Information Renaissance
The word "renaissance" means "to be born again." Its the transition period between the Middle Ages and the modern era, during which there was a cultural and intellectual rebirth in European civilization, is therefore spoken of as the Renaissance
This blog is to discuss the main events which tells howtechnology helped to tranfer the information and helped discusions in National Dialouge.
Information Renaissance concentrates on online National Dialogues where Americans can learn about and discuss public issues. These Dialogues follow a model for group deliberation developed by Information Renaissance in work dating back to 1994. This approach facilitates information exchanges among large numbers of people, increases involvement and encourages involvement. (Network-democracy.org)
By gathering people together, many ideas can be brought to one place and National dialogue can broaden the public understanding of complex legislation and regulations.
1. Effective Education. Information Renaissance works with collaborating organizations to identify and prepare background materials that provide a thorough introduction to the issues under discussion. Because of the scope, quantity and searchability of these materials, participants can easily learn a great deal about complicated problems.
2. Wide-ranging Recruitment. Staff work with professional organizations, public interest, non-profit organizations and media outlets to recruit a demographically broad audience for participation in the Dialogue.
3. High Quality Discussion. A National Dialogue is an asynchronous disucssion - unlike a chat room, which takes place in real time. This format means that participation is not limited to any particular time of day and makes it much easier to accommodate different time zones and busy schedules.
A more substantive discussion can evolve when participants have time to consult reference materials, think about the contributions made by others and have the time to compose their own thoughtful messages.
4. Extensive Interaction. The National Dialogue allows for two-way communication among subject experts, government officials and members of the general public. Participants thereby enjoy quick responses to their questions.
National Dialogue have the following benefits
• Americans can come together online to discuss a complex issue in a deliberative manner. At the same time they can provide government officials with informed feedback on proposals under active consideration.
• The Roundtables provide a forum where experts, elected representatives and government regulators can discuss a policy issue in more nuanced detail. Instead of trading sound bites, the panelists can develop an argument in detail and educate the participants more fully about their outlook on a particular problem.
• An archive of important material is developed during the Dialogue. Background resources, Roundtable discussions and participants' messages are preserved in an online repository. Large numbers of people who did not directly participate in the online Dialogue can thus benefit from the discussions that took place.
• The Web site can be maintained long after the Dialogue has concluded. It provides a valuable archive of authoritative information on the topic.
Resources
Reischauer. R (2005), Information Renaissance National Dialogues, The Urban Institute, Retrieved from http://www.network-democracy.org/epa-pip/about/nd.shtml
Jolliff. C (2006), The crossroads group, California’s only permanent Renaissance village, Retrieved from, http://www.renaissanceinfo.com/