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* E-GOVERNMENT BULLETIN.
The Email Newsletter On Electronic Government,
UK And Worldwide.
* ISSUE 123, FRIDAY 11 OCTOBER 2002.
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* NOTE: As a navigation aid to visually impaired
people and
others using screen readers, all headings begin with
an asterisk
and end with a full stop.
* CONTENTS.
Section one: News.
E-government security disasters 'a certainty'
- expert questions government strategy.
Benefits integration mired in paperwork
- Inland Revenue struggles to join up systems.
International view for local e-champions
- is Stockholm approach the answer?
Progress slows to a crawl
- online service targets still some way off.
Test for cross-border European services
- commission launches trial portal.
New phase of digital voting pilots
- bids invited for 2003 local elections.
News in brief: First e-democracy professor; E-
government shareware; Pathfinder technology
explained; Report on email use.
Section two: conference report - Oxford Internet
Institute.
More than a matter of opinion: Derek Parkinson
reports on the launch of Oxford University's cross-
disciplinary centre for researching the social impacts
of new technology.
Section three: research - digital divide.
Lack of access - or lack of interest? Paul Foley and
Ximena Alfonso question simplistic assumptions
behind policies designed to increase the uptake of e-
government services.
Section four: politics - Liberal Democrats.
Beyond the soundbite: A fringe meeting at the
Liberal Democrats' conference heard how political
parties should approach the internet. Tamara Fletcher
reports.
[contents ends.]
* SPONSORED NOTICE: CIPFA FORUM
EXAMINES BUSINESS CASE FOR E-
GOVERNMENT.
Next week sees the UK's first major events dedicated
to the e-government business case. The seminars, run
in York (15 Oct) and London (17 Oct), reflect
CIPFA's growing interest in the cost-benefit aspects
of e-government (see http://www.ipf.co.uk/egov ).
Given the 2005 targets for electronic service
delivery, the danger has always been that the
'means' rather than the 'ends' of e-government
would dominate thinking. The CIPFA Forum aims to
put e-government benefits first and help managers
understand how to work through the costs and values
of e-government projects.
The seminars examine return on investment and
prioritising models, and aim to show how the
'business case' for e-government might be
understood. Full details at:
http://www.ipf.co.uk/e-events
[Sponsored notice ends.]
* SECTION ONE: NEWS.
* E-GOVERNMENT SECURITY DISASTERS 'A
CERTAINTY.'
E-government-related computer security disasters are
certain to happen at some point in the next few years,
as the government moves to rapidly implement new
services without ensuring adequate time is spend
assessing the security implications, a leading expert
has told E-Government Bulletin.
Speaking after the government announced a new
programme to encourage trust in e-government
services by boosting security, Professor Roger
Needham, managing director of Microsoft Research
(http://research.microsoft.com ), said ministers were
likely to be underestimating the length of time it took
to change peoples' behaviour.
"It's about people. Security has a technological
dimension but the best technologies won't get you
very far," he said. According to Needham, changing
behaviour may take far longer than expected.
"Consider paper-based commerce. Book-keeping
practices took a considerable time to put in place.
Security is a nuisance, it's far easier to do a job
insecurely."
There was therefore a case for slowing down the
rush to implement e-government as quickly as
possible while the security implications are reviewed
more thoroughly, he said.
The government's new security and trust programme
revolves around the establishment of a Security and
Authentication Unit in the Office of the e-Envoy to
promote best practices to citizens, companies and
government departments, and sponsoring research by
technology experts.
Early initiatives include a jargon-free Question and
Answer section on the e-Envoy site that explains
how to minimise security risks
(http://fastlink.headstar.com/qa ). A more complex
set of guidelines based on OECD advice and aimed
at businesses will be published soon at:
(http://fastlink.headstar.com/sec ).
The unit is also involved in upgrading Cabinet Office
security standards and helping to steer security
research conducted by the Communications-
Electronics Security Group
(http://www.cesg.gov.uk), the technology arm of the
security services.
* BENEFITS INTEGRATION MIRED IN
PAPERWORK.
A service for people to apply online for tax credits is
not yet integrated into systems allowing local
authorities to communicate electronically with the
Inland Revenue, a local government finance
conference heard yesterday.
Individuals applying for the new child tax credits and
working tax credits, designed to help people on low
incomes work and support families, can use a web
site to calculate their eligibility and apply for the first
wave of credits in April 2003.
But delegates at this week's Institute of Revenues,
Rating and Valuation conference in Brighton
(http://www.irrv.org.uk/meetings/meeting.asp?id=43
) heard that plans to create a completely integrated
claims system which would allow councils to help
people calculate and apply for the whole range of
available benefits and credits were a long way off
being realised.
In a question and answer session, one delegate said
his council had tried to submit information on tax
credit claims to the Inland Revenue in several
different digital formats, only to be told that paper
forms were the only acceptable way. The data then
had to be re-entered by the tax office.
Peter Stradling of the Office of the e-Envoy, who is
working on an integrated system, admitted that major
problems with systems integration do exist, but that
work was being done to tackle them.
And he said that the Tax Credits Online web site
(https://www.taxcredits.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/Home.
aspx ) had generated a huge response already. In the
seven weeks since it went live, some 420,000 people
have used the online calculator to assess eligibility;
65,000 people have part-filled forms and used a
feature to save them for later completion; and 32,000
people have completed and submitted a live claim.
* INTERNATIONAL VIEW FOR LOCAL E-
CHAMPIONS .
A Stockholm council system allowing students to
apply for further education online has converted an
astonishing 90 per cent of applications from paper to
web-based forms in just one year, according to a new
report on international local e-government.
The results show the benefits of an approach to e-
government which focuses on areas which matter to
a large number of people, compared with a broader
approach of wiring everything up at once, according
to Martin Ferguson, E-Government Advisor to the
Improvement and Development Agency.
The report, 'Local e-government now: a worldwide
view'
(http://www.idea.gov.uk/publications/?id=eg0002 ),
was published by IDeA with the Society of IT
Management and unveiled at the inaugural annual
conference of council 'e-champions'.
The highs and lows of international inter-
governmental collaboration on web projects were
revealed to delegates by Senator Pierre Horsfall,
president of the policy and resources committee of
the States of Jersey and leader of the knowledge
economy theme of the British-Irish Council
(http://www.british-irishcouncil.org).
The council was set up under the 1998 Good Friday
agreement to promote collaboration between the
British and Irish governments; the devolved
administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and
Wales; and Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
In a theme which will be familiar to anyone who was
worked in a major partnership project, Senator
Horsfall said one of the hardest problems faced in
creating a web site under joint ownership had been
agreement on the design of their logo. "You would
be amazed at the amount of time and effort that went
into that," he said.
Beyond that the internet had proved a valuable
catalyst for sharing ideas in areas of common
interest, such as access to technology by people with
disabilities and other inclusion issues, he said. "We
brought together people from all the partner
countries working on the same e-government issues
but who simply did not know about each other."
A webcast of the e-champions conference can be
viewed at:
http://www.idea.gov.uk/events/e-champions
* PROGRESS SLOWS TO A CRAWL.
The latest electronic service delivery report from the
Office of the e-Envoy shows that progress with
moving government online has slowed to a crawl,
with only 1 per cent more services available online
than a year ago. By summer 2002, just 52 per cent of
all services were available in an electronic form
compared with 51 per cent in 2001. The report itself
was delayed, being due in May.
Perhaps surprisingly however, the report maintains
that government targets of 73 per cent of services
being available online by the end of the year will still
be met (http://fastlink.headstar.com/esd ). According
to a spokesperson, one reason for the lack of
progress to date is that some services previously
counted as single items were later split into separate
components. Because of this, the total number of
government services assessed has increased by 62 to
581.
Separately, research has revealed that nearly 20 per
cent of local authorities are 'not confident' of
meeting the 2005 target to deliver all services online.
If the results were reproduced across the country,
this would amount to 70 councils.
The findings, compiled by the Improvement and
Development Agency (http://www.idea.gov.uk/),
also showed that two-thirds of authorities believe
that action or support from central government is
essential to meeting the target. Overall, just 40 per
cent of respondents were 'confident' or 'very
confident' of succeeding.
* TEST FOR CROSS-BORDER EUROPEAN
SERVICES.
The European Commission has launched a pilot web
portal (http://europa.eu.int/public-services) to help
citizens and businesses access information and
services to help them carry out cross-border
activities like moving to or establishing a subsidiary
in another country.
So far Denmark, France, Germany, Italy,
Luxembourg, Spain and Sweden have submitted
content to the trial service, although the commission
expects all EU member states, as well as prospective
new members and members of the wider European
Economic Area, to contribute.
In an ironic parallel development, new European
Commission-funded research shows that most EU
administrations think that developing online services
for business is an issue for individual states.
The survey, conducted by the eGovernment
Observatory which was set up by the commission to
find out which e-government services are considered
essential at a European level
(http://fastlink.headstar.com/ego ), found that only
15 per cent of administrations considered
interoperability between online services to be an
important objective.
However, business is behind the project - more than
50 per cent of European businesses surveyed thought
the usefulness of online services was determined by
how well harmonised they were across states. Three
times as many businesses preferred a single
European portal to national portals for locating e-
government services.
* NEW PHASE OF DIGITAL VOTING PILOTS.
Councils in England and Wales have been invited to
submit bids to take part in a range of local election
technology pilots on May 2003 to include internet
voting, text messaging, digital TV and electronic
polling machines.
The government hope to look at schemes that have
not yet been piloted or fully tested. "We are looking
for a variety of innovative schemes from councils
and we hope to extend the work on last year's trials,"
a spokesperson from the Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister told E-Government Bulletin.
Some 30 million pounds has been allocated to
contribute to the cost of e-voting pilots till 2006.
Applications should be made by 29 November 2002
and decisions on the e-voting pilots will be made by
15 January next year (see
http://fastlink.headstar.com/bids ).
Last year, 2.5 million people had the chance to vote
using different methods including e-voting, text
messaging and postal votes, which increased turnout
in some areas by an average of six per cent. Thirteen
authorities ran e-voting and e-counting elections and
61 per cent of those who voted remotely did so by
phone and internet rather than by post (see E-
Government Bulletin, 02 August 2002).
Meanwhile in a separate report published last month
(http://fastlink.headstar.com/odpm2 ), responding to
an Electoral Commission evaluation of the 2002
pilot schemes, the Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister pledges to adopt an internationally
recognised system for storing and interpreting
electoral data - election mark-up language (EML).
It also says it will publish security requirements for
commercial providers of electoral technology next
year, and refine access standards for people with
disabilities.
NOTE: The Electoral Commission last month
published a consultation document examining the
implications of online election campaigns.
Responses must be submitted by 5 November 2002:
(http://fastlink.headstar.com/ecom )
* NEWS IN BRIEF:
* E-DEMOCRACY CHAIR: The recently-launched
Oxford Internet Institute (see section two, this issue)
expects to appoint the world's first professor of e-
democracy 'in the next few weeks'. E-Government
Bulletin has learned that the front-runner for the
position is Dr Stephen Coleman of the London
School of Economics, who heads the e-democracy
programme at The Hansard Society for
Parliamentary Government:
http://www.lse.ac.uk/Depts/Media/people/scoleman
* ONE-STOP: A group of 35 local authorities is set
to launch a customer relationship management
software system early in 2003 that can support call
centres and one-stop shops and costs around 10 per
cent of commercially available products to install
and support. The technology was developed by the
Local Authority Shareware Club, and Belfast City
Council:
http://fastlink.headstar.com/share
* PATHFINDER PRODUCTS: A catalogue has
been published of more than 60 products developed
by local authority technology 'Pathfinder' projects.
Each product entry explains its function, technical
and staff requirements, costs and timescales for
implementation. Products include e-procurement
solutions, smart cards, web sites, digital TV
applications and learning and training materials:
http://www.lgolpathfinder.gov.uk/en/1/pfprod.html
* OFFICIAL EMAIL: Some 88 per cent of US local
officials say they use email and the internet in the
course of their official duties, with 61 per cent saying
they use it every day. The great majority of
respondents - 86 per cent - also said they were able
to handle all their messages without fear of overload:
http://fastlink.headstar.com/email
[Section one ends.]
* SPECIAL NOTICE: E-ACCESS BULLETIN
- THE NEWSLETTER ON ACCESSIBILITY.
The Disability Discrimination Act means ensuring
accessibility of
web sites is a legal as well as a moral obligation for
public and
private sector bodies.
Our sister publication E-Access Bulletin delivers
news, features and
opinion about overcoming the digital access barriers
faced by the
visually impaired community, in a free monthly
email.
To subscribe send an e-mail to eab-
[log in to unmask] with
'subscribe eab' in the subject header. Or see:
http://www.e-accessibility.com
[Special notice ends.]
* SECTION TWO: CONFERENCE REPORT
- OXFORD INTERNET INSTITUTE.
MORE THAN A MATTER OF OPINION.
by Derek Parkinson [log in to unmask]
Could it be that the opinions and pronouncements of
politicians, civil servants, media pundits and industry
gurus are no longer enough to gauge the true
importance of the internet in our lives?
Oxford University certainly thinks so, and is
attempting to bring a new seriousness to bear on
thinking about the net with the launch last month of
the Oxford Internet Institute
(http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk).
The institute, an independent research centre within
the university, has a mission to become "the world's
leading independent centre of excellence in academic
research on the impact of the internet on society and
in informing policy and generating debate".
Speaking at the launch, Professor Eli Noam of
Columbia University questioned how far-sighted
academics could be in practice. Reflecting on the
hype that mushroomed during the dot.com boom,
Noam suggested that academics had a poor record in
seeing further or more clearly than anyone else.
"Where was the academic community in all this? Did
they know more than the average airline magazine?"
he asked.
The Oxford academics responded by emphasising
the benefits of combining analysis across academic
disciplines such as sociology, economics, law and
ethics in innovative ways.
According to the OII's inaugural director Bill
Dutton, a former professor of communication at the
University of Southern California, the institute wants
to "shape the future" through world-class research
and collaboration across all Oxford colleges and
institutions, demonstrating how to weave
institutional values and cutting edge technologies
together.
The institute identified four initial key areas where it
will focus its resources: national and international
regulation of the internet; e-government; e-
democracy; and the social effects of 'pervasive'
technologies spreading to every street, home or
workplace.
On the issue of regulation, it was argued that to
frame acceptable policies, we need to change how
we perceive the internet. In particular, we should
think of it as a network of humans, not a network of
machines, said Professor Barbara Simons of Stanford
University. "Technologists and policy-makers don't
understand each other," she said.
As evidence, Simons cited the notorious Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a hastily
drawn-up piece of US legislation outlawing products
that outsmart copyright technology. "What is
unusual about the DMCA is that it criminalises
technology, not behaviour," she said. Many
commentators have ridiculed the law on the grounds
that it can make a criminal of anyone who innocently
discovers holes in copyright protection software.
More broadly, it is seen as evidence of Luddite
instincts in US policy-makers.
As a first step to improving communication between
technologists, policy-makers and the ordinary
audience, Simons suggested that specialist jargon be
avoided.
In the field of e-democracy Professor Steve Woolgar,
director of the Virtual Society? Programme at
Oxford University Said Business School, also had
bones to pick with terminology. According to
Woolgar, we have allowed our thinking to become
dominated by summary terms like 'society' and
'technology' - typically over-used by government
and the media - which obscure a more complex and
plural reality.
It is also essential that e-democracy is seen as more
than e-voting, and increased citizen participation
kept as a central objective, Woolgar said.
On the topic of pervasive technology, David
Cleevely of the telecommunications consultancy
Analysys distinguished between the intended
functions of communications technology and our
ability to explore new and rewarding uses that were
not originally foreseen. According to Cleevely, this
makes future uses potentially very rewarding but
highly unpredictable.
Concern was expressed by some about the long-term
social effects of cocooning ourselves in electronic
webs. But however well-grounded these fears,
Professor Christian Sandvig of the University of
Illinois cautioned against a heavy-handed
interventionist approach by government and large
enterprises. Drawing on the spread of telephone
services across the US in the early twentieth century,
Sandvig suggested that history showed groups of
enthusiastic amateurs could have a key role
stimulating innovation and take-up of new
technologies. Government and big businesses were
not the best agents for change, he said.
Meanwhile the new Oxford Internet Institute faces
its own tough challenges. To cross the traditional
boundaries of Oxford colleges it must face inward,
yet its ambitions reach out beyond the academic
world as is usually conceived. It must also keep pace
with new developments, avoid being drawn along by
hype, yet make substantial contributions to policy
thinking. Andrew Graham, Master of Balliol College
and one of the Institute's founders, summarised the
challenge: "Essentially, research is backward-
looking while policy must look forward."
[Section two ends.]
* SECTION THREE: RESEARCH
- DIGITAL DIVIDE.
LACK OF ACCESS - OR LACK OF INTEREST?
By Paul Foley [log in to unmask] and Ximena
Alfonso [log in to unmask]
The phrase 'digital divide' is frequently used by
policymakers and commentators to refer to the
disparity between those who have access to
information and communications technologies
(ICTs) and those who do not.
According to the Office of National Statistics, only
40 per cent of the population have household access
to the internet and 55 per cent of adults have
accessed the internet at some time.
The statistics also reveal that levels of internet access
vary greatly between different parts of the UK. The
least connected districts in December 2001 were
Blaenau Gwent and Newport in Wales; both had less
than 12 per cent of households connected to the
Internet. The three most connected districts were
Wokingham, Waverley and Mid-Sussex in the South
East; with more than 55 per cent of households
connected to the Internet. These figures clearly
reveal some kind of digital divide.
However, the impact of the digital divide on the
implementation of e-government has received little
attention. Our review of more than 200 papers and
research reports concerned with access and the
digital divide found that most commentators had not
adopted an overly critical perspective in evaluating
the benefits of technology.
The presumption that adoption of new technologies
is beneficial, without any real attempt to understand
the relationship between users and technologies, is
an inherent feature of much of the literature. This
presumption is fostered and maintained by the policy
push from governments to encourage the adoption
and use of ICTs.
Strategies to address the digital divide have been
multi-faceted and a variety of different initiatives
have been introduced that focus on increasing
awareness, providing access and training. However,
these policies are usually targeted at assisting those
that want to access the internet. Few policies appear
to have been introduced that target those, often from
socially excluded groups, that need more
encouragement to appreciate the presumed benefits
of the Internet.
Current UK government initiatives focus on work to
complete the network of 6,000 UK online centres by
the end of 2002; to run a national marketing
campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of the
internet and signpost non-users to UK online; to
work with the voluntary and community sectors; and
to recognise ICT as a basic skill and continue
working to embed it in the education system.
Other key initiatives include giving away 100,000
recycled PC's to the poorest families in Britain; the
creation of 700 ICT learning centres in deprived
areas in England; and an annual tax benefit of up to
500 pounds for employees to obtain a PC from their
employer.
All these initiatives are focused on the government's
policy target of ensuring that everyone who wants it
has access to the internet by 2005. This target does
not imply that everyone should have access, but that
anyone should who desires it, from any socio-
economic group, of any gender, age or race.
One might assume that such a target is beneficial to
all socio-economic groups. However, socially
excluded groups are amongst the least willing and
able to access the internet. It follows that the current
emphasis and wording of the policy goal is probably
flawed. As long as there is a high level of
ambivalence to the internet from socially excluded
groups, a policy goal that simply states 'everyone
that wants access should have it' will be easy to
achieve.
If government believes on the other hand that there
are benefits to all citizens from internet access, it will
be incumbent upon them to demonstrate these more
clearly to socially excluded groups and encourage
higher levels of awareness and skills to use the
internet.
Significantly, there is a large number of non-users of
technology who still have a 'lack of interest' in the
Internet. This group has remained almost constant at
nine million non-users since January 2001, which is
of particular concern when one considers that the
number of non-users decreased by 1.5 million during
the same time period. Even more notable is the
growing number of non-users who believe they have
'no need' for the Internet. This group has increased
by 1.65 million non-users since January 2001.
The growing number of non-users who declare 'no
need' for the internet could be regarded as falling
outside the governments goal of 'ensuring that
everyone who wants it has access'. But the
ambivalence of nine million non-users who declare a
'lack of interest' must be a concern for government
if they want to achieve their ambitious 2005 target.
Many current initiatives are likely to fail because
they are undertaken in isolation from other policy
elements, or without having a citizen focus. The lack
of research on motivations, expected benefits and use
patterns of ICT by socially excluded groups implies
that at present policies to address the digital divide
on the basis of untested assumptions that it is
beneficial for 'them'. This suggests a technocratic
approach adopted on the basis that all that is required
is access to the technology and everyone will use it.
Accurate identification and understanding of the
desired outcomes and benefits expected from ICT by
socially excluded groups would ensure the
development and implementation of more effective
policies capable of meeting more peoples'
expectations.
The main benefit to be derived from this approach
should be an increase in ICT adoption and use by
socially excluded groups. Unless non-users are
convinced that ICT has some advantages they will
not be tempted to use free public online access
points, let alone contemplate paying money from a
limited budget to purchase ICT equipment for their
own home.
Ultimately, the main barrier for adoption and use of
ICTs is not a lack of access. The consequences of
this misconception are considerable, and would seem
to make it unlikely that the government will achieve
its goal of 'ensuring everyone who wants it has
access by 2005'. If internet use is to continue to
increase, initiatives will have to take a more holistic
approach.
Policymakers will also have to be aware that the
numerous benefits proclaimed for e-government are
unlikely to be available to all citizens. Political
benefits, such as democracy and empowerment will
not extend to all the population. Economic benefits,
such as access to more job vacancy information and
access to government services 24/7 will be limited.
Social benefits, such as overcoming geographic or
transport barriers for communication or access to
goods and services and access to recreational and
learning materials will also be restricted.
NOTE: Article by Paul Foley and Ximena Alfonso
of De Montfort University. This article is based on a
paper presented to the second European Conference
on e-Government, held at Oxford University on 1-2
October. Copies of the proceedings can be purchased
at:
http://www.mcil.co.uk/2-proceedings-eceg2002.htm
and those interested in finding out more about the
third ECEG conference in Dublin on 1-2 October
2003 should email [log in to unmask]
[Section three ends.]
* SECTION FOUR: POLITICS
- LIBERAL DEMOCRATS.
BEYOND THE SOUNDBITE.
by Tamara Fletcher [log in to unmask]
The Liberal Democrats have failed to develop
concrete policies relating to e-government and the
internet, despite being the party whose philosophies
of local empowerment ought to be most in tune with
internet culture, a party conference fringe meeting
heard last month.
The meeting was hosted by VoxPolitics
(http://www.voxpolitics.com ), the e-democracy
initiative co-founded by E-Government Bulletin
publisher Headstar. Donald Clark, chief executive of
the e-learning company Epic
(http://www.epic.co.uk), told delegates a recent Lib
Dem technology consultation paper lacked strong
proposals. "The internet is at the heart and soul of
the Liberal Party's principles but not at the heart of
its policies."
Clark said he had emailed the Liberal Democrat
leader Charles Kennedy through the party's web site
(http://www.libdems.org.uk/ ) and received a short,
non-descript standard response from a member of
staff, an approach which he did not advocate.
"Don't play around with the medium. Young twenty-
somethings know you're doing that and they hate it -
all Blair's cool Britannia stuff is part of the reason
they're so disengaged with politics."
All political parties were guilty of vague
generalisations around technology policy to some
extent, he said. "Parties need to respond with ideas
of their own, not just generalities around 'access for
all' and the 'broadband revolution'."
But he said Labour was currently leading the way in
the development of technology policies, using it to
reform education, health and the civil service with
"real ideas, measurable timescales and political will.
"Using the internet fruitfully inside government and
increasing access is crucial. It's important to
recognise that it puts people in touch - it ain't just
about e-commerce, that didn't work and will not
work."
The meeting also heard from those who had used the
internet as a campaign tool in the last general
election. From a Liberal Democrat perspective, one
of the most interesting initiatives had been 'Tactical
Voter' (http://www.tacticalvoter.net), which enabled
Liberal and Labour voters in two-way marginal
constituencies to swap votes to maximise the
chances of a Conservative defeat in each area.
The site's founder Jason Buckley said the level of
tactical voting stimulated by the site had not been
decisive in the election as a whole, but could well
have made the difference in at least one constituency
where a Liberal candidate was returned.
Ironically however, what success the site had
enjoyed had been largely due to high levels of
publicity in traditional media, he said. They had
managed to capture people's imagination with a
'subversive' image which was often the hallmark of
success for internet sites which people wrote about
and recommended to others, he said.
"To successfully get the message across it is
important to try to be both political yet anti-political,
tailor your site to make it something you can only do
on the web and make sure you maintain neutrality."
The man behind the Liberal Democrats' internet
election campaign, Mark Pack, said the internet had
also proved extremely useful as a recruitment tool.
"One in eight people joining the party are doing so
through the web, and these are mostly people not
already familiar with the party and from areas where
there is weak support," he said.
It was also an effective way to reach the crucial
youth vote, he said. "Research shows that 64 per cent
of 15-24 year olds read political email. It's a very
effective way of getting through to people and can
solve time consuming or expensive problems".
On the other hand, not all internet users are that
politically clued-up, as the party's email inbox
showed following the last US presidential election.
"I wouldn't have thought Charles Kennedy looks
much like Al Gore, and his photo is on our site, but
we still got lots of email from disgruntled Democrats
asking why he lost the election."
[Section four ends.]
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