Organisers

From E-Consultation Guide
Revision as of 11:55, 23 March 2006 by 193.1.80.151 (talk)

Jump to: navigation, search


What is e-consultation? E-consultation is the use of electronic computing and communication technologies in consultation processes and is complimentary to existing practices. To find out more please visit http://www.e-consultation.org/


Why e-consultation? E-consultation has value added in terms of the time, costs, participation rates, engagement levels and dissemination processes associated with completing a successful consultation. The use of Information communication technologies (ICT) can facilitate a number of tasks 1) information transfer. 2) dialogue support, 3) problem exploration and solving, 4) measurement of needs and preferences, 5) joint document writing. Within this guide you will find detailed explanation of the nature of the benefits with accompanying examples.


Examples (Trials)

E-consultation is currently in a development phase on the island of Ireland. This section outlines four examples of ongoing e-consultations and you can use the links below to learn more. These four pilots are with Waterways Ireland, The Wheel, the North South Educational Exchange (NSEC) and the Northern Ireland Youth forum. Via their websites these groups have used a range of e-techniques to consult with their members. The groups have used ICT to create on-line surveys, e-forums, e-newsletters and electronic voting. In all cases these techniques have been used in conjunction with traditional methods.

Why not use these links to find out more?

http://waterways.e-consultation.org/

http://wheel.e-consultation.org

http://nsec.e-consultation.org

http://youth.e-consultation.org


Useful Links

Good Practice

http://www.sdublincoco.ie/index.aspx?pageid=1000

http://www.cavancoco.ie/cccws/templates/general/tge_index.aspx?str_ID=227

http://www.meath.ie/community/websites.html

http://www.bristol-city.gov.uk

http://www.dublin.ie/forums


Time (***)

  1. The timeline for setting up a website & the various online features
  2. What are the time savings between email, e-newsletters & traditional methods.
  3. How long will the forumn need to run for.
  4. What are the time savings in terms of analysis & feedback.

Cost (***)

  1. What is the csot of setting up a website.
  2. What are the running costs of an e-consultation.
  3. What are the prices for the relevant software & hardware such as web-iq etc.

Engagement (***)

  1. How can I justify e-consultation in terms of engagement.
  2. Who are the people likely to use/not use e-consultation.
  3. Will my success in engaging with technically literate people be outweighed by the loss of engagement with non technically literate people.

Case studies (***)

  1. What are the examples of successful use of e-consultation in Ireland and/or other countries.

Participation (**)

  1. How will the numbers of participants/non-participants be affected.
  2. What are the different ways in which I can get people to participate & how are they different to traditional methods.

Skills (***)

  1. What skills (technical) will I need.
  2. What technical skills will I need to train my staff in.
  3. What are the skills that my participants will need.
  4. Will I need to hire a technical expert.
  5. Will I need to run training days.

Usability (***)

  1. How usable is the technology for people who are not technically literate.
  2. How do I test the usability of my website & it's features.

Results (***)

  1. How do I organise the information I collect.
  2. What are the options for creating datasets etc.
  3. What kind of software could I use for analysis
  4. Will I need training
  5. What are the costs

What is e-consultation (**)

  1. What is e-consultation
  2. What are the main techniques
  3. What are examples of its use

Resources (***)

  1. How much do I need to spend on staff, training, software, equipment and facilities.

Promotion (***)

  1. How is promoting an e-consultation different from a traditional one.
  2. What are the ICT based ways of contacting people with publicity.
  3. How do I persuade people to use ICT especially the website.
  4. How do I get people to engage in the consulation once they are on the website.
  5. How do I use ICT to maintain their interest throughout the process.

Why e-consultation (**)

  1. When is it appropiate to use e-consulation in instead of or in tandem with traditional methods.

Guidelines (***)

  1. What are the major issuse in terms of ethics, security, privacy, copyright, intellectual property rights etc.

Translation (***)

What techniques can I use to translate
  1. What my technical experts are teeling me.
  2. The role & nature of the technology being used to my staff and respondents.

Security (**)

  1. How can I collect & store information securely
  2. How do I restrict access to the website & e-consultation to the intended particpants.
  3. How do I persuade participants that ICT is safe and that they should feel safe in putting their views online.
  4. Can people view the input of others without being able to tamper with it.

Technology (**)

What are the various technologies I could use to

  1. Publicise the e-consultation.
  2. Stay in contact & update participants.
  3. Get theie views.
  4. Collective writing.
  5. Conduct a survey.
  6. Organise meetings.
  7. Consult over long distnaces.

Design, planning, Stragies (***)

  1. What are the stages in organising an e-consultation.
  2. What are the design difference between online & traditional techniques i.e. surveys.
Retrieved from "http://nsec.e-consultation.org/guide/index.php?title=Organisers&oldid=191"