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F I R S T C A L L F O R P A P E R S
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CITIZENS AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AT THE INFORMATION AGE:
Constructing Citizen-Oriented Society for the Future
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Date and Place: 18-20 August, 1999; University of Tampere,
Tampere, Finland
Organizers: International Social Science Council (ISSC),
University of Tampere, ISFI Research Project and
University of Tampere, Information Society
Research Centre (INSOC)
The purpose of this conference is to discuss, in a multinational
and multidisciplinary context, the role of citizens and public
administration in the emerging information society. During the
conference issues like "what is the role of citizens and public
administration at the information age" and "how can we use modern
information and communication technologies, organizational
principles and knowledge in order to create a citizen-oriented
open society for the future" will be scrutinized.
The working language of the conference is English.
MAIN TOPICS
The general theme of the conference will be discussed under five
sub-themes or topics:
1) Information Society: Present State, Trends and Prospects
The opening section of the conference will concentrate on systematic
analyses, well-grounded opinions and visions on the present state,
current trends and future prospects of the information society.
Proposed papers may analyze issues such as:
* What are the current trends and directions for the information
Society? Where are we now and where are we going?
* What are the main economic, political, cultural, and societal
forces affecting the development of the information society?
* What are the main social and human problems of the information
society? And how can we deal with these problems?
* What does the recent development look like at the global level?
What will happen to the less developed countries in second and
third worlds? Are they left out from the global information
society; or if not, what is their role in the emerging global
village? Is there such village at all?
2) The Changing Role of Public Services and Public Administration in
the information society
In this section the role of public and private sectors and the
organization and production of public services and public
administration are discussed. Proposed papers should focus on issues
such as:
* How should the division of labor between the public, private, and
the "third" sectors be organized in the future society? What is,
will be, or should be the role of public sector, public activities,
public services and public administration at the information age?
* What kind of public services are needed at the modern times? Who
should fund and who should produce these services, how should their
production be organized and controlled, and for whom should these
services be targeted?
* What is or should be the division of labor between different levels
of public administration, e.g. what is or should be the division of
labor between the central (i.e. state or federal), regional, and
local administrations?
3) Role of Citizens and Customers in Organization, Production and
Control of Public Services at the Information Age
This section will concentrate on the role of citizens and customers
in the organization, production and control of public services in the
information society. Proposed papers may analyze issues such as, but
not necessarily limited to:
* the need for, promises, and opportunities of citizen's participation
and control in the modern society
* different modes and types of citizen's participation and control
the strength and weaknesses, opportunities and threats of citizen
and customer participation
* the role of and need for self-help and spontaneous grass-root level
activities, cooperatives and/or indirect public administration
* the role of customers and citizens in commercially oriented service
production.
4) Use of Open Computer Networks and Modern Information and
Communication Technology in the Service of Democratic Information
Society
In this section the role of open computer networks (i.e. Internet)
and the modern information and communication technology are analyzed
in politics, administration, and service provision of the information
society. Proposed papers may concentrate on issues such as:
* How could open computer networks (e.g. Internet) and modern
information and communication technology be used in the service
of citizen oriented democracy? What kind of strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats can be seen in the use of this
technology? And what should be done in order to take advantage
of the new possibilities and promises offered by this technology?
* What is the role of public electronic networks, virtual communities,
and customer oriented information systems in the service of modern
democratic society? What are the challenges of electronic democracy
to modern society? How should these challenges be responded, and
what kind of results can or could be expected?
* What kind of technical solutions are available for administrative
and political processes and service delivery: WWW, E-mail,
electronic bulletin boards, discussion lists (etc.)? What kind of
systems can be used in electronic town meeting, televoting, and
public electronic access? How can digital cities and wide area
networks be used to create a new form of local and regional
government?
* What are the pioneering projects, how have they been established,
funded and managed? What kind of lessons have been or can be
learned on the basis of these projects? What kind of new
developmental projects are initiated and planned?
5) Speaking of Information Society: Values, Meanings, and Language
The last section of the conference will concentrate on ethics and
moral issues, rhetoric and politics of information society,
conceptual and terminological issues and clarifications, and
theories of and theoretization on information society. Proposed
papers may analyze issues such as:
* Are there, in fact, any comprehensive and plausible theories
of information society? If there are, what is their relation
to other developments in the field of social, political and
administrative theory?
* Is the concept of information society appropriate for
theoretical reasoning, or is it just untheoretical catch-word,
appropriate only for visionary discussions and policy programs?
* What are the differences between the rhetoric and the
realities of information society? Is the concept of information
society just a myth or utopia without sufficient realist or
theoretical grounds?
PUBLICATION
A selection of papers presented at the conference will be published
later on by the organizers.
DEADLINES
Persons interested in participating this conference should offer
their papers or presentations, including a provisional title and
short abstract, to the organizers as soon as possible. All
submissions are processed as they come, and the final acceptance or
rejection of the proposed paper should be expected normally within
three weeks.
The final deadline to offer papers and presentations to the
conference will be defined later on. Registrations for participants
without a paper or a presentation will be also accepted.
REGISTRATION FEES
Registration fee for the conference will be 500 FIM (about 95 USD
or 84 ECU). The fee will cover access to the conference and the
conference material.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
More information on the conference, including final dead lines and
the provisional program will be emailed or sent to the participants
and to the persons expressing their interest to participate.
Information will be also posted at the www pages of the conference at
http://www.uta.fi/laitokset/hallinto/1999-IS-conference
For further information, please contact:
Matti M=E4lki=E4, University of Tampere, Department of Administrative
Science, P. O. Box 607, FIN-33101 Tampere, Finland,
Tel. +358-40-5042498 (cellular); +358-3-2156362 (office); Fax:
+358-3-215 6020; Email: [log in to unmask]
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Matti M=E4lki=E4, Tampereen yliopisto, Hallintotieteen laitos,
PL 607, 33101 Tampere
Matti Malkia, University of Tampere, Dept of Administrative
Science, P.O. Box 607, FIN-33101 TAMPERE, Finland
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Email Internet: [log in to unmask]
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Fax +358-3-215-6020 Tel. +358-3-215-6362 (office)
Telex 22263 tayk sf Tel. +358-40-504-2498 (mobile phone)
***************************************************************
WWW information page: http://www.uta.fi/~malkia/
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