Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
The descriptions of the cases vary in length and level of detail. In part
this simply reflects what is available in the public domain. More signifi-
cantly there has tended to be greater coverage given to those cases where
citizens have been engaged at several stages in the ICT development proc-
ess.
Table 4.3.
Distribution of case studies by country (N = 20)
Country
No of Cases
Canada
2
Denmark
1
Europe
Germany
Spain
UK
1
1
8
India
1
Laos
1
Nepal
1
Uganda
1
USA
3
4.3 Citizen Engagement in Policy Making
4.3.1 Netmums - UK
Netmums (www.netmums.com) is a UK national website, run at a local
level, providing an online support network for parents with young chil-
dren. The network, which has approximately one hundred thousand mem-
bers, became a valuable medium for government consultation on proposed
changes to the regulations relating to employment rights and maternity. In
2005, the Department for Trade and Industry issued a consultation docu-
ment: Work and Families - 'Choice and Flexibility' (UK Department of
Trade and Industry 2005), and Meg Munn, the UK Minister for Women
and Equality, invited members of the Netmums network to respond.
The objective of the initiative was to enable parents to describe their
current situation in terms of work and to indicate whether they would pre-
fer to be in a different work pattern. Four thousand mothers of young chil-
dren participated in the consultation which took place between May 10-18
2005. The results contributed to the Government's deliberations on the
issues and identified clear challenges for both Government and employers
to address.
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