3rd Regional Internet Governance Forum

Creating Regional Development Environment of ICT Innovations

December 3-4, 2015, Baku, Azerbaijan

NGOs as stakeholders of ICT strategies:

the case of Slovenia

Simon Delakorda, M.Sc.

www.inepa.si/english

CONTENT

1. Republic of Slovenia

2. Digital Slovenia

3. NGOs as stakeholders of ICT strategies

4. Information society as a public policy

5. NGOs in relation to ICT strategies

6. NVO-VID network

7. Main activities

8. Main challenges of information society

9. Conclusion

1. Republic of Slovenia

20,273 km²

2.063.000 population

1991 an independent state

2004 EU membership

2007 € currency

2010 OECD membership Pictures and data source: www.wikipedia.org

2. Digital Slovenia

EU Digital Economy and Society Index (2015): rank 19 of 28

UN E-Government Development Index (2014): rank 41 of 193

OECD Open Government Data Index (2014): rank 20 of 34

Slovenian Internet Forum (national IGF) established in 2013

Previous highlights: - UN E-Participation Index (2010): rank 20 of 193- Cap Gemini eGov Benchmark (2007): rank 2nd in the EU

National Smart Specialisation Strategy (2015) including smart cities and e-health

Strategic initiative Digital Slovenia 2020

3. NGOs as stakeholders of ICT strategies

information society as a public policy in Slovenia

NGOs in relation to ICT strategies

National network of NGOs for an inclusive information society (NVO-VID)

- main activities

- main challenges of information society

4. Information society as a public policy

Institutional instability and fragmentation

- Ministry of information society established in 2000 and abolished in 2004

- Directorate of information society now part of Ministry of Education, Science and Sport

- e-goverment under authority of Ministry of Public administration

- digital innovation and entrepreneurship under authority of Ministry of Economic Development and Technology

Pluralism of interests

- institutional decision-making dominated by corporate interest groups

- individual self-promoting opinion-makers favoured by mass media

- NGOs sector atomized, collective actions are rare

Challenges

- lack of sustainable and structures civil dialogue (participatory democracy)

- implementation deficit resulting in information society setback comparing to the EU

5. NGOs in relation to ICT strategies

Limitations:

- mostly voluntary based

- low capacities to address complex policy issues

- limited funding

Advantages:

- dealing with less spectacular but very important challenges (digital inequality, digital skills, internet access etc.)

- field work

- public interest watch-dogging

- policy advocacy and mobilization

6. NVO-VID network

Network of NGOs for an inclusive information society established in 2014 (financially supported by the ESF)

7. Main activities

influencing digital society public policies and legislation

open software and on-line services (NGO cloud)

strengthening NGOs capacities (webinars, workshops)

collaboration with ICT companies (Smart cities)

rising awareness about opportunities and challenges of information society

50 NGO members

8. Main challenges of information society

Data source: NVO-VID Network, 2015

9. Conclusion

NGOs are providing a valuable “the other side of the coin” perspective on information society development and internet governance

NGOs are traditionally sensible of societal / human (non-technical) perspective of ICTs

“new society” is not only about internet wires but also about values, culture, skills and social justice

it is important for NGOs to develop a collective identity (mission) as stakeholders advocating for public interest in digital society development

Proposal:- adding NGOs panel to the RIGFAZ 2016 agenda

THANK YOU!

simon.delakorda@inepa.si

www.inepa.si

facebook.com/institut.inepa

twitter.com/Institut_INePA

si.linkedin.com/in/simondelakorda