Businesses, governments and NGOs have spent a long time talking about the seemingly limitless potential of online engagement. In 2008, how far have we come? How is the debate around e-participation shifting? Is it no longer a matter of having to create online participation; is it now a matter of harnessing it? And if so, how can this be done?

This panel explores the success stories of the online participatory sphere and the struggles of others to make it work. ‘E-Participation: Fad or Future?’ evaluates how far we’ve come and where we’re heading next.

Jump into this forum and start a conversation with:

Mark Pesce

Known internationally as the man who fused virtual reality with the World Wide Web to invent VRML, Mark Pesce is the author numerous articles and five books, including The Playful World: How Technology is Transforming our Imagination, and has written for such publication as WIRED, Salon, and The Age.  For the last three years, Pesce has been a panelist on the hit ABC show THE NEW INVENTORS.  From 2003 to 2006, Pesce chaired the Emerging Media and Interactive Design Program at the world-renowned Australian Film Television and Radio School.  Last year he received an appointment as an Honorary Associate in the Digital Cultures Programme at the University of Sydney, and has gone on to found FutureSt, a Sydney Media and Technology consultancy.

Axel Bruns

Dr Axel Bruns is the author of Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond: From Production to Produsage (New York: Peter Lang, 2008). He is a Senior Lecturer in the Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, and has also authored Gatewatching: Collaborative Online News Production (New York: Peter Lang, 2005) and edited Uses of Blogs with Joanne Jacobs (New York: Peter Lang, 2006).

Bruns has coined the term produsage to better describe the current paradigm shift towards user-led forms of collaborative content creation which are proving to have an increasing impact on media, economy, law, social practices, and democracy itself.

Tony Walker

Tony Walker has worked at various levels and in a variety of roles in the media, primarily in the ABC, forover 30 years. He has a background in journalism and broadcasting, working in news and current affairs, 2 Double J and Triple j, ABC Local Radio and Radio Australia, as well as in and the community and the indigenous media sectors. He has managed a number of ABC programs and services. He is now Manager ABC Digital Radio and is involved in the development of new multi-platform digital services.

Alan Rosenblatt

Alan Rosenblatt, Ph.D. is the Associate Director for Online Advocacy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.  He is a long-time and frequent speaker and author on digital media, advocacy, and politics, including social networking, blogging, grassroots, and mobile advocacy strategies.

Kate Raynes-Goldie

Kate is a social web and online community expert with over a decade of Internet experience. She has been involved in community building in both online and offline contexts with organisations such as TakingITGlobal and Campus Co-Operative Residences.  Kate's practical work draws on her five years of internet and online community research, which she has shared conferences such as SXSW and the Association of Internet Researchers and in publications including the Globe and Mail and First Monday. She is currently a PhD candidate in the Internet Studies programme at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia.

Tom Dawkins

Tom Dawkins, 28, is the founder and Chief Executive of Vibewire Inc, established in late 2000 while he was at university. Vibewire began as a team of student volunteers but has grown into a dynamic multi-platform organisation with a small but growing staff and a national team. Projects now include Vibewire.net, Reelife Short Film Festival, Interface Anthology, electionTracker and the sQuareOne space community project incubator in Ultimo in Sydney.

Tom is a board member of the International Institute for Communications Australia and the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. He has recently been awarded a Future Summit Leadership Award by Australian Davos Connections and a Global YouthActionNet Fellowship from the International Youth Foundation.

Jason Wilson

Jason is the project manager and editor of youdecide2007.org, a nonprofit, hyperlocal citizen-led coverage of the 2007 federal election. He coordinated the partnership between citizen journalists nationwide and the project’s sponsors – the Australian Research Council, Online Opinion, SBS, The Brisbane Institute, Cisco Systems and the Creative Industries Faculty at QUT. Going forward, he and the rest of the QUT-based project team will be publishing research and developing resources for citizen journalists in Australia, based on their experiences. 

Previously, Jason worked at the Research Institute for Media, Art and Design at the University of Bedfordshire in the UK, and was on the editorial team for the journal Convergence. His PhD was at Griffith University in new media and videogame studies.

Martin Stewart-Weeks

Martin Stewart-Weeks has over 20 years’ experience in organisational management and consulting in the corporate and public sectors and with a wide range of not-for-profit organisations. 

A consistent theme of his professional experience has been public policy and management. He has held senior policy, management and advisory positions for Ministers and government agencies at the federal and state government level in Australia.  In the early 1980s, he held the position of Senior Private Secretary to a Federal Minister and in the early 90s, was a consultant in the Office of Strategic Planning in The Cabinet Office in New South Wales.

In his consulting work over the past 18 years, Martin has specialised in strategy, policy analysis, facilitation and market and social research.  In his work with the Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) at Cisco, Martin’s focus is primarily on the public sector.  He works at the senior executive and political level to help shape Internet business solutions and online strategies at both an agency and whole-of-government level. He has been a key member of the global team developing a new e-government framework, the ‘connected republic, for Cisco’s public sector work. In January 2007, Martin took up a position as Director for IBSG’s public sector practice in Asia-Pacific.

Jo Anne Tacorda (TakingITGlobal)

TakingITGlobal is an international youth-run non-profit charitable organization headquartered in Toronto, Canada. TakingITGlobal provides a portal for young people to find inspiration, access information and get involved in improving their local and global communities through its flagship program  www.TakingITGlobal.org .  TakingITGlobal works with global partners including United Nations agencies, major companies and youth-focused organizations to provide additional opportunities for TakingITGlobal members to engage in a range of global issues.  Jo Anne received her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from McMaster University and enjoys performing, learning and travelling.

Chair: Luke Bo’sher

Luke is currently the Chair of the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition – the peak body for youth affairs in Australia. He has been involved in a variety of advocacy roles concerning increasingly young people’s involvement in decision-making processes including as the Policy Officer for the Youth Coalition of the ACT. He is also a Board member of Vibewire Inc.

Extra reading:

From Production to Produsage: Research into User-Led Content Creation
http://produsage.org

Queensland Decides – Citizen coverage of the Queensland state election
http://qlddecides.com

Mark Pesce’s blog
http://markpesce.com/index_msie.html

Panel Partner: