Date:
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Time:
08:00 AM - 03:30 PM
The Technology and Civic Engagement Project is an initiative focused
on the relationship between the Internet and democratic norms and
modes, including its impact on civil society, citizen media,
government transparency, and the rule of law. These subjects are
being examined through a series of case studies from all over the
world, with a focus on the Middle East. The goal of this work is to
support the rights of citizens to access, develop and share
independent sources of information, to advocate responsibly on
important issues, and to debate ideas freely with both civil society
and government. The project will include original research and the
identification and development of innovative web-based tools that
support the goals of the project.
The Iranian blogosphere is one of the fasting growing online spaces in
the Middle East, with more than 700,000 active blogs. Farsi now ties
with French as the second most used language in the blogosphere. With
a young population (over 70% of Iranians are under 30), that is over
90% literate, Iran presents a dynamic environment in which to examine
how the Internet might be stimulating new (alternative?) forms of
discourse and connection, in contrast to its highly regulated
(segregated?) public space. However, the temptation to view the
blogosphere as a transformative space for open dialogue is challenged
activities of the Iranian government, whose use of Internet filtering
and censorship, in addition to its detention of prominent bloggers,
has become more sophisticated in recent years and undoubtedly impacts
how users approach the medium. The situation is further complicated
by a collection of Iranians blogging from outside the Middle East,
often in English. These dynamics and tensions suggest a complex space
which simultaneously reflects innovative forms of conversation,
government influences and restrictions and wide range of issues and
perspectives.
Our mission for this working day is to discuss these complexities and
to further flesh out the picture that has emerged from our initial
study. How might the rapid diffusion of the Internet in Iran (and the
greater Middle East) influence innovative forms of discourse, on
cultural, religious, political or social issues? Does this have an
impact on Iranian civil society? How does it affect individuals on a
day to day level? How can we approach this tension between a highly
regulated public space, a more open cyber space and a restrictive
government? Has the blogosphere created opportunity for new forms of
connection, dialogue, discourse? Is this be impactful?
We are inviting you to spend a day with us to imagine creating a
groundbreaking forum to achieve this objective. The outcome of this
session will be a plan for future research, interviews and a clearly
defined research agenda
Sept 6
We are inviting a group of approximately 20 people to come together
to discuss an important focus of our Technology and Civic Engagement
project: creating a website with innovative tools that can be used by
citizens, activists and civil society broadly to improve civic
engagement and improve the building of human networks. We are
convening a group of developers, programmers, tech savvy activists and
academics for what promises to be an exciting and fast-paced workshop.
Purpose of the working meeting:
The Technology and Civic Engagement Project is an initiative focused
on the relationship between the Internet and democratic norms and
modes, including its impact on civil society, citizen media,
government transparency and the rule of law. These subjects are being
examined through a series of case studies from all over the world,
with a focus on the Middle East. The goal of this work is to support
the rights of citizens to access, develop and share independent
sources of information, to advocate responsibly on important issues,
and to debate ideas freely with both civil society and government. The
project will include original research and the identification and
development of innovative web-based tools that support the goals of
the project.
This workshop will focus specifically on the web-based tools component
of the project. The goal of this working meeting will be to:
1) Discuss existing technology that can be used for improved civic engagement;
2) Discuss what new tools or technology can be used to improve civic
engagement;
3) Determine how to package the best tools together in one easy to use
website for citizens and activists to use them; and
4) Discuss how to make this website and these tools a trusted and safe
place for those living in highly censored/restricted regimes.
Time and Date: The workshop will take place on September 6. Breakfast
and registration will begin at 8 am and introductions and welcome
beginning at 8:30. Lunch will be provided at approximately noon and
the day will formally end at 3:30 pm. We also hope that some attendees
will be able to join us for an informal dinner in Cambridge before the
event on the evening of September 5th. Participants will have a chance
to meet and interact with participants who are working on a research
project on the Iranian blogosphere at this dinner, another component
of the Technology and Civic Engagement project who will be meeting
separately on the 5th.
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Copyright © 2007 The President and Fellows of Harvard College