---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 13:12:30 -0500 From: Steven Clift To: Multiple recipients of list PUBPOL-L Subject: DW: CFP: Local Partnership for Prosperity and Welfare

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------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- From: "Matti Malkia" Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 20:51:33 +0200 Subject: CFP: Local Partnership for Prosperity and Welfare

Please forward this message to others who are interested on the topic. WWW-version of this message can be found from

http://www.uta.fi/laitokset/hallinto/PI99

******************************************* P O L I T I C S A N D I N T E R N E T

2nd International Congress on Electronic Media & Citizenship in Information Society, 6-9 January 1999,

Espoo, Jyväskylä, Oulu & Tampere, Finland

CALL FOR PAPERS

and

Preliminary Program Information

concerning the conference program in

Tampere, Saturday, 9th January, 1999

Theme:

LOCAL PARTNERSHIP FOR PROSPERITY AND WELFARE

Main Conference Organizer:

Finnish National Fund for Research and Development

(Sitra)

under the initiative of the

Committee for the Future, Parliament of Finland

Local organizers in Tampere:

University of Tampere,

School of Public Management

in collaboration with

University of Tampere,

Information Society Research Center

*****************************************************************

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE POLITICS AND INTERNET CONFERENCE

Politics & Internet: 2nd International Congress on Electronic Media & Citizenship in Information Society will be held in four conference cities - Espoo, Tampere, Jyväskylä and Oulu - in Finland from 6th to 9th January, 1999. For the first three days the conference will be based in Dipoli, Espoo, after which participants will proceed to a satellite conference of their choice either to Tampere, Jyväskylä or Oulu. Transportation from Espoo to Tampere will be arranged by the conference organizers, and is included in the registration fee for the full conference.

Politics and Internet conference is a follow up to the event that was held in Munich in 1997. The conference is organized by the Finnish National Fund for Research and Development (Sitra) under the initiative of the Committee for the Future of the Finnish Parliament. Close to 100 organizations are involved in the preparation of the project.

The conference organizer, the Finnish National Fund for Research and Development (Sitra) is an independent public fund on the responsibility of the Parliament. It's operations are financed through income from endowment investments and project finance. The mission of Sitra is to invest in technology firms and venture capital funds, and to finance and implement research, training and innovative projects of significant importance for the nation.

More information on the Politics & Internet conference is available at:

http://www.dipoli.hut.fi/pi99/

More information on activities and mission of the Finnish National Fund for Research and Development (Sitra) can be secured from:

http://www.sitra.fi/english/yleista/

******************************************************************

CALL FOR PAPERS AND PARTICIPATION:

THE PROGRAM IN TAMPERE

The general theme for the Tampere Program (9th January 1999) is "Local Partnership for Prosperity and Welfare". Under this topic the program in Tampere concentrates on the local cooperation and global networking between stakeholders of regional development processes and their attempts to develop information societies in local or regional levels. From this perspective local and regional information society initiatives, projects, and programs are analyzed and discussed. The key thematic issue to be discussed throughout the program is partnership between local and regional policy makers, public and private authorities, business community, third sector organizations and private citizens. How can this partnership be created, sustained, supported, and strengthened? What kind of experiences we have from different regions, countries, cultures, and policy areas? These are, among others, some key questions to be discussed.

The program starts with plenary session with keynote speakers. After a lunch the program continues with parallel workgroup sessions.

Accepted workgroups and their local coordinators are as follows. Persons interested in presenting a paper in one of these groups should offer their papers, including title and a short abstract (150-250 words), to the coordinator of the workgroup. All submissions are processed as they come, and the final acceptance or rejection of the proposed paper should be expected normally within three weeks. The final deadline to offer papers and presentations to the conference is expected to be in early October, 1998.

WORKGROUPS AND THEIR COORDINATORS

Workgroup 1: Tomorrow's Technologies - Today's Communities: Tools for Managing the Change in the Urban Context

Metropolises and cities lead the development of our societies towards the next Millennium. In this workgroup the management of urban communities are discussed from the viewpoint of methods and tools, such as Geographical Information Systems (GIS), as means to analyze and manage their changes. There are major opportunities to be utilized - in the future - but also potential risks to be faced. Both of them are to be met in a process combining contemporary institutional structures and technologies designed for the future. What are these technologies and how can they be used? How do they add our capacity to manage the change? Do they even change the meanings we have given to management? Whose interests are represented and whose interests are at stake while our urban future is being designed?

Coordinators:

Ilari Karppi, University of Tampere, School of Public Management, P.O. Box 607, FIN-33101 Tampere, Finland; Fax: +358-3-2157311; Email: atilka@uta.fi

Markku Anttonen, University of Tampere, Department of Regional Studies and Environmental Policy, P.O. Box 607, FIN-33101 Tampere, Finland; Fax: +358-3-2157311; Email: atmaan@uta.fi

* * *

Workgroup 2: The Shaping of Local Information Society Politically: Who Survives in the Jungle of Fashions and Facts?

The shaping of local information society is, among other things, a political process conducted by laymen as to their visions or skills of the information society. It is common to try to find some best practices to copy and learn from. This presents possibilities but also a problem: Who are the gatekeepers providing information for the local decision-makers? What is their knowledge and experience about the information society? Are the given best practices more like myths than based on an evaluation of local needs and reality? - Thus a jungle of fashions and facts faces the decision-maker: Should one get the latest ISDN lines to the school? Is a Pentium II processor powerful enough for text processing? Should one build a fire-wall to the server - and should one consult the Fire Department in this respect? Does the shaping of local information society actually have more to do with irrelevant, trend-building technological details and inventions, dictating the course of local choices? Would it be possible to build critical, socio-cultural understanding on the needs for local information society?

Coordinator:

Timo Keski-Petäjä, University of Tampere, Department of Administrative Sci-ence, P.O.Box 607, FIN-33101 Tampere, Finland; Fax: +358-3-2156020; Email: setike@uta.fi

* * *

Workgroup 3: Internet as a Forum of Interaction in Local Development Policy Processes

Nowadays local development policy processes are embedded in network-like modes of action where several interest groups are participating. In this situation to create and maintain proper forums for communication between diverse actors has emerged as a crucial issue in creating and implementing efficient development policies. In this workgroup the following type of questions are discussed: How has internet been used to support local policy processes? What kind of practical experiments and solutions have been created? What are their strengths, weaknesses and bottleneck

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