| rdfs:comment | - Equal access to information, new social networks, and "open source politics", are the foundations of efforts to modernise the Conservative Party, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, told delegates at the 'Public Service 2.0' conference, staged by The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in March 2007. New technologies give citizens greater freedom, choice and power, and politicians must respond by recasting "the political settlement for the digital age," said Osborne [1].
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| abstract | - Equal access to information, new social networks, and "open source politics", are the foundations of efforts to modernise the Conservative Party, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, told delegates at the 'Public Service 2.0' conference, staged by The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in March 2007. New technologies give citizens greater freedom, choice and power, and politicians must respond by recasting "the political settlement for the digital age," said Osborne [1]. Politicians must recognise that greater access to information changes the relationship between citizens and government, that online networks can be an engine of positive social change, and that collaborative approaches can outperform traditional decision-making structures, he said. "Osborne's observation that 'top down politics is no longer sustainable in a bottom-up age' is a profoundly important recognition," Stephen Coleman, Professor of Political Communication at the University of Leeds, told E-Government Bulletin later. "But the key test for the Conservatives will be whether this is adopted as a rhetorical slogan or a transformative strategy," said Coleman. While praising official Conservative Party online services such as WebCameron, the video blog featuring Party Leader David Cameron, Osborne also highlighted the unofficial grassroots initiatives. These point the way to future political engagement, and most involve Conservative rather than Labour supporters, said Osborne. "His claim that 'online political networks are springing up in the UK too now - and interestingly they are almost all Conservative ones' suggests that Conservative researchers have some way to go before they can claim to be in fully in touch with what's happening online," reflected Coleman.
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