Good Practices and Innovations in Public Governance 2003-2011

2008 Category 3: Germany
first time and pooled in the Internet platform to be put up for discussion. This platform
is of special significance, because it can also be used to include the respective
evaluations at the conclusion of the online phase. Internet-based discussion forums
allowing for time-independent communication on the basis of written messages allow
citizens to participate from various locations at any time. Citizens are therefore
no longer reliant on participating in a single event, but instead have enough time to
write and make contributions to the forum discussion from their home or workplace.
Furthermore, electronically supported participation procedures make it easier for
newcomers to enter the discussion, since the entire course of the discussion up to that
point has been documented in writing. For citizens, who otherwise have difficulties
speaking in front of a great number of people or speaking up in the heat of the debate,
it is also easier to participate in discussions via the Internet.
The use of the Internet also holds advantages for politicians and administrators on
many fronts. The quality of the discussion and the results is evidenced by the fact that
Internet-based discussions are documented in writing, which makes it easier for them
to use and process the material for further planning processes.
Here the interactive software had to offer more than the usual range of functions for
newsgroups or discussion forums. Requirements were carefully developed in order
to make sure that the online consultation would go beyond a “flood of contributions”
in a targeted and result-driven way. Discussion forums or newsgroups merely offer
simple threads of answers. The representation of the content and documentation of
the discussion therefore consists of discussion threads grown over time that more
often than not do not follow the line of arguments inherent in the discussion. Interactive
software should therefore offer functions that allow incoming contributions to be
enhanced with further information, for example by means of labeling the contributions,
providing key words or links.
The interactive software not only allowed for the enhancement of contributions, but
also for the processing of the discussion documents. The moderators had to be able to
relocate, edit, remove, retract and re-label contributions or link them to each other in
new ways that make it possible to document the discussion, and to edit its documents
in a targeted and result-oriented way. Furthermore, there had to be functions to control
the discussion to be able to establish and adjust any number of forums and sub-forums
(access rights, visibility of functions, special contribution labels, activation of modules
etc.) Interactive software should also allow for the integration of further communication
channels and tools: one should therefore not only be able to submit contributions
via the ‘WWW,’ but also via e-mail, fax or telephone. One should also make sure
if the asynchronous discussion can be expanded through integrated 22 modules, like
chat or survey and voting tools, for the different phases of the discussion (e.g., collection
of ideas, assessment of options – see process planning,). It should also be possible
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