In our chapters on mass media and public opinion and participation, we discuss ways in which new technology can foster deliberation. On March 17, the Federal Communications Commission will unveil its National Broadband Plan, a set of proposals for expanding access to high-speed Internet. FCC is holding regional forums on the plan. On Monday Eugene Huang, director of government performance and civic engagement for the National Broadband Plan, spoke at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MIT News reports:
When he turned to the topic of how government can draw citizens into the deliberative process, rather than simply providing them with better information, Huang became a little more vague: “Government is just beginning to think about these types of issues,” he acknowledged. But in thinking about how to use digital tools to directly engage the citizenry, he said, the government is using digital tools to directly engage the citizenry. The White House’s Open Government Initiative, Huang said, has used what he described as “public brainstorming blogs, a wiki, and a collaborative drafting tool” to solicit public participation in determining just what its project should be.The full text of his remarks is here.
