Citizens.is

Better Iceland opens at Austurvöllur

citizens — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:40:26 +0000

The Citizens Foundation opened today at 12.30 a new democracy website called Better Iceland. Better Iceland is evolved from Skuggaþing and Better Reykjavik and has its focus on the whole of Iceland whereas Better Reykjavik focuses on the capital city. It’s purpose is to connect the general public to members of parliament and to encourage good debate about the issues of Iceland and thereby to strengthen democracy.

Amongst the content of the website are all law proposal and resolution proposals that are now before Alþingi (the Icelandic Parliament) and on Better Iceland the public can now put forth their opinions and arguments for and against those issues. All speeches from Alþingi are available as individual videos and are easy to share on Facebook and other social media sites. And of course anyone can add a new priority to the website as on Better Reykjavík.

When a given number of users endorses or is against a parliamentary issue then the talking points and comments will be sent automatically in to the parliamentary process while the issue is still being debated in Alþingi. Members of parliament are of course free to take any issues coming from the public and change them into either resolutions or even law proposals.

It is our hope that Icelanders will use the website extensively because only then can it help with the administration of Iceland.

Better Iceland

blek — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:23:06 +0000

Better Iceland gives Icelandic voters the opportunity to interact with the parliament members at Althingi and raise issues that they want to see as a priority.

Better Iceland imports all law proposals and most other documents from the Icelandic Parliament (Alþingi) website
It allows users to endorse or oppose any proposal and add their own talking points to those
It allows the users to view every speech in Parliament as an individual video file which allows for easy shareing to Facebook and other social media
It also allows users to add their own proposals

Check out Better Iceland

16 priorities from Better Reykjavík are now in process with the city of Reykjavík

citizens — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:45:03 +0000

Over 10.000 unique visitors to Better Reykjavik which have added more then 200 priorities since the website opened on October 19th. Sixteen of those priorities have now been sent into the cities administrative process with the appropriate special councils. They will process the priorities and all results of that process will be visible on Better Reykjavik.

This is the first time this is done and will be done every month from now on. Amongst the ideas that have gathered the biggest support are more payment options in buses, facilities for young graffiti artists and better human rights for homeless people and addicts.

A list of the priorities that have been sent to the specialty councils of the city of Reykjavík, in Icelandic:

New Better Reykjavik opens in collaboration with the City of Reykjavik

citizens — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:11:36 +0000

Today the Citizens Foundation opened a new and improved version of Better Reykjavík in collaboration with the City of Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. The collaboration ensures that the priorities which the citizens deem most important will automatically be processed by the cities specialty councils. The City of Reykjavík sees this as a future project but not an experimental one but the website itself is of course under constant development.

The website has been greatly improved and its interface simplified. As the priorities from the original website were added originally under each parties area and after that as part of the coalition talks between the Social Democrats and the Best Party it was decided to start with a clean slate and to remove the old priorities and users. All older priorities are however accessible on Gömlu Betri Reykjavík.

It is our hope that the citizens of Reykjavík use this opportunity to have an influence on the cities administration and thereby ensure the usefulness of the website for all citizens of Reykjavík.

Citizens win the European award in the 2011 eDemocracy Awards

citizens — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:12:09 +0000

Last week, Fondation EurActiv PoliTech handed out the European award in the 2011 eDemocracy Awards to the Icelandic Citizens Foundation at the Quai d’Orsay. The ceremony took place next to the salon de l’Horloge, the prestigious venue of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs where Robert Schuman called for a United Europe in 1950. Fondation EurActiv PoliTech is the World e-Democracy Awards’ European partner.

The Citizens Foundation (website: www.citizens.is) promotes democracy online. Like most Icelandic citizens, Gunnar Grimsson and Robert Bjarnason, the Citizens Foundation founders, took part in the online drafting of a new Icelandic constitution. The Icelandic ‘Shadow Parliament’ and a ‘Better Reykjavik’ are two successful online platforms developed by the foundation to encourage dialogue and debate amongst Iceland’s citizens and their representatives.

Gunnar Grimsson stated: “We sincerely hope that the open active democracy platforms we developed, our own experiences and not least the lessons learned from Iceland’s history will contribute to further improve transparency and democracy around the world.” Robert Bjarnason, his colleague, continued: “It is our sincere belief that the kind of software we developed can make a difference where people really want to debate, prioritize or discuss ideas that contribute to a better democracy”.

“Three things characterise the Reykjavik entry. Its impact, its speed and its potential Europeanness.” stated Christophe Leclercq, Founder of Fondation EurActiv PoliTech as he delivered the award. “Firstly, their websites’ impact, because they involved 40% of Reykjavik’s citizens and obtained direct implementation of many proposals in political programmes. Secondly, their speed, as they achieved this in one week, in the run-up to the Reykjavik local elections. And thirdly, their Europeanness. Iceland is a candidate for EU membership. As Europe prepares for European Citizen Initiatives, this can be a source of inspiration for others in Europe.”

Daniel van Lerberghe (PoliTech) anounces winners.

Pictured from left are Christophe Leclercq (EurActiv), Óskar J. Sandholt, Gunnar Grímsson og Róbert V. Bjarnason from Citizens.is and Daniel Van Lerberghe (PoliTech).

Coctail at the French Foreign Ministry after the ceremony

Citizens well received at Digital Cities

citizens — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 12:11:46 +0000

We, the Citizens did two presentations at the Digital Cities conference in Athens, Greece during the last weekend. They were both well received and referred to in 5 other lectures and/or Q&As that came after our presentations. Both as interesting in connection to those lectures subjects as well as in terms of seeing interesting possibilities in interfaceing with those subjects.

We also had interesting discussions with various people from many countries regarding collaboration on projects. And of course continous brainstorming amongst our team, not the least on the Acropolis itself overlooking the Agora

All in all, a wonderful trip which we’ll surely be reaping benefits from in years to come!

Citizens Foundation participating in Digital Cities conference

citizens — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 23:42:08 +0000

We will be participating in the Digital Cities conference in Athens, Greece where Róbert Bjarnason, Gunnar Grímsson and Óskar J. Sandholt will give 4 presentations on subjects ranging from Better Reykjavik to usage of social media in politics.

http://www.digital-cities.eu/digital-cities-symposium/

Citizens Foundation nominated for the e-Democracy Awards 2011

citizens — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 22:24:32 +0000

Citizens Foundation, which runs Better Reykjavík and Your Priorities, has been nominated for European eDemocracy Award 2011 which is a part of World eGov Forum 2011.

The nominees will present their projects at the Awards Ceremony in Issy, Paris in the beginning of October.

http://www.edemocracy-forum.com/2011/09/the-international-finalists-of-the-e-democracy-awards-2011-they-are-american-egyptian-icelandic-belgian-and-british-and-ar.html

Better Reykjavík

blek — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 14:09:12 +0000

Better Reykjavik became a major success during local elections in Iceland where almost 10% of the voters took part, 43% visited and hundreds of ideas were created.

Better Reykjavík 2010

Betri Reykjavík opened a week before the municipial elections in Reykjavik, independently of the political parties
All campaigns received their own area on the website, the Best party used it extensively in their campaign and won the elections
It was used in the majority talks to call out for voters ideas
Betri Reykjavik (Better Reykjavik) was a major success during elections in Iceland where almost 10% of the voters created over a 1000 priorities and 43% visited the website.
Over 5000 user, hundreds of ideas and much activity from citizens

Better Reykjavík 2011

A new visual design and better interface in collaboration with the city of Reykjavik
Connection with the Reykjavik administration, top ideas are processed by the administration
Simple and convenient translation for all language. Now available in English, French, Icelandic and German
Google Translation available for content
Connects the citizens to the rulers and gives the voters a direct influence on decisionmaking

Better Reykjavík future

Not a trial project but here to stay
Direct electronic connection to the city administration
Electronic surveys and elections for the city, quarters and even specific streets
Direct influence of the citizens will be a matter of protocol

Check out Better Reykjavik

YRPRI

blek — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 13:24:08 +0000

Your Priorities is our FREE service to ALL countries in the world. Easy log in with Facebook, twitter or Gmail..
Have you set the priorities for your country?
Let your voice be heard!

Free collaborative websites for all the countries of the world

Same functionality as Better Reykjavik

Simple and convenient translation for all language. Now available in English, French, Icelandic and German

Google Translation available for content

Check out Your Priorities