington DC on several occasions over the last few years to create a constructive dialogue concerning legislation affecting the Internet with Congressmen and Senators of both Parties. Derek's vision for a first "Parliament and Internet" Conference in the House of Commons will take place in October 2006.
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FactCheck
FactCheck.org
FactCheck.org is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, working to change the political process by serving as a "consumer advocate for voters." Whether de-bunking Ralph Reed's false attack ads in the 2006 Georgia primary, or NARAL's false implication in 2005 that Supreme Court nominee John Roberts endorsed bombing abortion clinics, FactCheck.org has earned a reputation for even-handed fairness. Cheney's mention of "factcheck.com" in 2004 shows this organization has been noticed at the highest level. But the readers are the true constituents and speak best to the quality of work. In 2006, readers described FactCheck as "a breath of fresh air," "profound" and "the Consumer Reports of the written word." Members of the media have chimed in as well. Bob Garfield, co-host of National Public Radio's "On the Media" said in a column for Harvard University's Neiman Watchdog website, "FactCheck.org and the other truth squadders are doing God's work."
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David Madden & Jeremy Heimans
GetUp.org.au
In Australia, where previous attempts at e-politics had failed, Heimans & Madden successfully adapted e-campaigning to the unique nature of politics "Down Under", bringing a new generation of Australians back into the political process and inspiring a host of new online initiatives. Through GetUp.org.au, Heimans & Madden created a simple, compelling vehicle for progressives to take action. Since launching on 8/1/05, hundreds of thousands have used the site to sign petitions, create political satire, and contact their local representatives. GetUp! has won several major political victories and created a new class of political campaigners and donors. It now has 125,000 members, more than all of Australia's political parties put together-a huge number in a small country with record low rates of political participation. Through RightsAtWork.org.au, Heimans & Madden also brought e-advocacy to the labor movement, generating the largest ever petition & national protests in Australian history.
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Gov2u, Vasilis Koulolias
Gov2u.com
Gov2u is a Greek NGO founded in 2004 with the intention of harnessing the potential of ICTs as vital tools for the improvement of representative democracy. The main crux of activities is the research, development and deployment of open source enabling technologies to facilitate legislative information gathering and dissemination. In parallel, Gov2u is involved in the targeted dissemination of knowledge and best practice through the organization of, and participation in, conferences, meetings, seminars and publications.
The principal achievement to date has been the development of Gov2DemOSS, an open source, generic, informative and collaborative e-participation platform. Gov2DemOSS provides an efficient channel for institutions and organizations to keep their communities informed, manage their information repositories, and interact directly with their constituents and to gauge public opinion.
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HazteOir
HazteOir.org
This grass-roots lobbying group was founded on the principle that the Internet is the perfect vehicle to return to connecting people with their politicians. HazteOir.org is not only the corner where one can get information about current political affairs or the laws parliament carries out, it is also the place where one can act on them. All citizens with access to Internet can take part in online surveys or in the political party forums, send messages to politicians and journalists, and send with only a 'click' a letter to the 120 most important media outlets in Spain. HO has grown to become the Spanish-language most visited site dedicated to promoting political participation through the Internet.
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Internet Advocacy Center, Dr. Alan Rosenblatt
InternetAdvocacyCenter.com
The innovation of the Internet comes from conversations among people. The U.S.'s Internet Advocacy Center under Dr. Alan Rosenblatt's direction is finding those who are making impacts in the political and social space of the Net and bringing them together for this very reason. It is astounding how magical these conversations can be for all involved. New ideas and strategies are born, dissected, and several other verbs used in the name of innovations and solutions to the greater evolution of the Web.
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Korea Online Citizen Participation Portal
epeople.go.kr
This single window for online citizen participation has been in service since August 2006, after undergoing a one-year period of pilot services for five central administrative agencies such as the Ministry of Construction and Transportation, a central government agency which frequently receives civil petitions regarding land and property. The main services covered by this online portal for citizen participation include: civil complaints, public proposals, policy forums, and community clubs. The portal aims at enhancing transparency and credibility of public administration through citizen participation and ultimately promoting an "open government" for the people.
Korea has also ranked 4th among 191 UN member countries on E-Participation by the UN in 2005.
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NetzPolitik, Markus Beckedahl
Netzpolitik.org
Markus has done an enormous amount to increase public knowledge in Germany about issues regarding online politics, information freedom, access to knowledge, civil rights online and copyright issues. Among other things, he runs the top-notch weblog netzpolitik.org (Reporters Without Borders: "Best International Blog Defending Freedom of Expression"); is a partner in organizing the Wizards of OS conference; was WSIS spokesperson for the German NGOs; Runs NewthingStore, a OS consultancy and initiated the Network for Free Software; co-founded Network New Media (NNM) for civil rights in the digital space; and many other things.
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OhmyNews, Oh Yeon-ho
OhmyNews.com
The Internet is where many South Koreans, particularly the younger generation, get their news first, bypassing the traditional media. The country is one of the most wired in the world, with nearly 70% of households enjoying broadband connections. There are now several internet newspapers in South Korea, but OhmyNews is the most popular - and one of the most radical.
It was launched by Oh Yeon-ho in February 2000. His goal was to change the news culture into one in which the public was involved in producing, as well as reading, the news. His goal succeeded. The paper has a professional staff of just 41, and 23,000 "citizen reporters" who send in news reports on just about anything, and determine OhmyNews' editorial policy.
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One Global Community
OneGlobalCommunity.com
One Global Community has a plan. With the technical knowledge, building One Global Community for us all knows how to do it inexpensively. They know how and have ways to network and connect Community Centers and People (Earth Citizens) locally and around our Earth. They have a plan-from cleaning up the environment to 100 % employment for all. They have a plan and a forum for activists to ask for and offer help. They provide a way for anyone, anywhere to add their ideas.
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Open Space Online, Gabriela Ender
Openspace-online.com
The "do-it-yourself" OpenSpace-Online E-Participation Real-Time Methodology is a powerful philosophy that has the potential to become one of the most earth shifting Internet meeting and conferencing methods in society, politics, education and other fields. OpenSpace-Online was developed by Change Facilitator Gabriela Ender and her team in Germany (1999-2002). The easy to use innovation enables fast collaboration, knowledge-sharing, problem solving and results-oriented dialogs about urgent topics for small and large groups in real-time without 'human' online moderators. During the virtual-led and structured working process all participants are equal. It also bridges value-gaps between online and offline collaboration / participation in a wonderful unique way.
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Pambazuka News
Pambazuka.org
Pambazuka News remains one of the largest and most innovative web forums for social justice in Africa. The newsletter now has 20,000 subscribers and a French language edition and website. The Pambazuka News platform has branched out to include blogs with the creation of a network of female bloggers in Nigeria. Pambazuka News has continued to support women's rights through a Pan-African civil society network, providing information about women's rights to a growing constituency. Further advocacy efforts included the launch of a blog and email list to support civil society campaign efforts to defeat Sudan's bid for chairmanship of the AU. The growth of Pambazuka News reflects a commitment to fostering a community of citizens who hold governments to account and let the voices of the disadvantaged be heard. Future developments to facilitate these efforts include an Arabic edition and the use of audio and video recordings designed to empower the voices of ordinary citizens.
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Policy Holders of America, Melinda Ballard
PolicyHoldersofAmerica.org
Policyholders of America (POA) is a nonprofit national organization that has played a major role in politics and insurance -- two things that cannot be separated. The organization does the impossible: it gets insurance companies to honor the policies they issue.
Because politics cannot be separated from insurance, the organization also explains to members and site visitors political issues that impact policyholders and legal precedent that governs insurance company behavior.
The organization has had a real impact on elections and engages members in the political process.
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Roh Moo-hyun, President of South Korea
president.go.kr
With strong leadership by President Roh Moo-hyun South Korea has become the global leader in e-government. An Annual survey by America's Brown University put South Korea on top in terms of the availability of publications, databases, and the number of online services of their government websites.
Roh was Internet-savvy enough to setup his own campaign headquarters with intranet and create websites himself. He even had to educate his aides about the Internet and the virtues of the Net. He spends most of his spare time surfing the web to get information and to find out what people think.
He was able to use the internet as a medium for communication before, during and after his political campaign and he has continued to lead Korea in the direction of e-government excellence. He has, for sure, changed the world of the net and politics.
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Friends of Humanity - Stop Fundamentalism
Stopfundamentalism.com
StopFundementalism is dedicated to stopping Islamic fundamentalism and supporting freedom. This organization highlights the suffering caused by Islamic fundamentalism in Iran and the Middle East. It aims to appeal to everyone to join the venture in raising public awareness about fundamentalism.
Islamic fundamentalism is a global threat; therefore a universal campaign is needed. Friends of Humanity addresses all individuals, groups and organizations worldwide. To that end modern technology is needed to have rapid communications with a vast number of people. Friends of Humanity takes full advantage of electronic communication to raise the public awareness about Islamic fundamentalism and to prevent its growth by introducing the right anti-thesis for it.
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Slugger O'Toole, Mick Fealty
Sluggerotoole.com
Slugger O'Toole is a news and research portal, looking at various strands of political aspects of life in Northern Ireland. It brings together comment from a full range of the political spectrum that should be of interest to the specialist and the general reader. Slugger runs on a blog technology, which allows the connection of audiences in Northern Ireland and throughout the world.
For five years, Mick Fealty has almost single-handedly developed and cultivated the Irish political blogosphere attracting contributions, argument, debate, apologias, information and sometimes even negotiations between Ireland's passionate post-conflict actors.
Its contribution to greater understanding and communication amongst fierce political opponents should not be under-estimated.
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Unity '08, Doug Bailey, Jim Jonas, Hamilton Jordan, Gerald Rafshoon
Unity08.com
These four leaders, in the field of 20th century U.S. political consulting, have joined forces to change politics in the 21st century using the internet, with Unity08. They are bringing together Democrats, Republicans and Independents to form a "unity" ticket in 2008. Candidates will compete online for the nomination earned following an online convention in June 2008. They aim to use the new information technologies to bring people together-just as television and direct mail and other developments have come to be used to divide an increasingly polarized electorate.
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