Monday, January 06, 2003

Blogging Empowerment Wired recently ran a story on how bloggers in Galicia (Spain) covered an oil spill off the Spanish coast.  Their accounts contradicted the government's account and included photos of the tragedy.  MundoActivo (formerly Operacion Galicia), a Spanish weblog, led the charge.  This kind of interaction certainly empowers citizens in their relationship with government through the creation of global communities of interest.  Here's a powerpoint presentation from MundoActivo of the damage. Radar photos from the Laboratoria de Teledeteccion of the Universidad de Vigo of the oil spill A Simulation from the Instituto Hidrografico Portugues More information from the University of Vigo Blogpocket is another excellent Spanish weblog. SmartMobs, by Howard Rheingold - author of Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution and Greater Democracy, a team blog by David Weinberger among others, are two more interesting reads on issues related to how technology is transforming society. 9:29:40 AM    comment []

eGovernment in Russia Prior to the Olympics, Utah began to develop an ongoing relationship with Russia on several levels.  In October 2002, Governor Leavitt headed a delegation that visited Moscow to increase trade.  The Governor also spoke at the Moscow State Institute.  Similar trade missions are taking place with many other countries.  Finally, the Governor signed an agreement with Mayor Yuri Luzhkov of Moscow to hold a summer youth games in Moscow in July 2003 with a winter youth games in Salt Lake in February 2004. Russia has set up an egovernment website which includes a forum on Russia and world peace.  If you don't speak Russian (mine's a little rusty), you can try using Altavista for a rough translation.  The 2003 budget for the Digital Russia initiative was recently cut in half.  That's unfortunate, given the expectation for growth in Russia's internet community. Here is a plan for Russia's integration into Europe's "information community." 8:10:18 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 David Fletcher.