The Bristol Partnership
May 22, 2006 Posted by Stephen Hilton in : Digital Challenge, Bristol, Bristol City Council , 2 commentsDick and I have just presented Connecting Bristol to the Bristol Partnership. This is the 'daddy' of all Bristol's partnerships (no sexism intended) so it is important to have their full support.
It went well!
Barbara Janke, the Council Leader and Chair of the Partnership, Clive Wray from Business West and 'someone' (we didn't get their name) from the voluntary sector spoke strongly in support of Connecting Bristol. Questions included a request for specific examples relating to health; what's in it for the non-computer literate and what can the Partnership do to help if we don't win funding? We answered these between us.
All in all a very positive meeting. We can now use the Bristol Partnership's logo with full confidence that they are behind Bristol's bid.
Big Brother and Politics
May 20, 2006 Posted by Stephen Hilton in : e-democracy, Bristol , add a comment
Prof. Stephen Coleman is probably the world’s leading e-Democracy expert (top-3 for sure). He is also a good friend of Bristol. Stephen chaired our recent Activists and Authorities conference and has evaluated many local e-democracy initiatives for us.
He takes a healthily sceptical view of authority’s ambitions - typical quote “democracy is not the gift of government to citizens” - and I have learned a lot from him.
Stephen’s latest publication is sponsored by Hansard Society and Endemol and builds on an ongoing Coleman theme - the attitude of Big Brother voters to politics and politicians.
Called “How the other Half Votes” the report (PDF) dispells as an urban myth the idea that more people vote in Big Brother than in general elections. However, it suggests that young people want to know more about who politicians really are. E-voting’, ‘live TV debates’ and ‘virtual campaigning’ are amongst the solutions Professor Stephen Coleman suggests to help reconnect politicians and citizens.
Stephen is currently working on an evaluation of Bristol’s campaign creator e-innovations project. I await his report with baited breath - and an eye on the jobs pages.
Take a walk on the eastside
May 19, 2006 Posted by Clare in : Bristol, Community Media , add a comment
Taking in Easton and St Paul's, Visit Eastside have created Walk Eastside, a series of free podcasts which guide you through the areas, taking in local music and food shops. This innovative project is using new technology to help people discover the very best of inner city and hopefully dispel some of the negative impressions about the area…
Is Bristol an Ideopolis?
May 18, 2006 Posted by Clare in : Bristol , add a comment
Apparently not, at least not until we get our education and transport system sorted out, says The Work Foundation in their report Ideopolis: Knowledge City Region.
The report defines an ideopolis as a successful knowledge city, which is sufficiently strong to generate sustainable economic growthfor the whole of the surrounding region.
Speaking at Bristol's Festival of Ideas yesterday, Alexandra Jones from The Work Foundation highlighted diversity, the universities, quality of life, the attractive city centre, knowledge intensive industries and a diverse ecomomic base act as Bristol's strengths, but underlined the divide between Bristol’s rich and poor communities and the fact that the city is seen by residents as not marketing itself well enough, as barriers to becoming an ideopolis.
The full report can be downloaded from
http://www.theworkfoundation.com/research/ideopolis/index.jsp
