BarCamps on Politics and Government. Graz and Amsterdam.

This afternoon I arrived in Graz, Austria. The coming two days I will take part there in a BarCamp on politics and Web 2.0, called PolitCamp. Heinz Wittenbrink of the local higher ed institute FH Joanneum was kind enough to invite me over. On Saturday I will talk about the impact that mobile telecommuncations and internet have had, bringing the incremental cost of publishing, sharing and group forming back to zero. It has radically changed my working routines, life style, my possibilities to shape the world around me. I hold it also means that we have to rethink our 150yr old political structures. They were created because publishing, sharing, and group forming were difficult and expensive endeavours. That cost has now fallen away, leaving these structures wanting for a raison d'etre. My thesis is that the emergence of one-issue parties, personality based populist movements Dutch politics has seen in the past 8 years are as much a result and symptom of this, as is everything Web2.0. Even if you don't own a cell phone, and have never been on the net it will impact your possibilities to shape your own life.

Pictures of PolitCamp are/will be published on Flickr. Haven't done my slides yet, but will upload them to my Slideshare on Friday.

UPDATE: Slides are now available

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A week after PolitCamp Graz, NlGovWeb will take place in Amsterdam. Here politics are less the issue at stake, but the practical realization of the possibilities Web2.0 offers to government agencies and ministries to be of service to citizens. Web developers, coders, government employees and internal innovators will share experiences and stories, looking for opportunities and thresholds in using social media.