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Internet World Australia 2k - 6-8 June 2000
                                Connecting Government Forum
                                      "Access for All"
                   8 June 2000, Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre
                        Call for Participation, closes 26 November 1999
                                http://www.tomw.net.au/gf2k/

Call for Participation

Proposals for presentations are now invited for "Access for All", the
one day Government Forum at Internet World Australia 2k, 8 June 2000,
Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre: http://www.tomw.net.au/gf2k/

Applications close 26 November 1999. Terms and conditions and
application form are available on the Internet World web site (remember
to tick the "Connecting Government Forum" box) at:
http://www.kirby.com.au/inw2k/cfp_doc.html

About the Event

Internet World Australia's one day government forum will present
Australia's top speakers on the topic of Access for All.

This year's forum explores the topic of access for all, both from the
point of view of Government providing information to citizens and in
obtaining input from citizens.

Commercial web sites can target a particular market segment and customer
demographic. However, democracy demands that Government cater for the
needs of all citizens and treat them equally. This paces additional
requirements on Government, to make sure that web sites are accessible
to the visually impaired, people on slow links in country areas, people
using old equipment, those who speak languages other than English. It is
important to respond to the different ways people actually make use of
government services online. This requires redefinition of the
relationship between government, people, information and services. 

There are some relatively simple and cheap ways to make web sites more
accessible. Are these being used? Are they adequate? Are they really
needed? Will new technologies, such as wireless Internet, improve
access, or increase the divide between information rich and poor? 

Government is as much about listing to the views of the people, as of
issuing information to them. How are politicians and bureaucrats with
using the Internet for consulting and listening? Have early fears of
spam e-mail campaigns clogging politicians mailboxes been overcome? Are
there still agencies or MPs not accepting e-mail? Has the opportunity
been taken to more efficiently collect views on-line?

* The Government Speaking - Making a Web For All To See:

. Accessibility Guidelines for Web Pages . Web pages for the visually
impaired
. Multiple language access
. Low bandwidth and wireless access for country users . Backward
compatibility for the old browsers on the PC in the library . Archiving
on-line information and providing access to old embarrassing government
documents . Discovering government information: portals and meta-data.
. FOI and the Internet: An affordable alternative for transparency?
 
* Government Listening - Why doesn't my MP accept E-mail?

. Getting bureaucrats and politicians on-line . Dealing with e-mail
bombing and mail campaigns . Collecting genuine community views - can it
be done on the web?
. Regional input via on-line local government . Providing the right
information - Discovering what is most useful. 


The government forum will again be chaired by Tom Worthington, first web
master for the Australian Department of Defence. In 1999 he was elected
a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society for his contribution to the
development of public Internet policy. Tom is a Visiting Fellow in the
Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Engineering and Information
Technology at the Australian National University, an independent
electronic business consultant and author.

Internet World Australia 2k
Kirby Network Services
Private Bag 19, Alexandria NSW 2015
Ph: +61 2 9310 5544 Fx: +61 2 9310 5404 sales@kirby.com.au


Tom Worthington FACS     tom.worthington@tomw.net.au  Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd              A.C.N. 088 714 309
http://www.tomw.net.au                  PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617