27/05/2004

The access2democracy (a2d), a new non-profit Non Governmental Organization (NGO) established in Athens and New York, has been officially launched at WCIT2004. The organization aims to enhance democratic values, institutions and processes through the exploitation of new Information and Communication Technologies.

The official launch event took place on 21 May 2004, during the third day of the 14th World Congress of Information Technology in Athens, dedicated to e-government and e-democracy. Speakers of the event were Mr. George A. Papandreou, member of the Honorary Board of a2d, and Mr. Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General and CEO of the CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation.

During the event, Mr Michalis Bletsas, Director of Computing at the MIT Media Lab and member of the Board of Directors of a2d, presented the new web site ?e-partnerships? created by the access2democracy NGO on the occasion of WCIT2004. The new web site is a structured questionnaire that offers those citizens, government officials and research centres familiar with e-government and e-democracy the opportunity to express their views on the subject of public-private cooperation for the advancement of e-democracy.

The activities of the a2d organization include the development of tailor-made technology based e-votes and forums for social, political and other issues. To this end, a2d collaborates with specialized social scientists, researchers and ICT companies.

Members of the Honorary Board of a2d are Mr Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico U.S.A, Mrs Maria Livanos-Cattaui, Secretary General of International Chamber of Commerce, Prof. Nicholas Negroponte, founding Chairman of MIT Media Lab, and the Nobel Laureate Prof. Amartya Sen.

Source: access2democracy