FYI. === Participative Web: Shaping Policies for Creativity, Confidence and Convergence in the Digital World Government Conference Center, Ottawa, Canada Jointly Organised by the OECD and Industry Canada 3 October 2007 This site is directly accessible at: www.oecd.org/futureinternet/participativeweb The use of the Internet is characterised by increased participation and interaction of users to communicate and express themselves. The expanding use of the Internets inherent capabilities for creation and exchange is often called the participative web. It is an Internet influenced by new intelligent web services enabling users to contribute to developing, rating, collaborating and distributing Internet content and developing and customising Internet applications, driven by an expanding broadband base and easy-to-use software to create and distribute content. The collective intelligence of Internet users is driving new social and economic applications, with the participative web increasingly important across an expanding range of business, research and innovation and social activities. More open approaches to information creation, exchange and diffusion are being taken up extensively in government, education and other areas. As new models for creation, distribution and use of digital information are enabled by the Internet, new policy challenges for governments are emerging to provide the environment that enables and supports these development and diversity of use. Questions to be addressed in the Foresight Forum include: What does the future hold for the participative web? What are the trends and impacts on knowledge-creation, business, users and governments? What are the implications for enhancing confidence and trust in the Internet? What is the government role in providing the right environment for stimulating Internet innovation and economic growth? This first-ever international policy forum on the participative web will bring together experts from around the world, from policy makers and academics to business executives and a wide range of civil society to address these questions. The presentations and discussions around the themes of Creativity, Confidence and Convergence will contribute to the OECD Ministerial Meeting on The Future of the Internet Economy in Seoul, Korea, 17-18 June 2008. Previous yearly OECD Technology Foresight Forums have dealt with Radio-Frequency Based Identification Technologies (RFID) (2005) and Next Generation Networks (2006). --------------------------------- Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha! Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo! Games.