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Christoph Zed

BBC NEWS | Technology | Call to use more government data - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8241029.stm

governance web internet technology citizen democracy usa

shared by Christoph Zed on 08 Sep 09 - Cached
  • One of President Obama's campaign promises was to make the US government more open and transparent.
  • "It's a great opportunity to redefine how government works," said Mr O'Reilly
  • "We've got to recognise that we can't treat the American people as subjects but as co-creators of ideas. We need to tap into the vast amounts of knowledge... in communities across the country.
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  • "We have gotten into this model of thinking the government is like a vending machine. We pay taxes and get roads and schools, police and armies and whatever else.
  • "The new model is about participation. It's about the government saying we will provide you with these services that you can build upon.
  • One of the most cited examples of how government-as-a-platform works best can be seen at a site called Apps for Democracy.
  • Apps for Democracy which aimed to "engage citizen technologists to build the perfect technology solution to meet their needs".
  • "With the help of these home-grown innovators, we're engaging the community in government and building a digital democracy model for governments everywhere,"
  • Mr O'Reilly warned that "going back to politics as usual" was not an option and that in the midst of the government's willingness to open up its data, there were some pitfalls to look out for.
Christoph Zed

Terrorists in the Making?: Egypt Pursues Europeans Taking Arabic Classes - SPIEGEL ONLI... - 0 views

www.spiegel.de/...0,1518,651318-2,00.html

islam multiculturalism terrorism egypt usa faith

shared by Christoph Zed on 26 Sep 09 - Cached
  • It is not the first time the Egyptian security service claimed to have rounded up a cell of jihadist European students.
  • After just over a week of questioning, they were deported. There was no evidence. Back in Europe authorities saw no reason to hold the students.
  • the Egyptian security service often keeps surveillance on specific foreign students at the request of European secret services.
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  • The West often accuses Egypt of being a breeding ground for fanatics, but in actuality we are getting extremists from Europe.
  • Agents treat the foreign students who are arrested terribly." He says this has an adverse effect. "This way you create an enemy you might not have had before."
Christoph Zed

Terrorists in the Making?: Egypt Pursues Europeans Taking Arabic Classes - SPIEGEL ONLI... - 0 views

www.spiegel.de/...0,1518,651318,00.html

islam multiculturalism terrorism egypt usa faith

shared by Christoph Zed on 26 Sep 09 - Cached
  • Many deeply religious students from Europe come to Egypt to learn Arabic. The question is: are these European Salafists coming to study the language of the Koran or to prepare terrorist attacks?
  • Young men with downy beards, caps, kneelength a traditional Arab galabeyas and sandals sat chatting in a McDonalds' restaurant in Nasr City, a large middle class district in the eastern part of Cairo.
  • In the neighborhood Egyptians, the European Salafists - Sunni religious fundamentalists - are outsiders.
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  • Ashraf, a 26-year-old Dutchman of Moroccan descent, came to Cairo a year ago. "To learn Arabic," he says, "the language of my religion."
  • "We aren't hurting anyone," says Ashraf, whose apartment was recently searched. "We only come to study and pray."
  • "Religious fanatics want to be taken seriously," says Walid al-Gohari, founder and director of the Al-Fajr institute, one of the many language schools in Nasr City. "But Salafists who don't even know Arabic are not considered credible."
  • The Egyptian security service is concerned about the situation. It therefore keeps a close eye on fundamentalist visitors with a European passport.
  • As a precaution, the security service picked up hundreds of foreign students in a few days time, among them a few from the Netherlands.
Christoph Zed

BBC NEWS | Business | Emerging economies 'get new role' - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8274046.stm

usa politics economics g20 brazil china russia EU hegemony globalisation

shared by Christoph Zed on 25 Sep 09 - Cached
  • The G20 group of leading and emerging economies will take on a new role as a permanent body co-ordinating the world economy
  • more power to emerging economies, rather than to the developed powerhouses of the G8 group.
  • Senior EU officials later announced a deal to shift the balance of voting in the International Monetary Fund to benefit growing economies like China.
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  • police fired rubber bullets at protesters
  • The G20 is going to be the new body counsel that will be the coordinating body for international economic cooperation
  • financial regulatory reform was the most important agenda item for summit, but that addressing global economic imbalances was also a priority
  • US proposal calls on economies such as China, Brazil and India to boost domestic consumption
  • US and Europe would encourage more saving
  • That's not a sustainable financial situation for the US and that's why we're in the process of adjusting
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