Earlier this week I took a trip down to Bournemouth to speak at an event organised by the thinktank Demos as part of the Labour Party Conference Fringe.
For the discussion, which was entitled 'Participation Rewired', I joined an illustrious panel - Jim Knight, the minister for schools and learning, and Vera Baird, the solicitor general, as well as Demos director Catherine Fieschi. We discussed the general topic of political engagement through technology, the technical literacy of young people, and how (or, indeed if) you can use technologies to invigorate the political process.
My point, generally, was that it's possible that technology can help people engage with politics, but in order for that to work politicians must stop confusing the medium with the message. Essentially, they are using fresh ways to pump out the same old message - the one people are sick of - instead of trying to actually move things forward. There is no lack of engagement, but the issues are now moving outside the realms of party politics. I'll try and put the presentation up on Slideshare when I get the chance.
(Interesting to note that a proper Labour meeting on "winning on the web" was cancelled).
On a related note, Slashdot informs me this morning that legislators in New Zealand have turned to a wiki to let people put forward suggestions for a new set of laws on policing. That's innovative, and even if the site's currently in stasis - ("The response so far has been better than expected") - it could be a really important development in the way we work with the political system.
