Innovation in Democratic E-Governance: Benefitting from Web 2.0 Applications in the Public Sector

INTRODUCTION Online communities, social networking and user-generated content production are bringing new elements to the development of electronic government. These new features are based on a new logic of the Web, referred to as Web 2.0. When applied to the public sphere, this idea has been labeled as Government 2.0. This is a new trend that challenges governments to assess their role in society and especially their relationship with citizens. This article provides a brief introduction to Web 2.0 and its gradual adoption in public services and governance. Attention is directed to the concrete ways of utilizing Web 2.0 applications, on the one hand, and the identification of tensions and challenges associated with this new trend, on the other. Methodologically this article is a descriptive and heuristically oriented discussion of a novel phenomenon, thus having basically an exploratory nature. Early forms of Web 2.0 applications in ABSTRACT This article provides a brief introduction to Web 2.0 and its gradual adoption in public services and governance. Web 2.0 refers to the second generation of Web-based communities, networks and hosted services, which facilitates interaction between users. Since the invention of the concept of Web 2.0, version numbering has been attached to various activities and organizations, including government. Government 2.0 opens a horizon towards post-modern governance, in which government utilizes in its governance and stakeholder relations open and pluralist interactivity, community-centeredness and citizens' own content production and networking, following the logic of Web 2.0. The promise of Government 2.0 lies in the idea that the more direct citizen involvement there is in public affairs in Web 2.0 style, the more reason there is for people to take a constructive view of public policies, governance and organizations. government are presented as exemplifications of how social networking and user-generated content production have been utilized by public organizations.