A project where the citizen gets the opportunity to influence the new e-government/e-services solutions

The i-COIN project involves 9 partners from 7 countries around the Baltic Sea. The project has a budget of € 1.8 million from where € 1 million is a contribution from EU and the rest each partner stands for.
The idea of the project was born in Svenljunga Municipality, Sweden when the broadband network was ready and it was possible for all villages to get a broadband connection.
 
The focus in the project was to reach out to those people who today cannot connect to the Internet or who are not even having access to a computer. To get a better communication between the citizen and the authorities.
 
These questions  exist all over Europe today:

• How can we reach those people now when the authorities are focusing more and more on Internet?
• How shall a service look like and work to attract the citizens?
• What demands on safety and the protection of the citizens´ integrity are needed?
• How is the democracy affected?
• Shall terminals that are adapted to the demands of the citizens help those who today do not own a computer?

The overall objective of the project is to strengthen the capacity and confidence of local and regional administrations to provide better services and effectively engage in the adaptation to a knowledge society by developing solutions and policies on e-government.

The interest for the project was big when it was presented in Vilnius spring 2005 and the expectations on the result are now high.